Secret Realm Instance

Yan Qing thought that he should have poor sleep quality in this strange cave. He was always the type to suffer from endocrine disorders when traveling—unfamiliar environments would cause Hakimi's stress response.

But unexpectedly, Yan Qing felt as refreshed after waking up this time as he would after putting on red underwear on New Year's Eve. This was a precious experience he hadn't been able to obtain since he developed the bad habit of working.

After a simple wash, he slightly heated the remaining meat buns from last night—yes, there was even a fireplace in the room—and after breakfast, Yan Qing turned on the game console.

Messenger, start!

Because there were no windows, Yan Qing could only judge the time from the game console. It should be just dawn outside, with the remaining blue of the night sky. 'Yan San' had already gotten up and was practicing swordsmanship.

"Do you want to change the game mode from 'automatic evolution' to 'manual control'?"

Automatic evolution was something Yan Qing discovered when he was about to log off last night. After a brief study, he found that it was actually a hang-up system, but a relatively smart one: the game character would automatically deduce his next actions based on past gaming experiences. For example, if 'Yan San' came to the barracks and became a soldier in a daze, he would go to bed on time, do morning exercises regularly, and obey orders until Yan Qing logged in to control him.

Yan Qing allowed 'Yan San' to continue hanging up, opened the public warehouse, and took out a bowl of hot pork rib soup—meat buns were still not enough, and he still needed to drink some hot soup in the early morning.

By the time the assembly bell rang in the school field, 'Yan San' had already leveled up again, which meant that even if Yan Qing acted as a hands-off shopkeeper, 'Yan San' could reach level 10 in four or five days.

Soldiers gathered in the school field, and 'Yan San' quickly found his superior—the Evil Spirit Knight from yesterday.

At this time, a name was floating above the latter's head: 'Centurion Chief Uwan Ryu'. This name was told to him by others, but after the game character knew the information, the system would automatically correspond the name to the character.

Uwan Ryu: "Today it's our Second Battalion's turn to enter the Secret Realm. Same rules as before: ten people for the archer team, reward of five Spirit Jades; five people for the combat soldier team, reward of thirty Spirit Jades. You, join the combat soldier team!"

The person Uwan Ryu named was 'Yan San'.

Yan Qing didn't understand what this was about, so he went with the flow, letting the riding slave help him put on heavy armor, equipped with a long spear, a large bow, a quiver of arrows, and even first-aid bandages and spirits. Everyone else was vying to sign up, but they were all rushing to join the archer team, and the combat soldier team relied entirely on Uwan Ryu to personally name them.

In addition to the archer team and the combat soldier team, Uwan Ryu also selected twenty people as a reserve team.

After forming the team, Uwan Ryu did not walk outside the barracks, but instead led them into the depths of the barracks. The further inside they went, the stricter the guards became, and there were even sentry towers, barriers, and chevaux-de-frise... The barracks that Yan Qing had previously understood were actually just the outermost living area. The interior was not only more heavily guarded, but even the main force of the army seemed to be used for internal guarding.

Under the aim of dozens of powerful crossbows in four directions, the gate of the barrier slowly opened, and Uwan Ryu led them into the most heavily guarded place inside the barracks.

Even Yan Qing couldn't help but become curious at this time: what exactly was it that needed the army to surround and protect it?

Appearing on the screen was a mansion.

Yan Qing thought about what big figure lived inside, requiring the entire barracks to guard it, but after taking two steps closer, he saw shallow green ripples appearing on the vermilion gate of the mansion, and related information popped up in the game:

"Zheng Family, Suppressor of Three Mountains"

"Background: Zheng Shan is a well-known philanthropist who donates money every year to build bridges and repair roads, sponsor academies, and take care of miserable people such as widows, widowers, orphans, and the disabled. But no one knows that the Zheng family is actually a den of thieves. Zheng Shan robs, plunders, kills, and sets fires in other places every year. He is a fierce bandit known as the 'Suppressor of Three Mountains' on the road, but he is enthusiastic about charity when he returns to his hometown, so the government has never suspected him..."

"Challenge Level: 8~15"

"Number of Challengers: Up to 15 people"

"Objective: Kill 'Suppressor of Three Mountains' Zheng Shan"

At this time, Uwan Ryu said: "To reiterate, all spoils belong to the public, and only I can touch all the treasure chests. If anyone violates the rules, don't blame me for being ruthless! And you, follow me later. If you can come out alive from inside, you will be a Centurion Rider, but if you retreat or run away in the face of demons... then you will stay inside forever."

"Finally, check your weapons. Second Battalion, enter the Secret Realm!"

So that's how it is!

No wonder Black Wolf and the others know so much about the Thieves' Home,

No wonder Uwan Ryu has a token to protect him,

So people in this world can discover dungeons and exploit the resources within!

In the eyes of people in this world, dungeons, these self-contained worlds, truly deserve the name 'Secret Realm'.

When 'Yan San' followed the team inside, the scene suddenly changed. Although it was morning outside, it turned into night after entering the dungeon. They arrived at the courtyard outside the mansion. The courtyard was filled with braziers, extending all the way into the mansion. Five fierce-looking house servants were patrolling in the middle of the path, with the names 'Bandit Servants' above their heads, along with health bars.

Centurion Chief Uwan Ryu: "Archery team, split into left and right wings, wait for crossfire! Battle team, follow me closely, five steps forward!"

Having said that, Centurion Chief Uwan Ryu took five steps forward and forcefully planted his long-handled crescent blade into the ground, seemingly unafraid of the servants ambushing him from beyond ten steps. However, when the entire battle team walked behind Centurion Chief Uwan Ryu, the servants still didn't react at all.

Yan Qing naturally understood the reason—dungeon monsters follow programmed actions, and Centurion Chief Uwan Ryu's distance was precisely outside the monster's aggro range.

Centurion Chief Uwan Ryu drew his hard bow and ordered, "Ready!"

'Yan San' and the other teammates drew their hard bows together, while the archery team had already split into left and right wings, standing behind them ready to fire.

"Fire!"

Fifteen arrows shot towards the five servants like splashing water, with each servant receiving an average of three arrows, reducing their health by one-third. But although these bandit servants were hit by arrows, their actions were not affected at all. Instead, they raised their broadswords and charged at them!

Datafication!

These monsters are different from real people; their combat power doesn't decrease due to injuries. They only die when their health is completely depleted!

"Guards, engage!"

Centurion Chief Uwan Ryu picked up his crescent blade and faced the foremost servant. The other battle soldiers also grabbed a servant each, ensuring that none were missed. It's worth mentioning that, apart from Centurion Chief Uwan Ryu and 'Yan San', the other battle soldiers were all swordsmen with shields, focusing on defense.

During the servants' charge, the archery team fired another round of shots, so when 'Yan San' engaged the servant, the opponent already had only half health left. But this was an level 8-15 dungeon, which meant that the servant was at least level 8, higher than 'Yan San'. Therefore, when 'Yan San' stabbed the servant, the opponent only lost 15% health.

The battle ended quickly. Although Yan Qing tried his best to control the character, he was still hit twice by the servant, losing about 10% health.

Yan Qing then opened his personal inventory and clicked on 'Meat Bun' to eat it.

"Where did you get the meat bun?" the panting swordsman with a shield next to him asked in surprise.

Yan San: "Leftovers from breakfast."

After eating the meat bun, a small section of slowly recovering green health appeared in the health bar. As a veteran player, Yan Qing naturally understood what this meant: the green health represented the amount of health that the meat bun could restore, but it would take time to take effect slowly.

After the fight, Centurion Chief Uwan Ryu didn't continue to advance but allowed everyone to rest for a moment to relax their muscles. At this time, Yan Qing looked at the 'Spirit Jade', 'Roast Chicken', 'Blood Replenishing Pill', and 'Steel Ingot' floating on the servants' corpses, and then looked at the centurion knight who was indifferent to these drops. After thinking for a moment, he controlled 'Yan San' to approach the drops.

"You picked up Spirit Jade ×300"

"You picked up Roast Chicken ×2"

"You picked up..."

"What are you doing!" Centurion Chief Uwan Ryu's roar seemed to penetrate the game console, exploding in Yan Qing's ears.

He stood up, gripped his crescent blade tightly, and his eyes behind the Evil Spirit mask glared at 'Yan San':

"Why are you stepping on the corpses of these demons!"

Yan Qing had a flash of inspiration and replied, "I was hit by them twice just now, and I'm very unhappy."

Centurion Chief Uwan Ryu looked at him for a while and said, "Don't step on them, their clothes will be recycled later. If you're injured, hurry up and apply medicine. We'll continue fighting in a while."

Yan Qing now completely confirmed that the people in this world cannot see the drops from dungeon monsters!

Thinking about it carefully, it really doesn't make sense. Who would carry money, food, and various materials with them? But "The Messenger" is, after all, an MMORPG. It's impossible for dungeon monsters to only drop relevant items. Otherwise, after running a humanoid monster dungeon like this, players would have their bags full of low-level weapons and clothes, which would only take up storage space and be meaningless. And after players finish, they would definitely exchange these junk loot for Spirit Jade, so it's better to directly give Spirit Jade, supplies, and stackable materials.

Although the people of this world can enter dungeons, they are not players in the game after all. Therefore, they cannot see or enjoy these drop mechanisms that are convenient for players.

After resting, Uwan Ryu led them into the main house. As soon as they entered, they saw five servants eating inside. The same routine: maintain distance, shoot together first, then the battle soldiers go up to the front, and the archer team crossfires.

Because the space in the main house was narrow, the five battle soldiers didn't have much room to maneuver. Yan Qing only managed to dodge once, losing a full 20% of his health before the battle ended.

The good news is that after two battles, 'Yan San' is already level 7.

Just as Yan Qing was about to eat a roasted chicken to replenish his health, the shield-wielding battle soldier next to him said, "Centurion Chief, I, I can't go on."

This shield-wielding battle soldier didn't have a health bar above his head, but he had multiple injuries on his body. There was even a deep, bone-deep wound on his shoulder, and his armor had been cut through.

Yan Qing then realized that, apart from 'Yan San' and Uwan Ryu, the other three shield-wielding soldiers were all injured and in extremely poor condition.

It's understandable that Uwan Ryu was unscathed; he had already changed jobs and had a protective token. But 'Yan San' had clearly taken several hits as well, so why was he also...

Yan Qing looked at the health bar in the lower-left corner of 'Yan San' and immediately understood everything.

'Yan San', like the dungeon monsters, is a data-based creature. No matter how much damage he takes, it won't affect his combat power. He will only die when his health bar is emptied. Moreover, real people have to stop the bleeding, disinfect, and bandage to heal, while 'Yan San' only needs to eat a steamed bun or roasted chicken to restore his health.

Datafication affects not only injuries but also combat style. These servants are fearless when fighting, and they don't dodge at all, exchanging injuries with them. Fighting against this kind of 'fearless' monster that 'isn't affected by injuries', even if you are very careful, you will definitely get hurt. No wonder the battle soldier team's bounty is six times that of the archer team, but no one comes; the risk is too great.

Thinking about it this way, it's only natural that the locals call dungeon monsters demons: durable, unafraid of death, trading lives for lives, and they will be resurrected with the dungeon refresh. What else could they be but demons?