He Actually Blundered Into a Good Suggestion!

Yan Fushou's incredulous voice echoed in the conference room.

It's no wonder he lost his composure—this matter was simply too torturous.

Three hours ago.

The moment the preview of Lu Xiu's new dungeon appeared on the system projection.

Yan Fushou quickly found a meeting room with a system projector and began to wait patiently.

And this time, the system, just like before, gave Lu Xiu plenty of face—it still gave a preview to the entire Nine Provinces.

Yan Fushou also learned the name of Lu Xiu's new instance immediately—[The Witch].

For players who have never met Lu Xiu in person, seeing this name might not evoke any special feelings; at most, they might think it's a fantasy or mystery-oriented dungeon.

But for Yan Fushou, who had met Lu Xiu, it was a different story.

He froze the moment he saw the name of the instance.

The reason is simple: the previous version of Lu Xiu's character was completely unrelated to her appearance, upbringing, and first impression; they were worlds apart.

What about Resident Evil? What about Sekiro? — and the latest Sifu.

The current [Witch] dungeon, at least judging from the name, seems to be a dungeon created by Lu Xiu.

Although Yan Fushou didn't know why he had this intuition that it finally felt right—the name did indeed lack some of its hardcore feel, and had more of a feminine and mysterious quality.

And Witch...

However, when Yan Fushou saw that the dungeon type was [Horror/Puzzle/Survival], he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

no way.

With Lu Xiu's Resident Evil and Outlast dungeons being such excellent examples, the threshold for horror survival dungeons for the entire player base has been raised significantly.

Now that Lu Xiu is releasing a similar dungeon— Yan Fushou— it's inevitable that people will experience a bit of aesthetic fatigue.

That might not be entirely accurate.

A more objective statement would be that there are already enough unofficial copies of this type.

Deep down, Yan Fushou even had a feeling that even if Lu Xiu himself got involved, it would be impossible to create a better horror survival dungeon that could so easily torment players and provide better rewards.

After all, they Outlast that bizarre, unarmed escape scenario—could anything be more insane?

On the other hand, with the new version about to be released—feeling that two horror survival dungeons are enough, and with the ban/pick mechanism, Yan Fushou still hopes that each of Lu Xiu's dungeons will be different, giving the players of Prison Rock a little shock!

However, this thought was quickly suppressed.

After all, that's Lu Xiu! She's faced her share of doubts before; she was questioned when she first Outlast and logged in, and the final result...

In conclusion

After a brief period of disappointment, Yan Fushou quickly adjusted his mindset and still held strong expectations for Lu Xiu's new storyline.

And the system did indeed say it would play a clip of Lu Xiu verifying her success.

Upon seeing this, Yan Fushou immediately perked up, staring expectantly at the system projection, eager to see what Lu Xiu's dungeon would be like this time.

However----

Three hours have passed----

Until now.

Yan Fushou didn't even see Lu Xiu's pass verification screen, but he saw an absurd [SS+] rating that defied all logic.

The system actually stood him up!

"What's this?"

In fact, Yan Fushou was not the only person in the large conference room.

Jian Li, Shen Nian, Cheng Xiu, Wei Yidong, Fan Lixin, and others were also present.

After all, they were already in a predicament of almost running out of resources for the dungeon—how could they not pay attention to such a big event as the launch of Lu Xiu's new dungeon?

Upon hearing Yan Fushou's words, Shen Nian thought for a moment, then suddenly whispered, "The theme of this instance is lies—"

Yan Fushou turned around. "So?"

"So—could it be that the system is lying to create an immersive experience that matches the theme of this instance?"

Shen Nian voiced her suspicions. "They promised to show a walkthrough clip, but they made us wait here for three hours. The system never intended to show it in the first place; that itself is part of the lie—"

Upon hearing Wei Yidong abruptly turned to look at Shen Nian and exclaimed, "So perverted?!"

"How is that possible?!"

Cheng Xiu shook his head, about to refute, when he immediately thought of how Lu Xiu in Sekiro changed the price and the goddess directly appeared, and also added the monstrous enemy [the Wolf Played by the Constructor] at the end of the dungeon.

The young man, whose demeanor leaned more towards civilian work than combat, looked up, sighed helplessly, and couldn't continue.

because----

Holy crap, that's actually possible!

Fan Lixin, standing in the corner, was even more decisive. Sporting his signature afro, he turned and walked out of the meeting room.

"Forget it, I'm definitely not good at this kind of dungeon. After all, she's Witch, and I'm worst at dealing with women. I think I'm still not strong enough. I need to go back and study the Sifu dungeon properly."

The only thing worth looking forward to at the event.

It was probably only Jian Li who was watching the system projection. Although her eyes weren't exactly shining, there was definitely a sparkle in them.

Clearly, no one present was a fool (except for Wei Yidong), and they all thought it was very likely when they heard Shen Nian's words.

This instance deserves the system's recognition—its rating is an unconventional SS+, not just a simple SS.

Everyone sensed something was wrong.

Yan Fushou took a deep breath and casually called out to Fan Lixin, who was about to slip away, "Stop, don't rush off."

Next.

He said softly, "A lie—"

He pondered for a moment.

Yan Fushou turned his head, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the conference room, and asked, "Having seen this topic, what kind of story do you think this instance will be?"

The group looked at each other in bewilderment.

Cheng Xiu pushed up his glasses without saying a word, Fan Lixin was lost in thought, clutching his afro, Jian Li was still staring thoughtfully at the projector, and Shen Nian was admiring her shoes.

Silence fell over the meeting room. Clearly, no one could offer a reliable guess, given the sheer amount of room for manipulation inherent in the concept of lies.

Just then, Wei Yidong scratched his chin, thought for a moment, and suddenly said, "What's the point of guessing? Just go ask Lu Xiu about the reward!"

"She definitely can't reveal the specific procedures for clearing the level, but she can't exactly keep quiet about what level of reward she'll receive, can she? Let's not ask too many details, just ask her if the reward this time is good or bad!"

"If she says it's good, it means the difficulty and rewards of this dungeon are within a normal range. But if she says it's very good, or even extremely good, then it's definitely super difficult. Just be prepared to be tortured and have to spend a long time figuring it out!"

Yan Fushou was stunned.

He turned his head and looked at Wei Yidong, who had a small bun in his hair, with some surprise.

The others in the conference room were also shocked, looking at Wei Yidong with an expression that seemed to say, "You actually have a brain?"

It can only be said that even the wisest person can make a mistake, and even the most foolish person can have a stroke of genius.

Surprisingly, he actually came up with a good suggestion!

At the same time.

forum.

The other players were also shocked.

Judging by the timeline, the system instance has been closed for a full week.

This week—no one has seen any new fan-made copies released.

All the players felt anxious and uneasy.

--

But no one expected that it would be Lu Xiu who would break the deadlock and lead the charge!

Of course, the players are concerned, but the fact that they would be stood up and made fools of by the system is something no one expected.

Players were simultaneously cursing the system for its inhumane and unreliable behavior, and praising the illogical [SS+] rating and [...].

I'm curious about the theme of [lies].

The system saying it would play a verification screen to show the level completion screen is also a lie!

However, although I was shocked by the system and ratings, it was only a fleeting emotion.

What truly sparked heated discussions among players was the type and positioning of this dungeon.

It's another [horror/puzzle/survival] movie.

This is the third instance like this.

[Hahahaha, what a piece of shit system! Who exactly is Lu Xiu to you? You actually cooperated with her in this instance to mess with everyone!]

[Another horror puzzle survival game? To be honest, my heart skipped a beat when I saw that tag.]

[Me too—the previous Resident Evil and Outlast have really raised my bar for horror survival games to the sky. Can Lu Xiu possibly come up with anything groundbreaking new in a genre she's already pushed to its limits? Can she offer even better rewards?]

[Indeed, it's not that I'm afraid, it's just that I feel it's hard to surpass that level, right? Lu Xiu herself has already taken this genre to its extreme, even coming up with such a twisted setting as running away unarmed in Outlast. Could there possibly be an even more twisted setting? It feels a bit difficult. And let me clarify, it's not that I'm afraid.]

[This is very difficult----]

This belongs to one side.

But soon, dissenting voices emerged in the comments section of the post.

[Are you guys out of your minds because the system stood you up? This is SS+! Look closely, there's a plus sign after it. When has the system ever given a dungeon this rating? If there really wasn't anything new or any better rewards, how could they give such an unconventional rating?]

[Seconded! And don't forget the [Lies] theme. Lu Xiu never plays by the rules. I bet this [Witch] theme hides an even more twisted malice. Maybe this isn't just a simple dungeon where you're chased by ghosts; the rewards will be even better----]

[I don't believe it! I survived the Resident Evil and Outlast with him, and now I'm being tortured by Lu Xiu? Don't underestimate my adaptability!]

Little devil (doge)]

[What new ideas can they come up with? How else can they torture people? What rewards can this type of dungeon give? It's hard to imagine; I can't think of anything even after racking my brains.]

[We'll know once the dungeon is released!]

There were many different opinions on the forum.

Some were surprised, some were expectant.

However, the former still made up the majority at this moment. There was no way around it; the impression left by Lu Xiu's previous two similar dungeons was simply too deep.

Players have gritted their teeth and endured both extreme forms of torment, which easily evokes a feeling of "once you've seen the ocean, nothing else compares."

With this worldly- Mikiri Counter mindset, it's easy to become complacent and somewhat dismissive when facing a new survival horror game.

But no matter how much players argue, without the system playing a verification video of the game's completion, all speculation is just the blind men and the elephant.

To find out what new tricks Lu Xiu will pull in the new dungeon, we'll have to wait until it's released.

On the other side...

The key figure, Lu Xiu, was still basking in the glory of her reward.

There's not much to say about the SSS-level skill [Effect and Cause Severance], it's just a skill.

However, the hairbands of the two female protagonists in the Witch Instance are a bit of a problem.

These are all accessories, and they're all hairbands. How am I supposed to wear them all?

It's so frustrating.