Punishment Instance

Wang Zhifan then walked over to the large boar sprawled on the ground and drove almost the entire blade of the Blade of the Wolf Fiend into its body, piercing its heart with the tip.

During this process, the large boar before him did not struggle at all. It did not even let out a single grunt. Clearly, before it had been physically killed by him, its soul had already suffered such severe damage that it had become an idiot.

Less than two seconds later, the large boar before Wang Zhifan began to dissipate like smoke across the vast grassland. At the same time, two light-screen messages flashed up before him.

You have leveled up to Lv2. Strength +1. Personal space capacity +1 cubic meter.

Please select your instance rewards independently (up to 3 items).

Common Grade (98% drop chance)

Short Axe (Common) x0–3...

...

Fine Grade (1% drop chance):

Short Axe (Fine) x0–2, Pistol (Fine) x0–2, Short Blade (Fine) x0–2...

Boar Armor (Fine) x0–2, Boar Mask (Fine) x0–2, Pigskin Kneeguards (Fine) x0–2...

Boxed Pistol Bullets (Fine) x0–2, Boxed SMG Bullets (Fine) x0–2, Boxed Rifle Bullets (Fine) x0–2...

Unyielding Ring (Fine) x0–2, Ring of Fury (Fine) x0–2, Fang Ring (Fine) x0–2...

Warrior Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine) x0–2, Mage Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine) x0–2, Summoner Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine) x0–2...

...

Rare Grade (0.01% drop chance):

Iron Mountain Sash (Rare) x0–1

Leveling up gave me 1 point of Strength and more storage space. That's not much different from what I predicted.

Wang Zhifan first confirmed the effects of his level-up. He felt no particular excitement, since it was more or less what he had expected. Then, with a thought, he closed that light-screen message and opened his personal panel for a look.

Name: Wang Zhifan.

Status: Normal, Tiger Fiend.

Level: Lv2.

Experience: 29/100.

Class: Blademaster.

Physique: 18.

Strength: 20.

Agility: 17.

Spirit: 16.

Skill: Basic Blade Art Lv3.

Equipped: Blade of the Wolf Fiend (Rare), Wolfhide Armor (Fine), Chapter of Gloom (Rare).

Personal Space: Pistol (Common), Pistol Bullets (Fine) x10.

As the panel showed, Wang Zhifan had indeed reached Lv2, and his Strength had risen to 20—more than twice the average strength of a healthy adult man. His personal space also contained an ordinary pistol left behind by the now-dead young man in the trench coat. As for the ten fine-grade pistol bullets, those were what remained after he had sold some bullets at the player marketplace on Tianhua Street in Dongjiang City yesterday, and they happened to pair perfectly with his newly acquired pistol.

Not bad. Now let's see what good rewards I can pick this time.

This instance had brought him an unexpected gain, putting Wang Zhifan in a good mood as he prepared to carefully choose his rewards.

But just as his gaze swept over the common-grade rewards section that he could not be bothered to examine closely, a new light-screen message suddenly emerged from the reward panel and filled the center of his vision.

You are about to enter the Punishment Instance. Please prepare for battle. Countdown: three, two, one... Transmission begins...

Huh? A Punishment Instance? Is this some kind of mistake?

When Wang Zhifan saw the message, he could barely believe his eyes. He felt that cutting off the trench-coated youth's hand had been entirely self-defense and did not constitute a violation. And the one who had later killed the youth had not been him at all, but the instance boss, the large boar. He should not have been dragged into a Punishment Instance.

But at this point, no amount of thinking would help Wang Zhifan. The unknown great existence that created these instances had never communicated with players, and there was no channel for player appeals. The message displayed before him was merely a notification, not something to negotiate with him.

Thus, after only three seconds, Wang Zhifan—still somewhat bewildered and not even having had time to properly look through the reward list—suddenly found that his surroundings had changed.

He had originally been standing beneath a blue sky and white clouds on a vast grassland. In the blink of an eye, he had arrived atop a mountain peak beneath a high, bright moon.

Beneath his feet were stones bathed in moonlight. Above him hung an almost full moon. Before him lay a narrow mountaintop, its edges all sheer cliffs, and a figure standing at the opposite cliff's edge.

Before Wang Zhifan could even tell whether the figure opposite him was male or female, it suddenly charged toward him at high speed and drew the long blade at its waist. The entire sequence was incredibly swift and carried an intense killing intent.

The opponent seems to be an expert.

As a Blademaster, Wang Zhifan immediately judged that the enemy charging at him was not to be underestimated. It seemed this Punishment Instance would not be easy; he would have to go all out.

Before the enemy closed in, he immediately considered switching to his pistol. But he quickly abandoned the idea and instead raised the Blade of the Wolf Fiend in his hand before charging at his opponent.

But do not mistake his decision not to use the pistol for some concern about martial honor. He simply judged that, in this environment, he might miss with a gun, making it riskier than using his blade.

Clang! In the blink of an eye, the two Blademasters clashed weapons atop the moonlit peak. The immense force behind their swings sent a chain of sparks scraping through the air, accompanied by the strange sound of a blade's edge shattering.

This masked man is weaker than me, and his blade isn't as good as mine either.

During that first exchange, Wang Zhifan not only saw that his opponent was a masked man, but also judged some useful information: the masked Blademaster before him was inferior to him in both strength and weaponry. That meant Wang Zhifan held a considerable advantage in this battle.

Yet the enemy before him seemed unconcerned by the wail of his weapon. Seeing that he could not compete with the young man before him in strength or weapon quality, he suddenly changed the direction in which he wielded and exerted force through his blade, beginning to use binding and twisting blade techniques against Wang Zhifan.

Wang Zhifan countered each move as it came without giving even half a step. His blade technique was, after all, at Lv3—the level of a skilled practitioner. He would not lose his composure the moment his opponent relied on technique.

Soon, waves of grating steel-on-steel clashes rang through the air atop the moonlit peak.

The two Blademasters fought fiercely near the center of the mountaintop for a short while. Then the masked man's blade suddenly broke, and he retreated toward the cliff's edge. Wang Zhifan pursued closely, the Blade of the Wolf Fiend in his hand pressing him without respite.

But at the cliff's edge, the masked man holding the broken blade suddenly launched a desperate counterattack at Wang Zhifan. As the Blade of the Wolf Fiend pierced through the masked man's chest, the masked man also stabbed Wang Zhifan in the waist and abdomen with his broken blade.