You're Saying It's an S-Rank Civilian Dungeon?

Warm yellow light spilled across the living room.

Lu Xiu stood in the middle of the living room and slowly closed her eyes... The moment her vision went dark, [Visual Mindscape] activated silently.

In her mind, a visual mindscape of her living room soon appeared. The entire room, every inorganic object within it, had become a semi-transparent three-dimensional model made of lines.

As her mental power spread outward, the living room walls also turned into semi-transparent outlines.

Lu Xiu could see the thickness of the walls, the intricate network of pipes running through them, and even sense the deep vertical space of the elevator shaft.

It was as if she were floating in the void, looking down on the entire apartment building.

And without any obstructions, life itself became plainly visible.

She saw next door: an adult reclining halfway on what appeared to be a sofa, one arm slightly raised, fingers making small swiping motions as though they were checking a system panel.

At that person's feet was a small, lively source of life.

The little creature was curled up, occasionally raising a forepaw to rub its head—it was a cat washing its face.

She saw downstairs: two elderly people lying flat side by side, their heartbeats and breathing exceptionally steady, seemingly taking an afternoon nap.

She saw upstairs: someone pacing back and forth, their path forming erratic zigzags as if they were worrying over something.

And beyond that.

She could even see outside the residential complex... In short, under the skill's effect, the jungle of steel and concrete had been stripped of its hard shell, leaving behind only the pure pulse of life.

And Lu Xiu stood at the very center of this star map of life.

There were no barriers, no blind spots.

As long as she closed her eyes, she could determine exactly what was around her... Though this only applied to creatures with strong life signatures. Things like cockroaches and rats apparently did not count.

"Pretty impressive."

Lu Xiu opened her eyes. As the light returned, that wondrous image vanished with it.

Even so, Lu Xiu still clearly remembered the condition of every living thing within a twenty-seven-meter radius... as well as their current locations.

If she needed to catch someone, she could now lead people straight in by breaking down the door.

But... keeping her eyes closed all the time would be inconvenient. It would be hard to get used to. Could she just briefly close her eyes to activate the skill, then open them right away?

Lu Xiu propped up her rounded chin, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face, then gave it a try.

She closed her eyes, then quickly opened them again.

It was probably a little longer than a blink, but the skill still activated. That wondrous scene appeared again, and Lu Xiu once more confirmed the state of every living thing around her.

The facts proved it.

It really worked.

This greatly improved the skill's practicality... Though she would still need some practice before she could use it as naturally as an arm.

Lu Xiu nodded in satisfaction and decided to practice it a little over the next few days.

As for her other skill, [Atypical Courage], Lu Xiu had no desire to test it right now... After all, she could hardly activate it and punch a hole through her own wall while life was going perfectly well, could she?

Better not. It was a rental apartment, and she would have to pay for the damage...

By comparison.

Lu Xiu was more interested in another reward she had obtained from clearing the [Resident Evil] dungeon.

She summoned the system interface, opened the virtual backpack that every player possessed, and found the item she had acquired not long ago.

[Item Name: Hand Sanitizer]

[Rating: S]

[Type: Consumable]

[Usage: External application]

[Effect Description: Apply this product to the surface of a wound to rapidly eliminate abnormal infections and promote cellular regeneration. It has an extremely powerful healing effect on lacerations, puncture wounds, and deep cuts.]

[Special Effect: In the event of a severed limb, provided the limb remains intact within thirty minutes, apply this product to the severed surfaces and press them together. The severed flesh will rapidly proliferate and grow, forcibly completing reattachment. Even an arm cut off by a chainsaw can be restored to normal and moved freely, provided it is reattached in time.]

[Note: You may not understand, but your wound will understand... And don't ask. Yes, it can.]

Besides that.

There was also a pistol.

[Equipment Name: MPM Pistol]

[Rating: D]

There was not much to say about this one. It was simply a pistol without any special effects.

Its power was mediocre, and it did not seem particularly easy to use.

Still, at a time when the conditions for using modern weapons were becoming increasingly strict, it counted as a decent weapon for self-defense.

...Probably.

It just looked rather pathetic compared to the "Hand Sanitizer" item.

Because this game-derived item seemed to be even more powerful than it had been in the game.

After all, in the game, the protagonist Ethan could only use Hand Sanitizer to reattach limbs after becoming infected... But in reality, there was no such prerequisite.

For soldiers on the front lines, this should be a very good consumable.

She did not know whether the Hand Sanitizer obtained through a normal clear by ordinary players would differ, or how many bottles they could get.

But it felt as though the dungeon had gained another selling point...

Lu Xiu felt considerably more confident. She did not wait any longer, instead summoning the system panel in one go and finding the application portal for the official [Builder Special Fund].

This was one of the conveniences brought about by the world's datafication... At this stage, the world's datafication had generally made the world worse.

But it would be false to say it had brought no benefits at all.

One such benefit was that everyone now possessed a panel they could summon at any time—the system menu.

Many sections of the system menu were open to everyone. Just as some people placed advertisements on the system pages, the authorities had also developed quite a few functions there, similar to the WeChat mini-programs from Lu Xiu's previous life.

The application portal for the [Builder Special Fund] could be found in the system menu. Since it was directly attached to the system menu, the authorities did not worry about anyone falsifying information, and the application required very little to be filled out.

Among it.

The most important basic information regarding the dungeon was automatically entered by the system.

For example, the following.

[Dungeon Name: Resident Evil]

[Dungeon Rating: S]

[Dungeon Type: Horror/Survival/Puzzle]

So in less than five minutes.

Lu Xiu had completed the form.

Submit.

Done.

Lu Xiu closed the system menu before her and stretched hard, revealing the full contours of her lush, enviable figure.

Now all she had to do was wait for the loan to be approved and for the dungeon to go live.

At the same time.

Imperial Capital, Chen Capital.

National Strategic Dungeon and Anomalous Space Affairs Coordinating Administration.

Dungeon Resource Management Division.

"So boring."

Su Miao yawned and listlessly stirred the cheap instant coffee in her cup.

Ever since the world's datafication, her job as a low-level official clerk had become incredibly strange. She was clearly living in a surreal era, yet still had to clock in and work at a desk like in the old days.

"Stop complaining. We don't have to go to the front lines, nor do we have to struggle through system dungeons."

Lin Xiao, seated beside her, scrolled through the system forum without looking up. "We even get a fixed monthly survival point allowance. What is there to be dissatisfied with? Who knows how many people envy us. Don't tell me you want to run dungeons too?"

"I know... But honestly, I really do want to try venturing into a dungeon."

Su Miao sighed, looking at the semi-transparent forum page before her. "It's mainly because this job is just too boring. Gathering intelligence from the forums and processing loan applications for civilian dungeons... Let's not even talk about the former; it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. The latter is even more absurd. You hardly see a few legitimate applications in a week. Civilian dungeons have had a terrible reputation for ages. Those production groups that made a fortune have already ruined the name of civilian dungeons. Ordinary people hear the term and assume it's a scam. Most civilian dungeons can't even earn back their 'rule stabilization fee,' and once the loans are issued, they basically become bad debts. I don't even know what the point is..."

"Huh? You really want to run dungeons?"

Lin Xiao looked up, somewhat surprised. "And wasn't there a B-rank civilian dungeon recently? I heard it was pretty good. Didn't the military and the Strategy Group both say they were interested? It still didn't recover its costs?"

"No."

Su Miao shook her head. "After the Strategy Group cleared it, they gave it extremely low reviews... They said it was nothing but a shoddy imitation of a system dungeon, and the rewards were unimpressive as well. It makes sense when you think about it. The Builder profession has an absurdly high invisible threshold. Most people can't even properly use Visual Mindscape, much less construct an entire dungeon.

"They can only imitate system dungeons and create crude works. Although their ratings might be decent, because they are copied, their overall quality and rewards are terrible."

"Is that so..."

Lin Xiao had just opened her mouth to ask something else.

But at that moment, a rapid, high-frequency alert suddenly sounded—it was the highest-priority notification tone Su Miao had set for herself.

"Don't let your imagination run wild. Dungeons aren't that easy to clear."

Lin Xiao could only stop there, patting her shoulder before lifting her cup. "See? Work has arrived already. Someone else is applying for the Builder Special Fund. This could even be another B-rank civilian dungeon. Hurry up and take a look."

"You think that's possible? I've been here for so long, and I've only handled two civilian dungeons rated B-rank or higher."

Su Miao rolled her eyes. "And even if it is B-rank, what's the point? The Strategy Group isn't interested anymore."

Hearing that, Lin Xiao joked, "Then what if it's A-rank?"

Su Miao snapped back irritably, "Why not just say S-rank? What kind of daydream are you having!"

Lin Xiao merely smiled without saying anything, because she also thought she was pretty funny...

Su Miao shook her head. Though full of complaints, she still pulled over the floating system interface and prepared to process the loan application.

She opened the application form.

Su Miao lowered her gaze and began absentmindedly checking the dungeon's basic information. The dungeon was called Resident Evil, the rule stabilization fee was 3,000 survival points, its type was horror, survival, and puzzle-solving, and its rating was S...

Mm, it could be approved...

Wait!

Su Miao, who had only been doing her job by instinct, suddenly froze.

What the hell was S??

She looked up in disbelief and went over the dungeon's basic information on the application form once again.

...She had not misread it.

The dungeon rating was S!

Su Miao stared at the dungeon rating field on the application form, her face filled with shock, her pupils nearly shrinking to pinpoints.

"Bang!"

Immediately afterward.

She shot to her feet. The movement was so abrupt that she knocked over the chair behind her.

Lin Xiao jumped in fright and nearly threw her cup. "What's wrong with you? Did you really find another B-rank civilian dungeon?"

"No, S-rank..."

Su Miao stared fixedly at her system page, her voice trembling, almost as if she were sleep-talking.

"What S?"

Lin Xiao frowned. "Did someone clear a dungeon with an S rating? That's certainly impressive. Which big shot from the Strategy Group was it?"

"No, not a clear rating..."

Su Miao suddenly raised her voice, even cracking slightly. "It's the dungeon! An S-rank civilian dungeon has just submitted a loan application!"

"Huh??!!"

Lin Xiao froze for a moment, then sprang straight up from her workstation as well.

What the hell was S?!