61: Chapter 61 Half-Day Tour of the Death Mine

The entrance to the Deadmines was much stuffier than Hu Jinsi had imagined.

The damp rock walls were seeped with greenish moss, feeling slick to the touch, like they had been smeared with a layer of animal fat. The air was filled with a strange, pungent odor—a mix of rotting ore and the salty tang of the sea—that made his lungs rebel with every breath. Water droplets fell from the ceiling of the mine tunnel from time to time, landing on the bluestone slabs with a "drip, drip" sound, the echoes amplified several times over in the narrow passageway.

Hu Jinsi followed at the back of the group, watching the backs of the four people in front of him. Aside from the brawny Monk named Hu Jianguo who occasionally turned to look at him, the other three didn't even glance back.

This was understandable, as the four of them were classmates. Before entering, Hu Jinsi had already gathered that the apothecary Li Xiuying, who carried the medicine chest, was Hu Jianguo's girlfriend, and they were a fixed party.

The corpse-driving Taoist Sun Tou, who leaned on a peachwood sword, and the Artificer Zhao Guoqiang, who carried a mechanism box, were also brothers who frequently teamed up. Plus, they were all in the same class, so they were basically familiar with each other's every habit and rhythm. Only he, Hu Jinsi, was a stranger he had met offline less than three hours ago.

"Stay close. This map is narrow, and enemies often appear in blind spots," Hu Jianguo reminded Hu Jinsi. In his mind, Hu Jinsi was someone completely unfamiliar with the Deadmines.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the sound of clanking chains came from around the corner of the dark mine tunnel, followed by a few rough shouts.

"Defias scum!" Zhao Guoqiang clicked the mechanism box onto his arm and rolled his uniform sleeves up to his elbows, revealing the metal bracket strapped to his forearm. "Watch me use my repeating crossbow to blow these foreign freaks to bits!"

Hu Jinsi didn't say a word, just silently sped up to keep up. He watched the ring blade and shield in Hu Jianguo's hands; this was different from the unarmed combat he was used to. But since it was a temporary team, he decided to first observe the rhythm of these "old classmates" and try to integrate himself into their attack tempo.

The first wave of monsters consisted of three Defias miners rushing out from the shadows. These people wore tattered burlap clothes, carried mining picks and iron chains in their hands, and their fleshy faces were smeared with coal dust—they didn't look like good guys at all. Just as Hu Jinsi wanted to sidestep and cut in, Hu Jianguo let out a low roar, stepped forward with his left foot, and slammed his shield out.

"Clang!"

The shield slammed solidly into the first miner's face, and the miner fell backward without even a scream. Hu Jianguo took advantage of the momentum to smash the back of his blade against the neck of another miner; the movement was clean and neat, without a hint of flashiness.

"Sister Xiuying!"

"Got it!"

Almost the moment the shield held, the apothecary Li Xiuying gently tapped the acupuncture point on the back of Hu Jianguo's neck. Hu Jinsi could see the chaotic flow of energy in Hu Jianguo's body, caused by taking the attack head-on, instantly smoothed out. The guy's face returned to normal from its flushed state, and he didn't even let out a grunt.

At the same time, the mechanism box on the Artificer Zhao Guoqiang's arm made a crisp "click" sound, and the repeating crossbow fired twice with a "thud, thud," pinning the third miner to the rock wall. That miner was still holding his mining pick, not even realizing how he had died until his end.

The whole process took less than fifteen seconds, and the coordination was seamless. Hu Jinsi hadn't even had time to make a move before the battle ended.

"..."

He silently put away his prepared stance.

The second wave of monsters came faster. Two Defias Musketeers and one Defias Taskmaster. The Musketeers hid behind wooden crate cover and fired; bullets hit Hu Jianguo's shield, splashing a series of sparks and ringing out in a cacophony.

"Sun Tou!"

"Rise!"

The corpse-driving Taoist Sun Tou waved his peachwood sword violently, and the Pandaren zombie that had been following him—yes, a Pandaren zombie—let out a low roar and rushed toward the Defias Musketeers in the back row. Although half of the Pandaren's face was rotten, the thick fur and fat layer from its lifetime made it a natural meat shield.

"Let's see if I don't break your gun barrels!" Sun Tou shouted from behind, gesturing with his peachwood sword to control the zombie's positioning.

The Pandaren zombie felt no pain and, with a fearless aura, successfully disrupted the rhythm of the Defias Musketeers. The attention of the two Musketeers was shaken by this momentum, and their formation fell into chaos. Hu Jianguo seized the opportunity, pushed his shield forward, squeezed one of the Musketeers into a corner, and used the recoil of the Shield Bash to hack fiercely at the opponent's knee with his ring blade.

At this moment, Hu Jinsi moved. He didn't use the grand, sweeping [Spinning Crane Kick]; rotating kicks in such a narrow mine tunnel might accidentally hurt teammates. Instead, taking advantage of the moment Hu Jianguo pushed the enemy aside, he side-stepped and delivered a plain and simple low sweep, kicking hard into the popliteal fossa of the Musketeer's other leg.

"Bang!"

[-14]

The Defias Musketeer fell to his knees completely, both legs ruined, lying on the ground like a dead dog.

Hu Jinsi retracted his leg and glanced at Hu Jianguo. The brawny man just nodded slightly at him without speaking.

Hu Jinsi understood. He didn't need to command, nor did he need to steal the spotlight. In this narrow, purely Western-style mine tunnel, as long as he followed the rhythm of this shield-wielding Hu Jianguo and treated himself as a support, that was enough.

As soon as Hu Jinsi entered the dungeon, he discovered that the enemies here were all humans, and they were all humans from the Defias Brotherhood. It was actually the old version of the Deadmines—VanCleef, Captain Greenskin, Sneed's Shredder... these classic old friends were all there. Not bad, not bad; it really was a nostalgic feeling.

After seeing the coordination of Hu Jianguo and the others, Hu Jinsi let go of his worries. He didn't intend to stand out too much and disrupt their original rhythm, just maintaining a normal performance while slowly clearing the dungeon with them.

After all, this authentic Deadmines was no longer visible in the official servers Hu Jinsi had experienced before. Later versions were remade; the graphics got better, but the flavor had changed.

Although they were running a dungeon, Hu Jinsi felt as if everyone was just out for a chat and a spring outing. Perhaps because it was the first time they were accommodating Hu Jinsi, the five of them were running the dungeon at 100% difficulty.

Moreover, since the last time Hu Jinsi ran a dungeon with a five-man team, his strength had improved significantly. A Level 13 Monk was already considered upper-middle tier among current Awakened. Therefore, experiencing this five-man 100% difficulty dungeon again, Hu Jinsi even felt it was a bit too simple.

As they fought, everyone started chatting, and the topics drifted to all sorts of things. Hu Jinsi also introduced the composition of his team in Wei City during the battle.

"My fixed team in Wei City has three people," Hu Jinsi kicked away a Defias Thief that pounced on him, and the thief turned into light particles upon hitting the rock wall. "One Soldier class named Lin Rui, one Bard class named Su Wan, plus me."

"Just three people?" Zhao Guoqiang shot an arrow through the shoulder of a Musketeer in the distance. "Is your dungeon clearing efficiency enough?"

"It's alright. We also temporarily pull in familiar classmates based on the difficulty. We once formed a temporary five-man team for a Burning Village run, and we cleared it at 250% difficulty."

"Holy crap?" Sun Tou controlled the Pandaren zombie to slap a Taskmaster away, turned his head, and widened his eyes. "250% difficulty! You're not kidding, right?"

Hu Jinsi shrugged and casually cast [Renewing Mist] on Hu Jianguo: "Just good luck. Like the Temple of the Jade Serpent, we are relatively good at observing boss mechanics."

"You call that good luck?" Li Xiuying couldn't help but complain while patching Hu Jianguo. "It's a struggle for the five of us to do 150%."

The topic turned to Lin Rui. Hu Jinsi introduced that Lin Rui's class was Soldier, which could equip most melee and ranged weapons simultaneously, and Lin Rui had recently purchased a very powerful firearm.

"Firearms?" The boys all revealed envious looks upon hearing this.

Hu Jianguo indicated it wasn't just envy, saying with a mix of complaining and helplessness: "We are formed into fixed teams in school now, and basically everyone is a melee 'meat grinder' class. Only Xiuying has her flying needles, and there's a dart-throwing brother who can toss some javelins. We are so envious of classes that can freely use firearms; mowing down monsters with 'rat-tat-tat' sounds must feel incredibly satisfying."

"Who doesn't like 'rat-tat-tat'?" Zhao Guoqiang agreed, pinning a thief who had sneaked up from the side with an arrow. "It's a pity that Artificers only use mechanism weapons. Muskets aren't impossible to use, but they are too troublesome to use."

Hu Jinsi simply told them the stories of the Gunpowder Squad. Especially when they heard the Gunpowder Squad could clear over 15,000 zombies in 72 hours.

"How many?!" Sun Tou almost dropped his peachwood sword. "15,000?"

"72 hours?" Li Xiuying covered her mouth. "An average of over 200 per hour?"

"What kind of monsters are they..." Hu Jianguo muttered to himself.

At this moment, Hu Jinsi felt more than just envious gazes; he felt as if the gazes were about to pierce through him. Four pairs of eyes stared straight at him, as if looking at a rare animal.

"Uh..." Hu Jinsi felt a bit uncomfortable with this sensation. He quickly kicked away a nearby Defias Thief, [-12], and the thief dissipated into light particles. Then he hurriedly added: "I only mentioned their combat data, but I didn't mention the combat cost! Let me finish speaking, and it won't be too late for you to decide whether to be envious or not."

"Tell us, tell us," Zhao Guoqiang urged, shooting through the hat of a Musketeer again.

When they heard that the cost of each battle for the Gunpowder Squad—bullet consumption, firearm maintenance, mine costs, gunpowder raw materials, etc.—added up to no less than five figures, the other four immediately stopped showing those envious looks.

"Oh," Zhao Guoqiang realized, "So the cost of 'rat-tat-tat' is that high."

"I was wondering," Hu Jianguo shook his head. "We have a few Soldier classes in our school, and we really rarely see them holding submachine guns for 'rat-tat-tat'."

"That makes sense," Sun Tou shrugged, and the Pandaren zombie slapped the last Defias Taskmaster into light particles. "Can't afford it."

Regarding this news, the Artificer Zhao Guoqiang was more accepting. He also sighed: "Actually, the situation of my class is similar to the Gunpowder Squad you mentioned. If I were to let go without any scruples, I could also use the repeating crossbow in my hand to 'rat-tat-tat'."

"But the problem is that after the 'rat-tat-tat', my crossbow bolts all need to be reloaded one by one into the arrow box. And high-frequency 'rat-tat-tat' is very damaging to weapon durability. For my class, equipment needs to be repaired by hand."

As he spoke, he shot arrow after arrow at the new boss in front of them, Mr. Smite—a brawny Defias man holding a big hammer. Every arrow was precisely pinned to the opponent's joints, slowly grinding down his health.

"So in most battles, I attack like this, arrow by arrow," Zhao Guoqiang continued. "It causes less damage to the weapon, and the maintenance burden after the battle is also less."

"Understand, understand," Hu Jinsi nodded. "Steady progress, after all."

What the few were even more interested in was Hu Jinsi's class. Especially Hu Jinsi's healing method. Every time he smashed a small monster with his staff, a [Renewing Mist] would be left on the spot, with a green halo slowly rotating on the ground, and teammates could get continuous healing by stepping on it.

"This is too convenient, right?" Li Xiuying walked along, looking at the green light all over the ground, and couldn't help but sigh. "With Hu Jinsi following along this way, I feel like I have almost no use. It's better for everyone to just pick up the Renewing Mist on the ground for the entire healing process."

Hu Jinsi scratched his head: "It's not that exaggerated; I can't do the enhancement effect of your silver needles."

Zhao Guoqiang asked: "Since Zhen Jin has transferred to the same class as you, can Zhen Jin also be like you in the future, fighting monsters along the way and leaving these Renewing Mists on the spot?"

To this, Hu Jinsi could only say: "I don't know if Zhen Jin will be able to achieve the effect of leaving Renewing Mist in the future. This is my own talent, which can be considered a relatively rare trait. As for whether Zhen Jin can get a similar effect when he reaches a higher level later, that will depend on Zhen Jin himself."

As he said this, he casually cast a [Renewing Mist] on Hu Jianguo. White mist wrapped around Hu Jianguo's arm, and the healing numbers popped up one by one.

"But even without Soothing Mist," Hu Jinsi added, "Since this specialization is called Mistweaver Monk, then all skills must surely be related to mist."

As soon as he finished speaking, that cast of [Renewing Mist], after finishing healing Hu Jianguo, quickly bounced to Li Xiuying beside him, and then bounced to Zhao Guoqiang, circulating among teammates as if it had automatic navigation.

"...It even has automatic navigation?" Li Xiuying said, very surprised.

"That's too smart!" Sun Tou also leaned over to look.

Seeing this, Li Xiuying felt even more envious of Hu Jinsi's class. He didn't need to get close to apply medicine or stimulate acupuncture points on teammates; he could achieve healing from a distance and it even had automatic pathfinding. It was simply much more convenient than her being an Apothecary.

To this, Hu Jinsi could only say: "What you see right now is the entirety of this class's advantages. The rest are all disadvantages."

Facing their puzzled gazes, Hu Jinsi continued to explain: "Look at why Zhen Jin didn't level up during your local holidays, but instead ran to Wei City where I am? It's because the way to gain experience for this class is too troublesome."

He swept a Defias Thief rushing over with his staff, left a cloud of Soothing Mist on the spot, and continued: "Unlike traditional Eastern Monks like Brother Hu Jianguo, for a Western-style Monk like me, tempering the body gives very little class experience, and I can't gain class experience by cultivating Eastern-style techniques. Let alone any bonuses that cultivating techniques would bring to the body itself."

"Really?" Hu Jianguo was a bit surprised, punching a Defias Pirate away, "Then what do you rely on to level up?"

"Meditation." Hu Jinsi sighed, "It's quite pathetic to say, but the bulk of my experience before level six relied on meditation. The stretch from level six to ten was also because I consecutively obtained three achievements, and they were all first-time triggers, so I intermittently got thirty thousand class experience through these achievement rewards."

"Most of the remaining experience was farmed in that dungeon I'm now recommending Zhen Jin to go to. If it weren't for the fact that Monks get a bonus for working in that dungeon, I might still be stuck below level ten, for at least another month."

Obviously, for this point that Hu Jinsi was complaining about, the others found it hard to empathize. The four of them had classes that could accumulate significant class experience even during rest times.

Apothecaries can complete the identification and production of medicines during non-combat periods, and every new medicine can bring class experience. Puppeteers, even more so, need to make mechanisms and update their own equipment in their spare time; as long as their hands don't stop, the experience won't stop. Corpse Drivers just need to maintain the driving of their corpse puppets normally to gain a small amount of experience, accumulating little by little.

Therefore, when they heard Hu Jinsi describe how he needed to buy a large amount of auxiliary equipment to increase meditation efficiency in the early stages, they all felt it was somewhat unbelievable.

"So you're saying when you bought the meditation cushion back then..." Li Xiuying asked hesitantly.

"Yes, and prayer beads, veils, wooden plaques," Hu Jinsi counted on his fingers, "The whole set cost several thousand credits."

"Just to make meditation more efficient?" Sun Tou clicked his tongue.

"What else?" Hu Jinsi spread his hands helplessly, "No meditation means no experience, and no experience means I can't level up."

"That's too miserable." Zhao Guoqiang said sincerely, shooting an arrow through the shoulder of a foreman, "Really, too miserable."

Hu Jinsi didn't find this strange. After all, their feelings were just like Lin Rui and Su Wan. Yet Hu Jinsi had bought a pile of auxiliary equipment, plus many perks related to meditation, just to keep up with the same leveling progress as Lin Rui and Su Wan. Those two just fought monsters in dungeons, practiced singing and playing instruments daily, and their experience shot up, while he had to meditate for ten hours a day just to barely keep up.

"Think about it, my innate class specialization is Mistweaver." Hu Jinsi continued to complain, "It's not like I could really go learn a Tailoring skill and research how to weave mist, right?"

"Pfft—" Li Xiuying couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Hahahaha!" Sun Tou laughed so hard he swayed back and forth, his peach wood sword almost slipping from his hand, "Mistweaver equals Tailor, no problem there!"

"Then what if you had chosen Brewmaster?" Hu Jianguo asked curiously. (During this period, others had also obtained Awakening Stones for the Brewmaster Monk specialization.)

"Drink alcohol." Hu Jinsi sighed, "The problem is students aren't allowed to drink."

"..."

"That's even more miserable." Zhao Guoqiang patted his shoulder, expressing sympathy.

For some time now, Hu Jinsi had not been ignorant of this Western fantasy-style Monk. Usually, the simplest method was to find a place with a demon seal and guard it; class experience would grow very fast. After all, one of the core tasks of a fantasy Monk was to "suppress demons."

But the country where Hu Jinsi was currently located was peaceful and prosperous; where would there be any sealed demons? Besides, even if there were, it was impossible for them to let a high school sophomore like him do such work.

"So I can only meditate bitterly." Hu Jinsi knocked the last Defias Thief dead with his staff, [-11], the light points dissipated, "But it's better now; the level is up, and the efficiency of farming dungeons is also higher."

The dungeon activity ended amidst idle chatter. Really, there was no thrilling plot; most of the time was spent chatting with each other. The atmosphere was as relaxed as an outing, walking while fighting monsters, fighting monsters while complaining, and complaining while moving forward.

Hu Jinsi didn't try to hog the spotlight either, just honestly filling the role of DPS and semi-healer, letting Hu Jianguo tank in the front, Li Xiuying support in the back, and Zhao Guoqiang and Sun Tou fulfilling their duties. He went wherever he was needed; if there were monsters, he'd kick them twice, if there were no monsters, he'd chat, and if a teammate lost health, he'd toss out a Renewing Mist, with Soothing Mist laying layer upon layer on the ground.

As a souvenir, after defeating Sneed's Shredder, Hu Jinsi asked for the dropped [High-Energy Chainsaw], planning to give it to Lin Rui after the holiday. Lin Rui's low-noise chainsaw hadn't been seen in use since leaving Raccoon City.

[High-Energy Chainsaw] [Type: Two-Handed Weapon / Cutting Tool] [Damage: 4-16 (Depends on RPM)] [Overload Cut: Attacks have a chance to make the target bleed (Take 1-6 damage every 6 seconds, lasts 18 seconds).] [Unstable Power: Because it is a crudely made Defias/Goblin device, there is a 15% chance to short-circuit every 3 minutes of continuous operation, requiring an action to restart.] [Item Description: This thing is the main saw blade taken directly from Sneed's Shredder. The body is cast from heavy black iron, the handle is connected to a thick insulated cable, and there is a simple battery pack at the tail. Pull the trigger, and the saw teeth will rotate at an extremely high speed, emitting a harsh "zzzt" sound, cutting through metal like tofu. Don't forget to Charge it before use.]

"Lin Rui should like this thing." Hu Jinsi stuffed the chainsaw into his backpack and patted it, "Although it's not very practical, it's cool enough."

The others asked about Hu Jinsi's future plans. Hu Jinsi said directly: "Maybe go to the Jade Forest a few times alone before the New Year, then go back for the New Year."

The others expressed that they should keep in touch. Since there wasn't much time left before the New Year, they didn't plan to go to dungeons like the Jade Forest that lasted seventy-two hours in the near future. After all, the school didn't require it, and no one wanted to go to a 72-hour dungeon where they couldn't eat or sleep well.

"Keep in touch, Brother Jinsi." Sun Tou waved his hand.

"Let's farm dungeons together when you have time." Hu Jianguo nodded.

"Next time teach us how to climb roofs and tear off tiles." Zhao Guoqiang said with a smile.

"I'm off." Hu Jinsi waved his hand and turned to leave the dungeon.

Over the next few days, Hu Jinsi, just as he had told the others, spent time in the Jade Forest dungeon three times.

The Jade Forest was a classic map dungeon from the Mists of Pandaria version, lasting seventy-two hours, with an area many times larger than the Temple of the Jade Serpent. Inside, there were lush bamboo forests, lakes with rippling blue waves, ancient temples hidden in the clouds, and various Eastern-style monsters: Hozen, Jinyu, Mantid, and Sha.

The first two times, Hu Jinsi followed the regular route to farm monsters, fight elites, and explore the map, getting familiar with the environment. By the third time, with the help of a guide he saw on the forum, he finally found the trigger condition for that hidden achievement—killing a specified combination of elite and boss-level monsters within a limited time.

"Congratulations to Awakened Hu Jinsi for completing the achievement — [Jade Forest Done]."

The achievement reward was a [Skill Re-roll Ticket], which allowed re-rolling options when drawing skills. Basically, it didn't have much use, but it was better than nothing, so he kept it just in case.

Done with everything, Hu Jinsi didn't plan to stay in Daibei City any longer. He tidied up the house he had been living in during this time, said goodbye to Zhen Jin online, and specially prepared a gift to visit Teacher He, who had helped arrange his accommodation. Since they had helped him a lot, he had to show some appreciation before leaving.

After everything was settled, he set off for home in Wei City. After all, it was time to prepare for the New Year. Although Hu Jinsi was all by himself, his parents' spirit tablets were still at home, and he couldn't leave them alone. During the New Year, someone always had to offer incense to the elders.

Before leaving, he had also saved up enough experience to draw a level 13 perk. The perk options that appeared were all old friends, so he chose [Combat Focus], which had appeared before, as his level 13 perk.

Upon returning to Wei City, the first thing Hu Jinsi did was not rest, but spring cleaning.

He gave his home a thorough cleaning, wiping windows, mopping floors, cleaning dusty corners, and throwing away expired food. After all, doing a big cleaning before the New Year was a memory carved into his blood and bones. Even though Hu Jinsi was the only one at home, he still completed the cleaning, then put up window decorations, the "Fu" character, and hanging money, decorating the empty house with a touch of New Year atmosphere.

During the New Year period, Hu Jinsi didn't plan to continue going to dungeons. After all, everyone was resting during this time, and only a few people were on duty at the dungeon entrances. Additionally, he hadn't taken a few days off to rest during his time in Daibei City, and both his body and mind needed adjustment. Anyway, after the holiday, there were still about two weeks before school started, so he would still have the chance to visit a few other dungeons.

Unfortunately, Water Blue Star was a real world, not a world from those online game novels. Therefore, holidays like the Spring Festival didn't have any limited-time holiday events, holiday grand lucky draws, or holiday Nian Beast bosses—none of these existed.

So, while other classmates were visiting relatives and friends, becoming "the neighbor's kid," or being lectured by "the neighbor's kid" during the holiday, Hu Jinsi was lying at home playing games.

It was rare not to go to dungeons during this period, so for meditation, he only maintained a duration of about ten-plus hours a day, also leaving himself at least ten hours of normal activities every day. He spent this time on games, of course, the kind of ordinary video games, not dungeons.

In the game, he was no longer a miserable Monk. He sometimes transformed into a Mage, casting fireballs to blast bosses; sometimes a Warlock, sweeping through dungeons with a demon pet; sometimes a Druid, turning into a bear, cat, or bird, turning into whatever he wanted. In short, miserable melee classes had nothing to do with him in the game; he played however was satisfying.

The festive atmosphere only lasted for three or four days. After three or four days, Hu Jinsi adjusted his state, and the lingering fatigue from the dungeons was swept away. He reorganized his equipment, checked the consumables and spare equipment in his backpack, and planned the dungeon route for the next two weeks.

For the last round before school started, he planned to go and fight hard once more.