Successfully Triggered Instance

Late night.

Xi Shenlian had left the hotel.

He was wearing a gray suit, aimlessly wandering the streets of Shinjuku District.

It was at this moment.

After thirty busy days and nights, followed by six more of rest, he finally had some interest in taking in the neon-lit scene.

His gaze swept calmly over the fashionably dressed men and women.

Though this was a bustling area, with lights blazing even in the dead of night.

In every corner.

All sorts of filth and chaos still managed to hide in the shadows.

Pickpockets lurking in the crowd, snatching people's belongings.

Drug addicts hiding in corners, secretly using and dealing.

Middle-aged men and women on the phone, flirting with their lovers.

Relying on his visual and auditory abilities, watching and listening to the various stupidities and petty thefts hidden within the surging crowd, Xi Shenlian felt no obvious stir in his heart—only a faint sense of indifference.

A feeling of none of my damn business.

The only thought in his mind was, Should I find some wild monsters to grind for experience?

Yes.

He wanted to find some wild monsters to test his skills.

In this life and his previous one, Xi Shenlian had never truly fought anyone.

So, regarding his own individual strength, he still had a question mark in his head, unsure of his exact standing.

But here was the problem.

In modern society, where could he find wild monsters to grind for practice?

'Maybe I should head into a primeval forest and kill some beasts?'

'This world's primeval forests do have all sorts of monsters that can rival modern weaponry...'

In this world.

News would occasionally pop up about some region reporting a sea monster attacking ships.

Xi Shenlian didn't know the specifics.

But supposedly.

Many of those things were calamities caused by Awakened and various lost civilizations.

The stronger monsters.

Based on news reports and such.

Could directly contend with modern armed forces, going head-to-head with the military.

They were practically one of the opponents Xi Shenlian needed most!

But those monsters mostly stayed in remote, rarely visited places, making them time-consuming and troublesome to find.

Besides.

Monsters were just monsters.

To put it bluntly.

They were just creatures driven to the wilderness by Human civilization.

Compared to sparring with monsters.

Xi Shenlian was more eager to know where he stood among humans.

So.

After weighing the pros and cons, he abandoned that option.

'...Too far and too troublesome, and all in places hardly anyone goes.'

Then.

He switched tracks.

'What if I go to some war zone and just join a faction?'

'That doesn't seem right either... There'd be a lot of trouble later...'

In this world.

Awakened were generally not allowed to participate in conventional warfare.

Because their involvement could turn the battlefield into a literal slaughterhouse.

Driving casualty rates to an unbearable level!

Thus, they often serve a role akin to nuclear warheads.

Sitting there.

But nobody uses them!

Once both sides' Awakened take the field.

Then you have to be prepared.

Today your legion gets slaughtered, tomorrow his city gets razed, with both sides' casualty rates skyrocketing...

Therefore.

Even if he went to a warzone.

Xi Shenlian could mostly only act as decoration, unable to directly engage.

That situation, without a doubt, didn't align with his desire to make a big splash.

As for whether he could accept participating in war and killing?

He felt it didn't matter to him.

Or rather.

He was actually a bit curious.

Curious about what it felt like to kill...

Just like that.

After daydreaming for a while.

Xi Shenlian couldn't help but look up at the sky.

His gaze filled with melancholy.

He sighed skyward.

'Damn it...'

'Not even a single wild monster...'

'And not even a single punk for me to show off and slap in the face!'

'Is this the lonely emptiness of the invincible flow!!'

'Where does my mighty and powerful life go from here!!!'

He felt heartache and helplessness.

'Indeed, a favored son of heaven as outstanding and exceptional as me still can't follow the crowd and walk the mediocre path of showing off and slapping faces... My radiance is like the sun in the sky, a blazing great star—how could petty villains dare to provoke me...'

Lost in thought.

It all seemed quite reasonable.

Having comforted himself.

Xi Shenlian finally stopped dwelling on the wild monster issue.

"Hmph!"

"Would I ever envy mere face-slapping and showing off?"

But even so, his words still carried a faint trace of sorrow.

The sorrow of not being able to show off to his heart's content.

Just at that moment.

As Xi Shenlian passed through a bustling, crowded area and walked by a relatively secluded, quiet alley.

Suddenly, he heard a very hurried set of footsteps from within the alley.

Making him pause slightly.

Deep in the alley.

He saw a girl in a black dress fleeing in a panic.

And behind the girl was a group of men who looked quite professional and distinctive, clearly gangsters, in hot pursuit.

Given the current situation.

Judging by the girl's rapid breathing, she could probably run for another minute or two before collapsing from exhaustion.

'?'

'What kind of hero-saves-beauty script is this?'

Seeing this scene.

At that moment.

Xi Shenlian felt like he'd triggered a quest, the classic hero-saves-beauty quest.

Take down the small fries, get the drop: a beauty's gratitude?

But saving strangers and all that...

As a total scumbag who couldn't care less about whether outsiders live or die, Xi Shenlian really couldn't muster any interest.

Besides.

That girl probably didn't think a stranger would risk their life to help her, and Xi Shenlian, being alone and unimpressive, didn't look like someone who could assist anyway. So she didn't even call out to him for help, just kept running with a face full of unwilling desperation.

'Forget it, none of my business...'

Instinctively.

Xi Shenlian was about to go back to pondering the meaning of life.

His feet started moving forward again.

But that gang of thugs hadn't forgotten their role as randomly spawned mobs.

They timely used their taunt skill.

"Hey, you little brat up ahead!"

"Stop that girl! Don't let her get out of the alley!!"

"Or I'll beat you to death!!"

Though their target was already exhausted.

Even if she really did escape, they could catch her back soon enough.

But grabbing someone right out on the street would easily blow things up.

So the gang leader directly tried to threaten Xi Shenlian, who happened to be passing the alley entrance, into stopping their target.

However.

What he didn't know was that his few short words had already successfully triggered the hidden final boss challenge instance of Earth.

Making Xi Shenlian's originally forward-moving steps directly change direction, turning toward the alley...

Thank you: 1500 Qidian Coins from It's Datang Ya!

ps:

This book got onto the new book recommendation list today. Guess I'll have to kill a few people to celebrate, treat it as a Good Start...