Bai Ye said, "No need for experts, just call anyone over. They can fill a spot for the reward, and we don't have to wait for them. Once they arrive, they can enter the virtual game themselves."
Gao Ming asked, "Is that appropriate?"
Bai Ye replied, "What's inappropriate about it? I don't expect much from any of you anyway. Sorry, I accidentally spoke my mind."
Gao Ming: "..."
Why hadn't he noticed how annoying Bai Ye was before?
Bai Ye continued, "Anyway, I don't care. It's up to you whether you call someone or not. It's your Evil Spirit Group members who will suffer losses, not me!"
As Bai Ye spoke, he put on his helmet and went ahead.
The moment he put on his helmet, Bai Ye felt his consciousness blur. Then, his body went limp and collapsed on the bed.
The surrounding space turned pitch black, and soon, colorful stripes appeared in the black void, constantly streaking past Bai Ye.
Upon closer inspection, these colorful stripes resembled puzzle pieces, with various scenes appearing within the light. As the stripes increased, the surrounding scenery gradually pieced together.
The space around him also formed at this moment.
A vast town, in a medieval retro European style, with a massive fountain behind Bai Ye. Pedestrians were walking around.
Bai Ye glanced at his surroundings, a smile on his lips, exactly as he remembered. It brought back a sense of nostalgia.
Bai Ye was able to sell this place to the Evil Spirit Group and knew everything about it because he had been here in his previous life.
This virtual game restricted zone adopted a dungeon mode with seven levels. Bai Ye had already explained the general rules to Gao Ming.
Items produced from the third level onward were red. The fourth level still predominantly featured red items, but with a small chance of golden ones, though limited to golden items.
The fifth and sixth levels would yield genuine golden quality items, and after defeating the boss, three items could be taken away. The seventh level, being the highest, offered super-quality items.
Of course, the rewards were incredibly tempting, but the difficulty was also very high.
Bai Ye believed that he could only linger between the third and fourth levels at the moment, and the fifth level was definitely out of reach.
The strength of the fifth level boss could be directly compared to Ken Kaneki in his ghoul form from the Ghoul region. He was not someone easily defeated. It belonged to a high-end area that entered the mid-to-late stages of the World Battlefield progression.
Speaking of which, the opening of a large restricted zone in the Ghoul region, producing a large number of golden quality items, was itself an accident.
Furthermore, each background had its own unique characteristics.
The first level was a fantasy world, or one could interpret it as a magical background. The items obtainable here generally corresponded to this theme.
The second level was a steampunk background, a retro mechanical era. Though the items looked ancient, they could be compared to actual technological products.
For example, Bai Ye had once obtained an airship there, made of wood, but it was in no way inferior to the aircraft in the technology region.
The third level was a Japanese-style background, reminiscent of the "good little nation's" aesthetic, but more accurately, it was a background based on Japanese yokai culture—Hyakki Yagyo, or the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.
The fourth level was a supernatural region, incorporating both Eastern and Western elements, such as zombies, ghosts, vampires, and Frankenstein's monster.
The fifth level was an Eastern immortal hero (Xianxia) background, with the entire level suspended in the air, composed of countless floating mountains.
The sixth level had an electronic background, with the overall structure of the modern world, but the entire world was rendered in a pixelated, electronic style, which was quite distinctive.
The seventh level...
Bai Ye had not been to the seventh level.
In his previous life, this place was completely occupied by three major forces.
After all, the boss攻略 (guānlüè - strategy/conquest) for each level of the virtual game restricted zone was conducted in teams. In essence, the virtual game restricted zone was a multi-player restricted zone.
The bosses that needed to be conquered on each level were not meant for a single person, but required different teams. The minimum number of people needed was six for the second level, and the maximum was twenty for the fifth level.
Thus, normally, one person could not defeat these bosses.
Of course, as long as one was strong enough, there were no problems.
At this moment, the others also began to enter, appearing near the fountain in the plaza.
Bai Ye glanced at Gao Ming and said, "The first and second levels are out of my concern, right?"
Gao Ming nodded and replied, "We've cleared the first and second levels. We're currently focused on collecting red quality items on the third level. The Hidden Dragon Society is also here, and we've had several conflicts. We've been deliberately targeting their members."
Bai Ye asked, "How many people have they brought in?"
Gao Ming said, "More than twelve, but probably not exceeding twenty. They likely don't have much intelligence and are unaware of the team size limits for each boss conquest. In the first and second levels, they were in a摸索 (mōsuǒ - exploration/probing) phase, so we had a slight advantage."
Bai Ye scoffed, "And then they figured things out, and you got beaten?"
Gao Ming: "..."
Indeed, that guy's mouth was incredibly annoying.
Bai Ye inquired, "So, how many from the Hidden Dragon Society have died?"
Gao Ming looked up at the sky and gave a noncommittal laugh.
Bai Ye was speechless. He understood; they were beaten unilaterally, and not a single one of the enemy had been eliminated.
Bai Ye then asked, "Then you've established your stronghold, right?"
"We have," Gao Ming replied, "It's on the first level."
Bai Ye questioned, "Why not on the second or third level? Wouldn't it be more convenient to collect items there?"
Gao Ming pondered for a moment and said, "The Hidden Dragon Society has established strongholds on both the second and third levels."
Bai Ye was exasperated. Although he had expected the Evil Spirit Group to be no match for the Hidden Dragon Society and to suffer greatly, he hadn't anticipated they would be this pathetic.
Beaten unilaterally, and even afraid to move freely in the upper-level areas; this was a complete disgrace.
"Alright, alright," Bai Ye said helplessly. "Let's go see the items first, and then head to the third level."
Gao Ming nodded. "Okay, let's go."
Gao Ming led the way.
He had actually entered here before, but Gao Ming's primary purpose then was to scout the situation, assign tasks, and dispatch troops.
Therefore, Gao Ming had only cleared the first level, established a stronghold, and left after giving instructions. This was essentially a re-entry, but since the first level boss had already been conquered, he could move freely on the first level and could also go to the second level.
As they walked, Gao Ming explained, "But the four of you need to conquer the first level boss. To go to the third level, you'll have to conquer the second level boss as well. Those who have already completed the conquests cannot help."
"I know the rules," Bai Ye chuckled. "Are you worried I can't defeat the boss?"
Gao Ming nodded; he genuinely wasn't very concerned about that.
The first level produced blue quality items, and the boss wasn't particularly strong. Bai Ye could handle it with ease.
The second level started producing black quality items, which Gao Ming felt would be somewhat difficult.
But for Bai Ye...
Gao Ming felt it was best not to measure things by his own standards.
...