Death Mine

[You have entered the Level 15 Rare Dungeon "Death Mine" (★★)]

[Dungeon Clear Condition: Escape the dungeon, avoiding all pursuit from the Vanguard]

[Dungeon Reward: Large amount of experience, with an additional chance to obtain items]

My consciousness gradually returned, and while still groggy, lines of azure text began to flicker before my eyes.

I wasn't unfamiliar with the name Death Mine; in the beta version of Star Abyss, Death Mine was the first rare dungeon and the optimal channel for players to obtain blue-tier equipment for the first time.

But I'm only Level 4 right now! To be thrown directly into a Level 15 rare dungeon, isn't the system trying to kill me too eagerly?!

However, Death Mine was garrisoned by an army from the Undercurrent organization, and I was originally abducted from Winter Spring Town to be brought here, so I suppose this arrangement is somewhat logical.

"He's awake."

A cold voice reached my ears.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw a cluster of surgical lights hanging above me. Beside me stood two people in white lab coats. One of them had graying eyebrows, clearly advanced in age; he was the one who had spoken.

"You guys..."

After a slight struggle, I discovered my hands and legs were bound to the operating table with leather straps.

"Doctor, the solution is ready."

A nurse approached, holding a tray. Her gaze swept over, and when she looked at me, it held a hint of mockery and pity.

"Behave!"

The doctor picked up a syringe and, without explanation, plunged it in.

After a sharp pain in my arm, I became furious. I had already thought of something unpleasant.

This injection was most likely the infamous "Pandora Solution"!

In the beta version's Death Mine map, every player entering the dungeon would be injected with three doses of this solution to gain three temporary buffs. The Pandora Solution was a gene mutation agent developed by the Undercurrent organization. Its mutations were directionless; they could be positive, negative, or even lead directly to death!

It was through this method that the Undercurrent organization continuously abducted test subjects from the wilderness. Even though the survival and mutation success rates under the Pandora Solution were extremely low, they had still managed to cultivate a powerful army of gene-modified warriors!

"Take him away, next."

I was pushed out by two armed guards and thrown into a small room. My eyelids grew heavy, and my consciousness began to fade.

I don't know how much time passed before light flickered before my eyes again.

[Pandora Solution begins to take effect!]

[Your genes are officially beginning to mutate!]

[You can choose between two evolution methods: Directed Mutation and Free Mutation!]

[Directed Mutation: Obtain one B-rank Gene Enhancement Skill]

[Free Mutation: 1% chance to obtain an SS-rank Gene Enhancement Skill, 5% chance to obtain an S-rank Gene Enhancement Skill, 14% chance to obtain an A-rank Gene Enhancement Skill, 30% chance to obtain a B-rank Gene Enhancement Skill, 50% chance to obtain a C-rank or lower Gene Mutation Skill!]

There's actually this kind of setup. This is different from the beta version.

I frowned, my mood complicated. It seemed entering the Level 15 rare dungeon early wasn't necessarily a bad thing; at least I could "freeload" three Gene Enhancement Skills from the Undercurrent organization!

The current situation made it difficult to choose. With Directed Mutation, a B-rank enhancement skill, while certainly useful, wouldn't significantly change my overall strength.

On the other hand, choosing Free Mutation was like playing the lottery, a method gamblers loved.

After pondering for a moment, I chose Free Mutation!

A ding sound immediately echoed in my ears, followed by a surge of power rapidly generating within me, rushing towards my abdomen!

[Congratulations, you have obtained the D-rank Gene Enhancement Skill "Intestinal Fortification": Greatly enhances intestinal digestion, but during the process of strengthening the intestines, it affected the direction of gene mutation. The amount of alcohol dehydrogenase secreted by your liver has significantly decreased, making you intolerant to alcohol!]

"..."

I was silent for half a minute.

What the hell use is this damn enhancement skill!!!

Can I eat more hotpot than others, or poop more smoothly than others???

And damn it, I won't be able to outdrink anyone anymore!

Won't my title, Suzhou Wine God, be gone forever?

For a moment, I felt utterly terrible and fell into a long period of silence and contemplation.

About an hour later, two guards pushed me into another room.

A sweet-voiced young nurse scanned me with a baton-like device and said, "Instructor Lakuri, no signs of gene mutation have been detected. This dose of Pandora Solution seems to have failed."

"Failed?"

The nurse was pushed aside, and a burly man in military uniform with the rank of Captain glared at me fiercely: "It failed again? The organization is already disappointed with the recent success rate of the Pandora Solution and will not tolerate such a high failure rate. Electrocute him and stimulate any potential gene mutation abilities hidden deep within his cells!"

"Yes, Instructor Lakuri!"

One of the guards quickly pressed a button. In an instant, high-intensity current poured down from above my head, plunging me into extreme agony. My hair stood on end, blue electricity coursed through my body, and my consciousness began to blur!

For a moment, curses filled my mind.

What's wrong with these Undercurrent people? Electroshock therapy, do they think they're Professor Yang?

As the high-intensity current raged, prompts repeatedly popped up before my eyes asking if I wanted to enter combat form. Once I entered combat state, my Intestinal Fortification ability would be revealed.

I endured the searing pain, refusing to confirm.

After being electrocuted for a full three minutes, the other party finally seemed to lose patience.

"Just as I thought, a useless piece of trash!"

Instructor Lakuri frowned. "Send him to the training camp. He'll start his trial training tomorrow."

I was pushed into a small room. Before the two guards left, they unbuckled their belts, finally granting me freedom.

Of course, resistance was impossible. Both guards were level 10 and equipped with firearms and melee weapons. Neither one was someone I could afford to provoke at the moment.

Not long after, a guard brought dinner. I didn't mind the taste and wolfed it all down. Afterward, I lay on the single bed, trying to recover my strength as quickly as possible.

Drowsily, I drifted back to sleep.

"Puff calling nearby players! Puff calling nearby players!"

In my sleep, it sounded like someone was calling out by my ear.

"Huh?"

I slowly woke up. Although my eyes were still closed, I noticed a blue icon flashing in the corner of my player interface. After clicking it, I immediately received a prompt.

[Do you want to open the Star Chart? (Note: The Star Chart is a way for players to communicate with each other.)]

Confirm opening.

The moment I silently confirmed, my body inverted. I went from lying down to standing on a pitch-black Star Chart. At this moment, only one star was flashing on this massive chart.

That star probably represented one player.

"No way, there are three players on the regional leaderboard, aren't there? Can the other two not hear me?"

The voice was very sweet. Puff, the female player, sounded a little self-doubting. "Whether you're eavesdropping or not, I still have to warn you: if you are in the Iron Blood Training Camp of the Death Mine, do NOT level up to level 5! Do NOT level up to level 5! Do NOT level up to level 5! Important things must be said three times. Warning complete."

"..."

I frowned. Just as I was considering whether to reveal my Star Chart and talk to her, another starlight suddenly flickered on the chart, and a line connected it to Puff's starlight.

"Player Left Hand responding, Player Left Hand responding! Sister Puff, can you explain things more clearly?"

"There really are players?"

Puff was delighted. "Left Hand, where are you from, first?"

"Changzhou, Jiangsu."

Left Hand said, "Miss Puff, did you also enter this world by entering a CDKEY?"

"Mm."

Puff said, "I'm from Shanghai. I really don't know why this 2D game turned out like this. I've been online for several days and still can't log off. I also don't know how my real self is doing. Do you have any news on your end?"

"No."

Left Hand said, "After being teleported here, I lost contact with the other world. Also, this game doesn't have a friend system or a logout option so far. But since we're here, let's just live well. I think thinking too much is useless. By the way, what did you mean by not leveling up to level 5?"

"Once you reach level 5, you'll awaken the Essence Furnace."

Puff sounded a little angry. "I awakened the furnace this morning during training, and then I was detected by the Undercurrent's equipment. They actually directly added me to the Vanguard's roster. This way, I've joined the Undercurrent faction... but I really don't want to join this trash faction..."

"Holy crap, so that's how it is..."

Left Hand's expression changed drastically. "In that case... Sister Puff, please accept my condolences. Once you're settled in the Undercurrent faction, we'll work from the inside and outside to destroy the Undercurrent!"

Puff chuckled wryly. "Easy to say... Sigh, forget it, let's take it one step at a time. This Star Chart conversation consumes 1% of your current level's experience points per minute, so I won't say too much. This is the beginner phase, and experience is very important. Oh, right, there's another player on the regional leaderboard called Shadow Chaser. Have you seen him? He hasn't shown up yet."

"Not yet."

Left Hand said, "Since it consumes experience, I'll exit the Star Chart for now. Contact me again if anything comes up!"

"Okay."

As the two of them exited, I also slowly withdrew from the Star Chart.

As expected, eavesdropping for two minutes cost me 2% of my experience.

"Regional leaderboard?"

I muttered, searching the interface for a while. Sure enough, a leaderboard icon appeared. It was probably a newly launched feature; I hadn't noticed it before. Upon opening it, there were only three people on the leaderboard.

1, Puff Level: 6 Profession: Starry Sky Super Weapon · Sword Specialization · Tier 1

2, Left Hand Level: 4 Profession: Unlocked

3, Shadow Chaser Level: 4 Profession: Unlocked

I didn't rush to contact Left Hand and Puff. Instead, I decided to observe first, adapt to the environment of the Iron Blood Training Camp, and then decide on my next move.