Instance Settlement and Rewards

Cheng Tian, Demon Cicada, One-Ear, and Scab entered a state similar to a phased space. They could move freely, but the instance scene was frozen.

At the same time, a series of images began to flash before their eyes like a carousel.

However, over eighty percent of these images were related to Cheng Tian.

It started with him whipping his way out of a zombie encirclement, then strangling the Vampire Magician, followed by skillfully using Polymorph and information disparity to nearly kill the Red Imp, and finally, despite a massive difference in strength, finding the correct method to grind down and kill the Cyclops.

As for the two college students' scenes... One-Ear was alright; there was a scene of him chopping a zombie in half with a woodchopper's strike, which was the highlight of this instance.

Scab, on the other hand, only had scenes of him being turned into a duck by the magician and desperately fleeing while flapping his wings.

One-Ear had been a bit troubled initially, but after seeing Scab's miserable state, he immediately became happy.

The law of conservation of smiles, it truly doesn't lie to me.

After the images froze on the giant monster's fall, settlement panels appeared before the three of them.

[Initiating instance settlement.]

[Instance Scene: Demon Village Stage 1, Outskirts of the Demon King's Castle. Instance Difficulty: E+ Main Quest: Team Mission, Defeat "Cyclops". Completed √. Side Quest: Solo Mission, Defeat "Red Imp". Completed √. Triggered Limited Quest, Obtained "Demon King's Castle Map". Quest Completion: 100% Scene Exploration: 70% Instance Settlement Evaluation: A+ Instance Settlement Rewards: 4 Free Attribute Points, 2000 Heaven's Chosen Coins, 1 Free Skill Point, Cyclops Drop Silver Chest *1.]

[Your Demon Village related experiences have been archived. If you participate in future co-op instances with similar Demon Village experiences, the subsequent plot development will be reasonably coordinated.]

[You have obtained the qualification to return to the Chosen Evolution Space.]

[When you choose to return to the Chosen Evolution Space, you can only bring back loot that has been equipped in the equipment slots and placed in the item slots. You can now also directly sell loot that cannot be brought out of the instance to the Space.]

You can also choose to remain in the instance and freely explore the Demon Village Stage 1 scene within the remaining time limit for the main quest. This exploration will not affect the settlement evaluation, and loot carrying restrictions still apply. You can free up extra item slots by selling some loot during this period. During the free exploration phase, you can choose to exit the instance and return directly to the Chosen Evolution Space 60 seconds after exiting combat. If you do not actively return before the free exploration ends, a secondary judgment will be made after the time limit expires, and you may face additional penalties from the Chosen Evolution Space, including but not limited to "deductions of money," "attribute deductions," "skill sealing," and "reduced character gains in the next instance." During the free exploration phase, you can still use the effect of "Arthur's Proof," and "Demon Cicada" will still act as your temporary partner Pokémon.

[Your talent "Game Expert" will be settled after officially leaving the instance.]

As the target of a team-based mission, 90% of the giant monster's health was ground down by Cheng Tian alone with the help of one bug. His contribution to the team mission was as high as 99%, so the attribute and money rewards were doubled. The silver chest dropped by the giant monster was also placed in his settlement interface.

Cheng Tian didn't hesitate and immediately opened the silver chest that had refreshed at his feet. After all, this was the stage for settlement and reward processing, and he planned to explore freely. His goal was clear: the easter eggs in the earlier parts of the scene. Therefore, he needed to clear out as many slots as possible.

However, it was possible that the main quest's final settlement reward was also considered part of the Cyclops kill, so despite the shimmering silver chest, the contents were quite meager. Only one item was found, something difficult to describe –

The Cyclops Head Shield.

[Cyclops Head Shield: Blue (Excellent) / Lv1, Small Shield, Magical Head. Equipment Requirement: Strength 16. Defense Performance: 5 (Theoretically, blocking with the shield will reduce conventional physical damage by 5 points, but regardless of whether the defense is breached, it will accelerate the shield's durability consumption). Shield Bash Damage: 6-8, Durability: 20/20. A magic shield made from the head of a Cyclops, offering both offense and defense. However, compared to other specialized defensive metal shields, the Cyclops Head Shield is clearly not as durable. Strength +4, Charisma -2. Equipped inherent skills: "Fireball Spit," "Horn Pierce." Fireball Spit: The Cyclops's gaping mouth can spit out 1 fireball, dealing a fixed 15 fire damage. It consumes 2 durability and enters a 5-minute self-cooldown period. Horn Pierce: When using the shield for an attack, the horn may cause a "piercing strike." Piercing strikes will cause additional durability consumption to armor and have a chance to apply a "bleeding" effect to the target.]

Good heavens, where did this preservative head come from?

Cheng Tian placed the hideously ugly giant monster head in front of him, stared into its seemingly still-living single eye for a moment... then brought it close to his nose and sniffed it carefully.

Whether it was psychological or not, Cheng Tian felt that this giant monster head smelled foul, but it was still far less pungent than the smell emanating from the giant monster's body.

Looking at the giant monster head that had become a shield, Cheng Tian remembered that in the setting of the Great Demon Village, the giant monsters changed from their single-eyed, single-horned appearance to something resembling a large goblin with a single eye and two horns. More importantly, the giant monsters in the Great Demon Village seemed to have "Dullahan," or headless knight demon bloodlines, as they would detach their own heads and use them as magical artifacts to spew fireballs.

Except for the number of horns and skin color, the one Cheng Tian held now was virtually identical to the giant monsters in the Great Demon Village.

Without any hesitation, Cheng Tian decisively added two more points to his Strength, fulfilling the equipment requirements for the head, and equipped it in his off-hand slot.

It was ugly, but it should be very useful.

Cheng Tian also discovered that this thing could potentially be used as a throwing blueprint for "Knight Throwing."

One-Ear and Scab simply stared blankly as Cheng Tian, now fully equipped, gained another ugly and terrifying giant monster head in his hand. Their perception of the term "newbie" might have been completely shattered by Cheng.

However, after seeing that Cheng Tian seemed to have handled his situation, Scab directly stepped forward and gave Cheng Tian a deep bow at a 90-degree angle.

One-Ear was a beat behind, but after a moment of realization, he immediately followed suit with the same gesture.

"Thanks, big bro!" "Thanks, boss!"

Facing the gratitude of the two college students, Cheng Tian accepted it all without any modesty. As he spoke, he handed back the whiteboard weapons, which were of little use to him, to them.

"I don't have much else to say, just wishing you two eternal life~"

The two college students stood up and looked up. They took back the whiteboards, their expressions complicated, the foolish glint in their eyes gone.

Only when both of them simultaneously chose to immediately return to the Chosen Evolution Space, enveloped by the same light as the Greenie's earlier, did they both show expressions of having survived a disaster.

As Cheng Tian watched them leave, he began to sell off the items he had on him, preparing for his upcoming free exploration.