Chapter 37: Instance Begins
“Let me say first, I don’t have any healing skills.” Yu Jiang spread her hands.
Shi Xu didn’t find it surprising. “I’ve seen other alchemists collect medicine making materials, but never one collecting snake venom.”
Just after the novice period, she took on two on the road, even had her vehicle dismantled, and ranked first in this monster-slaying instance in Silent Town. She couldn’t possibly be a healer.
Yu Jiang nodded. “Since we’re cooperating, shouldn’t you tell me about your skills or profession?”
In this kind of instance where you can really lose your life, trust is very important. Shi Xu directly opened the light screen and displayed the professional achievement.
Assassin · Stealth Level 2.
High attack, high burst, high combat power player with great potential, but leveling up is also very difficult.
Others enter the instance, kill a few small monsters, and light up the map. He has to kill small BOSSes and needs ranking.
If this mission fails, it’s unknown if he can level up afterward.
If stuck here, he won’t keep up with the survival game progress and will eventually be done for.
“No wonder you’re so intense. This profession isn’t for everyone.” Yu Jiang looked at him and sincerely sighed.
Shi Xu’s mouth twitched slightly. “You’re no slouch either.”
An alchemist with attack skills.
From what he knew, this profession requires low initial attack and knowledge of some basic Chinese herbal medicine to have a chance at the achievement.
Yesterday, a healer contacted him and proposed teaming up. He could take the instance supplies first, but she hoped he could help improve her strength for fixed teaming later.
An alchemist’s Level 1 healing skill restores 20 health points with a 24-hour cooldown.
In front of monsters of that spider queen level, it’s not enough.
To complete the mission, he couldn’t bring anyone, so he refused.
He didn’t expect to meet The King Called Me to Patrol the Mountain in this instance.
This way, both of them had improved chances of completing the mission and getting into the top ten.
“It’s a pity if the Pure Love Cockroach or Kuang Kuang Kuang from the friend group were in this instance too.”
One has control, the other has ranged attack. Either one would make it much easier.
Yu Jiang briefly described her skills. “Area damage, but the damage isn’t high.”
She was indeed an Alchemist Level 3 achievement, but only in drug manufacturing. The Poison Rain skill hadn’t been upgraded yet.
Shi Xu nodded. Even with low damage, she rolled to first, so her observation and reaction ability must be excellent.
While thinking, he suddenly heard a clanging sound.
Looking sideways, Yu Jiang, who had been behind the wooden house, was now behind the bathroom, holding a crowbar, banging on the bathroom window frame. She didn’t spare the nearby sheet metal either.
That momentum was just short of shouting “80! 80!”
Shi Xu’s eyes froze in shock, and he asked puzzledly, “What are you doing?”
“Since you saw those two vehicles on the road last time, I won’t pretend anymore.” Yu Jiang kept talking while her hands didn’t stop moving.
“While the instance hasn’t started yet, I’ll dismantle the house first and recover some materials.”
Abandoned public restroom? No, this is resources!
Yesterday at the service area, seeing a pile of abandoned vehicle frames she couldn’t scavenge, she thought about it even in the middle of the night.
Now seeing a bathroom that could yield iron blocks, how could she not smash it a couple times.
[Obtained Iron Block*5. It has a bit of smell, but still usable.]
[True powerhouses never complain about the environment, but you even scavenge bathrooms!
Player obtained achievement ‘Fearless Environment Scavenger’. Reward: Crowbar quality +1.
(Using good tools makes scavenging easier!)]
Yu Jiang looked satisfied at the crowbar in her hand. Its appearance hadn’t changed much; it was still that plain and unadorned crowbar.
Suddenly, a scream came from inside.
“Holy crap! Who is it! What are you doing while I’m using the toilet? Surely not stealing shit!”
Yu Jiang knocked two more times, smashed off a piece of sheet metal, recovered one iron block, then put away the crowbar and ran.
She hadn’t expected someone inside. If word got out, it’d be embarrassing, so she ran.
“Want iron blocks? I’ll give you two.” Yu Jiang looked at the other person, wanting to drag him into it.
“Thanks, no need.”
Shi Xu looked at the player who rushed to the back with indescribable eyes, pulling up his pants and shouting ‘Who is it, who! What do you want?’
He turned halfway around without seeing anyone and told the people asking nearby that he thought the instance was starting soon and was too nervous, so he went in to squat for a bit. Then some lunatic smashed the wall behind him, scaring him.
“It couldn’t be some monster, right? Who smashes a bathroom if they’re normal?”
“Yeah, possible.”
Several people stood together discussing.
Yu Jiang naturally opened the exchange platform and traded the few iron blocks she just recovered for two compressed biscuits.
This was smelly, so the price was slightly lower.
7:55
All 20 players were already gathered. Yu Jiang checked the list again, regretting not seeing other friends.
7:58
Players who had already teamed up and negotiated profit distribution did a final equipment check.
This instance was on hard difficulty. Everyone looked a bit nervous, though a few were calm and confident.
8:00
[Lost Wilderness instance has opened. Refuel, survivors!]
Those not in team form entered with random position drops, so Yu Jiang naturally separated from Shi Xu.
They had planned to explore and open the map first, then meet at the watchtower in the 3 o’clock direction at 3 PM.
To balance the mission and competing for ranking, they had to compress exploration time as much as possible.
In front of her was a wasteland with no direction or landmarks. Wild grass was low, trees straight, moss plants covering the ground, and the air damp and cold.
This was a typical cool temperate coniferous forest, with cold climate and underdeveloped understory vegetation.
Luckily, she hadn’t forgotten all this knowledge.
Compared to that mountain forest with wild grass taller than people, the visibility here wasn’t too bad.
But the trees were tall and dense. The map on the light screen was covered in fog, which only cleared as players explored.
Finding the watchtower would directly light up the area map.
In short—run the map.
Yu Jiang picked a direction by instinct and started moving forward.
The instance channel was already buzzing with discussion.
“Can’t find north at all. Which direction is everyone going? This mission just needs exploration, no sniping mobs or robbing Wishing Stars, so we can communicate friendly.”
“Right, this place feels weird. I just heard rustling behind me, turned around, nothing there. Seeking teammate.”
“Asking is pointless. Everyone drops in different spots, map’s all foggy, can’t confirm direction or map area.”
“In this deep mountain forest, there shouldn’t be zombies, right? Plus this cold weather, no snakes and insects.”
“Still be careful, what if they’re mutated?”
“Don’t talk, it’s creepy.”
Everyone was chatting and discussing relaxedly for now. There were resource boxes in the instance too.
Under Yu Jiang’s go-getter action from the start, in just over an hour, she had found two boxes.
