Chapter 33: Solo Dungeon! Chronicles of the Desolate Village!

"Boss, Baili Dao submitted another application for new recruit resources. It's still about that newbie with the ID 'Widow'... this..."

Inside the Mingyang City Anomalous Affairs Bureau.

Hearing the news from his secretary, the person in charge waved his hand dismissively. "Reject it. The beta testing for [Spirit Calamity Game] has ended. There won't be any more newbies before the official launch. That idiot Baili must have been tricked by some kind of disguise item."

"We've already rejected him several times. You know his personality; he's just going to keep applying," the secretary said with a helpless shrug.

The person in charge felt equally helpless.

Indeed, he had to admit that Baili Dao was incredibly stubborn in certain aspects.

But as the head of the Mingyang City branch of the Anomalous Affairs Bureau, he managed a vast number of players. With limited resources, he simply couldn't allocate funds to such ethereal, unsubstantiated matters.

Even if Baili Dao had actually encountered a newcomer.

Given the current challenges facing the Bureau, recruiting one more newbie was meaningless; it was better to save the resources for the veterans within the Bureau.

"Fine, tell him this: if that newbie is as legendary as he claims, have them clear a Nightmare-grade dungeon for me to see," the person in charge said jokingly. "If they can actually do it, I'll give them as many resources as they want."

A newbie? Clearing a Nightmare-grade dungeon?

He almost laughed at himself.

The probability of such a thing happening was lower than buying a lottery ticket on the street, winning ten million, and then coincidentally meeting the person you fall in love with while collecting the prize—the two of you hitting it off and getting married, and then, on some wedding anniversary years later, buying another lottery ticket and winning another ten million.

Haha, how ridiculous.

You won't win ten million, you won't meet your soulmate, and no one will even want to marry you.

In short, the whole thing was absurd.

A newcomer appearing after the beta ended?

What a joke.

This was the situation Baili Dao encountered on his first day back at the Bureau branch after finishing [School Escapade].

No one believed what he said.

Unless "Widow" could truly handle a Nightmare-grade dungeon.

Because when a Nightmare-grade dungeon is cleared, the game system announces it to the entire server. At that moment, everyone would know he wasn't lying.

Unfortunately, that day would never come.

Looking at the messages from Widow, who was asking about common knowledge like dungeon difficulty classifications, Baili Dao sighed and continued to respond patiently.

————

Three days passed in a flash.

"Pick it up! I told you to pick up your ear!"

Wu Wang expressionlessly scolded his second sister, who was sticking her tongue out and making strange "lulu" sounds.

She shrugged helplessly and said, "Oh come on, this pig ear fell on the ground and got dirty, it's inedible. Didn't your clothes get dirty too? Take them off, I'll wash them for you later."

"I can understand you dropping food because you didn't grip the chopsticks firmly." Wu Wang looked down at his clothes, which were stained with red chili oil.

He then looked at the distance between himself and his sister, which spanned more than half the dining table.

His mouth twitched. "But I cannot understand how you can flick a pig ear off your chopsticks across a table and hit my clothes. If this wasn't intentional, I'll jump off the building right now."

With that, he went back to his room to change.

*Click—*

Under his sister's stunned expression, he locked the door, and the rumbling sound of a small washing machine drifted from inside.

"My God! We're siblings! Don't you have even a shred of trust? You actually secretly bought a small washing machine and hid it in your room just so I wouldn't take your worn clothes?" Wu Xiaoyou shouted fiercely.

But her face was far too exquisite.

Even her attempt at a fierce expression looked cute, or even charming.

Wu Wang's voice drifted from the room.

"Trust? You went to a fortune teller under a pedestrian bridge the day before yesterday with my clothes, telling him there's a moron in the family with mental issues who wants to commit suicide every day, asking him to exorcise evil, only to be scammed out of 200 yuan. You think I don't know?"

"Which 'immortal' are you trying to find with my clothes this time?"

Hearing this, the fierce expression on Wu Xiaoyou's face gradually vanished.

It was replaced by a look of shame and indignation as she argued back, "What else could I do? What if you wanted to commit suicide and it wasn't a psychological issue, but you were actually possessed? I had to try..."

As she spoke, she suddenly frowned.

Confused, she said, "Wait! How did you know about that? I never told you!"

Silence filled the room for about three seconds.

Then, Wu Wang's proud voice rang out.

"Because that blind fortune teller was me in disguise. I made that 200 yuan."

"?"

Wu Xiaoyou's chopsticks clattered onto the dining table.

This time, she was truly so startled that she couldn't hold them steady.

Images flashed through her mind: the blind fortune teller's trembling gait, the tattered robe, the slightly tanned skin, and especially that long hair growing out of the small, thumb-sized mole on his chin.

How the hell could makeup produce that?

She lunged up and pounded on Wu Wang's bedroom door, cursing, "You absolute bastard! That was my hard-earned money from a whole day's work! Give it back!"

"Second Sister, do you know why nouveau riche people usually go broke so fast?" Wu Wang said cheekily after opening the door. "Any wealth that doesn't match one's IQ will eventually flow back into the market through various means."

He pointed his left hand at the food on the table.

He pressed his right hand against Wu Xiaoyou's forehead, ignoring her harmless punches and kicks.

He continued, "A portion of that 200 yuan was also eaten by you. I'm the one who goes out to buy groceries and cook every single day. Dammit, at least give me some money!"

At the mention of food, Wu Xiaoyou immediately lost her temper.

This was the one thing she truly couldn't argue against.

She was the kind of "genius" who could burn down an entire building if left unsupervised in a kitchen for half an hour.

Sometimes, when Wu Wang wasn't home or was too busy with work to cook, she could only eat instant noodles.

Why not order takeout?

Because in normal circumstances, Wu Xiaoyou was incredibly stingy; a 10-yuan delivery fee on a trashy platform felt like it was taking half her life.

The only time she spent money lavishly was on hiring a psychologist for Wu Wang, or during incidents like the fortune-telling exorcism a few days ago.

"Alright, stop arguing. Finish eating so you can get to work," Wu Wang reminded her, checking the time.

Seeing this, Wu Xiaoyou felt a jolt of panic.

She rushed back to the table and began wolfing down food without any decorum, her cheeks bulging like a hamster's as she chewed incessantly, terrified she wouldn't be full before work.

Wu Wang shook his head.

He turned back into the bedroom and dragged out a ragged-looking bamboo hat from under the bed.

Coincidentally, he had picked up this hat while passing the pedestrian bridge on the day he played the blind fortune teller using the [Fake Smile Mask].

It saved him the trouble of buying a new one.

Three days had passed. The dungeon was ready.

"Come on! Abyss God! Activate!"

*Snap—*

As the bamboo hat covered his head, Wu Wang's vision instantly turned pitch black, and the environment around his bedroom warped in the blink of an eye.

[Nightmare-grade Solo Story Dungeon Matched]

[Welcome to Yin-Yuan Village]

[Dungeon Name: Chronicles of the Desolate Village]

[Dungeon Introduction: This is a village nestled deep in the mountains. Due to the surrounding peaks, travel is difficult and communication with the outside world is minimal. However, this does not hinder the village's prosperity; everyone lives in peace and contentment. This is all thanks to our adherence to the rules passed down by our ancestors. The Yin-Yuan Saintess will protect us.]

[As an ordinary orphan in the village, you have survived solely on the charity of the villagers.]

[Now, as the Yin-Yuan Sacrifice approaches, the village is struggling to find a Yin-Yuan Saintess. While walking in the forest, you encounter a young girl who has lost her way and fallen from the mountain, unconscious. Her birth details happen to perfectly match the requirements for the Yin-Yuan Saintess. Your choice is...]

[Life or Death, Redemption or Sin.]

[Everything is in your hands; everything is fate.]

[Main Quest: #%&*&%#*]

[Side Quest 1: Investigate the secrets of the Village Chief's house.]

[Side Quest 2: Learn the truth behind the Yin-Yuan Sacrifice and find the real Yin-Yuan Saintess.]

[Side Quest 3: Resolve the supernatural incidents in the ancestral hall and eliminate the ghosts within.]

[Clear Rewards: 2000 Calamity Coins, one Fine-grade equipment, one Skill Evolution Guidance item, one Fine-grade consumable item.]

[Hidden Reward—Conditions Unknown]

[May you find the death that belongs to you.]

This was the first time Wu Wang had seen such a long dungeon introduction. Combined with the side quest requirements, it seemed this Yin-Yuan Village was hiding a lot!

There were likely many unspeakable secrets.

But the thing that gave him the biggest headache was—

Where was the Main Quest?!

He looked down at the red vertical pupil on the inside of his wrist and cursed viciously, "I can understand you distorting my quest last time, but what the hell does it mean to just censor it with pixels this time? I want to play as an infantryman, not a cavalryman!"

The clearance rate for Nightmare-grade dungeons was already terrifyingly low, and now he didn't even know the main quest.

How was he supposed to play this?!

Moreover, the clear rewards were far too generous.

So generous that...

Wu Wang felt this was a trap.

[Spirit Calamity Game] wasn't stupid; it wouldn't just give away so many things for nothing. It could only be said that, in the eyes of the game, the difficulty of this dungeon truly matched such bountiful rewards.

"Heh, not giving a main quest? Aren't you afraid I'll just strangle that damn Yin-Yuan Saintess the moment I see her? Fine! I'll try threatening her like that later!"

Wu Wang slowly opened his eyes and officially entered the dungeon.

The first thing that met his eyes wasn't the environment, but a young girl lying in front of him.

Her appearance...

Could no longer be described merely as beautiful.

Mainly because she looked exactly like Wu Xiaoyou!

The two of them looked as if they had been carved from the same mold!

The red vertical pupil on the inside of his wrist blinked at Wu Wang, as if asking him why he hadn't strangled her yet.

"Hiss..."

"Then again, I don't think there's any need to rush. She probably has many secrets of her own. We should start from here."

Wu Wang's moral compass had always been flexible.

He could defy authority and the law when necessary, or hide in a gutter during a game of hide-and-seek.

When it came to being stubborn and talking big, he was quite proficient.