Why Didn't You Say So Earlier!

Yan Fushou froze for a moment, then quickly understood, recalling that Jian Li had entered the instance that morning.

He looked at Jian Li, who had appeared out of thin air, and was just about to speak.

The stunningly beautiful girl with waist-length silver hair suddenly smiled.

In that instant.

The already beautiful girl seemed to come alive. Her originally exquisite yet lifeless face became vivid, like an ordinary high school girl one might happen to encounter on the street—bright, lively, lighthearted, even... a little dazzling.

Yan Fushou's expression stiffened slightly. He found it hard to believe that this emotionally detached girl would actually smile.

"Jian Li?"

"..."

As though she had only just realized there was someone else present.

The smile on Jian Li's face vanished instantly.

She returned to her usual expressionless appearance. Her black-and-white eyes reflected Yan Fushou's face, her expression blank.

The corner of Yan Fushou's mouth twitched. Somewhat helplessly, he took the initiative to ask, "You cleared [Resident Evil]? How was it? Was it difficult?"

"I cleared it."

Jian Li's voice was utterly flat. "But my memories were blurred, so I can only give a subjective assessment. The difficulty wasn't low. The atmosphere was oppressive, and the psychological pressure never let up. You always felt like something could appear in the room at any moment.

"There were a lot of puzzles throughout the process, and many times, you had to keep suppressing your instinctive reactions.

"The monster mechanics were complicated, and when fighting the final boss, there was damage that had to be endured."

"Clearance difficulty varies from person to person. If you can suppress your instincts in that environment, remain calm, keep observing and thinking, and have enough endurance, clearing it won't be a problem."

"Overall, the difficulty was very high."

Yan Fushou was slightly stunned.

He was surprised to hear such a long evaluation from Jian Li.

But he did not press further. He merely muttered, "An original instance can actually reach this level. Even you say the difficulty is very high—no wonder Wei Yidong couldn't clear it."

Jian Li did not reply again, seemingly feeling that she had already explained herself clearly enough.

Yan Fushou shook his head and stopped dwelling on it. Instead, he was about to have Jian Li go back and write him a report.

Because of the meeting just now.

His mind was a mess, and he had no time to focus on any civilian instance for the moment.

Although this S-rank civilian instance was theoretically within the scope of their selection process.

Still, prejudice against civilian instances could not be erased overnight. Compared to everything else, an S-rank civilian instance was really nothing significant.

No matter how urgent it was, it was not as urgent as the front lines.

But Jian Li's next words made Yan Fushou swallow the words he had been about to use to send her away.

"Also, it was fun."

Yan Fushou: "?"

He even suspected that he had misheard.

Before he could recover.

"The atmosphere was interesting, the battles were interesting, the presentation was interesting, and the story was interesting too... The architect is a genius. You need to find her."

"..."

Yan Fushou looked at Jian Li, momentarily speechless.

This kid considered writing two extra lines in her reports an exceptional performance.

Yet today, she had voluntarily offered so many comments?

And interesting? Fun? Were those really evaluations that could come out of her mouth?

Jian Li stared expressionlessly at Yan Fushou, completely unconcerned by the worried, fatherly look on his face.

In the end, Yan Fushou was the first to look away. He gave a light cough and asked curiously, "That really is rare. You'd actually evaluate an instance like that. I'm even more interested in [Resident Evil] now, so... you think very highly of this civilian instance?"

"Mhm. It was very fun."

"Fun... Forget it. Then what about the rewards? How were they? A little worse than an S-rank system instance?"

"No."

Jian Li shook her head. "Better than an S-rank system instance."

This time, Yan Fushou was genuinely surprised. He had only asked casually.

But he still did not take it too seriously, merely asking along with it, "Really? Then what did it give?"

Because of his longstanding prejudice against civilian instances.

Yan Fushou had never really considered that a civilian instance could offer any good rewards.

That was clear from the fact that he cared more about the instance's difficulty than its rewards.

"Extremely impressive attribute points, items, and skills."

Jian Li summoned the system panel. "One item that could heal wounds and reattach severed limbs, and one skill that could dull pain while converting Spirit attributes into Strength and Agility."

The system panel unfolded.

The reward information appeared.

"..."

Yan Fushou's mouth slowly fell open, his mind going blank for a moment.

He stared in shock at the rewards Jian Li had displayed: an S-rank item, an S-rank skill, and an exceedingly generous attribute point reward.

The next second—

"Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

Yan Fushou sprang straight out of his chair, nearly climbing onto the table. "Why didn't you tell me about rewards like these sooner?! These really came from the [Resident Evil] instance!?"

Jian Li said nothing and simply watched him.

From the girl's utterly impassive expression, Yan Fushou got the answer he wanted.

His pupils abruptly dilated, and his breathing instantly grew heavier.

No way.

A civilian instance really gave rewards like this?!

He stared fixedly at the rewards, his mind racing.

There were plenty of attribute points, but those were not the key point.

The key was the item and skill. There was no need to mention the former—this thing was life-saving on the front lines... no, for anyone, it was a life-saving trump card.

As for the latter, leaving aside everything else, the ability to dull pain alone made it a god-tier skill. Not to mention it could turn the most useless Spirit attribute points into combat power!

So—

Wasn't this the instance best suited for frontline soldiers right now?!

Civilian instances really had surprises?!

And surprises of this caliber?!

Yan Fushou looked at the rewards Jian Li had displayed, his breathing growing more and more rapid.

But he quickly forced himself to calm down, as though he had suddenly remembered something.

He immediately opened his system panel and switched to the forum.

The moment he saw what was happening there—

Yan Fushou's face darkened.

On the forum—

Although only a little over ten minutes had passed since the post selling Hand Sanitizer had gone up, the news had already spread.

Related posts were everywhere.

[What do you mean difficult? Difficult my ass! You call these rewards difficult!? I'd give up my life for this! I'll clear it even if it kills me!]

[Unbelievable! A civilian instance actually gives things like this! Genius! The creator is a genius!]

[Please! Brothers who cleared it! Give us some intel! I want Hand Sanitizer too! I want the skill too!]

[...]

Yan Fushou stared at the translucent screen, frowning.

The problem was serious.

The news had already spread, and that was definitely not a good thing.

It was not that ordinary people obtaining powerful items and skills was bad.

Rather, it was bad for this instance's creator.

The rewards were incredibly generous, yet the difficulty was far from low.

Even players like Jian Li would have their memories blurred after clearing it. The amount they could retain was limited, and they often had to piece together the process from their emotions at the time and scattered impressions before they could organize a guide.

Let alone ordinary players.

In other words, the only person who truly possessed the complete guide right now... was the instance's creator.

Her memories would not be blurred. She knew the entire process of the instance, and she knew how to clear it quickly.

That was also why the Coordination Bureau had recently begun supporting creators and civilian instances. Once someone created an outstanding enough instance, it was equivalent to conjuring up a gold mine out of thin air.

Now—

A gold mine had truly appeared.

Without the slightest warning.

And faced with items and skills like these, enough people would be willing to take desperate risks.

What's more, this Architect could very likely create another gold mine.

If it were a system instance, the Coordination Bureau could suppress those monsters and demons by sealing off the offline entrance.

But the problem was—

This wasn't a system instance, and the Coordination Bureau had no idea where the instance's Architect was.

That meant certain people could easily hide in the shadows...

At that thought, Yan Fushou's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

For the first time, he felt some regret—regret that he hadn't found the Architect before allowing the instance to go online.

But who could have expected a privately made instance to offer rewards of this level?

S-rank?

Even higher-tier system instances might not offer that.

"You need to help me find this Architect," Jian Li suddenly said.

"Right."

Yan Fushou abruptly came back to his senses. "You go back first. I need to head out."

Before he finished speaking, he had already strode away.

The most urgent matter was finding the Architect.

This was urgent.

Extremely urgent!!!

The office door was violently pushed open.

"Notify all department heads and the military representatives on the front lines to return for a meeting immediately!"

The secretary jumped. "Now?"

"Now!"

Without slowing down, Yan Fushou raised his voice slightly.

It had been less than twenty minutes since the previous meeting ended.

The lights in the conference room came on again.

Coordination Bureau Director Li Bao and the heads of each department arrived one after another.

The last to return was the front-line military representative, who had not yet left.

The staff had practically caught up with him halfway there.

The moment he entered, he looked at Yan Fushou. "What else is it?"

Without exchanging pleasantries, Yan Fushou directly opened the system window. "We just screened an instance."

The front-line military representative froze.

Yan Fushou displayed the clear rewards for the [Resident Evil] instance.

One second.

Two seconds.

Everyone in the conference room froze when they saw the Resident Evil instance's rewards.

The front-line military representative was the first to react. He shot to his feet, his chair scraping sharply across the floor. "What instance is this!? Why wasn't it screened earlier?"

"A privately made instance. It went online not long ago, and someone from the Strategy Group only just cleared it."

"That Resident Evil?"

The old man at the head of the table paused and spoke to confirm.

"Yes!" Yan Fushou nodded. "Jian Li only just cleared it. I never expected a privately made instance to offer rewards like these either!"

"This is exactly the instance we need most right now."

The front-line military representative's tone was clearly excited. "Is the Architect in the Strategy Group? How difficult is the instance to clear? Can they continue making similar instances?"

"That's exactly what I wanted to discuss next."

Yan Fushou shook his head. "The Architect isn't in the Strategy Group. We haven't found them yet. These rewards have already been exposed and sparked enormous discussion on the forums... As for the difficulty, according to Jian Li, it's very high. The atmosphere is oppressive, the psychological pressure is intense, there are many puzzle-solving elements, and there's also a memory-blurring mechanic."

"Then find them!"

The front-line military representative spoke immediately, his tone losing restraint for the first time. "Find the Architect of this instance! This instance is of tremendous significance to the front lines! Architects of privately made instances should retain all their memories of constructing them, right? I remember those memories aren't erased! The psychological pressure doesn't matter. As long as we master the process and solve the puzzle issues, the front-line soldiers will definitely be able to clear it!

And if this Architect can make a first instance like this, then they can definitely make a second! Director Yan, you should understand its value better than I do!"

"I do, which is why I need everyone's cooperation."

After Yan Fushou finished speaking, he looked at Li Bao. "News of the clearance rewards has already spread, but we still haven't found the person. You know how those construction groups are..."

Li Bao looked at the reward window, and a subtle change came over his eyes, as if he had glimpsed a certain possibility.

Soldiers who had survived high-pressure battlefields might not have gained any attributes, but their skills and combat awareness were maxed out.

If—if they could truly be given a suitable dungeon tailored specifically to them, their combat power would undergo an explosive breakthrough in an instant.

A suitable dungeon.

A tailor-made dungeon.

...A civilian dungeon.

Li Bao fell silent for a moment before speaking. "Li Shengkai, pull the old-era household registration records and screen every person with the same name. At the same time, check the ID registration database to see whether there are any matching IDs.

"Hu Duo, create risk lists for all gray-area groups and large guilds. Warn them first, make the boundaries clear, then conduct the necessary monitoring and keep track of their movements. Whoever crosses the line bears the consequences."

"...Understood."

The two directors of the Dungeon Resource Management Division and the Internal Security Response Division pulled their gazes away from the rewards. As if waking from a dream, they nodded almost simultaneously.

The former's expression was especially complicated.

Wait.

A civilian dungeon... could really achieve something like this?

Li Bao looked back at Yan Fushou. "Finding the builder is the top priority, but we need to prepare for both possibilities."

"I understand. I'll find a way to put the skills and items into use as soon as possible. The Strategy Group will also come up with a strategy guide as quickly as possible."

Yan Fushou looked at the military representative from the front lines and continued, "But besides that, I'd also like to transfer a squad from the front lines and see how difficult this dungeon is for frontline soldiers. According to Jian Li, the difficulty of clearing this dungeon varies from person to person."

"No problem."

The frontline military representative nodded immediately.

After that, the meeting continued around the search for the builder and the deployment of the dungeon.

But when this meeting ended, the atmosphere had already changed.

At last, it was no longer heavy and stifling. It was like someone had gently lifted one corner of the stone that had weighed on their chests for so long.

The front lines' predicament had not been completely resolved.

But at least there was no longer only darkness.

Because somewhere unseen, someone had lit the first lamp.

At the same time.

Lu Xiu was tying up her hair. She still had no idea about the storm caused by the [Resident Evil] dungeon rewards, knew nothing about the forums, and knew even less that certain groups, along with the Coordination Bureau, had already set their sights on her.

Standing before the mirror, she gathered her smooth, long hair and then turned sideways to take a look.

In the mirror.

The girl stood in profile, chin slightly raised as she swept her smooth black hair behind her head. Her neck was pale and slender. Her white camisole clung to her delicate body, clearly outlining her full, perky breasts. Below that was her taut waist and abdomen, leading down to a simple pair of hot pants. Beneath them, her pale, well-proportioned legs seemed to reflect a faint, soft glow beneath the lights.

She was not deliberately posing, but she simply looked beautiful.

Lu Xiu lifted her hair, wanting to see whether she could put it into a high ponytail.

After confirming that she could.

She took the hair tie off her wrist and was just about to gather her hair tightly—

"Ding."

The system notification suddenly rang.

Lu Xiu did not stop moving.

She continued tying her hair.

"Ding, ding, ding—"

The notifications kept ringing.

Lu Xiu paused, somewhat helpless.

It had finally stopped. Why was it starting again?

She had already been harassed by emails all day...

That dungeon seemed to have stirred up public outrage.

Honestly.

It was a little annoying.

Forget it. She would mute them.

Lu Xiu bit down on the hair tie, temporarily securing the half-gathered hair. She raised her other hand and lightly swiped through the air.

The system panel unfolded, and the mail interface opened automatically.

She casually opened the top email, already prepared to see a long tirade of emotional abuse... She had planned to curse them out, turn off the email notification sound, and never check her mail again.

But unexpectedly—

The latest email was not an insult.

[Thank you.]

[Thank you for giving me a chance to change my life.]

"..."

Even Lu Xiu was caught off guard. She continued reading.

[I'd been stuck in low- and mid-level dungeons for so long. I wasn't in danger of dying, but I couldn't see any future either.]

[I thought this was all my life would ever be. There was no chance to turn things around. Forget challenging high-level dungeons—I wasn't even qualified to enter them.]

[The dungeon you made was really difficult. Disgusting. Twisted.]

[But it gave me a chance. I endured it.]

[The moment I received the reward, I realized that I could do it too.]

[For the first time, I felt like I had a future.]

[Thank you.]

Looking at the email, Lu Xiu took the hair tie from between her lips and tied up her hair. Then she gave it a light shake, feeling somewhat moved.

It seemed—

After reality had become a game, quite a few people were struggling.

And the rewards from the dungeon she had created merely to survive seemed to be pretty good for everyone else.