Completely Shattered

at the same time.

forum.

Because the rewards for completing dungeons varied so drastically, more and more players became aware of the problem as they cleared the dungeons.

Players are also discussing what exactly is wrong with the dungeon.

[Wait a minute! Why is there such a huge difference in rewards for the same dungeon? This is completely unreasonable! This has never happened before!]

[Because it's too easy? Some people have already gotten S-rank skills!]

[The turning point in the ending can be seen in the skill descriptions—clearly, different choices lead to a huge difference in dungeon rewards.]

[But I feel like this instance isn't just about the ending choices. Look at the skill descriptions, I always feel like there's something strange about the instance, but I can't quite put my finger on it----]

[Me too. The theme of this dungeon is lies, but where are the lies coming true? I completed the whole thing; it's just a regular horror Outlast dungeon. Where are the lies?]

[Is she not Witch trying to trick Viola?]

[It feels too simplistic, and where did I lie? I protected her perfectly the whole time.]

[It seems so----]

At the beginning.

Players only vaguely felt something was off.

But gradually, as more and more people cleared the game, more and more people participated in the discussion.

Wait until someone reveals that they obtained an SS-level skill in the dungeon!

Everyone realized it!

Something's definitely wrong with this instance!

Soon, someone else, like Shen Nian, discovered the same problem and posted a screenshot of the long supplementary explanation of the dungeon theme.

Go read the second half of the supplementary explanation for the copy word by word! Pay close attention to the formatting and subject!

After this post was published...

All the players who saw this text were initially confused, but the moment they carefully read the two sentences together—

A chill shot straight to the top of my head, then instantly rose up from the soles of my feet.

[Holy crap, wait a minute! What does this supplementary explanation mean?!]

[Lu Xiu's supplementary explanation never mentioned that we should hold the blonde girl's hand—it's more like she wants us to hold the monster's hand?! No, no! Wasn't she telling us to protect Viola?]

She was talking about escorting her childhood sweetheart to safety! She didn't mention Viola at all!

[Ha?!]

[Really! You'll understand if you read it carefully! Lu Xiu only said that Viola was trembling and hiding behind us, and she never said that we should escort Viola. She said we should escort our childhood sweetheart! And she added that the last point is that good intentions are often the paving stone to hell, and so is gullibility!]

I always thought Lu Xiu meant not to trust the pitiful Witch! But now it seems... did she really mean the Witch?

[The premise of this instance is that the Witch wants to switch bodies with Viola —wait! No way?!]

The forum was in chaos for a few seconds, with countless players instinctively resisting the absurd conclusion they had drawn.

Because this is just too outrageous!

until----

Do you remember The Witch's Diary? There were diary fragments in the dungeon, right? Did you collect them?

[I collected one that I vaguely remember. It said something like: A girl came here to play; she had blonde hair tied in three braids. She was such a cute girl.]

[This refers to Viola —but here's the question: does this prove the Witch had met Viola before? After all, a diary can't be written on the spot, right?]

[I have a passage here too: She was in a lot of pain, constantly in pain, it seemed like she was always sick!]

[This is just the premise! I didn't think there was anything wrong with this part before, but now it just doesn't feel right. It says that I won't kill her because she will save me from the pain. She and I are friends, and friends should help each other.]

The word "friend" was mentioned here! I didn't even notice it at first! Now, looking back, if it were just their first meeting, would the Witch call Viola a friend?! Absolutely not, right? They would only be called friends if they knew each other beforehand, right?!

This means that Viola had met the Witch before! They might even know each other! Now the question is...

Since they knew each other beforehand and even kept a diary, and the Witch had long coveted Viola's body, why did she wait for us, the player character, to find Viola before making her move?

[Combining the skill notes, the supplementary explanations of the theme, Viola's reaction of not recognizing the Witch, her actions of constantly giving us clues, and most importantly, the setting that Witch can't speak, wow----]

[Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! I get it!!!]

The last reply didn't explain anything clearly.

But for everyone who has read this far, it's no longer necessary for it to finish.

Because the answer is already obvious.

At the same time.

Longsword Guild.

Jiang Qiu stared at the discussions among players on the forum, completely stunned and motionless.

Much later.

She clutched her head, recalling her actions in the dungeon, the meticulous care and protection she had shown Viola, and the last, vague memory of the Hunter shooting the Witch. She let out a mournful cry, "Ah!!!"

No way!

Lu Xiu!!!

The Whistling Arrow Guild.

Xiao Chi's eyes widened, and he stood there stunned for a long time. After a while, he murmured, "----Not only should Lu Xiu be expelled from the ranks of women, she should be expelled from the ranks of humans altogether! She actually dared to play tricks on all the players in the Nine Provinces! She really dares to do that!"

And all the Architect are paying attention to the new Lu Xiu dungeon.

Whether they are Architect Coordination Bureau or amateur Architect from the Architect Association.

They were all completely dumbfounded.

Jin Yi, Spirit Pivot Construction Group, was utterly shocked. "No way! They can do a dungeon like this??? They were just kidding the players from the start???"

Coordination Bureau Dungeon Resource Management Division.

Upon seeing the end of the post, Sun Yi immediately raised his hand and covered his face.

Last time.

He originally thought that after listening to Lu Xiu's tutorial on Constructed Instance last time, he had a complete understanding of how to construct dungeons, and the rest was just a matter of talent.

I have completely figured out the logic of Constructed Instance!

But now.

With a snap.

Lu Xiu then presented him with another [Witch] instance, giving him another lesson.

Sun Yi covered his face. "I can't learn it, I really can't learn it, help—"

despair.

I feel so hopeless.

This was especially true for Architect like him who wanted to learn Lu Xiu embroidery.

It's also Coordination Bureau.

Shen Nian's eyes widened as she pieced together the clues one by one. She murmured, "So the Viola we encountered at the beginning was the Witch who had already switched bodies. We were protecting the Witch all along, but the Witch we chased in the end was the real Viola."

The Witch's reaction at the end of the dungeon was strange; she only stared at Viola. Before, I thought she wanted Viola's body, but now it seems she never intended to harm the player character. I—"

As they talked...

Shen Nian couldn't continue speaking.

So!

I foolishly spent three hours protecting a Demon?!

And then watch helplessly as the Hunter shoots and kills his own daughter, whose eyes have been gouged out, whose legs have been cut off, and who has struggled to crawl out of the Mansion to beg him for help?

Finally, they watched as the Hunter happily carried the Demon who had possessed their daughter's body home.

Was all of this made possible by her, the player, protecting and supporting us all the way through?

Shen Nian remembered the system's level completion rating.

You're a joke.

moment.

Break through the defense!!!

On the other side...

Jian Li was stunned.

Yan Fushou closed his eyes.

Fan Lixin gripped his afro, his scalp tingling.

Cheng Xiu pushed up his glasses and shook his head.

Wei Yidong stood there blankly for a while, then blurted out a vulgar remark!

forum.

After a silence of about ten seconds.

A new post has appeared.

[Lu Xiu!!! Are you kidding me?! Are you kidding me?!!!]

Lies—so that's what it meant?! The theme is lies! The supplementary explanations are lies! Even the entire dungeon walkthrough is a lie! You're toying with the players like this?! You're making players protect Witch who's already swapped bodies?!

I protected that little blonde girl the whole way. She tugged at my clothes and called me "brother." I shielded her from all the traps and helped her escape the Mansion. In the end, I watched as the Hunter killed the crawling monster. I thought I was the savior, but it turns out I was an accomplice?

What exactly did you make us do?!

The entire game was a scam from the very beginning! You've been manipulating all the players in Nine Provinces! Lu Xiu!!! Are you even human?!

Below the post.

[Please stop! Please stop—I'm really breaking down.]

[Comment: You're a joke.]

[Lu Xiu, you have no heart!!!]

[----]

This moment.

All players who have already completed the game have broken through the Great Defense!

Whether you're a top-tier player or an average player—once you've been to the Witch Instance, you'll realize you've been completely fooled.

Their defenses were breached.

After all, recalling her actions in the dungeon, the system's evaluation, and Lu Xiu's actions of embedding lies from the very beginning of the dungeon's supplementary descriptions—it was just too hard to keep up the act.

With the system instance now closed, Lu Xiu's new instance is highly anticipated.

It's easy to imagine.

How many players are covering their faces right now?

moment.

The forum then became lively.

Lu Xiu was expelled from the human race again.

This time, however, it wasn't due to the difficulty of the dungeon. She used only text and narrative, exploiting players' preconceived notions, to carry out a brutal and horrific act of psychological bullying.

At the same time.

The Coordination Bureau an underground prison.

Queenie stared blankly at the discussions among Nine Provinces players on the forum.

She also entered the [Witch] instance and cleared it.

to be honest.

At first, she didn't think much about it and didn't find anything strange about the dungeon.

She was just a little excited because Lu Xiu had finally completed a terrible dungeon!

It's not difficult! You won't learn anything!

The reward wasn't great either!

Although it's already quite challenging compared to the dungeons for ordinary Architect, it's still a terrible dungeon for Lu Xiu!

The pressure from the previous dungeons was too intense! And that's combined with Lu Xiu 'Lu Xiu own combat power!

----It really gave Queenie a sense of invincibility!

But after defeating the Witch, Queenie felt that the shackles on her mind had been broken.

She felt she had finally found Lu Xiu's weakness.

Lu Xiu also has weaknesses! Lu Xiu can also fail! She can also create bad dungeons! Therefore, Lu Xiu is not invincible!

Although Lu Xiu is indeed more capable than Helag!

But just as she had this thought, she saw the Glass Cannon skill on the forum.

Next.

She then saw the discussions and speculations among the Nine Provinces players, and was completely stunned.

A dungeon that I personally consider to be easy.

Such a setting is unbelievable!?

You can even do this in dungeons?

no.

Is that so perverted?

moment.

Queenie felt as if the shackles that had just shattered on her soul had been locked back in.

"Wrong!"

Queenie shook her head, forcibly suppressing the renewed sense of invincibility that had risen within her.

calm.

Regardless of Lu Xiu's design, one thing is certain: this dungeon is indeed not very difficult!

This is a dungeon in the new version of the Cross-Realm Arena where the dungeon characters won't cause too much trouble for the Prison Rock players.

In a competitive arena, whether you're lying or not is completely irrelevant!

It's not difficult.

This is the real thing.

As Queenie pondered this, she silently noted down the characteristics of this instance.

The difficulty level is not high, but the narrative traps and psychological impact are the main elements.

You don't have to ban it!

Besides the Titanfall, this could become Nine Provinces's second breakthrough point!

The rewards from this dungeon are a bit troublesome.

At the same time.

Today, Lu Xiu, sporting a double ponytail with the lower part of her hair, entered the Construction Space for the first time.

She wasn't paying attention to the forum right now; she was standing in the Construction Space, looking at the data orb above her head that contained the [Witch] instance, and scratching her head a little.

Not long ago.

When the system window popped up, she immediately entered the Construction Space.

Then, sure enough, an anomaly was discovered.

Previously.

All the dungeons she created were sealed away, leaving only a single data orb—but now there are two [Witch] dungeons!

Lu Xiu looked up at the two slowly rotating data orbs.

One big and one small.

The larger one appears to be the official version, radiating light and brimming with vitality.

The smaller one was much quieter, hanging to the side, almost without any movement, as if it might go out at any moment.

What's this?

Did the system directly create a copy? Or something else?

Also, what will happen when the Architect reaches level 10 and unlocks the Placement Function, and the two versions are merged?