Back in the player space, Yu Hao still felt a sense of disbelief.
This was the first time he had encountered such an easy instance.
No.
It wasn't that the instance was easy. It was that they hadn't even had a chance to face the instance's difficulty head-on before a player had already cleared it one step ahead.
To put it bluntly, they had encountered a master, and had been carried to victory.
Thinking of this, he hurriedly opened his personal panel.
Skipping past the personal information section, he directly clicked into the "Hua Nation Ranking" below.
[Hua Nation Player Ranking (Real-time)]
[Rank: 1] [Name: Liang Bu] [Instances Cleared: 19] [Ladder Steps: 699]
[Rank: 2] [Name: Xie Simin] [Instances Cleared: 18] [Ladder Steps: 681]
[Rank: 3] [Name: Zhang Tian] [Instances Cleared: 18] [Ladder Steps: 672]
……
[Rank: 47] [Name: Xu Xi] [Instances Cleared: 7] [Ladder Steps: 588]
……
[Rank: 66] [Name: Hang Ze] [Instances Cleared: 12] [Ladder Steps: 549]
……
[Rank: 69] [Name: Yu Hao] [Instances Cleared: 12] [Ladder Steps: 517]
……
[Rank: 71] [Name: Shi Weiwei] [Instances Cleared: 11] [Ladder Steps: 499]
……
[Rank: 73] [Name: Xing Ge] [Instances Cleared: 11] [Ladder Steps: 490]
[Rank: 74] [Name: Lin Zuo] [Instances Cleared: 11] [Ladder Steps: 487]
……
[Rank: 77] [Name: Tang Shutong] [Instances Cleared: 11] [Ladder Steps: 477]
Yu Hao specifically paid attention to the ranking changes of players between positions 60 and 80.
Under normal circumstances, the players matched with him should have ladder step counts not too far from his own.
Although they hadn't exchanged names with each other, he could roughly match them up based on the fluctuations in the rankings.
Only one person exceeded his expectations.
Yu Hao's gaze involuntarily fixed on that line.
[Rank: 47] [Name: Xu Xi] [Instances Cleared: 7] [Ladder Steps: 588]
He took a deep breath, finally understanding who that young man was who always gave him a sense of great distance, with an aura that naturally kept strangers at bay.
He had truly encountered a real master.
*
Hang Ze sat cross-legged, leaning against the golden stone step wall that was taller than a person. He idly played with the broken brush he had brought out from the instance in his hand, his gaze also fixed on the ranking list.
"Whoa, ran into a monster."
He muttered softly in admiration.
When the ranking list first appeared, he had noticed this guy who, with only single-digit instance clears, was ranked 71st.
He just hadn't expected that he would end up teamed up with him.
He hadn't interacted much with the other person in the instance. Thinking back carefully, he had only casually praised him once at the very beginning.
"I really do have good eyesight."
Hang Ze understood his own constitution better than anyone.
Wherever he went, trouble followed. Whatever he encountered, it mutated.
When he first entered instances, he had tried to struggle against it, walking carefully, speaking cautiously, not touching anything that looked suspicious.
But he found it was useless. What was meant to be triggered would still be triggered, what was meant to mutate would still mutate. The only difference was whether it happened a bit earlier or a bit later.
Later, he just gave up and accepted it.
Let it mutate however it wanted. He even started deliberately testing various rules to figure out the clearance method sooner, trying to let his teammates suffer less from being dragged down by him.
Anyway, he had a tough life, he wouldn't die.
This near-defeatist attitude actually allowed him to survive instance after instance.
It was just hard on those teammates matched into the same instance as him.
But this time...
Hang Ze stared at the ranking list and suddenly sighed.
It was rare to encounter not just a golden thigh who wouldn't be dragged down by him, but one who could swiftly clear the instance before his unlucky constitution could turn the whole place upside down.
He really wanted to cling on and not let go!
However, the other party was too much of a monster. It seemed there was no chance to experience the feeling of being carried again.
After feeling regretful for a good while, Hang Ze thought about it, opened the forum, and posted a thread:
[New Instance, Seeking a Few Dads Who Won't Mind Their Teammates]
*
Similar scenes also occurred one after another with Shi Weiwei and the others.
They could truly say they were completely bewildered, muddling through and clearing the instance just like that.
Meanwhile, in the outside world.
Main Topic Post: [Discussion] Discussing a 24-rank surge from one instance—just how outrageous is Xu Xi's ranking climb speed?
1L (OP): First, putting up a picture of Master Xu Xi's Republic-era limited edition outfit to anchor the post.
Attached: picture.jpg (Before a vermilion lacquer door mottled with peeling paint, a young man in a dark blue long gown, his expression blurred by silk-like fine rain)
2L (OP): Who understands that this screenshot is seriously overflowing with atmosphere!!
3L (OP): Ahem, back to the topic. Although I borrowed a Marketing Account-style title, I'm really not clickbaiting!
4L (OP): God knows, right after Master Xu Xi finished this instance, I immediately went to check the ranking list. Good heavens, 47th place??
5L: Did the math. Only 7 instances cleared, averaging 84 ladder steps per instance, which is 2-3 times that of other players.
6L: Hiss, calculated that way, after Master Xu Xi finishes the next instance, his ladder steps will be 672, right? Holy crap! That's directly on par with Zhang Tian!
7L: According to the official calculation, the final ladder step settlement is composed of four parts: Base Ladder Steps (base steps obtained after clearing an instance based on its difficulty), Evaluation Level Bonus (extra steps based on performance, better performance yields more steps), Clearance Time Limit (easy to understand, right? Faster clearance speed also means more steps), and Additional Condition Bonuses (e.g., no-damage clears, item usage count, number of players clearing the instance, etc.). So... Master Xu Xi is awesome!! (Voice cracking)
8L: Master Xu Xi is awesome!!
……
222L: Breaking formation, 248's speed is like riding a rocket. Watching it gets my blood pumping but also inexplicably panicky.
223L: After all, just two more instances and his rank will be first! Three more instances and he directly tops the chart!! That's topping the chart!! What a concept!! My god.
224L: Can tell everyone is pretty excited.
225L: How can we not be excited? Master Xu Xi has only been at this for how long? Just over half a month!!
226L: It seems he only rested a full seven days after his first instance. There's almost no interval between his subsequent instances.
227L: Don't know if you all understand, but seeing Master Xu Xi climb the ladder so fast, I'm actually a bit worried.
228L: Me too. I even hope he doesn't enter instances so frequently, and rests properly.
229L: Because, without exaggeration, Master Xu Xi's current clearance speed can be called the number one in the world. God Hunt has been active for a year now, but the longest surviving player so far has only lasted a little over four months. Veteran players keep falling, new players keep becoming veterans, and the cycle repeats. Master Xu Xi's appearance broke this cycle. Not only did he refresh the shortest instance clearance time, but he also set the record for the fastest ranking climb. So, you're worried he'll repeat the fate of those veteran players.
230L: Ultimately, the greater the expectation, the greater the fear. Fear that the expectation will be dashed.
231L: After all, we really want to witness a miracle.
232L: Yes. Even if this shitty game still can't be ended after Master Xu Xi tops the chart, as long as there's been one miracle, there will inevitably be a second sooner or later!
233L: I think we should still trust 248's authority. Maybe for us, finishing one instance already exhausts all our mental energy, but for him, glancing at an instance a few times is probably enough.
234L: That's true. It might even be considered completely without difficulty. Like the first instance, it's been picked apart by Marketing Accounts, especially Master Xu Xi's expression of utter annoyance. Here's a funny thought: this is one of Master Xu Xi's few rich expressions.
235L: Actually, I feel like Master Xu Xi treats these instances as boring pastimes. Didn't a player reveal in the live stream before that the player space, aside from the huge golden stone steps, is still just stone steps, with nothing else? Staying there too long would be boring as hell.
236L: Right. Master Xu Xi is never in a hurry to clear instances, unless he encounters special circumstances, like the mixed-team competition, or like this instance.
237L: Speaking of which, Master Xu Xi casually reminded other players at the beginning of the instance to pay attention to the seven-day time limit. Probably didn't expect a jinx like Hang Ze to pop up halfway and raise the instance difficulty, forcing him to take action and end the instance early.
238L: Thus, it's also a rare instance of full team survival.
239L: Also have to thank Lin Zuo for pulling Tang Shutong back.
240L: Don't even mention it. Some people are already starting to condemn him, saying Master Xu Xi clearly had the ability to keep everyone in the instance alive before, but chose to coldly watch from the sidelines.
241L: What kind of creature is stirring up trouble?
242L: No need to pay attention to that kind of talk. Being able to leave an instance alive is already incredibly lucky. No one has the obligation to protect anyone.
243L: Absolutely right. Ultimately, the title "master" is just a crown we netizens unilaterally bestow. The person himself doesn't even know about it. So, he has absolutely no obligation to live up to anyone's expectations.
244L: But 248 is still a miracle! Who agrees, who disagrees?
245L: I agree.
246L: Agree +1
……
