Explore! Encounter!

With Stiller leading the way, the group quickly reached the first floor.

They didn't encounter any new monsters along the way.

Robin's stone ball was incredibly effective; it was a literal, devastating blow to the monsters roaming the stairwell.

Looking at the flattened monsters and the fresh bloodstains on the ground, Lin Yu became increasingly pessimistic.

These monsters are indeed not very strong.

But "Robin" is indeed a true master.

Based on the excellent mechanism that the difficulty of the Instance is basically matched with the skill level of the Player within the Instance, the Combat Power these monsters are, the more uneasy Lin Yu feels.

This indicates that there is an aspect of this Instance that Lin Yu has not yet discovered, and that it presents a level of difficulty commensurate with that of a "Tier 3" Player.

What troubled Lin Yu the most was that he had absolutely no idea which aspect was difficult!

Even Lin Yu couldn't determine which type of Instance this was.

Puzzle solving? Survival?

Lin Yu wasn't the only one with this feeling of unease.

He could sense that Robin seemed quite uneasy.

The reason is probably the same as Lin Yu's: she can also feel that the part of this Instance that has been shown so far is too simple for her.

Something unusual must be going on.

But perhaps because she was the one "taking the lead," Robin of responsibility prevented her from showing her unease.

The three stood at the entrance to the stairwell just before stepping onto the first floor. Robin took out a pencil and sketch paper and scribbled something. The huge stone ball blocking the entrance slowly dissipated, revealing the slightly deformed doorway.

Stiller stepped forward and opened the door—still no danger.

The three of them carefully walked out of the stairwell and came to the first floor.

The corridor here is still long and spacious, and the doors to the rooms on both sides of the corridor are made of wood, unlike the metal doors upstairs.

The distance between the doors is also quite large, which suggests that these rooms should be more spacious than the "wards" upstairs.

"These are likely offices, pharmacies, or clinics," Robin said, looking around. "Let's see if we can find anything useful...we should search carefully."

As she spoke, Max raised her hand.

"Wait Robin, Mr. Robin, let me try!"

Then, Max started chanting a spell again, turning the Compass in his hand.

"May the Bodhisattva protect us, may Zeus protect us! Amen, Amitabha!"

Watching the Compass spin incessantly, Max looked up and pointed to the nearest one on his Right Hand.

Let's start with the nearest one!

Lin Yu asked curiously, "Isn't your Compass still running?"

Max chuckled. "Yeah, that's why I didn't get a clear answer... If the question is too general or there's too little information, it's easy to not reach a conclusion, so I just picked one based on my gut feeling."

Lin Yu felt helpless. "You chose it based on first impressions, didn't you?"

This "thief" Miss is far too optimistic!

Robin himself and his younger colleagues in the organization. "It's not a problem. There are four rooms in this corridor. We can search them one by one."

"After all, this floor looks different from the others, so it doesn't hurt to be more careful."

As he spoke, Robin reached out and grasped the doorknob, shaking it up and down.

"It's locked."

She said this without surprise, glancing at Max beside her.

Do you have lock-picking skills?

Max nodded. "Of course—although my Lockpick Pin is out of commission, I still have a way with a wooden door."

Max said confidently, then pulled out...

A red fire axe.

"Open it!"

Max swung his axe and, with a loud crack, chiseled a hole in the thick wooden door.

Under the astonished gazes of Robin and Lin Yu, Max swung his axe around and widened the gap.

Then she reached in and groped around—and a moment later, the door opened.

Max proudly declared, "How about that? My unique lock-picking method!"

"As long as the door material isn't sturdy enough, it can basically be opened."

Lin Yu looked at Max, pondered for a long time, and then said, "What kind of 'thief' are you? Do you pick locks like this in real life?"

Max said somewhat embarrassedly, "Actually, I'm a law-abiding citizen in real life... I have a regular job; I work as a front-end programmer at a company."

"Then why did you awaken to the Profession 'thief' instead of 'Corporate Slave'?"

Upon hearing Max's words, Robin couldn't help but ask as well.

Max honestly replied, "I've thought about that too, because I've never stolen anything... but then I realized it's probably because I never work overtime and am not a 'Corporate Slave' at all."

"And I often steal snacks from the break room and slack off at work... My colleagues call me the 'Salary Thief,' maybe that's related?"

Max said seriously.

"Is that so?"

Lin Yu was quite shocked.

"Indeed, there's some connection between 'Profession' awareness and self-identity," Robin said. "I don't make a living by painting either..."

Robin what Robin said, Lin Yu understood.

If I put myself in his shoes, then this "Fraudster" doesn't match me at all.

Although a "Unique Profession" is probably different from a regular "Profession," it may also take into account potential and other factors.

"Let's see what's in the room first!"

As Lin Yu spoke, the group entered the room.

This does not appear to be a Doctor's office, but rather belongs to a hospital administrator in an administrative position.

A spacious desk, a comfortable sofa, lush green plants, a tall bookcase...

There was also a tall, bewildered monster sitting behind a desk.

The humanoid monster, dressed in a suit and with bluish-purple skin, was sitting nearly two meters tall and writing something with a pen and paper.

Upon seeing the uninvited guest who had barged in, the monster stood up and let out a loud, incomprehensible roar.

"... Whoosh!... Hey!"

As he spoke, he slammed his fist on the button on the table in front of him.

Soon, alarms blared and blinding red lights flashed throughout the office.

Noisy footsteps could be heard outside the door.

Turning around, several groups of people in black Security Uniform, waving tentacles, surged from both sides of the corridor, shouting as they did so.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

These security guards were almost identical to the ones Lin Yu had encountered behind the door who had captured Max, but the difference was that these looked much taller!

"Wow, so many!"

Max was also startled, gripping the fire axe and looking helplessly towards the door.

And it's not just these security personnel...

The tall, imposing hospital administrator inside the room also stood up and pulled out a huge, dark-looking hunting rifle from under the table!

Although the giant, who was over three meters tall when standing, was holding a hunting rifle, from Lin Yu's perspective...

This hunting rifle looks almost identical to a mortar!