Chapter 71: Joint Strategy
"So, you're saying… the monster that killed more than half of our fellow brothers and sisters is actually an entrance to an instance dungeon?" Guileless Gale exclaimed with incredulity.
"Blossoming Strokes and Ji Tang both entered an instance dungeon together, so it seems like it," Brother Lahong, who had just logged back in, replied, though his face was also twitching.
Phantom subtly glanced at the nearby Unceasing Entropy's team and whispered, "Isn't Ji Tang part of Unceasing Entropy's team? How did he end up with Blossoming Strokes?"
"It was a chance encounter." Brother Lahong waved his hand dismissively. "Now that we know the monster is just an instance entrance and not a boss, let's not waste any more time here. We should hurry up and strategize to conquer the dungeon."
The "monster" Brother Lahong referred to was the slimy creature in the alley east of the Crossroads. They were more familiar with that monster which had wiped out half of their side, so there was no need to go with Unceasing Entropy's team and struggle against the bizarre monster near the Warrior Guild that couldn't even be looked at.
Guileless Gale, Phantom, and Study Obsessed exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.
The incident during the first collaborative hidden quest with Qin Guan's side was still fresh on their minds. If their side could do things on their own, they weren't particularly keen on joining forces with others.
Before they could come up with an excuse to part ways, Unceasing Entropy came over herself.
After a quick greeting with Brother Lahong, Unceasing Entropy asked, "Have you all seen Blossoming Strokes' post? Ji Tang has also messaged us offline. It turns out these event monsters are actually instance entrances. We've been going about things wrongly. There's no need to track down the source of these monsters. Entering the instance dungeon will trigger a system prompt."
"Um… yes." Brother Lahong was slightly puzzled and wasn't sure what this girl wanted to say.
Unceasing Entropy continued straightforwardly, "Ji Tang, Blossoming Strokes, and Give Me Medicine accidentally stumbled into the instance while holding hands. While they didn't manage to complete it successfully, they gained some experience regarding it.
"The instance dungeon related to Assassin Instructor Hal is quite challenging. The monster has high attack power but is relatively bulky in size. If we have a knight to absorb the damage, we can attack it from the sides, just like how we handle those monsters during our expedition quest.
"Oh, and there will be the young self of the advanced NPC inside the instance. Ji Tang's advice is to protect the NPC while fighting the monster. Otherwise, the instance might still fail even if we defeat the monster."
Brother Lahong: "…"
Guileless Gale, Phantom, and Study Obsessed, who weren't that thick-skinned, averted their gazes and stared at the sky and ground as if they were the most captivating sights.
"We plan to continue exploring Rex's inner demon, so we won't be joining you guys searching for that other unknown advanced NPCs' inner demon," said Unceasing Entropy.
"Alright, alright." Even the thick-skinned Brother Lahong couldn't help feeling somewhat forced.
Had this girl started nitpicking and tossed around a few sarcastic remarks, Brother Lahong was confident he wouldn't feel a thing when he led his own friends away. However, her magnanimity made him feel somewhat bad…
———
After half an hour of waiting anxiously, Blossoming Strokes reconnected as soon as the death penalty time elapsed.
She rushed to Third Street and sought out her companions and immediately asked, "How's it going? Has anyone cleared the instance?"
Qin Guan, leading the event activities from Third Street, turned around haggardly and looked at her.
"Can't defeat it? What were the team compositions of those who entered?" Blossoming Strokes asked with a frown.
"Couldn't get in." Qin Guan rubbed his bare skull in frustration. "We tried sending four different teams against that monster, but none managed to enter the instance. They were devoured and all kicked offline."
Blossoming Strokes: "??"
"Now we're waiting for you and Give Me Medicine to come online and see if your team can get in," Qin Guan said irritably. "Damn it. I heard Brother Lahong's side managed to send two teams in. I swear, even entering an instance has become a matter of luck. It's frustrating!"
Blossoming Strokes: "…"
Earlier, she felt that the devs had made the instance entry process absurdly difficult. But now, she realized that she had severely underestimated their level of absurdity. Was complex entry mechanics dependent on luck?!
Give Me Medicine came online shortly after Blossoming Strokes, and Qin Guan arranged for two knights and two wanderers to team up with them. He incorporated their team into his group, then climbed onto the rooftop of a nearby building to observe as Blossoming Strokes led this six-man team toward the wooden house's cellar entrance.
As the six-man team approached the cellar, the creepy corpse centipede that had startled countless players appeared out of nowhere.
The brave six-person team was engulfed, and Qin Guan immediately glanced at the group panel:
All six members were still alive. They had entered the instance dungeon.
"…Could those two truly be blessed by RNGesus?" Qin Guan exclaimed with surprise and delight. "No, wait, Blossoming Strokes doesn't have much luck. She always ends up with the ugliest models when picking characters. So, does that mean Give Me Medicine is the real luck god?!"
Meanwhile, in the instance dungeon, Blossoming Strokes cast a glance at the familiar, dimly lit forest and silently braced herself.
If not for the fact that she was the only mage that had completed the first job advancement among them, she would have strongly objected to entering this instance dungeon again…
"This is quite the eerie atmosphere. It's like Jason could jump out at any moment," a female knight player, a relatively young college student, remarked nervously and instinctively moved closer to Blossoming Strokes.
The other knight player was also scared, but he put on a strong front since there were two ladies present and joked, "Who knows if Jason will pop out, but we already have six skeletons that can move and jump about."
"Quick, come hide in the bushes," Give Me Medicine expertly crouched into the shrubbery and waved to the team.
"Camping in bushes brings back memories from my Honor of Kings days," the knight player mumbled as he crouched in the bushes. "It's a shame our skeletons can't wield big swords; that would add to the ambiance." [TL note: Honor of Kings is like a mobile version of LOL]
Blossoming Strokes couldn't help but glance at this teammate. "Hey, hey. Don't tell me you are afraid?"
"No way. Others will be scared if I jump out of the bushes, but nobody can scare me," the male player retorted.
Blossoming Strokes eyed this brother knight for a bit before glancing at the female knight player clinging on to her anxiously. She suddenly had a bad feeling…
Not long after the team of players was all crouched down in the bushes, the younger version of Hal, dragging a corpse, appeared.
The frequently seen assassin instructor in town turning out to be a teenage criminal… The players weren't too concerned though, the dark vibe of this game had been apparent from the moment they first logged in. So what if a functional NPC had a shadowy and sinister backstory?
But then, the corpse in the sack came to life, and the "beanstalks" started growing out…
"Oh god!"
"Mommyyyyy—!
The two knight players let out screams even shriller than the teenage Hal's and leaped out of the bushes and bolted in different directions.
"The hell?!" (x2) came from the two wanderer players who had just drawn their knives.
Give Me Medicine and Blossoming Strokes simultaneously raised a hand. "Come back—!"
At this moment, they understood how Ji Tang had felt previously when they had abandoned him…
Ten minutes later, the six-man party was wiped.
Half an hour later (in real-world time), Give Me Medicine and Blossoming Strokes regrouped at Third Street, seemingly more depressed than Qin Guan…
It was four in the afternoon on Earth, while in OtherWorld, the time was seven in the morning.
The blood-tinged darkness that shrouded the entire Exile Town was dispersed by sunlight, causing the three monsters that had been reaping players in the alleyway, cellar, and deserted house to disappear.
The advanced NPCs stretched lazily as they exited their dwellings, strolling in pairs or threes toward the Merchant Association canteen. There, they collected their allotted food rations for the civilian women under their care, who had been (forcibly) assigned to them.
The civilian NPCs also emerged from their houses, some sweeping the streets, while others sprinkled water on the dusty paths.
One woman, whose eyesight wasn't very good, emerged from her home carrying a bucket of used water from washing her face. She was about to pour it onto the pathway in front of her hut when she suddenly noticed that the street had become significantly narrower.
She squinted, then realized that there was quite a long row of undead squatting by the side of the street.
"S-sorry! Sorry! I'm extremely sorry, misters and misses undead!" The woman was startled and took two steps back while apologizing profusely.
The players glanced at the NPC, who was frantically apologizing, and one of them said somewhat listlessly, "Let's go, we're blocking people's way."
The other players rose silently and followed the leader in leaving…
The woman quickly retreated to the side of the road and exhaled sharply only after the group of undead had moved far away.
"What's wrong, Martina?" One of her housemates stepped out of their shared dwelling while adjusting her clothes.
Martina couldn't clearly see who it was, but she recognized the voice. Breathing a sigh of relief, she said, "It was terrible, Mia. I nearly splashed the washing water on the undead gentlemen. They were squatting right at our doorstep, not even making a sound."
"Really?" Mia quickly stepped further out of the door and curiously glanced at the undead creatures, which were now congregated at the far corner of the street. "What are they doing here?"
"I don't know." Martina shook her head. "Maybe they're doing something we don't understand." After a pause, the woman who had once been helped by the undead smiled and added, "Perhaps they're protecting us… that's what I think."
Mia nodded in agreement, saying, "That's likely, Martina. These undead are just as kind-hearted as Mr. Anthony."
Tailor Anthony, arriving with rations for 12 people, cast a dark glance. "…"
I'm just like those crazy undead…? Thanks for that, you foul woman!
Black-faced Anthony placed the breakfast for four on the windowsill of a room occupied by four tailor shop workers, then glared at Mia with hostility before continuing to the next "employee dormitory."
Unfortunately… Mia was captivated by the aroma emanating from the boxes of food and didn't notice Anthony's glare. Beside her, Martina could only discern a blurry figure of a person within a meter of her…
"Thank you, Mr. Anthony!" Mia bowed sincerely to the departing Anthony.
Antony didn't even bother looking back. He couldn't be less interested in being thanked by an unattractive woman.
The players who had moved to First Street came to a stop at a corner on their way to the logout point.
"Lahong, I have an idea," said Guileless Gale.
"Go on," Brother Lahong responded weakly.
"Uh… I was thinking of looking for Unceasing Entropy and Blossoming Strokes to discuss the strategy for this event's instance dungeons," suggested Guileless Gale. "Simultaneously tackling three different instances is rather inefficient. It might be better if we all focus on one instance dungeon together and share our experiences for greater efficiency. After all, this event only takes place on weekends. If we can't clear it this week, we'll have to wait until next week… I think they might think the same, too."
Brother Lahong's initial self-sufficient temperament had been worn down considerably over the course of the night. Hearing Guileless Gale's proposal, he said, "Alright. Go ahead." Then, after a short pause, he added, "Just talk to Blossoming Strokes. The other two might have their own agendas."
Guileless Gale knew that if they were talking about personal agendas, their side and Vanilla Pudding's side were probably equally invested… but that wasn't something he could say. So, he simply nodded in agreement. "Alright."
Guileless Gale's guess was correct. Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy had their own concerns indeed. When he reached out to them, both of them agreed to meet up.
At the Wanderer Guild's square, the representatives from the three player factions squatted in the corner to have a discussion.
"Coordinating our efforts is a good suggestion, and I fully support it," Unceasing Entropy was the first to speak. "However, I have the fewest people on my side. Even if everyone is online, we have at most around 20 people. We can form four or five small teams of five or six players each at most. If neither of you mind, then I have no objections."
"Don't worry, Qingyue, no one will mind that," Blossoming Strokes assured. "I've realized that the number of players doesn't really matter for this event's instance dungeons. Regardless of how large the team is, it only counts if they can make it into the instance alive."
"I'm on the same page as well," Guileless Gale stated unequivocally.
Unceasing Entropy nodded, then said, "Alright then. Let's start by exchanging information about the instances we've entered so far. Whichever one has the lowest difficulty should be prioritized for our strategy. To be frank, my team is on the verge of losing morale. If we don't secure a clear soon, our team's unity might crumble."
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