Team Up

"Hey, is that you, Brother Ming? It's me. I found out who the person that snatched your kills was...

"Yeah, yeah! Their nickname's Thousand King. They're with Mountains and Seas! Not even level ten."

After saying goodbye to Lin Qimeng and the others, Wang Qianduo piloted his mecha to the entrance of the Instance Dungeon on the first planet of Star Domain 5.

The entrance to the Dark Forest Instance Dungeon was a portal formed from dark energy, standing amid a forest of towering trees.

Unlike the other lively places in the beginner area, there weren't many new players at the entrance to the Dark Forest Instance Dungeon at this stage.

It wasn't that the dungeon was unpopular or unimportant.

On the contrary, as the game's first Instance Dungeon, the Dark Forest was exceptionally important.

Most of the handful of pieces of equipment players had came from it, along with the experience they needed to level up.

And the Main Quest for the Propulsion Device, which was extremely important to level-five players, also had to be completed in this dungeon.

Without this dungeon, ordinary players might have to spend their first ten or so levels as infantry.

There were so few people here because hardly any of the new players had reached level five yet.

As for those who had entered the game earlier, they had already outleveled the rewards from this dungeon, which was why things looked this way.

Wang Qianduo didn't have a Main Quest, but he'd gained an enormous amount from that Beast Tide.

However, he was the only one who could make use of that kind of reward, thanks to his Full-Recovery Potion.

There weren't many people around, which suited Wang Qianduo just fine. But when he tried to enter the dungeon directly, he was denied.

Only then did he take a closer look at the dungeon information.

Dark Forest

Difficulty: Normal

Entry Requirements: Level 5–12

Player Limit: 3–5

"This stupid dungeon has a freaking player limit?!"

Wang Qianduo couldn't help complaining when he saw the dungeon wouldn't let him in.

What could he do? Hurry up and find people to team up with!

He couldn't clear it alone.

Damn, this was annoying.

"This damn game never has enough people when you need them, but when you don't, there are people everywhere!" Wang Qianduo searched around, but couldn't find a team.

There were actually a few people at the dungeon entrance, but he still couldn't get into a group.

It wasn't that he looked down on them. They were the ones who looked down on him.

Whenever he saw a recruitment message in the regional channel, Wang Qianduo immediately applied. Without exception, he was rejected.

This was awkward...

After getting rejected so many times, Wang Qianduo quickly figured out the problem. Most of the people at the dungeon entrance were around level ten.

They were players who had started playing before mechas could be brought into the real world, but they'd played casually, so their levels were low.

That was exactly why they knew how difficult this dungeon was. An ordinary level-five player would do nothing but hold them back.

And they weren't strong enough to steamroll the dungeon, so there was no way they'd bring along dead weight.

Wang Qianduo was about to give up and pay someone to carry him through if all else failed when, suddenly, things took a turn.

A team invitation appeared in front of him. He immediately accepted.

"Great, great! We've finally got a full team. What type of mecha do you use, bro? Thousand King? Never heard of you. Which Club are you with?"

As soon as Wang Qianduo joined the group, someone asked him that.

Old Wang glanced at the person's nickname: Song in the Clouds.

"Agility."

"Another Agility-type! Our team's composition is a little unbalanced for this dungeon!" another person said. Their nickname was Bright Moon over the Blue Sea.

"Don't be so picky, okay? At times like this, Intelligence- and Strength-Type Mecha skills need time to charge, so it's really hard to get the kills.

"It's only natural for Agility experts to stand out! Who do you think you are, Bright Moon over the Blue Sea? Besides, our team isn't unbalanced, is it?" said Song in the Clouds.

"Okay, let's get together. Normal difficulty isn't hard. Let's clear it quickly and then try Hard!"

A player named Sword of Miracles spoke up, and the other two immediately stopped arguing.

"Do you know each other?" Wang Qianduo asked, looking at them. He could clear the dungeon either way, but if he'd run into a group of friends who planned to hog all the gear, that would be a problem.

"You don't know us?" The only female player among the four finally spoke when she realized Wang Qianduo really didn't recognize them. Her nickname was "Call Me Martial God."

"Are you famous?"

"Looks like you really don't know us, so you're not part of the scene. You're a new player, bro? How'd you get to level five?" asked Song in the Clouds.

"I just leveled up by killing monsters like normal. It was pretty easy!" Wang Qianduo said, "honestly."

"Impressive!

"But don't worry. We're all professional players. We won't do something like hogging the loot.

"Let's get together first. Don't waste too much time here. We'll talk as we go," said Call Me Martial God.

Song in the Clouds and the other three really were professional players—and among the very best. They just hadn't played this game before because their Clubs had focused on different things.

They'd only started playing recently because of those special circumstances.

Usually, players had to report their stats before tackling a dungeon, but for professional players, time was money. They didn't have time for that.

Besides, they were confident that as long as everyone played normally, this Normal-difficulty dungeon would be no problem.

A dungeon's difficulty depended on the players.

As for Wang Qianduo, they figured that anyone who'd reached level five this quickly must be pretty capable.

On the way to the entrance, Wang Qianduo checked out the other four through the team channel.

The team leader, Sword of Miracles, piloted a Strength-Type Mech. Bright Moon over the Blue Sea piloted an Intelligence-type Mech, while Call Me Martial God and Song in the Clouds both piloted Agility-type Mechs.

Strength-type Mechs were the team's early-game tanks, while Agility- and Intelligence-type Mechs dealt damage.

The team's overall composition was decent, but not ideal for this dungeon. The first boss had a special mechanic and required two tanks.

But it was too difficult to level up a Strength-Type Mech, and they didn't have the time or patience to wait for another player.

None of them had considered recruiting a high-level veteran, because that would affect their overall rewards.

They had a limited number of dungeon runs each day, so of course they wanted to maximize their rewards.

The entrance wasn't far away, so they soon gathered in front of it. The team leader, Sword of Miracles, triggered the dungeon and selected "Enter."

A flash of black light later, they appeared inside the Dark Forest Instance Dungeon.

The Dark Forest was just what its name suggested: a forest of towering trees. It was so dim inside that the place had earned its name.

"Watch out for traps in the forest. The first wave of monsters is coming soon. You've all read the guide, right?"

Call Me Martial God spoke, and deliberately glanced at Wang Qianduo. It was clear she meant those words for him.

Wang Qianduo nodded. He had read the guide, even if it wasn't much use to him.

"Good. Song in the Clouds, get ready to lure the monsters. Boss Sword, get ready to take them. Use your skills right away; don't save your energy. There's a spot to recover later!" Call Me Martial God smoothly took charge.

"Sister Cat, my name's Song in the Clouds!" Song in the Clouds complained, but obediently went ahead to lure the monsters.

Aside from correcting the woman on his name, none of the other three had the slightest objection to her giving orders.

That made it clear she was usually the one who handled that in the team.

Wang Qianduo was also completely focused and ready. This was his first time doing an Instance Dungeon in the game, and he was doing it with professional players. He didn't want to embarrass himself.

They soon spotted the monsters. The first wave of minor enemies in the dungeon consisted of Star Beasts native to the Dark Forest: a pack of more than ten level-five Forest Dire Wolves.

These things were called wolves, but each one was several meters tall. Standing upright, they were almost as tall as the mechas.

They were nothing like ordinary wolves!

"Sister Cat, how many should I lure?"

"Let's try three first and see how strong they are."

Wang Qianduo heard their conversation clearly, but didn't quite understand it.

Could you actually choose how many to lure? Wouldn't they all come charging over as soon as you attacked one?

But Song in the Clouds' next move left him in awe.

He wielded the same weapon as Wang Qianduo—a crossbow—but his first bolt didn't hit a Dire Wolf. Instead, it struck the trunk of a tree.

He had controlled his strength perfectly. The bolt sank into the trunk without piercing through it.

Just that alone made Wang Qianduo feel inferior.

If it had been him, he might have knocked the tree down—or, more likely, missed.

Then something incredible happened. Three wolves in the pack twitched their ears and walked toward the bolt.

He immediately fired another bolt, placing it exactly the same distance from the three Dire Wolves as the first one.

One bolt after another, he gradually drew the three wolves away from the pack.

Once they'd moved a good distance away, Song in the Clouds shot one of them in the eye.

Weak Point Break -96

The wolves charged toward Wang Qianduo and the others as if their lives depended on it, while the distant pack stayed still, as though the three wolves and the players had nothing to do with them.

"What kind of technique is that...?"