Yan Qing thought he should have poor sleep quality in this unfamiliar cave, as he's always the type to suffer endocrine disorders once he travels—unfamiliar environments tend to trigger a Hakimi response in him.
But to his surprise, Yan Qing woke up feeling as refreshed as if he'd put on red underwear on New Year's Eve—a precious experience he hadn't had since he fell into the unhealthy habit of office work.
After a simple wash-up, he slightly reheated the leftover meat buns from last night—yes, the room even had a fireplace—and after breakfast, Yan Qing turned on the game console.
Messenger, start!
Without windows, Yan Qing could only judge the time by the game console; outside, it should be just dawn, with the sky retaining its deep blue night hue. 'Yan San' was already up and practicing spear techniques.
"Would you like to switch the gameplay mode from 'Automatic Evolution' to 'Manual Control'?"
The automatic evolution was something Yan Qing discovered when he intended to log off last night. After some simple research, he found out it's essentially an idle system, but a rather smart one: the game character would automatically deduce its next actions based on past gameplay experiences. For example, 'Yan San' mindlessly joined the military camp, thus he would regularly sleep, periodically do exercises and follow orders until Yan Qing logs in to control him.
Yan Qing let 'Yan San' continue idling and opened the public warehouse to take out a bowl of steaming hot rib soup—the meat bun wasn't quite enough, and drinking hot soup in the morning was necessary.
By the time the gathering bell rang at the training ground, 'Yan San' had leveled up again, which meant Yan Qing, even playing hands-off, would have 'Yan San' level to 10 within four or five days.
The soldiers gathered at the training ground, and 'Yan San' quickly found his superior—the same Evil Ghost Knight from yesterday.
At this moment, the latter's name was floating overhead: 'Baibao Banner Master Wuwan Liu'. This name was told to him by others, but once the game character knows the information, the system automatically matches the name to the person.
Wuwan Liu: "Today it's our turn, Second Banner, to enter the Secret Realm. As per old rules, ten people for the Archery Team, rewarded Five Jades; five for the Warrior Team, rewarded Thirty Jades. You, join the Warrior Team!"
The person Wuwan Liu named was 'Yan San'.
Yan Qing didn't understand what this was about, so he went along with it, letting the riding slave help him into heavy armor, equipped with a long spear, a big bow, a pot of arrows, and even bandages and strong liquor for first aid. Everyone else was eager to enroll, but all were scrambling for the Archery Team; the Warrior Team required Wuwan Liu to personally name people.
Besides the Archery Team and Warrior Team, Wuwan Liu also named twenty people as a reserve team.
After assembling the team, Wuwan Liu did not head out of the military camp, but rather led them deeper into the camp. As they went further inside, the guard became increasingly stringent, including watchtower ramparts and chevaux de frise towers... the military camp Yan Qing previously knew was merely the outer living area, while the interior was not only more heavily guarded, but the main force of the military seemed to be dedicated to internal watching.
Under the aiming of dozens of powerful crossbows from four directions, the rampart gates slowly opened, and Wuwan Liu led them into the most heavily guarded area of the camp.
At this moment, even Yan Qing couldn't help but wonder: What exactly is inside that requires a whole military camp to protect?
Appearing on the screen was a mansion.
Yan Qing thought to himself, what important figure lives inside, needing the entire military camp for protection? But taking two steps further, he saw the mansion's vermilion door cast a faint green ripple, and the game popped up related information:
"Zhen San Mountain Zheng Family"
"Background: Zheng Shan has a reputation as a great philanthropist, donating money annually to repair bridges, support academies, and care for the needy, but no one knows the Zheng Family is actually a den of thieves. Zheng Shan commits robberies and murders in distant lands, known in the underworld as 'Zhen San Mountain', yet he passionately engages in charity upon returning home, thus the Government Office never suspects him..."
"Challenge Level: 8~15"
"Challenge Participants: Up to 15 people"
"Objective: Kill 'Zhen San Mountain' Zheng Shan"
At this time, Wuwan Liu spoke: "I reiterate, all loot is public, and only I can access all treasure chests. If anyone violates the rules, don't blame me for being ruthless! As for you, follow me closely later, and if you can make it out alive, you are a Baibao Knight, but if you retreat or flee upon facing demons... then you'll stay inside forever."
"Last check on the weapons, Second Banner, enter the Secret Realm!"
Ah, that's how it is!
No wonder Black Wolf was so knowledgeable about the Thief's House,
No wonder Wuwan Liu had a Body-Protecting Token,
It turns out people in this world can discover dungeons and exploit the resources within!
In the eyes of the people in this world, dungeons that form a universe of their own are indeed worthy of the name 'Secret Realm'.
When 'Yan San' followed the team inside, the screen changed dramatically; despite it being dawn outside, inside the dungeon it turned to night. They arrived at the courtyard outside the mansion, where numerous fire pits lined the path leading into the mansion. Five fierce and evil servants patrolled the center of the road, their heads showing the name 'Mountain Bandit Servants' along with health bars.
Wuwan Liu: "Archery Team split into left and right wings, await for crossfire. Warrior Team, stick to me, advance five steps!"
Wuwan Liu said, stepping forward five steps and forcefully embedding the long weapon Yanyue Saber into the ground, showing no fear of the servants ten steps away launching a sudden attack. Yet when all warriors got behind Wuwan Liu, the servants still showed no reaction.
Yan Qing naturally understood the reason—the dungeon monsters operate according to programmed actions, and Wuwan Liu's distance just happened to be outside the monsters' aggro range.
Wuwan Liu drew back the hard bow and commanded: "Ready!"
'Yan San' and other teammates drew their hard bows, while the Archery Team had already split into left and right wings, standing behind them prepared to shoot.
"Fire!"
Fifteen arrows shot toward the five bandit servants like a water spray, with each receiving an average of three arrows. Their health decreased by one-third. However, despite being hit, these Mountain Bandit Servants were not affected in their movements; instead, they raised their large knives and charged forward!
Datafication!
These monsters are different from True Man; they don't experience a decrease in combat effectiveness due to injuries. Only by depleting their health completely will they die!
"Near Guard, engage!"
Wuwan Liu picked up the Yanyue Saber to confront the foremost servant, and other warriors each held off a servant, none were left out. It's worth mentioning that aside from Wuwan Liu and 'Yan San,' all other warriors are Sword and Shield Hands, primarily focused on defense.
As the servants ran over, the rear Archery Team conducted another round of shooting, so when 'Yan San' engaged in combat with the servants, the opponents were already half-health, but this instance was for levels 8~15, meaning the servants were at least level 8, higher than 'Yan San,' thus when 'Yan San' struck a servant, the opponent only lost 15% health,
The battle concluded quickly, although Yan Qing operated diligently, he still got hit twice by the servants, losing about 10% health.
Yan Qing opened his personal warehouse, clicked 'Meat Bun,' and chose to eat it.
"Where did you get the meat bun from?" the Sword and Shield Warrior beside him asked, panting with surprise.
Yan San: "Left from breakfast."
After finishing the meat bun, a small segment of slowly recovering green health appeared on the health bar. As a seasoned player, Yan Qing naturally understood what this meant: Green health represents the amount of recovery the meat bun can provide, but it takes time to slowly take effect.
After the fight, Wuwan Liu did not proceed immediately but allowed everyone a moment's rest to relax their muscles. Yan Qing looked at the 'Spiritual Jade,' 'Roast Chicken,' 'Blood Replenishing Pill,' and 'Steel Ingot' floating over the servant's corpses and then glanced at the Baibao Knights who were indifferent to these loot items. He thought for a moment and controlled 'Yan San' to approach the loot.
"You picked up Spiritual Jade ×300"
"You picked up Roast Chicken ×2"
"You picked up..."
"What are you doing!" Wuwan Liu's roar seemed to blast through the game console, exploding in Yan Qing's ears.
He stood up, gripping the Yanyue Saber tightly, his eyes glaring at 'Yan San' from behind the Evil Ghost Mask:
"Why are you stepping on these demon corpses!"
Inspired, Yan Qing responded, "I was not happy about getting hit twice earlier."
Wuwan Liu looked at him for a while and said, "Don't step on them, their clothes need to be collected later. If you're injured, apply medicine soon, as there will be more fighting shortly."
Yan Qing now fully confirmed that people in this world cannot see the loot dropped by dungeon monsters!
Thinking carefully, it indeed doesn't make any sense; who would carry money, food, and various materials? But after all, Messenger is an MMORPG, it's impossible for dungeon monsters to only drop related items, otherwise, when clearing a humanoid monster dungeon like this, players' backpacks would be filled with low-grade weapons and armor, which would just waste storage space and be meaningless. Players would definitely convert these junk loots for Spiritual Jade immediately after battle, so it's better to directly give Spiritual Jade, supplies, and stackable materials.
Although people in this world can enter dungeons, they ultimately aren't players in the game, so they cannot see these convenient loot mechanics nor benefit from them.
After resting, Wuwan Liu led them into the main house, and immediately upon entering, they saw five servants eating inside. Using the same tactics, they managed the distance, first shooting together, then the warriors charged in, and the Archery Team performed crossfire.
Because the space inside the main house was narrower, the five warriors had limited room to move, and Yan Qing only successfully dodged once, losing a total of 20% health before finishing the battle.
The good news is that after two battles, 'Yan San' is already level 7.
Just as Yan Qing prepared to eat Roast Chicken to replenish health, the Sword and Shield Warrior beside him said, "Banner Master, I, I can't go on."
This Sword and Shield Warrior had no health bar above his head, but he had multiple injuries on his body, and there was even a deep wound on his shoulder that exposed the bone, his armor was slashed through.
Yan Qing then realized that aside from 'Yan San' and Wuwan Liu, each of the other three Sword and Shield Hands was injured, in very poor condition.
Wuwan Liu remaining unharmed was understandable; he had already changed jobs and had the Body-Protecting Token, yet 'Yan San,' clearly taking several hits too, why...
Yan Qing looked at the health bar in the lower-left corner of 'Yan San' and immediately understood everything.
'Yan San' and dungeon monsters are both datified beings, no matter how injured, it wouldn't affect combat effectiveness. Only when the health bar is emptied would they die. Besides, True Man needs to perform hemostasis, disinfection, and bandaging to heal, whereas 'Yan San' only needs to eat a bun or roast chicken to restore health.
Datification not only affects injuries but also combat style. These servants, when fighting, are fearless and never dodge, exchanging blows with them. Fighting such 'unafraid of death' and 'not affected by injuries' monsters, no matter how cautious someone is, they will undoubtedly get injured, no wonder the warrior team bounty is six times that of the Archery Team yet no one comes; the risk is truly too great.
Thinking this way, it's natural for locals to call dungeon monsters demons: hard to kill, not afraid of death, exchanging life for life, and reviving with dungeon refreshes, what else are they if not demons?