30: Chapter 30 Hidden Dungeon Unlocked! Hell Difficulty? That's a buffet!

The setting sun was ruthlessly swallowed by the towering peaks of Soul-Severing Cliff, and the surrounding light dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Qin Ji's figure was like a lithe cat, silently landing on a protruding rock below the cliff. Beneath his feet was a bottomless, pitch-black mine pit, and a cold wind blew up from the bottom, carrying a nauseating scent of sulfur and decay.

There were no roars of ancient Vicious Beasts, only a deathly silence.

"Stop hiding, old thing."

Qin Ji casually plucked the string of the [nine harmonies-evil slaying bow] in his hand, and the string let out a crisp tremble that echoed at the mouth of the empty mine tunnel. "The Old Village Chief is already gone. Your Turtle Breathing Technique can only fool those brainless wild monsters."

Just as he finished speaking, a pile of rubble at the entrance of the mine pit suddenly moved.

The air distorted for a moment, and Li Daoyi, carrying a huge wine gourd, appeared out of thin air. He looked even more disheveled than before, his face pale, clearly not having recovered from his previous injuries, but his cloudy eyes held a sharp, shrewd light.

"Heh, you little fox, your nose is sharper than a dog's."

Li Daoyi patted the dust off his clothes and glanced warily up at the cliff. "That old undying thing is incredibly suspicious. If I hadn't hidden well, both of our corpses would be cold by now."

"Cut the crap."

Qin Ji leapt down from the rock and landed steadily in front of Li Daoyi, a hint of mockery flashing in his purple-gold pupils. "The Old Village Chief said an ancient Vicious Beast is Sealed here and that you're here to steal the Seal's core. Well? Care to explain?"

"That's absolute horseshit!"

Li Daoyi spat fiercely. "That's 'ice flame demon ore'! A Heaven And Earth Treasure that can reshape the Physical Body! That old thing wants it all for himself and made up those lies to trick you into being cannon fodder. Once I find that Ore, I can restore my strength, and I won't go back on my word regarding that S-Rank skill book!"

Qin Ji sneered inwardly.

One says a Seal, the other says reshaping the Physical Body.

Two old schemers, not a single word of truth between them.

But that didn't matter. What mattered was that there seemed to be a lot of monsters in this mine.

"Fine, let's get to work." Qin Ji didn't bother to expose him and turned his gaze toward the dark depths of the mine. "Where is the Ore?"

"There were three pieces of ice flame demon ore in total, but the Old Village Chief already dug one up." Li Daoyi took a compass from his robe and frowned. "The remaining two are nearby, but I can't sense their exact location... Strange, the magnetic field here is being interfered with by something."

"Interference?"

Qin Ji raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping over the dense, dark-red protrusions on the mine walls.

In the next second, he raised his hand and fired an arrow.

"Swoosh—!"

The arrow, wrapped in black lightning, accurately pierced a "stone" on the wall.

"Screech!!"

That "stone" instantly burst, letting out a shrill hiss as green fluid splashed everywhere. Immediately after, the entire mine seemed to come alive as thousands of "stones" on the walls unfurled their elytra, revealing hideous mouthparts.

[Obsidian Beetle (Rank 15)]

[HP: 3,500]

[Traits: High Armor, Group Behavior.]

"Holy crap! You've poked a bug's nest!" Li Daoyi's face changed drastically, and he instinctively shrank back.

"What's the panic?"

A fanatical curve hooked the corner of Qin Ji's mouth. In his eyes, this wasn't a swarm of insects; it was clearly a sky full of flying defense attribute points!

"Come out. It's time to eat."

With a thought, the Void Realm behind him cracked open, and ten Skeleton Warriors clad in heavy armor and wielding greatswords stepped out with a boom. The soul fires in their eye sockets flickered violently in the darkness, as if sensing their master's killing intent.

"Roar—!!"

The Skeleton Warriors were like ten tireless meat grinders, charging directly into the swarm.

As their greatswords swept through, the sound of shells cracking rang out like popping beans.

These high-defense monsters that would make ordinary players' scalps tingle were as fragile as potato chips before the Skeleton Warriors buffed by Qin Ji's attributes.

[Killed Obsidian Beetle, triggered "Greedy Grasp"!]

[Obtained: Defense +1!]

[Killed Obsidian Beetle, triggered "Greedy Grasp"!]

[Obtained: Defense +1!]

...

As the golden numbers jumped frantically, Qin Ji didn't even bother to lift a finger. He simply found a clean rock to sit on, watching his experience bar and attribute panel soar.

Is this the joy of the Summoner Style?

Li Daoyi watched from the side, dumbfounded. In all his years, he had never seen such a way of grinding monsters. Was this kid really a newcomer? Even those Necromancers in the Main City didn't have such ridiculous command, did they?

"Ding! Because you have killed a large number of Obsidian Beetles, you have disturbed the Beetle King hidden in the depths of the mine!"

Only ten minutes had passed.

The ground began to shake violently, and a dull roar echoed from the depths of the mine. A giant beetle as large as a truck, its body dark red, smashed through the rock wall and charged out.

[Obsidian Beetle King (Silver Grade BOSS)]

[Rank: LV.18]

[HP: 180,000 / 180,000]

[Skills: Rock Spikes, Hardened Shell, Savage Charge.]

"A Silver BOSS!" Li Daoyi cried out. "Kid, be careful! This thing's defense is extremely high, normal attacks won't even..."

Before he could finish.

Qin Ji had already stood up.

He slowly drew the [nine harmonies-evil slaying bow] in his hand, and the bone-like patterns on the bow's body instantly lit up with a crimson glow. The surrounding air seemed to be sucked dry by some terrifying force, letting out a sharp howl.

Trait 2 activated: Ignore 30% of the target's defense.

Trait 3 activated: Critical Rate +25%.

"High defense?"

Qin Ji's purple-gold pupils locked onto the Beetle King's massive head, and his fingers lightly released the bowstring.

"Before True Damage, all living beings are equal."

Twang—!!

A black stream of light instantly traversed a distance of a hundred meters.

It was an arrow so fast that not even an afterimage could be captured.

"Pfft!"

The Beetle King's proud, hard shell was easily pierced like a thin sheet of paper. The arrow, carrying terrifying kinetic energy, drilled into its head and then exploded violently inside the skull!

Critical Hit!

-49,880!! (Weak Point Strike + Armor Break + Critical Hit)

A terrifying damage number of nearly fifty thousand floated up.

Although it wasn't a one-shot kill, this terrifying arrow directly interrupted the Beetle King's charge. The massive inertia caused it to plow a deep trench into the ground as it rolled and roared in pain.

"Not dead yet?"

Qin Ji frowned slightly. "It seems my attack power still hasn't been boosted enough."

If other players heard this, they would probably have a brain hemorrhage from anger. Fifty thousand damage in one arrow, and you think it's too little? How much HP did ordinary players have at this stage? A thousand at most!

"Then I'll just do it a few more times."

Qin Ji's fingers turned into afterimages, and the vibration of the bowstring merged into a single sound.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—!

Three arrows in a row.

Each arrow accurately pinned itself into the Beetle King's exploded wound.

-45,000!

-46,200!

-48,900!

In less than three seconds.

That aggressive Silver BOSS collapsed with a desperate wail before it could even touch the hem of Qin Ji's clothes, turning into a sky full of light particles.

[Killed Obsidian Beetle King (Silver Grade), triggered "Greedy Grasp"!]

[Obtained: Passive skill "Hardened Skin" (Defense increased by an additional 10%)!]

"Ding! You have obtained equipment [Obsidian Legguards (Silver)]."

"Ding! You have obtained quest item [King's Compound Eye]."

"Ding! You have obtained Gold +50."

Li Daoyi stood by, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit a duck egg, and the wine gourd in his hand almost fell to the ground.

All the support Spells and life-saving trump cards he had prepared were completely unused.

This... this is the youth of today?

"Stop dazing off."

Qin Ji walked forward, picked up the shimmering [King's Compound Eye], and weighed it in his hand. He didn't give it to Li Daoyi but instead turned and walked toward a stone wall at the deepest part of the mine.

There was an inconspicuous slot there.

Its shape was exactly the same as the compound eye in his hand.

"Wait! That's..." Li Daoyi seemed to recognize something, and his face changed drastically. "Don't put it in! That's a Taboo..."

Click.

Qin Ji ignored him completely and pressed the compound eye in.

Since it was a game and there was a slot, it must be the key to opening a door. As for a Taboo? Those were ghost stories for the weak.

Rumble—

The heavy stone wall let out a grating sound as it slowly slid open to both sides. A vortex portal emitting an eerie purple-black light appeared before them.

[System Tip: You have opened the Hidden Dungeon—"The Lost Princess".]

[Server-wide Announcement: Congratulations to player "Qin Ji" for opening the server's first Hidden Dungeon, "The Lost Princess"! Reward: Free Attribute Points +10, Reputation +500!]

Another two server-wide announcements.

At this moment, the world channel exploded again, with countless players spamming things like "Great God Qin Ji, please carry me" and "What kind of god-like speed is this?" in the public chat.

But Qin Ji directly blocked all messages.

He looked at the portal in front of him, and a difficulty selection popped up on his retina.

[Normal], [Hard], [Nightmare], [Hell].

There was even a hidden option: [Abyss].

[Abyss Difficulty Tip: Monster attributes increased by 1000%. Upon death, the character account will be forcibly deleted (limited to this dungeon).]

"Delete account?"

Qin Ji smiled.

This game's developers were quite interesting to play for such high stakes.

"Abyss it is, then."

He chose the last option without hesitation. For him, who possessed infinitely stacking attributes, the difference between monster attributes increasing tenfold or twofold was merely whether it took one slash or two to kill them.

"Madman... You're a madman!"

Li Daoyi looked at the portal, which had turned blood-red, and backed away repeatedly. "This is a land of death! Entering means certain death! I'm not going to be crazy with you!"

With that, the old man actually performed an escape art, turning into a puff of green smoke and slipping away.

"Coward."

Qin Ji shook his head and stepped into the blood-red vortex.

...

Space shifted.

This time, Qin Ji didn't appear in some dark and terrifying dungeon but stood in a magnificent yet dilapidated palace hall.

A torn red carpet covered the floor, and huge collapsed stone pillars were scattered around. The air was filled with a thick scent of blood and... perfume?

"Giggle, giggle, giggle..."

A hair-raising laugh echoed from the depths of the palace.

Immediately after, countless figures wearing tattered court dresses with bluish-purple skin staggered out from the shadows.

[Court Maid (Abyss Grade Elite)]

[Rank: LV.20]

[HP: 50,000 / 50,000]

[Skills: Scream, Bite, Wraith Possession.]

At a glance, they were densely packed, at least a hundred of them.

If an ordinary player saw this, they would probably have closed their eyes in despair and waited for death. Each level 20 Abyss elite monster had the strength to solo a hundred-man raid team at this stage.

But Qin Ji took a deep breath, a look of intoxication appearing on his face.

"So many... mobile attribute points."

He slowly raised the longbow in his hand, but he didn't use any arrows.

In the next second.

The Void Realm behind him suddenly shattered, and the [frostmourne] (Pseudo-Divine Artifact Appearance) that he had gotten from the newbie gift bag and had been with him all along slowly emerged. Only this time, he didn't grip the sword but instead snapped his fingers.

"Boys, it's time to eat."

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In addition to the previous ten Skeleton Warriors, twenty [Skeleton Mage]s wielding staves emerged from the summoning space—this was the new unit type unlocked after just reaching level 10.

Fireballs, ice spikes, and poison mists.

Multicolored magical brilliance instantly illuminated the dim hall.

Before those terrifying Abyss maids could even let out a Scream, they were blown to bits by the overwhelming magic.

[Killed Court Maid, triggered "Greedy Grasp"!]

[Obtained: Intelligence +2!]

[Obtained: Intelligence +2!]

...

Qin Ji stood in the center of the hall, letting the air currents from the exploding magic blow his black hair. He casually grabbed a maid that had slipped through and lunged at him, crushing its head with one hand. His purple-gold pupils looked eerie and cold amidst the flying blood-red data streams, just like a newly crowned tyrant surveying his new territory through slaughter.