Song Yan has unknowingly become the standard for measuring human brainpower, and everyone can't help but marvel at the magic of brain plastic surgery.
Because Wen Shi was undergoing surgery, the call ended hastily.
The water curtain disappeared, and the enclosed space returned to normal. A faint smell of rotting meat wafted from somewhere and quickly spread around.
The smell was accompanied by a whirring sound. They looked up and saw a vulture circling low overhead. It had no intention of harming anyone, and its beak with a sharp black hook opened and closed.
"Hell is about to form an expedition team to the human world. Those interested in participating please go to the designated location to sign up."
The unpleasant screams spread all the way forward, and brochures fell to the ground. Everyone picked up one at random, and a notification sounded in their ears:
[Side Quest: Return to the Human World
Mission Description: This expedition team has low benefits and no sponsorship. Demons generally prefer to serve the Demon King, so if you join, you'll be chosen! Become a member of the expedition team, and you'll be able to leave Hell with a clear conscience. Oh, provided you can successfully reach the registration point.
"The registration point is on the tenth floor." Liu Yuan read out the contents of the flyer.
Ji Yuanzhi said, "I'll go get Song Yan out. You guys go down first. I'll see you on the tenth floor later."
·
The tenth level of hell is not under the jurisdiction of any demon king. The demonic energy here is thin, resources are scarce, and there are only a few underground rivers, each of which leads to a different ghost place.
Demons are different from ordinary ghosts. They don't have much desire to eat human flesh and blood. Demons prefer to hunt other powerful races or their own kind. Therefore, visiting the human world to investigate is not very popular every year.
After Li Nan and the others came out of the elevator, they first walked around the area to make sure that there were really not many demons here.
There was a map printed on the back of the flyer with the location clearly marked. They had to take the 03 river channel, and the registration office was at the end of the river.
While waiting for Ji Yuanzhi, four or five players in a team passed by them, all heading towards River 03.
"It turns out that Li Nan is actually in this book."
"So the rumors about the Shiyu Tavern are true? They say he and Ji Yuanzhi killed all the demons in the tavern..."
They walked away, discussing in very low voices, unable to bear the Q-version scorer's vivid retelling.
The scorekeeper enthusiastically said, "Want to order a song while you're waiting? It's only fifty points each time."
The three of them were indifferent. Fifty points for singing a song, why not grab it?
"Don't you want to hear the simulated person sing? My voice is the same as his." The little devil turned around and said, "We can also dance, 80 points each time."
The second silence was not indifference. Liu Yuan found that there was actually a hint of movement.
She looked at the other two: "Want to share the bill?"
"…"
Li Nan wasn't very interested, but he didn't want to spoil the fun for others, so he offered a point: "Let's dance."
Singing cannot guarantee that you will not be out of tune, but a Q-version doll can still be entertaining even if it dances without rhythm.
Liu Yuan asked, "Can I choose a dance style? Ballet, tango, or something exotic?"
After the points were credited, the scorekeeper began to dance, swaying and moving his wings, hands, and feet, repeatedly apologizing as he danced: "I'm sorry, this is the only ability of the person being simulated."
"I'm sorry~"
Trying to get away with it by being cute.
Amidst the silent gazes of the crowd, the little mouth suddenly stopped repeating, and the elevator door opened again. It was Ji Yuanzhi who came in with a mirror.
When everyone was present, the scorer became stern-faced and devoted himself seriously to the new round of simulation assessment and measurement.
Following the map, there were rivers on either side, seemingly narrow, but as one approached the shore and gazed further out, it seemed like an endless sea. The river on the left was a sea of blood, and on the right, a struggling ghost hand. The lingering blood mist formed numbers, representing the first two rivers in the sequence.
Ji Yuanzhi looked at the map and said, "There's an underground passage a thousand meters ahead."
There is no maze and the underground passage is easy to find. It is exactly the same location as shown in the picture. You can even see footprints left by several previous players in the muddy area at the entrance.
The surroundings were dark, and the stairs narrowed as they descended, reaching the point where they had to resort to lighting props. Li Nan held a flashlight, and the walls on either side disappeared without a trace, leaving only an empty staircase. The shape of the staircase began to resemble an inverted triangle, shrinking continuously.
The two sides of the suspended stairs are like cliffs. If you fall down without carefulness, you will be killed.
Everyone unconsciously slowed down their pace and walked for a long time, as if they had descended into another level of hell.
"Help." A weak voice suddenly came from the front.
At the edge of the stairs, a woman was sitting with her knees tightly hugged. She was not a player, and there was a line of small words on her head: Human.
There was a gray mist lingering around the font, and a health bar could be seen below.
They looked at each other to make sure there were no markings on the top of their heads like the characters in the game.
"Help me." The woman showed a pitiful face, terrified: "Take me out, please?"
The game states that she is human, but for a human to appear out of nowhere in Hell is a very strange thing in itself.
"I..."
The woman wanted to explain, but was interrupted.
"No need to say more." Ji Yuanzhi pushed up his glasses and said, "We will definitely save you."
The others also nodded heavily without any hesitation.
"???" The woman couldn't control her expression for a moment.
No, don't you guys think about it?
"Don't sit there, come and follow me." Liu Yuan urged and pulled the woman up.
Not long after, the sound of crying was heard again, this time it was a child.
Hearing footsteps, the child looked over hopefully. Just as he was about to open his mouth, Liu Yun, who was closest to him, waved gently, "Why are you running to such a dangerous place? Come here, we'll take you with us."
"…"
She was so proactive that the child who was begging for help suddenly didn't want to get close and moved to the side.
However, Ji Yuanzhi behind him did not give him this opportunity and directly took the child's hand and walked down.
After going down a few stairs, the child slipped, perhaps because he was too nervous.
"Ah!" While screaming, he suddenly grabbed Ji Yuanzhi with both hands. Under the action of inertia, the two were about to fall into the abyss together, but Ji Yuanzhi stood very steadily and even pulled the child up with one hand.
"Are you okay?" Instead of scolding the child, Ji Yuanzhi considerately picked him up and said, "It's okay if you can't walk. I'll carry you down."
The little boy's eyes flickered, not understanding why the other party was so stable.
Continuing down the stairs, I met an old man and a middle-aged man.
The end of this passage can finally be seen.
There was a constant sound of flowing water at the end. The flashlight swept over and saw that the river water was very turbid. There was a tattered small boat parked on the shore.
"Get on board." Li Nan said.
There is no other means of transportation nearby, so no matter what potholes there are, we have to get up there.
Song Yan doesn't take up much space, and the boat can barely accommodate eight people.
Without oars, the boat drifted forward automatically at an incredible speed, and the cold stone wall beside it was constantly dripping with water.
About five or six minutes later, a corner appeared ahead. The boat turned the corner and immediately sank a lot.
The player was fine, but the rescued NPC started to panic when they saw the boat was sinking. The children started crying loudly, the women paced back and forth in panic, and the middle-aged man cursed angrily... These sounds intertwined together, making people feel extremely irritated.
[Attention, you have successfully entered River Channel 03.]
If you successfully rescue the child, you will receive an additional 10,000 points. If you successfully rescue the elderly, you will receive 1 blessing from the elderly. If you rescue the other two people, you will receive 1 special invisible item.
[Note: You must successfully rescue at least one person before you can reach shore.]
Liu Yun ripped a piece of fabric from her sleeve and threw it into the water. This thing, which should have floated on the surface, slowly sank. "There's a mysterious suction force at the bottom of the water," she said.
The ship itself could resist some of the suction, but not enough. At this point, the ship was almost halfway down. Li Nan said, "Reduce the weight."
He looked at several NPCs. The word "weight loss" clearly reminded them of something, and their cries became louder.
The direction of the dungeon's mechanics isn't hard to guess. As the boat drifts further, it's bound to throw more people down. Since all the NPCs can't be wiped out, the only option is to start with your own people. If you encounter a more aggressive teammate, they might even attack them beforehand for the reward.
Just as everyone was discussing, the middle-aged man suddenly rushed towards Liu Yun and wanted to push her off the boat. Unexpectedly, Liu Yun seemed to be prepared and dodged nimbly.
Seeing that the middle-aged man was about to stumble and fall, she used the whip to pull him back in time.
"Hiss." The long whip twisted his abdomen tightly, and the man gasped in pain.
When Liu Yun came to his side, the middle-aged man ignored the pain and his face flushed red: "I, I didn't mean to..."
Liu Yun waved her hand understandingly, indicating that he didn't need to say more and should understand it himself.
The previous scene failed to cause chaos, and the woman and the old man who had wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to take action had to stay quiet for the time being.
The excessive tolerance they received along the way always made them feel indescribable creepiness.
The ship cannot afford to be delayed for too long, so reducing its weight is imperative.
Ji Yuanzhi calmly held up the mirror to the NPC, and two lines of small words appeared on the mirror:
[Option 1: Transform into a low-quality mermaid and swim over.]
[Option 2: Removing limbs and reducing weight, commonly known as "human pig."]
The second option made the four NPCs' expressions change drastically, and their attention returned to the first option. What is a low-quality mermaid?
Before they could react, the little boy who had almost dragged Ji Yuanzhi into the abyss suddenly had his arm cut.
"You..." When he reacted and tried to dodge, blood of a strange color kept dripping in.
Pearl Academy has produced many low-quality mermaids, but no matter how low the quality is, their physique is stronger than that of humans. After evolution, their ability to resist pollution and swim will become innate talents.
A thin film formed on the wound, and the little boy let out a strange hissing sound from his throat. He curled up on the ground and began to mutate.
Ji Yuanzhi stared at the scene coldly.
The game deliberately labels the NPCs as human, but normally, a child of this age would not intentionally harm others or themselves.
The alienation was completed quickly, and Ji Yuanzhi threw him off the boat: "Swim by yourself."
The young, low-quality mermaid was just motivated by the desire to hunt. The mermaids had a strict hierarchy, and he didn't dare to disobey Ji Yuanzhi, so he tried his best to resist the suction in the water.
Ji Yuanzhi then looked at the other three NPCs.
"Who goes first?" His eyes stopped at the middle-aged man, who said hurriedly, "Ladies first."
The woman almost wanted to strangle him on the spot.
After some of the weight was removed, the boat rose slightly.
Facing Ji Yuanzhi who was approaching step by step, the middle-aged man's face became paler and paler.
"Choose one of the two. Which option do you like?" Ji Yuanzhi still came to the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man shook his head frantically.
Ji Yuanzhi sighed: "If you don't say anything, I will choose for you."
The moment he took out the dagger, the words "human pig" kept appearing in the middle-aged man's mind.
Something even more brutal than that had just begun. Ji Yuanzhi twirled the dagger and asked, "Where should we strike first?"
When he asked this question, the middle-aged man began to think uncontrollably.
It was difficult to chop off limbs with such a short dagger. The middle-aged man's lower body tightened as he met Ji Yuanzhi's cruel gaze and noticed the place where the other party had accidentally swept across.
Damn it, devil!
Ji Yuanzhi said calmly: "Start losing weight."
The bright knife flashed before his eyes. The middle-aged man completely ignored everything else and uttered a strange sentence in a hoarse voice: "I'll stamp it for you!"
Ji Yuanzhi had no intention of stopping.
The middle-aged man's temples were covered with cold sweat, and he spoke quickly: "With the chapter, you can pass the Hedao immediately."
The dagger stopped in the last few centimeters.
The middle-aged man was terrified. Without even asking, he spilled the beans: "We are human quality inspectors. Only those who have our stamp of approval can leave Hell."
Liu Yun behind him raised an eyebrow. No wonder they said they had to save at least one person after the game. It turned out it had nothing to do with morality, it just required a stamp.
So the mist next to the small words above their heads is a mosaic, covering up the words "Quality Inspector"?
Grass.
Liu Yun couldn't help but ask, "What good will it do to kill us or be killed by us?"
Along the way, these four NPCs never stopped.
"Whoever kills us will take over as quality inspector, and we'll be freed from reincarnation." The middle-aged man whispered, "Whoever is killed will have their blood drawn into River Channel 01, and their bodies thrown into River Channel 02."
Everyone thought of the sea of blood and ghost claws they had seen earlier, and secretly thought that they really made the best use of the players.
The middle-aged man was about to cry, but he couldn't. "I've said everything I need to say. Can you please put the knife away?"
Ji Yuanzhi: "Zhang Zi."
The middle-aged man tremblingly tore off a small piece of skin from his hand. It turned out to be fake skin that was glued on. An iron sheet with skull patterns printed on it was embedded in the flesh underneath.
When the iron sheet touches the skin, it will leave a mark.
Everyone got a stamp in turn.
The incident happened suddenly, and it is impossible for the NPC to fabricate this matter.
Ji Yuanzhi squinted his eyes and looked forward: "It's the shore."
From the moment I got the chapter, I could vaguely see that the road ahead was almost at the end.
Several quality inspectors trembled until the boat stopped and they saw them come ashore, and they finally felt like they had survived a disaster.
Everyone walked forward without looking back. The registration office for the inspection team was not far away. Two players were standing there. They were the team that Li Nan and others had encountered before.
Now there are only two people left in the team. The survivors looked very unhappy and filled out the registration form without saying a word.
After discovering that Li Nan and his group were not missing any people, the two men's expressions became more complicated. Following the direction of the recruiter's finger, they hurriedly walked towards the light with the stamped forms.
The person handing out the registration forms was a demon with toad skin: "Just fill in the required fields."
Everyone wrote very quickly. The devil took a quick look and stamped the paper, letting them go.
The bright light at the exit was blinding. The scorekeeper flapped his wings and spoke incoherently, "Congratulations, one hundred faints! You will be given an opportunity to seek help from outside the field. If you encounter danger in the future, I can rescue you on behalf of 460872."
Liu Yuan had been pondering a question for a long time. Now that the dungeon was almost over, he couldn't help but ask, "Regarding the quest for the Demon King's Appreciation, can Pei Wenwei really handle all nine Demon Kings at once with ease?"
"Of course," the scorer said seriously, "according to the data, he can definitely do it."
"You've successfully passed three levels in a row, so here's a small bonus. Player 460872 happened to be in some trouble recently, so you can witness how Aquaman handles the situation. However, I will completely erase your memories of this day."
Finally, it states the key point: "Only one hundred points!"
One hundred points won't buy you any loss or cheating.
"Boring." Ji Yuanzhi said indifferently: "Who would spend points on this?"
The air fell into a brief silence.
Liu Yuan whispered, "The three of us spent eighty points to make it dance."
"…"