Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Reward Dungeon
Wu Chang asked, "Instructor, what is the induction gift pack for newcomers?"
Zhao Yan teased, "You’ll know when you get there."
Everyone followed Zhao Yan, walking through the complex of the Management Bureau.
Every major power can establish a special space exclusive to them once certain conditions are met.
For example, the special space Wu Chang and others were in—the Red Wave—belongs to the sphere of the Anomalous Phenomena Management Bureau.
Once a special space is constructed, it possesses independent authority from the Crimson Courtyard and only players from that power or invited players are qualified to enter.
That is to say, 99% of players appearing in Red Wave Space are from the Management Bureau.
The Red Wave Space is vast, with many players inside as well.
Along the way, Wu Chang and others rarely saw empty areas, especially in several core zones, which were as lively as the public plaza.
Roughly estimated, there were at least 10,000 players staying in the Red Wave Space at that moment!
It’s important to understand that Management Bureau members are not full-time players; they must handle supernatural events throughout Xia Country.
Just like the baby-faced middle-aged man with short hair, being constantly busy is the norm, and only a small portion remain in the Red Wave Space.
A small portion amounts to over 10,000; imagine how many Management Bureau members there are in total?
Thirty thousand? Fifty thousand? Or maybe over a hundred thousand?
In the Abyssal Game, a force composed of three or four hundred players could dominate a region.
A company like United Information, with several thousand members, was already considered a major power influencing the entire Desolate Realm.
Yet compared to the size of the Management Bureau, these civilian forces appeared rather insignificant.
Zhao Yan led everyone to the Divine Hall of Hongmeng.
Before entering the Divine Hall of Hongmeng, Zhao Yan finally told everyone the answer to the induction reward.
"Your induction reward is an extra reward dungeon."
Wu Chang and a few collaborators exchanged glances and couldn’t help but ask, "An extra reward dungeon? Is it the kind without combat, only gaining rewards?"
Zhao Yan: "..."
"If there was such a great place, would the opportunity to enter be left for you?"
Zhao Yan initially planned to use the presence of reward dungeons to show the great benefits of the Management Bureau and attract many collaborators.
Who knew Wu Chang would raise the expectations of the reward dungeon to infinity; now even if it’s enticing, newcomers wouldn’t feel the impact, just think: ’Is that it?’
This bunch of sneaky players always thinking about getting rewards without effort.
Tui!
Zhao Yan coughed, bringing everyone back to reality from their fantasies.
"The reward dungeon isn’t as ridiculous as he said, yet it’s very rare. The reward dungeon is a privilege of gaining temporary management authority in power."
"Through temporary authority, newcomers in the power can gain an extra dungeon opportunity, and the rarity of the rewards dropped in the dungeon will be enhanced, without consuming the normal dungeon cooldown time."
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere instantly cooled down.
Is that it?
For most players, dungeons aren’t exactly great places to be.
Each time entering a dungeon implies facing danger, and if dungeon completion is below 40%, they’ll suffer dungeon failure penalties, reducing the maximum Will Attribute.
Statistics show 85% of players enter dungeons at 30-day intervals, being forced into dungeons by the Abyssal Game.
14.2% of players will randomly choose their dungeon interval based on their conditions;
Only less than 1% of players will enter dungeons at the shortest interval of 15 days as soon as the cooldown is over.
For most players, they only wish dungeon intervals were longer.
An extra dungeon not consuming cooldown time, what’s that about?
Four collaborators looked at Zhao Yan with peculiar gazes, seemingly questioning, is this really a reward and not a punishment?
Zhao Yan also realized the problem with his explanation and hurriedly amended:
"The reason it’s called a reward dungeon is that entering the dungeon through power privileges will have the difficulty randomly adjusted down by 10%. Additionally, the dungeon danger will be somewhat reduced, and completion rate will increase by 5% upon settlement."
With these words spoken, the group’s expressions finally improved.
A random probability adjustment down by 10%, meaning the original probability of 50%E, 40%F, 10%D dungeons would become 60%E and 40%F.
This offers a greater chance of matching with dungeons below their level, and with an extra 5% completion rate increase, the pressure to pass is further reduced.
Looking at it this way, it indeed has some characteristics of a reward dungeon.
"Entering the extra reward dungeon is your new member benefit, and it’s unique—each member can only use it once. You can use it now, or store it for later."
"However..."
Zhao Yan suddenly changed his tone and said:
"Activating reward dungeon privileges has a level limit, with a maximum level not exceeding ten. Whoever plans to use the privileges today, follow me inside. Those not planning to use it today are free to move about but make sure to control your level, don’t forget the usage restriction."
These words indeed made someone’s expression change.
The reward dungeon is thus both a reward and a test.
All the collaborators present reported a level below ten during registration, but if anyone cannot activate the privilege, it means they’ve concealed their true skills, which are dubious and require focused attention.
The man who previously ranked second in the sparring, wearing a mask then removing it, showed an embarrassed face and was the first to speak:
"I’m not feeling well today, maybe another time."
Judging by the man’s expression alone, it’s clear he’s hidden his skills and his actual level is above ten.
Zhao Yan nodded without exposing him and asked the group:
"Is anyone else not feeling well today?"
Seeing no one else withdrawing, Zhao Yan said satisfactorily, "Good, these newcomers are clean, come in."
The group followed Zhao Yan, swiped their faces to enter the Divine Hall of Hongmeng, and at the moment they stepped into the hall, a reward dungeon appeared under the Management Bureau’s app, ready for use.
Wu Chang saw the activation condition for the reward dungeon was: Player Level ≤10, and status was usable, finally feeling at ease.
Luckily, the maximum level included level ten; otherwise, he would’ve suddenly felt unwell like the guy before.
Zhao Yan led the group to the Dungeon Waiting Hall, connected to the public area, where all preparation for entering the dungeon, like purchasing items and consulting rankings and intelligence, could be completed.
Zhao Yan: "Although the difficulty of the reward dungeon will lower, don’t be careless, I’ll be out for a bit, and you should prepare before entering the dungeon."
Due to the rush of entering the dungeon this time, Wu Chang didn’t have time to customize armor, only managed to buy several potions.
As for the other collaborators, they didn’t even prepare to purchase potions.
As low-level freelancers, ensuring dungeon clearance was already quite demanding, and any money would be immediately converted into items to enhance themselves.
Everything they had was worn on their bodies, many even carried debts, so they didn’t need temporary preparation.
Armor, potions, auxiliary items?
That’s the treatment for wealthy players and talented members of big organizations, not for them.
Just as everyone was ready and waiting for Zhao Yan to return, a slightly chubby middle-aged man dressed like a salesman approached.
"Are you all new collaborators?"
A collaborator answered, "Are you one too, mate?"
"I’m an instructor from Dongyang City, just call me Cotton."
These words rendered the speaking collaborator speechless.
What’s this, mate, why is an instructor being so polite to me?
Cotton asked the crowd, "Are you ready to enter the reward dungeon?"
Wu Chang and others nodded.
Cotton smiled and said, "That’s great, I only have two people here and I’m afraid if we match into a team dungeon, there won’t be anyone to rely on, could the two of them queue with you for the dungeon?"
"Don’t worry, I won’t take advantage without compensation, I just happen to have a privilege to upgrade the reward dungeon level, which I can share with you."
Cotton finished speaking and opened a paper document.
The document glowed briefly, and Wu Chang and others looked at the dungeon again, finding the reward dungeon description had changed.
"Cotton invites you into an Intermediate Reward Dungeon room."
"Intermediate Reward Dungeon: When matching the dungeon, the difficulty random probability adjusts down by 15%, the dungeon danger noticeably diminishes, completion rate at settlement increases by 8%, and dungeon rewards rise by 10%."
"Activation condition: Player Level ≤20"
"Will you accept Cotton’s invitation?"