Scum Woman
Lu Xiu kicked out of the instance and appeared in the Construction Space.
Just landed.
The checkout window popped up as soon as it appeared.
[Dear Architect! You have successfully completed the dungeon you constructed. Congratulations!]
[System is generating clearance rating--]
[Comment: You have a beautiful appearance, and you also possess a beautiful soul.]
Even though you were bossing the Witch around the whole time.
Even though you confidently allowed the Witch to act as your shield throughout.
Even though you pushed all the dirty and dangerous work onto the Witch.
Although you manipulated both female protagonists.
But without a doubt, you are a good girl.
You wandered through that century-old haunted house, filled with resentment and malice, with the relaxed atmosphere of a rural retreat. Faced with choices and deadly traps within the haunted house, you displayed astonishing pragmatism, as if devoid of emotion.
----Make the Witch pretend to be a butterfly by sticking to the spider web, insist on reading that book that will kill you, see a vengeful spirit hanging itself and try to touch its leg, say that frogs are cute, the next second make the Witch stuff it into the snake feed and tell her to hurry up.
What the Witch's House?
It's just your playground.
That's truly an extraordinary thought process!
but----
As the story comes to an end, you can instantly switch to another persona.
When you grasped that Soul-Severing Blade, facing the Rampage vengeful spirits throughout the Mansion, you didn't flee as planned. Instead, you brandished the blade and relentlessly fought your way through the entire the Witch's House, leaving even the Demon astonished.
When faced with Hunter who suddenly disrupts your plans, you calmly deal with him, successfully defeat him, and even have the leisure to mock him as a joke.
You did not get caught up in any self-destructive narratives of tragedy, nor did you offer even the slightest bit of hypocritical and cheap forgiveness.
You coldly cleaved the Effect and Cause of evil, pushing the innocent living out of hell, while you yourself slammed the door shut, remaining in that inferno destined to collapse.
You gave that battered soul a final release with a great fire, or perhaps—you forced an antisocial, cold-blooded, twisted monster into a yandere through a distorted form of companionship.
You lied to her, ruined her plans, then set a fire, and finally watched her break down and go insane in the flames, leaving behind only the words, "I'll wait for you."
Then, you use the last second of the forced teleportation to leave cleanly and without a trace.
----Oh, and there's also helpless Viola left behind.
[Evaluation Summary:]
[Scumbag woman!]
A brief pause.
A new window pops up.
[Instance Completion: 100%]
[Overall Clearance Rating:??? (Before the Placement Function was unlocked, the dungeon characters were no longer restricted, so no rating can be given)]
[Please check the settlement page for related rewards]
What?!
Lu Xiu stared wide-eyed at the two bolded words "scumbag woman," then jumped up and down in a fit of rage.
She even admitted to being mentally ill!
She'd accept it even if you just cursed her out!
But isn't this "scumbag woman" going too far?!
How did I do anything wrong? It was just a normal dungeon run!
This system is going too far in defaming people!
[Copy verified!]
[System Rating Generation -]
[Instance Name: The Witch]
[Dungeon Rating: SS+ (Theoretically, this rating has exceeded the current upper limit, but due to the relatively low difficulty of the dungeon, it is quite easy; therefore, the overall rating is SS+)]
[Instance Type: Horror/Puzzle/Survival]
[Ticket Price: 800 Survival Points]
[Instance Description: You will play as Viola's best friend, leading her to escape the eerie mansion that has trapped them both----]
[Instance Feature Tag: Lies]
[Potential rewards: Valuable skills; Valuable items; Attribute point rewards.]
[Construction rewards are being settled--]
[Dungeon rating SS+, Dungeon completion score???--]
[Construction Experience +2280]
[Spirit attribute points +7]
[You have been promoted to Level 9 Architect!]
[Special reward settlement in progress----Congratulations! Based on your performance during the verification dungeon, you have obtained the special skill [Effect and Cause Severance]!]
Lu Xiu was truly overwhelmed this time, and didn't even care about the reward.
Because this is really too much!
Besides being mentally unstable, she also inexplicably earned the reputation of being a "scumbag woman."
But the system completely ignored her.
Lu Xiu returned to his anger.
Ultimately, unable to argu with the system, he calmed down, gritted his teeth for a while, and decided not to waste any more time on the issue of reputational damage.
Never mind!
Compared to vague and abstract system evaluations, tangible benefits are the most important!
She comforted herself while tapping on the skill she had just acquired.
[Skill Name: Effect and Cause Severance]
[Rating: SSS]
[Type: Active Skill]
[Description: When this skill is activated, the various statuses on the target (including oneself) will be briefly materialized in the user's field of vision as Effect and Cause lines of different colors.]
When a buff-severing attack is performed, a severing effect is applied, cutting the corresponding Effect and Cause line. This can remove the target's currently active buff status (including attribute enhancements, shields, skill bonuses, passive triggers, external enhancements, etc.). After severing, the target cannot reapply the buff for half an hour, ignoring sequence differences.
Break the Shackles - Can break the shackles on yourself or a target by removing restrictive, weakening, or cursed status effects, forcibly removing any form of negative effect.
Severing control over a pair of targets that are in a state of being possessed, manipulated, or parasitized can forcibly cut off external interference, instantly restoring them to a state of autonomy.
[Cooldown time: 1 hour]
[Consumable: None]
[Special Note: After the Architect reaches level 10 and unlocks the "Placement" function, this skill can be used for positioning.]
[Note: She severed Effect and Cause with a knife, burned down a Mansion with a candlestick, trampled Demon underfoot, toyed with Witch, and knocked Hunter unconscious. Then she crouched down and asked a girl who had been lonely for hundreds of years, "Who told you that only a healthy body can be loved?" No one knew what she was thinking; they only knew that when she raised her knife, she was omnipotent.]
"----Wow."
Upon seeing this skill, Lu Xiu's expression instantly changed—"Okay."
If given such skills.
Being called a "scumbag woman" isn't really a big deal.
It can limit the enemy's buff skills!
This was Lu Xiu's biggest worry. Although she now had enough skills to protect herself, after fighting against the players from Prison Rock and Jiang Qiu...
She finally understood.
Players have a whole bunch of random and unpredictable skills!
Putting aside others, she herself has a whole bunch of random skills.
With this skill, you can effectively prevent enemies from cheating and suddenly unleashing a super-powerful skill to crush you.
Self-defense capabilities have been further enhanced!
Lu Xiu continued reading with some delight.
[You have cleared the "Witch" dungeon!]
[Instance Completion: 100%]
Overall customs clearance rating:???
[Experience gained: 2500, Survival Points: 6400]
[Items/Equipment Obtained: None.]
[Special Rewards: Agility +3, Constitution +3, Spirit +2]
[First clear of the dungeon, received a??? rating reward: Ellen's Red Headband; Viola's Black Headband.]
"----Wow."
Lu Xiu exclaimed in surprise again.
Two ratings as a reward?!
And it just so happens to be the headband of both female leads?!
What is that?
Props?
She excitedly opened the reward page and checked its attributes.
[Item: Ellen's Red Headband]
[Rating: SS]
[Type: Hair Accessory]
[Attribute Bonus: Constitution +4]
[Special Effect: The red ribbon that the Witch Ellen used to tie her hair is imbued with hundreds of years of magic and Demon energy; she yearns to possess the lives of others.]
Steal (Active) - When engaging in combat with an equipped hair accessory, observe any active skill used by the target. You can forcibly Steal and use this skill once within a short time. Upon successful use, the target will have that skill forcibly sealed for the next 10 minutes. The higher the target's skill sequence, the lower the success rate of Steal. (If the Steal is successful, the cooldown is 1 hour; if the Steal fails, the skill only goes on cooldown for 5 minutes.)
[Equipment Requirements: None]
[Special Note: This item can be used for positioning after the Architect reaches level 10 and unlocks the "Place" function.]
[Note: I will find you—I will definitely find you! You are my only friend!]
[Item: Viola's Black Headband]
[Rating: SS]
[Type: Hair Accessory]
[Attribute Bonus: Constitution +4]
[Special Effect: The black hairband Viola uses to tie her hair up. Because of her childhood experiences, she fears losing her body and fears others coveting what is hers.]
Unique (Active) - After activating the skill, for the next 10 minutes, all of the holder's skills cannot be imitated, copied, or Steal by any form of effect. Any skills already copied to the holder will be forcibly disabled.
When someone attempts to copy or Steal this skill, the attempt not only fails immediately but also triggers Effect and Cause backlash, causing one of the attacker's highest-rated skills to immediately enter its longest cooldown state (cooldown time: 1 hour).
[Equipment Requirements: None]
[Special Note: This item can be used for positioning after the Architect reaches Level 100 and unlocks the "Place" function.]
[Note: In despair, she stood there—like the Deity; Demon retreated, and Witch begged for mercy.]
"Wow."
Looking at the equipment's attributes, Lu Xiu let out another soft "wow."
The frustration of being called a "scumbag woman" by the system just now completely vanished at this moment.
If you were a "scumbag" female character criticized by the system, and you could get two top-tier SS-grade special equipment pieces in one go, plus an SSS-grade item...
If it's a level-one skill, then she not only accepts it, she might even be a little worse—
If I say someone's a jerk, then they'll be a jerk!
One forcibly Plunder and steals other people's skills.
A defensive counter-attack strategy to prevent others from stealing your skills.
It's a perfect blend of offense and defense.
At the same time.
Just as Lu Xiu was basking in the glory of her reward...
In the Coordination Bureau, Yan Fushou stared wide-eyed at the system projection at the front of the conference room, his face filled with disbelief. "What is SS+?! Is there such a rating?!"
What's the purpose of this "+" sign?
This looks like the system was caught in a dilemma during the evaluation, and reluctantly, even with a sense of helplessness, cobbled together this rating!
But that wasn't what shocked Yan Fushou the most. What shocked him the most was—
"And another thing! Didn't we agree to play the clip of Lu Xiu's successful completion of the level? We were all prepared to subtly analyze what Lu Xiu's new level was all about! The system even gave us a preview!"
Why did the system ultimately stand everyone up?
"The system actually broke the contract?!"
"Where's my screen?!"
--