With the dungeon about to start, everyone was unsettled by the sheer scale of the mission.
The missions in this dungeon were not fixed. This time it was monster hunting; the previous year, it involved collecting a certain quantity of Elemental Stones, and the year before that, it was about cleansing a number of contaminated Elemental Pools. Every year, the tasks varied randomly.
Although monster hunting missions were a staple, today’s pure survival-focused monster hunt caught many off guard. This drastically reduced the efficiency of teaming up. Some might not even complete the mission if they couldn’t secure enough monsters to kill.
While some hesitated, a proactive group had already rushed out of the strange formation pattern circle, heading into the bizarre, phantasmagoric world outside. Perhaps due to the elemental turmoil, the sky of this world shimmered with a kaleidoscope of colors. According to the experience of those who had entered this dungeon before, it had no day or night cycle. Fortunately, once inside, under the operation of the Heavenly Dao, professionals were temporarily free from the needs of eating, drinking, excreting, or sleeping. They would only return to their normal state of consumption when living in the outside world.
Seeing a group of people suddenly rush out, another crowd, fearing that the swift would get everything while the slow got nothing, also began to panic. At this point, no one cared about sticking to plans for teaming up; everyone scrambled outwards first, figuring they would sort things out later.
Inside the dungeon, Chen Mo from the aristocratic family, seeing that his uncle couldn’t control him here, was about to call the other Chen Mo over to team up. But before he could move, Zhao Wuming pulled him back. "Fatty Chen, what do you think you’re doing? Haven’t you seen the mission prompt? We might not even have enough kills to go around for ourselves, and you still want to bring someone else in? Careful I don’t report you to Uncle Xuan when we get out!"
With those words, Chen Mo from the aristocratic family had no choice but to turn and follow Zhao Wuming.
Although Chen Mo wasn’t facing their direction, his Pioneer’s Omnidirectional Perception passive was always active, so he naturally knew what was happening behind him.
This little fatty is quite interesting.
Chen Mo took note of his goodwill.
By now, most people had left the area within the formation pattern.
Meng Han and the others looked a little awkward as they turned to Chen Mo and Yan Yingyue. "I didn’t expect the survival mission this time to be . It’s going to be pretty tricky now."
Chen Mo said, "True. If the seven of us team up and move together, we’d need to kill seven times the number of monsters in one area for the mission. With no one competing, it might be fine, but with so many people scrambling for kills, it won’t be easy. Why don’t we split up for now? Yingyue and I can go to the right, and you guys go to the left. That way, at least people from our own larger group won’t be competing for monsters in the same area."
Yan Yingyue also felt this was the only viable option now; having all seven people in one spot was too inefficient.
Meng Han considered this. "Seems like we have no better choice. But will the two of you be alright? Should we split into groups of three and four instead?"
"You five already have complementary professions," Chen Mo replied. "If your group is smaller, handling different situations might be tough. Let’s stick to this plan for now."
"Alright then," Meng Han agreed. "If you two finish off your quota of regular monsters, come find us. We can take on the elites and the BOSS together."
"Okay," Chen Mo nodded.
After concluding their discussion, Chen Mo and Yan Yingyue added each other as friends to facilitate communication later using the Heavenly Path System.
"Chen Mo, do you think the two of us can kill monsters quickly enough?" Yan Yingyue asked, still doubting her own offensive capabilities even as she walked with Chen Mo towards their designated area. She assumed she would be the main damage dealer, with Chen Mo summoning some Little Skeletons to assist from the sidelines.
Chen Mo smiled. "We’ll definitely clear them quickly. You can just relax on the sidelines."
"What?!" Yan Yingyue was surprised. "Are your Skeleton Monsters that fast at killing?"
"You’ll see once we find some."
Outside the center of the formation pattern lay a dense forest. To maintain his best exploration ability, Chen Mo did not formally party up with Yan Yingyue at this point, merely agreeing to it verbally, so his Pioneer ability continued to operate normally. The forest was thick with trees, reducing visibility. This ability allowed him to search for monsters more easily.
As Chen Mo entered the dense forest, he detected about a dozen professionals scattered around, searching for monsters. Some had already begun fighting.
I’ve heard that the farther one goes from the formation pattern region, the more monsters there are, and the chances of top-tier ones appearing are higher. Perhaps I should just head deeper right away to avoid competing with these people out here for whatever scraps they can find.
Chen Mo immediately led Yan Yingyue deeper into the forest.
Time ticked by. Names on the leaderboard constantly shifted as rankings changed.
About half an hour later, Chen Mo suddenly received The Heavenly Path’s Hint.
[The Heavenly Path’s Hint: Warning, you have prematurely entered an area that only opens on the second day. Monsters in this area will be ten times stronger today! Please leave immediately.]
Chen Mo was actually pleased to hear The Heavenly Path’s Hint.
With such an increase in monster difficulty, those people outside probably won’t venture here.
Just as Chen Mo was about to proceed further, Yan Yingyue stopped him.
"Chen Mo, didn’t you receive The Heavenly Path’s Hint? The area ahead only opens tomorrow. We can’t go in early, or the monsters will become very powerful." Yan Yingyue looked around, rather frightened, scared that a monster, strengthened tenfold, would suddenly appear.
"Don’t worry, I’m here."
In Yan Yingyue’s surprised gaze, she saw Chen Mo’s magic wand, its grade no longer concealed, glowing with a brilliant golden light.
Platinum-grade magic wand?!
At that moment, a mechanical voice sounded from the number plate on Chen Mo’s chest: "The equipment detected is a bound item and will not affect the final score!"
A bound platinum-grade magic wand?!
Yan Yingyue felt she needed a moment to process this.
What was going on? Was Chen Mo a rich kid? No, an ordinary rich kid might own a platinum-grade magic wand, but having a bound one was highly unlikely! Could he be a descendant of some great aristocratic family? She instantly recalled Fatty Chen’s defense of Chen Mo just now. She previously thought it was because they shared the same name that Fatty Chen had defended him; now it seemed likely they were from the same family. Was Chen Mo actually an illegitimate child of the Chen family?
For a moment, Yan Yingyue completely forgot the danger they were in. Her inner gossip columnist flared to life as her mind raced, concocting all sorts of dramatic backstories for Chen Mo.
Chen Mo, of course, had no idea what the girl beside him was thinking. He waved his magic wand, and instantly, 1,700 Skeleton Monsters in invisible mode appeared beside him.
"Free search for enemies! Professionals are not targets!"
Following Chen Mo’s command, the Skeleton Monsters immediately dispersed, heading into the depths of the forest.
At the same time, Chen Mo sent a party invitation to Yan Yingyue.
The moment she accepted the invitation, Yan Yingyue, as his teammate, could naturally see Chen Mo’s invisible Skeleton Monsters. She was utterly stunned.
What was happening? Why was the area suddenly teeming with Skeleton Monsters wielding all sorts of weapons?!