Chapter 61: Bonus Dungeon

Wu Chang asked, "Instructor, what is the new hire welcome package?"

Zhao Yan kept him in suspense, saying, "You'll find out when we get there."

The group followed behind Zhao Yan, cutting through the complex of buildings belonging to the Administration all the way.

Once any major faction reaches certain conditions, they can carve out a special spatial dimension exclusively belonging to their own faction.

For instance, the special space where Wu Chang and the others were located—Crimson Waves—belonged to the Bureau of Anomalous Phenomena.

Once a special space is constructed, it gains permissions independent of the Crimson Courtyard, accessible only to players of that faction and invited players.

In other words, 99% of the players appearing within the Crimson Waves space belonged to the Administration.

The Crimson Waves space was vast, and the players inside were equally numerous.

Along the way, Wu Chang and the others rarely saw deserted areas, especially in the core zones, where the bustling atmosphere rivaled that of the public plaza.

A rough estimate suggested that there were at least tens of thousands of players lingering in the Crimson Waves space at this moment!

One had to bear in mind that the Administration's members were not full-time players; they were responsible for handling supernatural events across the entire Xia Kingdom.

Just like the doll-faced woman and the buzz-cut middle-aged man, running themselves ragged in a continuous cycle was the norm, and only a tiny fraction remained stationed within the Crimson Waves space.

If a tiny fraction still amounted to tens of thousands, just how many members did the Administration have in total?

Thirty thousand? Fifty thousand? Or perhaps over one hundred thousand?

In the Abyss Game, a faction composed of three or four hundred players could dominate a region.

A corporation with thousands of people like United Intelligence could already be considered a major power capable of influencing the entire Wild Realm.

Yet, compared to the sheer scale of the Administration, these grassroots factions appeared utterly petty and parochial.

Zhao Yan led the group to the Primordial Pantheon.

Before entering the Primordial Pantheon, Zhao Yan finally revealed the answer regarding the onboarding reward.

"Your onboarding reward is an additional reward instance."

Wu Chang and several other assistants exchanged glances, unable to help asking, "An additional reward instance? Is that the kind of clearance stage with no combat and only loot?"

Zhao Yan: "..."

"If such a wonderful place existed, would I save the chance of entering it for you?"

Zhao Yan had originally intended to use the existence of the reward stage to showcase the Administration's exceptional welfare and attract the assistants.

Little did he expect this scoundrel Wu Chang to instantly elevate the expectations for the reward stage to an infinitely high level. Now, even if the reward stage was extremely alluring, the newcomers wouldn't feel any impact; they would only think: "Is that it?"

These cynical survivalist players spent every day plotting how to get something for nothing.

Bah!

Zhao Yan coughed to snap everyone out of their fantasies.

"The reward instance isn't as absurd as he described, but it is nonetheless exceptionally rare. A reward stage is a privilege granted to factions that possess temporary administrative authority."

"Through temporary authority, newcomers within the faction can obtain one extra instance opportunity. The rarity of the drops in this instance will be somewhat enhanced, and it will not consume the standard instance cooldown time."

The moment those words fell, the atmosphere instantly chilled.

Is that it?

For most players, instances were hardly pleasant places.

Every entry into an instance meant facing danger, and if the instance completion rate fell below 40%, they would suffer the penalty of instance failure, resulting in a deduction to their willpower attribute cap.

Someone had once compiled statistics showing that 85% of players had an interval of thirty days between entering instances—meaning they dragged it out until they were forcibly dragged into an instance by the Abyss Game.

14.2% of players randomly chose their instance interval based on their personal circumstances;

Less than 1% of players stuck to the absolute minimum interval of fifteen days, stepping into the next instance the very moment their instance cooldown refreshed.

For most players, they only lamented that the intervals between instances weren't long enough.

What on earth was an extra instance that didn't consume cooldown time?

Four of the assistants looked at Zhao Yan with bizarre expressions, as if silently asking if he was out of his mind and wondering if this thing was definitely a punishment rather than a reward.

Realizing the flaw in his phrasing, Zhao Yan hurriedly backpedaled to salvage the situation:

"The reason it's called a reward instance is because entering an instance through faction privileges causes the random probability of difficulty to adjust downward by 10%. At the same time, the instance danger level is somewhat diminished, and the completion rate receives an extra 5% bonus upon settlement."

Only after hearing this did the expressions of the group improve.

Adjusting the random probability downward by 10% was equivalent to turning the original instance random probabilities of 50% E-rank, 40% F-rank, and 10% D-rank into 60% E-rank and 40% F-rank.

This gave them a higher probability of matching with instances below their own level, while the additional 5% completion bonus further reduced the pressure of clearing the stage.

Looked at this way, it genuinely carried the flavor of a reward instance.

"Entering the extra reward instance is a welfare benefit for you as new members. It is exclusive, and each member can only use it once. You can use it right now, or you can store it for later."

"However..."

Zhao Yan suddenly changed the subject, stating:

"There is a level restriction to activating the reward instance privilege—your level must not exceed level ten. Anyone prepared to use the privilege today can follow me inside. Those who do not intend to use it today are free to disperse, but remember to control your level and don't forget the restriction."

As soon as these words dropped, the expressions of certain individuals undeniably shifted.

A reward instance was both a reward and a test.

The assistants present had all registered with levels below ten. If anyone failed to activate the privilege, it would mean they had concealed their true strength, harbored guilty consciences, and required special attention.

The man who had ranked second in the earlier sparring match—the one who wore a mask at the start but took it off—showed an awkward expression and spoke up first:

"I'm not feeling well today, let's do it another day."

Judging solely by the man's expression, it was obvious he had concealed his strength and his actual level exceeded ten.

Zhao Yan nodded without exposing him, and said to the rest:

"Is there anyone else feeling unwell today?"

Seeing no one else drop out, Zhao Yan said with satisfaction: "Very good, this batch of newcomers is quite clean. Come in."

The group followed behind Zhao Yan, swiping their faces to enter the Primordial Pantheon. The moment they stepped into the pantheon, an unused reward instance appeared within their Administration mini-programs.

Wu Chang saw that the activation conditions for the reward instance were: player level ≤ 10, status available. Only then did he completely set his mind at ease.

Fortunately, the maximum level included level ten; otherwise, he would have had to suddenly fall ill just like the previous fellow.

Zhao Yan led the group to the instance waiting hall, which was connected to the public area. All preparatory work before entering an instance—such as purchasing props, checking leaderboards and intelligence, and so on—could be completed here.

Zhao Yan said, "Although the difficulty of the reward instance will be reduced, you mustn't lower your guard. I'll be stepping out for a moment, so you guys make your pre-instance preparations first."

Because entering the instance this time was far too hasty, Wu Chang hadn't had time to have custom armor made and could only manage to purchase a few potions in a rush.

As for the other assistants, they hadn't even bothered to buy potions.

As low-level independent players, simply managing to clear instances was already an uphill battle, and the moment they got any money, they would immediately convert it into props to strengthen themselves.

Everything they owned was worn directly on their bodies, and quite a few of them were still carrying debts; they had no need for temporary preparations.

Armor, potions, support-type props?

Those were the privileges of pay-to-win players and direct descendants of major organizations; they had no use for such luxuries.

Just as everyone finished making their preparations and waited for Zhao Yan to return, a middle-aged man around thirty years old, slightly plump and dressed like a salesman, walked over.

"Are you gentlemen newly joined assistants?"

One of the assistants replied, "Are you one too, buddy?"

"I'm an instructor from Dongyang City. Just call me Cotton."

As soon as those words came out, the assistant who had initiated the conversation was left utterly speechless.

No, buddy, an instructor like you being this polite to me for what?

Cotton asked the crowd, "Are you all preparing to enter the reward instance?"

Wu Chang and the others nodded.

Cotton smiled and said, "That's convenient. I only have two people on my side, and I'm worried that if we happen to queue into a team instance, there won't be anyone to look after us. Would it be alright for the two of them to queue into the instance with you?"

"Rest assured, I won't take advantage of you for free. I happen to have a privilege that can upgrade the tier of the reward instance, and I can share that privilege with you."

Once Cotton finished speaking, he unfolded a piece of physical document.

A flash of light swept across the document, and when Wu Chang and the others looked at the instance again, they discovered the description of the reward instance had changed.

"Cotton invites you to enter the intermediate reward instance room."

"Intermediate reward instance: When matching for an instance, the random difficulty probability is adjusted downward by 15%, the instance danger level is noticeably reduced, the completion rate upon settlement receives an additional 8% bonus, and instance rewards are increased by 10%."

"Activation condition: Player level ≤ 20."

"Do you accept Cotton's invitation?"