Chapter 411 Level-Jumping Is Not Something You Can Just Do (1/2)
”There are three different factions to choose from. Apparently, there are a lot of processes in this dungeon. The missions are different for different sides too, so will it only count as officially completed after completing the dungeon for all three factions?”
”Stop talking about these useless things. Which one do we choose?” Twinkle Fried Rice said.
”This is a level 90 dungeon; we probably won't be able to complete it,” Hao Tian said with a low voice. ”Since it's pioneering, let's first familiarize ourselves with the dungeon. It's best to choose a faction we're familiar with, the escaping mercenaries.”
”Ah, escaping again.” The others complained—running away was not as fun as chasing people at all.
Nonetheless, most of these players were pro players. Even though they clearly knew that it was very difficult to clear a level 90 dungeon, they would not back away. Although they were escaping underground, it was very likely that they would not be able to see Dragon Emperor's attack, just like before. Bun-Hit-Dog did not know the details of this dungeon, so he did not say anything.
Hao Tian chose the escaping mercenaries faction. White starlight appeared at the edge of the players' vision. Their vision was dragged by an unknown force and 'fell down' into the planet. The fleets of different colors, the clouds, the sky, and the environment around them flashed past. They moved right toward the stone ground, and their vision passed through it the next moment, entering the dark underground and regaining their vision.
In front of them was the dark underground filled with twists and turns. Their bodies shook as they recovered control of their movement. Looking down, their bodies were complete, and nothing was missing.
This time, a small virtual column appeared in the vision of these ten people; it was the mission list. The players could customize and have some of the information in their interface always shown before them. Currently, the dungeon missions were shown and could not be hidden. They hovered at the top right of their vision.
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You are an escaping mercenary. The underground is filled with DarkStar hover ships and groups of warriors. You know very well that if you are caught, you will face torture worse than death. Enemies are everywhere, and there is almost no chance to escape. However, the reinforcements ignited your will to live.
Dungeon Target: Escape from the pursuit until the Dragon Emperor arrives.
Countdown: 12 hours.
Completion Reward: 6,000,000 Experience
Failure Condition: Everyone being caught
Punishment: 10% decrease in total reward for every player caught
Optional Mission I: Kill 100 DarkStar troops. Reward: 400,000 Experience
Optional Mission II: Destroy 10 hovering ships. Reward: 700,000 Experience
Optional Mission III: Protect 6 mercenaries who are being chased. Reward: 1,000,000 Experience
Challenge Mission I: Not triggering any alarms. Reward: 2,000,000 Experience
Challenge Mission II: Get rid of pursuers 5 times without any deaths. Reward: 3,500,000 Experience
Random Events: In the process of escaping, you have a chance to meet random events. Complete two random events. Reward: 3,000,000 Experience
The number of side missions completed affects the dungeon completion rating.
Remarks: When coming into contact with the main characters of the event, the dungeon target and difficulty will change. When a main character is within the range of one kilometer from you, you will receive a notification. Please select carefully whether to change the route.
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After the mission appeared, a twelve-hour countdown clock appeared in the top left corner of their vision.
”So much information.” Frenzied Sword looked at them carefully and said, ”The final target of the escaping mercenaries is to not be caught. If we want to raise the reward, we have to act dangerously yet not get caught…”
They looked at the mission carefully. Hao Tian frowned and shared what he had analyzed from it.
”Twelve hours, which is shorter than our actual experience. Also, if one member fails, the total reward will decrease. Therefore, in order to get a high rating, all members must be alive and not captured till the end, ideally by working together. Furthermore, with this kind of system, it should mean we can betray our teammates… ahem, but there's a price to pay.
”The optional missions are only useful when we meet enemies, which conflicts with the challenge mission. In the two challenge missions, one is to be stealthy, and the other is to find trouble, so it means that we have to choose one of them? Hmm, seeing the difference in reward, finding trouble will be much more difficult. The random events should be the accidental element… This dungeon is very complex. Also, the main character is mentioned at the end, which means we will not follow Black Phantom as we did before; we will be alone instead. I…”
Before he finished analyzing, the sound of hovering ship flying appeared in front of them, and an anxious voice came from their headsets.
”Attention all mercenaries, four hovering ships are searching the area. Don't stay in one place, leave right now!”
As soon as the sentence ended, the light of a searchlight appeared at the tunnel ahead. Their face changed. There was no time to discuss, so they hastily turned around and sprinted away.
”The start of this dungeon is so quick. It's only been two to three minutes, and the enemies are already here!” Sleepy Winter was worried. ”The dungeon pace is too fast. If the enemies are too close to each other, it will be very difficult to last twelve hours!”
They ran for a while, and the hovering ship behind them moved forward like they had yet to be discovered. Nonetheless, they were not slow at all… They ran till their Stamina fell very quickly, but still, they could not increase their distance with the hovering ship behind. Most importantly, there was only one route in this tunnel—they had yet to find a different path.
This was a level 90 dungeon. Its difficulty could be seen everywhere. They were just level 60 and could not even get rid of these enemies.
”Let's stop running—we should turn back and see how strong the enemies are,” Frenzied Sword suggested.
”That works as well. Adjust your position. Mechanics, stand at the backline to do damage output. Espers, lure and divert attention. Pugilists, go aggressive directly.”
Hao Tian was very decisive. He commanded the others and formed a simple cooperative formation. The searchlight approached quickly, and a hovering ship just a few meters long appeared, noticed them, then immediately flew toward them at a high speed. The mini laser cannon shot out a long, green laser.
Boom boom boom!
Laser cannon explosions did not create smoke, but pebbles splashed from the wall and the floor where it hit.
They charged forward with wide strides and surrounded the hovering ship, and the battle broke out immediately.
At the same time, the frame of the countdown clock in everyone's vision suddenly turned red as a notification popped up.
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You have triggered a level one alarm. The enemy's reinforcements will arrive in ten minutes!
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”Quick, finish the battle within ten minutes!”
With the time limit, their faces changed a little. Their eyes became more serious. They increased their attack speed and strength.
Boom boom boom!
All kinds of high-power attacks were thrown at the hovering ship, but the hovering ship's shield was not just for decoration; it blocked a large number of attacks. The power of the mini lasers was not small—one shot would take away 200 to 300 HP from them. Although it looked like its damage was not high, its attack speed was fast!
For a grade B Super, dealing with a hovering ship would be much easier, but they were just level 60 grade C Supers. Plus, the players had very few talents and did not have Molding Talents at all, so they were not at an advantage in terms of attributes. Level 60 players were at the bottom of grade C Supers. Furthermore, even when the players reached level 90 in Version 2.0, they would only be grade C+. The level difference between grades increased from lower grades to higher grades. To them, the hovering ship that was supposed to be an elite monster was basically a BOSS.
As time passed, their attacks became more urgent, and it was easier to make mistakes. Finally, after paying a price of three deaths, they were able to destroy this hovering ship, and it exploded with a bang.
The rest of the people were breathing heavily, their HP decreased by more than half.
”It's too difficult! The side mission requires us to destroy ten hovering ships, but just one is already this hard to deal with. Three of us even died. The level difference is too huge!” Twinkle Fried Rice said.