Chapter 70: The Dungeon Begins

"Ding-dong! Ding-dong!"

The doorbell rang.

Yan Jing opened the door to find Shen Youran outside, still in her classic outfit.

An old padded pajama set and slippers.

Ever since the two of them moved out here to the countryside, this had been her constant look. Their circle of activity was small anyway; if she wasn't at her own place, she was at his.

"Xiao Yanzi!"

Yan Jing sidestepped to dodge the woman's pounce.

"Would Teacher Shen like some tea?"

He turned and walked toward the living room.

"Yes!"

Shen Youran nodded vigorously. "Are you brewing it yourself?"

"No."

Yan Jing sat down on the sofa. "If you're having some, order a cup for me too while you're at it."

"..."

Shen Youran ground her teeth together, then plopped down on the sofa across from him.

She pulled two differently packaged bags of powder from her pocket and placed them in front of him.

"This is what you asked for, Xiao Yanzi. Under a heavy dose, a First Tier will sleep for about three hours, and a Second Tier for ten minutes. The scent is very faint, but if they use Weird Energy to scan for it, it can still be detected."

Then, her expression turned serious.

"To prevent anyone from looking into what your next Dungeon is, I had someone protect your computer's browsing history in advance."

"But that isn't a foolproof plan. After all, there's no shortage of Inner World items that can predict another person's next Dungeon."

"So, I did a reverse trace to see if anyone else has Sun-Swallowing Tower as their next Dungeon."

"I found these two. Both of them will be entering Sun-Swallowing Tower with you tomorrow."

Yan Jing took the documents she pulled from her pocket, studying the photos of the two men and their profiles.

Across from him, Shen Youran spoke.

"The first is Mu Rao, from the Mu Family of the Eight Great Families. He is a true heavenly prodigy of their newest generation."

"When he was born, the Mu Family tested him. If any item from the 'Sin'—'desire' Pathway is used for his Ritual, its energy efficiency increases by fifteen percent."

"With a constitution like that, he would be highly sought after even in the Central Municipality."

"For his sake, before every Dungeon entry, the Mu Family specifically uses an Inner World artifact passed down through their generations to predict the Dungeon with the best development route for him. Then, they use a Dungeon Selection Voucher to send him there."

A Dungeon Selection Voucher.

Yan Jing's expression remained calm.

After a crash course in Inner World knowledge from Shen Youran over the past few days, he already knew that the geographical locations in the Surface World corresponded to Domains in the Inner World.

For example, Ling'an and its surrounding regions corresponded to the Old Sin City Domain in the Inner World.

If the Inner World was left to choose a Dungeon randomly, there was an overwhelming probability that people from this region would only be assigned to Dungeons within the Old Sin City Domain.

But there were exceptions to everything. A Dungeon Selection Voucher, for instance, could alter the location of the next Dungeon.

Much like the Quality Appraisal Voucher he had obtained before, this item wasn't bound, which meant it was tradable.

They went for about 300,000 to 400,000 Surface World Currency each.

However, their usage came with certain restrictions.

Once a voucher was used, the difficulty of the next Dungeon had to be greater than the originally scheduled one for the transfer to succeed without side effects.

If it was used forcibly, extra missions would be assigned to increase the difficulty.

"I don't seem to have any connections with the Mu Family," Yan Jing said, looking at the photo of the man with peach-blossom eyes and a gentle smile.

"True, but we still can't rule him out completely." Shen Youran nodded. "The reason he's a suspect is that, according to the files, all of Mu Rao's previous Dungeons have been in a large Domain belonging to the 'desire' Pathway. Yet this is the very first time he has chosen a Gluttony Domain."

"There's no specific information on his Day Selection Ritual yet. All we know is that it's of yellow quality, and one of its two abilities enhances his charm toward women."

Yan Jing nodded, shifting his gaze downward to the wild-looking face on the next page. "An old friend," he remarked.

Shen Youran sighed. "Yes, Mo Nagu, whom you ran into during your last Dungeon. He also used a Dungeon Selection Voucher to choose this Dungeon."

"His constitution allows him to stimulate his body with Weird Energy, entering a brief state of frenzy."

"Honestly, it would be fine if it were just him, but Qianjin Investment Bank's Mu Wan is undoubtedly going into the Dungeon with him."

"In fact, both of them—Mu Rao included—will definitely be bringing teams into the Dungeon."

"So, that's why I'm worried."

She looked up at Yan Jing, undeniable concern showing in her eyes. "Furthermore, this is only what I managed to dig up. There's also the Lin Family, the An Family, the Wu Family... maybe even your own Yan Family. Any of them could send someone into the Inner World to make a move against you."

"The danger level of Sun-Swallowing Tower is obvious to everyone. If they dare to come, they're definitely prepared."

Meeting her gaze, Yan Jing finally noticed that Shen Youran's fox-like eyes were thoroughly bloodshot.

She must have stayed up all night.

"It's fine. Didn't you secretly arrange people for me too?" Yan Jing smiled. "As for the people you mentioned, I'll take them seriously."

With that, he stood up and walked over to the tea table behind him. "Tieguanyin or Silver Needle?"

"Silver Needle!"

Seeing that Yan Jing was going to brew tea for her, a smile returned to Shen Youran's face.

She remembered telling him that Silver Needle was her favorite.

Five minutes later.

Yan Jing picked up Shen Youran, who had fallen sound asleep on the sofa, carried her over to her own house, and closed the door as he left.

"The medicine works well. A five-minute onset time is just about right." Yan Jing looked up at the moon overhead.

It seemed to be the middle of the month.

The bright moon hung like a halo, shedding a faint, pearlescent glow across the night. Accompanied by the chorus of cicadas in the treetops, it washed away traces of the sweltering heat.

"A moon like this... I need to make sure I live to see a few more years of it," he murmured.

Then, he turned and walked back toward his house, preparing to thoroughly review the files on all the people and potential threats Shen Youran had just mentioned.

...

...

The next day.

Early morning.

Yan Jing put on the mask Shen Youran had given him, the Ghoulish Veil. Before his eyes, the long-absent Inner World System notification appeared.

[Stage A of the mission is about to begin]

[Current mission location: Old Sin City - Sun-Swallowing Tower]

[Welcome back, esteemed player]

When the wave of dizziness passed, Yan Jing opened his eyes.

Looking at the winding corridors and the brown doors lined up one after another, each bearing a photo and a job title, he immediately recognized where he was.

The 6th floor of the Tower, the office area.

A female Inner World resident in professional business attire stood directly in front of the assembled players.

Aside from her normal lips, she had a second mouth growing out of her chin. Both mouths opened and closed in unison: "Everyone, step forward to collect your uniforms and Employee Handbooks."

She then began to outline the Tower's regulations.

By the time all the standard procedures were completed, Yan Jing noticed that the players, now dressed in their waiter uniforms, had neatly split into several groups.

The leaders of two of those groups were the exact people Shen Youran had highlighted last night: Mu Rao, and the duo of Mu Wan and Mo Nagu.

Yan Jing surveyed the remaining three teams, but could only identify the background of one of their leaders—Chen Dalang, the leading figure of the latest generation from the Chen Family among the Eight Great Families.

As for the last two teams, he didn't spot anyone memorable.

They likely weren't from Ling'an City, or perhaps they were just scattered players who had teamed up in advance.

Beyond that, there were eight or nine solo players, himself included.

Counting everyone up, there were about thirty people in this Dungeon.

Compared to the Novice Dungeon in Rotten Vegetable Village, the numbers were significantly lower.

Watching those prominent, well-known leaders from Ling'an, Yan Jing felt that something wasn't quite right.

Sun-Swallowing Tower was a Dungeon with an official mortality rate above ninety percent.

No matter how confident these heavenly prodigies were in themselves, there was no way their backing families would permit them to choose this Dungeon without a very good reason.

"At midnight, we will tally the number of guests each of you served and the evaluations they gave. I suggest you avoid racking up too many bad reviews or slacking on the job." The two-mouthed woman pushed up her glasses. "Now, start your shifts."

With that, she turned and walked away.

She showed no intention of supervising them.

Yan Jing immediately headed toward the stairwell.

Calculating the time, Rose and One-Eye should already be waiting at the front of the shop. He needed to get his tasks done and go open the place for business.

Suddenly, a figure approached him from the crowd.

It was a rather chubby, short man who had to wipe sweat from his forehead almost every few steps. "Hey buddy, want to team up?" he asked.

"Sorry, I prefer to work alone," Yan Jing replied.

Refusing to give up despite the rejection, the man pressed on. "Buddy, this Dungeon is incredibly difficult! You probably don't know this, but those people teaming up are all heavenly prodigies from the major families. You're from Ling'an or the surrounding cities too, right? Haven't you heard of Mu Rao? Even he formed a three-man squad!"

The man continued, "We aren't like them. We were sent here purely out of bad luck, which means we have an even greater need to huddle for warmth."

"Setting everything else aside, there's no way we can beat them when it comes to fighting over food. We could very well starve to death later on!"

"I wanted to form a group beforehand, but most of the people I found had already made teams. Right now, it's just the two of us. What do you say? Want to join?"

"It'll give us a slightly better chance of surviving."

Yan Jing followed the man's pointing finger and saw a girl standing there with an anxious, lost expression.

She looked to be in her early twenties, with a delicate and slender build.

Yan Jing shook his head, rejecting him once again. "Sorry."

With that, he simply turned and walked away.

Seeing Yan Jing repeatedly refuse, the man clicked his tongue. He looked visibly annoyed, but he ultimately shook his head and walked off toward the others in the crowd without another word.

Yan Jing reached the stairwell landing and tilted his head slightly, checking behind him from the corner of his eye.

Seeing no one following, he picked up his pace and soon arrived on the second floor.

His reserved room was right by the stairs. After first scanning the surroundings with Weird Energy, he darted to the door in a flash. His fingers blurred as he rapidly punched in the passcode, and he slipped inside.

"Growl— Growl— Growl—"

His stomach was already complaining. Yan Jing picked up a bowl of luxurious food from the table—left out because it couldn't fit in the fridge—and headed toward the kitchen.

No matter what kind of bloody storm was brewing outside, he still had to finish his meal first.