Folklore Instance

The Gambling King on the second floor, his face flushed red, stared in disbelief at the requirements Bo Shuo had written before the bet.

It wasn't that the request was harsh, but rather that it was childish.

For low-level examinees, this would be as difficult as climbing the heavens, but for examinees of the Gambling King's caliber, it was merely trivial. He even found the reward laughable on normal occasions.

If this person hadn't been introduced by Eveya, he would have almost thought the young man before him was here to cause trouble.

A mere ten thousand points? Was this person looking down on him?

"Change the request."

The Gambling King squeezed his eyes shut tightly, suppressing the anger in his heart, and spoke.

Bo Shuo refused, "No."

But it was precisely this word that enraged the Gambling King even further. If the request had been for a hundred thousand or even a million points, he would have transferred it without batting an eye. Yet, this young man before him was trying to humiliate him...

"A bet is a bet."

The youth with black hair and a red robe stared at him coldly. One sentence was enough to make the Gambling King fume.

(Emotion Points from 'Gambling King of the Second Floor' +99999)

He ominously uttered the word "good" three times.

(Transaction of bet stakes from No. 725671 Zhen Chenwu, automatically received.)

*

After leaving the White Tower, Bo Shuo decided to change his appearance.

The points he had won this time were enough for him to advance to C-rank, but it also signaled how ostentatious his actions had been.

If someone with ill intentions remembered him, it could lead to some unnecessary hidden dangers.

(Appearance duration: 24h, 2000 points deducted.)

The moment he stepped out of the White Tower, Bo Shuo's entire appearance changed.

His original purple eyes turned pitch black, and his waist-length black hair shortened to collarbone length, with two streaks of blue dyed in.

With these two signature features altered, changing his facial features and build became easier. His stern brows softened slightly, and his tall, adult male physique became slender and thin.

His apparent age decreased by six or seven years, making him look like a teenager.

"Buzz buzz."

A faint vibration came from his pocket. Bo Shuo fished out his phone.

The screen, emitting a soft light, displayed countless friend requests.

(No. 2381h requests to add friend, No. g2983 requests to add friend...)

Friend request list: 999+

?

Why were so many people adding him?

Bo Shuo frowned. Just as he was about to press "reject all," his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of the first two requests.

The remarks read Xu Nian and Gu Baiyu.

After clicking "accept," within seconds, a barrage of messages flooded in from both of them.

(Xu Yi: Mr. Bo, could I trouble you to tell me which district you are in?)

(Gu Baiyu: Big shot, big shot, quickly check the forum! Share link.)

Bo Shuo replied to Xu Yi's message, then clicked on the link Gu Baiyu had sent.

The loading page that appeared was pure black, followed by a scarlet blood-red cross, which slowly faded after the loading was complete.

Upon entering, he saw the top of the forum, with several discussion threads marked as "hot" on the recent template.

top1: Changes in the examinee rankings, the former 27th-ranked examinee tragically died in an instance.

top2: Urgently seeking large quantities of C-rank and B-rank items, prices negotiable.

Bo Shuo's gaze slid down, finally stopping at a post that was quietly climbing its way to the bottom of the hot discussion list.

top86: Shocking! I actually saw a newbie on the clear instance notification list with a perfect score.

(As the title says, I was stunned then. This is the first time I've seen a perfect score.)

(Are you sure you're awake, OP? Do you really think a perfect score is that easy to get? No one has figured out the exam's judging criteria yet. Even if you copied the answers, you wouldn't get a perfect score, unless you completed the bonus questions.)

(The person above is right. How could the bonus questions be easily completed? The trigger conditions are harsh. Even if you're allied with a top-ranked examinee, you can't guarantee you'll complete them. How could a newbie? There's a limit to making jokes, reported the post.)

(...Wait, don't report it yet. I think I saw it too. I thought I was seeing things then. Screenshot.jpg.)

(!!!!)

(Holy crap! Exactly a perfect score, and this newbie didn't trigger the bonus questions!! This is unbelievable.)

(Opportunity knocks! I'll bet a pack of spicy sticks that this person will definitely be a rising star in the future. I'm going to apply for a friend request now.)

(I'm going too, I'm going too.)

(...)

Bo Shuo: "..."

He finally understood where all those friend requests came from.

After rejecting all the friend requests with one click, Bo Shuo headed to the most luxurious hotel in the entire Lost Paradise area.

There were still five days until the next exam.

C-rank examinees had a week of rest after completing an Instance.

Bo Shuo wasn't one to deny himself things, and he had made a fortune on this trip, so there was no need to be frugal.

After booking the best room, Bo Shuo dimmed the lights, freshened up, and then threw himself onto the soft bed.

After sleeping for more than ten hours, the sense of depletion surrounding him finally dissipated.

The tension from the previous Instance began to ease.

007, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly woke him up.

"Host, Host! Wake up and study!"

"?"

"Let me sleep a little longer."

The young man, emerging from the covers, had messy hair falling over his forehead, his eyelids half-closed, clearly not fully awake yet.

Perhaps because he knew the surroundings were safe, he hadn't entered his disguised state, and the words he spoke were a soft, non-aggressive whisper.