Lucky billion players, you've never seen one before / I can accumulate my own luck

Upon hearing this, Luga sighed inwardly.

He only came to participate in the instance at the very last possible interval, and he can't afford the penalty of wasting his train ticket.

"Do you have a walkthrough for Utopia?" Luga asked.

"I don't have it. Very few players have a complete walkthrough for this dungeon."

The player on the notice board said, "If you really want to go, you'd better hire a dungeon guard from the Special Affairs Bureau. There are players in the Special Affairs Bureau who have perfectly cleared this dungeon and have the most complete strategy."

He pointed to the Special Affairs Bureau's branch office at Station A1 and said, "You can hire them there."

"Is that so... Thanks."

After parting ways with the players on the notice board, Luga and his two companions went straight into the Special Affairs Bureau building.

There are many shops inside, selling potions, items, dungeon information, souvenirs... Most of these shops are not operated by the Special Affairs Bureau itself.

The Special Affairs Bureau essentially created a safe zone through the Blood Spirit Guards and then started a business similar to real estate.

Most of the players who rent shops in this building come from various legitimate player factions, big and small, within the 010 division... well, legitimate, the kind that have registered their information.

Of course, the Special Affairs Bureau itself has not given up on doing business with players.

They specifically set up shops to sell items and potions, as well as hire dungeon guards, as a way to provide benefits to their own members.

What Luca and his two companions found was the Special Affairs Bureau's hiring shop.

After explaining their purpose, the shop manager who stayed behind quickly recommended a C-level player from the Special Affairs Bureau.

The other person's name was Jiang Xian. He was tall and strong, stood with his back straight, and had the air of a soldier.

Jiang Xian said to the three of them decisively, "Let's go now and teleport directly into the instance using our tickets."

“Uh…aren’t you going to explain the situation to us first?” Luga reminded him.

"Utopia is a random instance. Each time a ticketed player enters, the instance will not open immediately. Instead, some scammers will be forcibly pulled in from the outside. A small portion of the scammers are players, but the majority are ordinary people."

Jiang explained, "The instance will only open once enough people are involved. So, we still have plenty of time if we go now. I will explain the information I know on the spot and compare it with the environment inside the instance, which will make it easier for you to understand."

"You don't need to tell us everything, just the most dangerous parts," Modan reminded. "If you know everything, and the final dungeon rating is too low, the number of dungeons needed to level up will increase, which is not worth it."

"Okay." Jiang nodded.

After the four agreed on the plan, they simultaneously exchanged their train tickets and were teleported into the instance.

When they came to their senses, all four of them found that their vision had darkened and there were no other players around.

It seems they were among the first players to enter.

Luga looked up at a town not far away, where a town of moderate size could be clearly seen.

Outside the town were hilly terrains, and the four of them were currently on the outskirts of the town.

At this moment, Jiang Xian's voice rang out: "This is the Utopia instance. The small town in the distance is the Spirit Sacrifice Town, where we will stay for the night."

"There are two types of monsters in this instance: the Town Spirit and the Deceitful Ghost. The Deceitful Ghost is active during the day, while the Town Spirit is active at night."

"During the day, the Deceitful Ghosts will change their form to approach us outsiders. If you fail to recognize them and are successfully deceived, going through the entire deception process, your power will be sealed, and you will almost certainly die without anyone rescuing you. Only when the deception fails will they reveal their true form and fight you..."

"At night, the town ghost will begin to move, creating supernatural events to instill fear in you. Once your fear level reaches a certain threshold, the town ghost may gain the authority to attack you..."

"Therefore, once the dungeon opens, we must find a family in the town of living people to stay with. Generally, those who have set up an altar in their homes to worship their relatives are the residents of the town of living people..."

After the explanation, Luga and his two companions gradually understood the crisis logic within this instance and how to clear it.

Finally, Jiang Xian instructed the three of them: "Remember! In this instance, you must not lie! The only lie that players can tell is to tell the townspeople that they are outside law enforcement officers."

"Once players acquire the identity of an enforcer, they can successfully capture the liar and bring him to the home of a living town resident for sacrifice, thus completing the ritual."

"As long as the sacrifice is completed, the game is considered cleared... This is the game mode until the last dungeon ends."

"Uh... do you mean there might be a change this time?" Luga became wary.

“Changes to instances are not uncommon,” Modan said. “Instances inevitably change as they interact with multiple groups of players, and new game rules will emerge.”

"That makes sense. What we learned last time may not be entirely applicable this time."

Jiang nodded and said, "I suppose you inquired about the situation of this instance before you came to me."

"This dungeon is very famous in our region. Many people who are afraid of death come here, die in the dungeon, and turn into monsters."

"Originally, the ghost townspeople of Sacrifice Spirit Town were a group of victims who had been harmed by swindlers. The game rules of this instance were also created based on their story."

"But... as the number of 'non-victims' who die in this instance continues to increase, the original background framework is no longer applicable here, and it's only a matter of time before the game rules change."

"When exactly will it be changed..."

He shook his head and said, "I just hope it won't be this time."

"Our luck shouldn't be that bad, we just happened to run into the revised version. Anyway... let's hope everything goes well."

Luga also began to pray silently in his heart.

Soon after, the other ticket holders entered the venue.

Next came a group of people who were forcibly drawn into the instance, including players and ordinary people—these people had one thing in common...they were all fraudsters who had used deception to harm others.

Jiang Xian glanced around and briefly observed the surroundings.

In this instance, defeating the Deceitful Ghost and beating up the Scammer will earn you favor with the Town Spirit.

Once the favorability rating is reached, you will no longer be attacked by the town's ghosts.

Therefore, he needs to observe the strength of the players among these scammers.

They don't seem very strong... That's good!

There seems to be someone who looks familiar...

and many more!

That's not...that's not a butcher!?

How could this be... how could he possibly appear in such a low-level dungeon?

And didn't he already clear this dungeon?!

How could things have happened again now...?

Jiang Xian suddenly opened his mouth wide, his face showing an expression of utter surprise. His heart clenched, and an extremely strong sense of foreboding arose in his heart.

At this point, the instance opened.

The "Utopia" instance is now open.

[Background: Throughout history, death has been the sharpest blade to destroy happiness. The passing of loved ones, the death of friends, the eternal rest of lovers leave the living only with pain and longing for the past. Perhaps seeking solace, the people of Spirit Town began to fantasize about the existence of an afterlife… (omitted)… Spirit Town seems to have become a utopia, a place far removed from the pain of life and death.]

[Note: If death weren't the end, how many regrets could be made up for... Almost every tourist drawn to the town of Jiling harbors this desire. Only later do they realize that, in fact, it's quite good for a person to die cleanly, to return to dust...]

【hint:】

1. Don't easily trust others.

2. Make sure to find a safe place to stay.

3. A grand celebration will take place on the day of the memorial service.

[Instance Quest:]

1. Complete one sacrificial ceremony.

[2. Survival for seven days]

3. Helping a deceased person complete their full reincarnation.

Upon seeing the information pop up on the player panel, Luga and the other two breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, everything matched what Jiang Xian had said.

This proves that the game rules for this instance have not changed for the time being.

This time, nothing unexpected will happen.

"Fortunately, the rules haven't changed," Luga said in a low voice, a look of delight on his face.

“If the conditions are right, we can try to take on the third mission and help a deceased person achieve a full return,” Modan suggested. “This would also raise our dungeon rating.”

To help the deceased complete their return, you need to go to the "inner world" of this instance—that is, to that space full of the dead—and bring the remains of the deceased back to the "outer world" space where the Spirit Town is located.

Of course, Modan only made a suggestion and did not make a direct decision.

According to Jiang Xian, the "Space of the Dead" is extremely dangerous. Although the ghosts inside will not attack players who meet the corresponding conditions, the space itself has a "mental debuff" that will constantly make players feel the pain suffered by the deceased in life, gradually driving them into a state of madness. At the same time, they also have to face attacks from a large number of deceitful ghosts... It is not an easy thing to survive.

So... after making the suggestion, Modan, Luga, and Kayo all looked at Jiang Xian, seeking his opinion.

Noticing the questioning gazes of the three men, Jiang Xian finally came to his senses.

He instinctively swallowed hard and hissed, "The situation has changed! We need to retreat! Retreat as far as possible!"

"?"

What do you mean?

The three of them, including Luga, looked at each other, all somewhat puzzled.

……

Looking at the familiar dungeon scene and the familiar town, Fan Xiao felt a surge of emotions.

The experience of clearing dungeons with Lu Baizhi, Li Xian, Mercury, and others unconsciously surfaced in his mind.

I never thought I'd have to come back here again...

Ten minutes ago, Fan Xiao returned from node F07 to partition 010 of node G08.

The test results for the Super A item "Shifting Stars" are in—it shifted twice in total, from F07-025 to G08-010.

It seems that... while using this item to cross nodes results in a random landing point, it is only random within a certain limit.

It's impossible to start from node F07 and then randomly go to node A.

Using this tool, you can only traverse a single-digit number of nodes at most in one go.

Therefore, using it to replace the time-space train for travel between nodes is still very energy-intensive... well, it's nothing for Fan Xiao right now.

He returned to his hometown after clearing his mental energy only twice.

Although many spatial disasters hindered their return journey, with Qiqi by their side, these disasters were nothing.

All things considered... this tool is quite efficient in his hands.

He is satisfied.

Upon his return, Fan Xiao did not go home immediately.

He wasn't afraid of the three women at home who wouldn't give him any rest again, taking turns bothering him every night... He wasn't really afraid.

The main reason was that he remembered something—there was a supernatural instance in section 010 that could become his current "power bank".

The C-level "Utopia" is this instance.

This instance is filled with a large number of delicious-tasting souls... no, he meant there are a large number of ghosts here.

As the saying goes, if you don't take what Heaven gives you, you will suffer the consequences.

Sometimes, we have to compromise with fate and not blindly resist its arrangements.

Fan Xiao became the one who compromised.

Of course, there's a reason why he's so eager to improve his strength.

He hadn't forgotten one thing—Dr. Zhuang had very likely come to node G08 and was secretly plotting something.

Have to guard against it.

To be on the safe side, he needs to quickly improve his strength first.

At least the soul capacity of the A-level psionic power, the Four Worlds Thought, must be maximized!

Therefore, through lucky intervention, he forcibly anchored his future, which was drawn into the C-level dungeon "Utopia".

……

Jiang Xian felt a sense of déjà vu.

This sense of déjà vu came from a report submitted by a colleague from the Special Affairs Bureau—information about Fan Xiao.

This colleague is named Du Ruo. She comes from the same city as Fan Xiao and they were once involved in an E-level dungeon called "Sacrifice Island" together, sharing hardships.