October 14th, six days after the end of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, at 5:21 PM, in the living room of Apartment 702, Building 6, Unit 3, East River District.
Just like yesterday, Zhang Yanhang came to the East River District after school today as well, waiting for the Transmission Channel to open while operating the Limitless Universe Skill to restore his Energy Value. Read full story at novｅlfire.net
Since he had to conduct many Multiple Choice experiments, Zhang Yanhang’s Energy Value was always running low, essentially spending the entire day in a cycle of consuming Energy Value to make choices and operating the Limitless Universe Skill to restore it.
But although he spent the whole day conducting experiments, Zhang Yanhang didn’t reap much. He wasted a considerable part of his Energy Value on the transaction fees required to trigger the options.
He always felt that transaction fees were incredibly unfriendly to him. If it were possible to eliminate these fees, he could freely trigger a multitude of options and then choose the most useful one for himself.
Now, if Zhang Yanhang dared to do that, the only outcome would be his Energy Value being drained by the transaction fees, leaving him powerless to pay for the Energy Value required by his chosen options.
"Ah, transaction fees, no matter when, always feel so unpleasant."
Zhang Yanhang sighed quietly, then resumed operating the Limitless Universe Skill to restore his Energy Value. The Transmission Channel might open soon, and it was best to fully restore his Energy Value to avoid complications during his monster-hunting trip in the Ashen World.
Perhaps because he was quite focused, the act of cultivation always made it feel like time passed unnoticed. Zhang Yanhang felt as if he had just closed his eyes when time abruptly froze, and being familiar with the related options, he knew exactly what this meant.
He slowly opened his eyes and quietly stared at the row of text options that had suddenly appeared before him.
[Enter the Ashen World?]
[Option One: Yes (Immediately enter the Ashen World through the Transmission Channel in front of you. During your last trip to the Crimson Iron Ant Nest, you had already roughly explored the entire interior structure of the nest and devised a new plan for clearing it. Therefore, you are ready to fully implement this cleaning plan.
However, just after entering the Crimson Iron Ant Nest, you notice some unexpected changes. Your original cleaning plan seems less effective, but it’s not a big problem. You quickly modify your plan based on the specific circumstances and continue to clear out the monsters.)]
[Option Two: No (Although the Transmission Channel is right in front of you, you suddenly lose interest because you know there might be some unexpected issues inside. In this situation, you think it might be safer to first use the Limitless Universe Skill a bit more to fully restore your Energy Value before entering the Ashen World.
However, during the process of restoring your Energy Value, you unexpectedly discover that a rare Awakener treasure-snatching event has occurred nearby in Wanhe District. Driven by a curiosity for the commotion, you head to Wanhe District, only to be taken away as an eyewitness by the authorities, thus missing the opening time of the Transmission Channel.)]
[Option Three: Make some preparations (With 6 hours and 29 minutes left until the Transmission Channel closes, and realizing that there is still plenty of time, you think you might prepare a bit. However, despite your intentions to prepare, you can’t think of anything particular to prepare for.
Thus, after silently restoring your Energy Value to its full capacity to handle any potential surprises in the Crimson Iron Ant Nest, you merely tidy up the various Artifacts, Weapons, and Equipment in your Waist Bag before heading back to the Transmission Channel and begin hunting monsters.)]
"So, the question arises, knowing there could be surprises on the other side, should I play it safe and choose Option Three, or go boldly with Option One?"
For Zhang Yanhang, Option One and Option Three seemed quite similar, with the only choice he definitely wouldn’t consider being Option Two. Joining the commotion not only wouldn’t benefit him but would also make him miss a chance to hunt monsters in the Crimson Iron Ant Nest, which seemed totally not worth it.
"By the way, am I really just going over to watch the excitement in the second option? Why do I keep feeling like in Option Two, I’m actually planning something underhanded? If it weren’t for some underhanded motive, I suppose I wouldn’t abandon the Transmission Channel for that inexplicably mentioned Wanhe District."
Even if there might indeed be something valuable in Wanhe District at this moment, Zhang Yanhang didn’t want to miss a nearby open Transmission Channel for it. He still felt that hunting monsters in the Ashen World would be more valuable to him.
Moreover, if he missed this opportunity to hunt monsters in the Crimson Iron Ant Nest, having the Transmission Channel open again would require waiting several more days.
Zhang Yanhang didn’t want to wait that long; after all, he was planning to advance to Third Tier within a month, so he needed to seize every chance he could to hunt monsters in the Ashen World to achieve his goal in the shortest time possible.
Thus, he didn’t want to just abandon his chance for an Artifact of uncertain use that could hinder his progress and speed in becoming stronger.
"So, should I choose Option One or Option Three? On careful consideration, my Energy Value is only about a hundred points short of being full. It would take, at most, half an hour to fully restore it. Maybe it’s better to be cautious and wait a bit; I choose Option Three, to make some preparations before heading to the Ashen World."
Although Zhang Yanhang felt that an extra hundred points of Energy Value or a hundred less didn’t make a significant difference to him at the moment, after all, it was just the Crimson Iron Ant Nest on the other side. Regardless of the likelihood of an unexpected surge of Third Tier monsters,
Yet, at this moment, Zhang Yanhang remembered the sole precaution shared by the group leader with him, which was to be cautious and avoid recklessness.
Honestly, he had initially thought about just rushing straight into the Ashen World, but then he remembered the advice from the group leader, which made him think that being cautious when hunting monsters in the Ashen World might indeed be the better choice.