Entering the Dungeon Sanctuary.
Lin Yi saw the staircase leading to the second floor at the entrance of the right corridor on the first floor.
There were also guards stationed at the staircase entrance.
"Student, only those who have achieved a B-level or higher rating can proceed to the second floor of the dungeon."
"Please show your student ID for verification!"
The Dungeon Desert Sea is categorized as a high-difficulty instance.
Starting from the second floor of the Dungeon Sanctuary, these high-difficulty instances appear, none on the first floor.
Lin Yi handed over his student ID and soon received permission to pass.
Upon reaching the second floor of the Dungeon Sanctuary, Lin Yi realized that the second floor was much larger than the first!
At a glance, countless pedestals glimmering and undulating with dozens of dungeon light screens filled his view.
Some of these dungeon screens even exuded a layer of blood-red hue.
There were clearly more Shenxiao students around these dungeons compared to the others.
These dungeons were the so-called high-difficulty ones.
"Dungeon Sanctuary Second Floor, B3 Area, number 022..."
Lin Yi took out his phone and headed toward the area where Nangong Ling had sent him for the Desert Sea treasure hunt.
He quickly arrived at his destination.
As he walked over, Lin Yi felt countless strange gazes focused on him.
Initially, Lin Yi thought they recognized him.
After all, he had gained some fame at Shenxiao.
However, Lin Yi soon realized he was overthinking it.
The reason so many people were looking at him was because he was indeed an oddity on the second floor.
Lin Yi noticed that those who could reach the second floor mostly traveled in groups.
On the first floor of the Dungeon Sanctuary, Lin Yi had seen many people using microphones to call for team applications.
But on the second floor, this phenomenon was virtually nonexistent.
Most teams were the so-called "fixed teams."
These are dungeon teams with well-established personnel through long-term cohesion, whereas lone individuals like himself naturally drew attention.
Lin Yi didn’t pay much mind to those gazes from the surrounding people.
He headed straight to the entrance of the Desert Sea treasure hunt dungeon, taking a step forward.
Ready to enter the instance.
However, in the next moment, a cold prompt sounded in Lin Yi’s ears.
[You are entering a 10-person dungeon: Desert Sea Treasure Hunt...]
[Detected that your team does not meet the entry requirement for team size. Please assemble at least 5 members and try again!]
Lin Yi was pushed back by the dungeon light screen.
The team leaders stationed around this dungeon, waiting for their other companions to arrive, found it amusing.
"He thinks it’s the first floor, trying to solo a dungeon..."
"Haha! Such naivety!"
"Freshman, this is a high-difficulty dungeon. The number, health, and strength of the monsters are worlds apart from the five-person dungeons you encountered before. Get a team and come back!"
"Haha! Old Jiang, you’re so kind. Why don’t you invite him to join your team and guide him!"
"Ahem, freshman, it’s not that I don’t want you. It’s just that we are at full capacity, sorry!"
The Jiang senior who suggested to Lin Yi looked a bit awkward.
In reality, he was a kind person and meant no harm.
But abandoning a teammate for Lin Yi was something he couldn’t do.
Lin Yi felt somewhat frustrated.
He hadn’t expected these high-difficulty instances to have entry requirements for team size.
Without meeting the required number of people, you couldn’t enter.
No wonder Nangong Ling mentioned she had already run the Desert Sea Treasure Hunt with her team at the beginning of the month. She was also trying to help him form a group.
Just then.
The dungeon light screen of the Desert Sea treasure hunt began to ripple.
Soon, a team emerged from the dungeon.
The leading captain glanced at the Spirit Crystal screen beside the Desert Sea treasure hunt and jokingly shouted to all the teams outside: "Sorry, folks, this time I’ve secured the last self-select opportunity, ha ha!"
Everyone turned to look at that dungeon light screen.
Sure enough, on this month’s team clearance leaderboard, a new record was seen.
[The 30th clearance of the month, Captain: Hu Youwei!]
For a moment, everyone around the Desert Sea treasure hunt on the second floor of the Dungeon Sanctuary began cursing loudly.
"Damn, with Old Hu’s shoddy crew, they managed to clear the Desert Sea Treasure Hunt?"
"Must’ve been sheer luck!"
"Dammit, Old Bluff, who’d you get in with to carry you?"
"I’m so pissed! This loafer getting the self-select reward is more annoying than if I couldn’t get it myself!"
"Just leave, without the self-select reward, there’s no point in running this instance!"
Suddenly, the once lively dungeon entrance saw a large crowd start dispersing.
Lin Yi felt a sinking feeling inside.
Even if he had rushed over so anxiously to run the instance, he ended up failing in vain.
Indeed, beside the Desert Sea treasure hunt, thirty teams that cleared it were displayed on the dungeon light screen. Lin Yi even saw Nangong Ling’s name among the top ten teams.
He couldn’t opt for the third leg of Sand Pirate King Roger as a reward.
Lin Yi didn’t think his luck would be good enough to get the reward he desired from a random drop.
So, he had to wait until the dungeon refreshes next month?
That seemed too long a wait.
"You... are you Lin Yi?"
While lost in thought, a soft inquiry suddenly came from behind Lin Yi.
Turning around, he saw a bespectacled, somewhat frail young man looking at him joyfully.
"I am, what’s the matter?"
The frail young man adjusted his glasses on his nose and extended his hand to introduce himself to Lin Yi: "My name is Ke Mengyuan, also... from Nuwa Academy."
"I just saw you also wanted to run this dungeon."
"Well... do you want to join our team?"
"We... we don’t need the equipment and other items from the dungeon, you can have them all, we just need the materials from the final selection."
Previously, due to the crowd, Lin Yi hadn’t noticed the team led by Ke Mengyuan standing in the corner.
Ke Mengyuan, the team leader, had a timid demeanor.
The other members of the team also appeared to be reserved and quiet.
When Lin Yi glanced at them, they instinctively stepped back, avoiding eye contact.
Lin Yi realized.
Wow, this was a whole team of introverts.
No wonder they were all rated B and above, had a reasonably compatible lineup, and weren’t weak, yet didn’t dare recruit anyone else.
Because there weren’t any other introverts...
Seeing Lin Yi, a complete lone wolf without a team, and knowing of Lin Yi’s feats, Ke Mengyuan was prompted to extend the invitation.
Lin Yi: "Senior, isn’t it that only the top thirty clearers each month get the chance for a self-select reward?"
Ke Mengyuan adjusted his glasses again and cautiously responded: "That’s correct... it is."
"But there’s another way to get a self-select material reward."
"And that is to break the dungeon’s clearance record."
"Lin Yi, I’ve followed your achievements for a while, and I believe with your skills, breaking this dungeon’s clearance record shouldn’t be a problem..."
Lin Yi’s eyes lit up at the words: "Okay, I’ll join!"
Ke Mengyuan was somewhat thrilled.
He actually was quite socially anxious as well.
But for the benefit of his team members and as the captain, he had approached Lin Yi.
He hadn’t expected Lin Yi to agree so readily!
He had found a real support!