The Nightmare

"Maybe I'm just too soft-hearted!" Wang Qian Duo thought as he picked up the loot and left the instance, shaking his head.

He couldn't pinpoint the source of that emotion earlier. He wasn't usually someone easily swayed by feelings.

But that crying and the feeling it evoked were impossible for him to suppress.

Still, Wang Qian Duo didn't dwell on it. Ever since he obtained the unique charging system no one else had, he knew this world wasn't as simple as it seemed.

Compared to Normal difficulty, the only changes for Wang Qian Duo in the Hard difficulty instance were the traps before the final boss, Dr. Feng, and Dr. Feng's increased HP after transforming.

More traps meant Wang Qian Duo had to be more cautious, and Dr. Feng's higher HP meant his Photon Ray skill could no longer instantly kill him.

Not being able to instantly kill the boss was manageable, but the traps severely impacted their instance clear speed.

Their group used to clear a Hard instance in under 15 minutes, but the traps alone wasted nearly 10 minutes.

This meant two-thirds of their time was wasted on just the traps, and this was only Hard difficulty.

Wang Qian Duo looked at his quest, which showed no progress, and knew he might need to try Nightmare difficulty.

In fact, clearing an instance in 15 minutes was already unsatisfactory for him. Lin Qi Meng and the others couldn't even last 30 minutes in a Hard instance.

"This efficiency! I think we can challenge Nightmare," Hua Jie said first, just as Wang Qian Duo was about to speak.

"Agreed!" Wang Qian Duo immediately chimed in.

"Alright, let's give it a try!" Lin Qi Meng finally made the decision.

In reality, everyone else felt the same. With a powerhouse like Old Wang, why wouldn't they seize the opportunity?

Thus, the group, full of high spirits, entered the Nightmare instance and smoothly defeated the gatekeeper boss, Mark Bi.

"Water-elemental intelligence-type mech, Level 10 Rare Shield. Old Wang, do you need it?" Lin Qi Meng asked Wang Qian Duo after picking up the loot.

Old Wang shook his head. He rarely needed the equipment dropped in instances.

Even in Nightmare instances, the probability of dropping Perfect-grade equipment was minuscule.

Currently, there were only two ways for players to obtain Perfect-grade or higher equipment: quests and world bosses.

Nightmare instances had a chance, but it was incredibly small. The only known instance online was when Xing He achieved the first clear of Dark Forest Nightmare, and only one piece of equipment dropped.

"Okay! Looks like we can sell it for money then!" Lin Qi Meng said.

"Aren't you planning to start your own club? Shouldn't you stock up on this?" Wang Qian Duo asked.

"How did you know?"

She didn't remember telling Wang Qian Duo about this. Lin Qi Meng then looked at the other three, and she could feel their guilt even through their mechs.

"It's not set in stone yet, no need to rush this," Lin Qi Meng said.

"Keep it! I don't want to be scrambling to buy equipment every day after the club is established," Wang Qian Duo said.

"Buy equipment...? Are you saying you plan to join my club?!"

"You don't want me?"

"Of course, I do! That's great!"

"Can you two stop for a moment? Are we going to do the instance or not?" Hua Jie finally couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted them.

"Haha... Ha! Yes, let's go!"

Wang Qian Duo couldn't see Lin Qi Meng's expression, but he could tell from her voice that she was very happy.

It would be great if we could video call right now. How can such intelligent mechs not have a video function? They clearly have virtual display devices! Wang Qian Duo grumbled to himself.

Zero: "Received, feedback submitted to the operator!"

Wang Qian Duo: "...Don't scare me, you have that function?"

Zero: "Rest assured, it's being processed through normal channels."

"Alright then!"

Wang Qian Duo didn't have time to chat with Zero now, as their group had already entered the underground laboratory.

Although these monsters still didn't pose a threat to Wang Qian Duo's group, they had to remain focused and treat them seriously.

What Wang Qian Duo didn't know was the significant impact caused by Zero's feedback.

The Tencent operations department, responsible for running the game, was in an uproar upon receiving the message.

"Boss, we've received another message similar to developer feedback!" someone reported to the person in charge of the game.

"Really! What instructions did this person give us this time?"

"Uh... This time it's not the same person who informed us last time that game abilities could be brought into reality. Their message came from a different number. This person asked us to develop a video function, saying it's inconvenient to talk to teammates while piloting mechs in the field."

The person in charge: "..."

"Go develop it. I'll notify the higher-ups!"

"Yes!"

Human Alliance Headquarters

Because of Wang Qianduo's message, the entire staff returned for a meeting on a weekend.

"From this new message, it seems there isn't just one so-called developer. They should be a species.

The person from last time was likely a higher-ranking member of their species. They directly informed us about mechs being usable in reality, allowing us to prepare in advance.

And this person this time is likely someone under that individual, similar to a game tester, informing us to refine the game content."

"Have there been any results from analyzing who they are?"

"No, but based on our speculation, they should be high-dimensional beings or a civilization far more advanced than us."

"Be careful with the scope of your investigation. We can't afford to offend them right now."

A message from Ling caused countless people to lose a lot of hair, but Wang Qianduo was unaware.

At this moment, they had already defeated the cyborg and were heading towards the War Mech's room.

"The Nightmare difficulty dungeon is different from Normal and Hard. The War Mech will start attacking the moment we enter.

The first attack will be an extremely penetrating laser beam, and its firepower can cover multiple directions simultaneously.

We need to use the corpse of Cyborg No. 19 to attract its first attack. Then, you two go in and immediately run to the sides to make it completely disperse its firepower.

Remember, do not stand still and tank the hits. The sustained firepower of a Nightmare difficulty boss is beyond your imagination."

Outside the boss room door, Sister Hua was earnestly instructing Wang Qianduo and Old Ma. It was mainly directed at Wang Qianduo, though.

After all, he was the only one present who liked to tank boss attacks.

Even though the bosses in Normal and Hard difficulty hadn't managed to break through his shield, the Nightmare difficulty was on a completely different level.

Wang Qianduo wanted to say it wasn't that he wanted to tank the hits, he was just used to not being able to dodge them before.

After the combat plan was discussed, Sister Hua bestowed her skills upon everyone.

Then, everyone instantly opened the boss room door. Old Ma, piloting the War Rhino mech, threw the corpse of Cyborg No. 19 inside.

As for why he had to do this job, well, that's the miserable fate of a Warrior. Ordinary Intelligence and Agility class characters don't have enough strength to throw the corpse as far as he could.

Just as everyone had planned, the moment the corpse was thrown in, a laser beam struck it, completely obliterating it.

However, there was no disgusting splatter of blood and gore. The instant the laser touched the corpse, it was already cooked.

Seeing this, Wang Qianduo and Old Ma quickly entered the room and ran towards the left and right.

The War Mech's 237 cannons swept towards them from both sides. Wang Qianduo waved his hand, summoning all the photon spheres from his Photon Ray to fire back.

Although the Photon Ray skill was quite dispersed, it was still hit by many attacks due to the War Mech's large size.

However, Wang Qianduo's action caused trouble. He attracted the War Mech's full aggro. The War Mech stopped attacking Old Ma's War Rhino and focused all its firepower on Wang Qianduo.

It didn't even pay attention to Lin Qimeng and the other two who had just entered the room.

"This is bad. While he can still tank it, let's go!" Sister Hua said upon seeing this.

But Lin Qimeng had already charged forward, her Dragon Flame Blade in hand. Seeing this, Sister Hua's body flashed with red light, and vines made of flames wrapped around the boss.

Then, a magic circle made of flames appeared beneath the boss, and red light completely enveloped it.

Next, the orb in her hand glowed red, and a torrent of flames erupted, setting the War Mech ablaze.

However, despite her attack looking spectacular, this entire combo didn't even deal 1000 damage.

But she wasn't a damage dealer anyway. She was a support who provided control and buffs.