The Wrong Way to Open the Gate

"----You're the top-tier soldier, with exceptional marksmanship, strong mental fortitude, and the ability to remain calm in any situation?"

That afternoon.

Astera.

Three floors.

Lu Xiu looked at Chu Huai standing in front of her with some suspicion.

Chu Huai, with a straight face, said seriously, "That's right. Actually, before I became Patrollers, I was a top soldier—I was at the top in every category, and I was the number one in individual precision shooting for consecutive years. I have extremely strong mental fortitude, and my experience as Patrollers has given me ample experience in dealing with complex situations."

Upon hearing this, Shen Nian slowly stood up, adjusted her glasses, coughed, and asked, "Really?"

"Real."

"Then could you please demonstrate it for Mr. Lu?"

"----Do you think this is an interview? Sit down."

Lu Xiu rolled her eyes at Shen Nian: "And don't give me any more random titles—Assistant Jian, drag her away."

Jian Li immediately stood up, turned around, and pressed Shen Nian down to sit.

"Aren't you having a lot of fun?"

Shen Nian was Jian Li, and protested indignantly, "Why can't I do what I say?"

What is your position? What is my position?

"See, you really had a lot of fun!"

Looking at the three girls with different personalities, who were playfully bickering, Chu Huai, who had always been on the oppressive and high-pressure front line and had seen life and death and gloomy clouds, was stunned for a moment, and then chuckled.

His tense nerves gradually relaxed, and he even felt that he had become much younger at that moment.

After all, just watching this scene is enough to make one feel happy.

"Okay, stop fooling around."

Lu Xiu waved her hand, stopping Shen Nian's antics.

He then looked at Chu Huai again and said seriously, "General Chu, I wasn't interviewing you just now. I was just curious why you came in person. I asked you to lend me the man because I didn't want to trouble you. You're a high-ranking officer on the front lines, aren't you? Putting aside a lot of work to come with me to verify the completion of the dungeon, is that really okay?"

Upon hearing this...

Chu Huai also dropped the air of a king of soldiers that he had been putting on.

He straightened up, his face serious. "It's alright. In fact, nothing on the front lines is more important than this right now."

Lu Xiu: "Um... it's not that exaggerated, is it?"

"Have."

Chu Huai looked at Lu Xiu, took a deep breath, and replied truthfully, "Miss Lu, you may not know what your words in the communication this morning meant for us—for all the soldiers on the Jade Capital front."

"But that's really important to us."

"You helped attract many High Sequence players to Jade Capital, giving the frontline soldiers a chance to catch their breath, but the rest period has been too long—you should know about the increased monster strength mentioned in the new expansion, right? We can't just sit around doing nothing for over twenty days. What if the monsters are too strong and those High Sequence players are unwilling to help defend? Then we'll have wasted over twenty days. General Zhou and I are really worried about this—"

Chu Huai laughed and said, "To be honest, when you were playing the communicator, General Zhou and I were discussing this matter, and we were at a loss—"

I didn't expect you to complete the entire dungeon without saying a word.

Our worries never existed in the first place; you're truly amazing!

So if this new dungeon is really as you say, requiring no learning curve to complete, then I absolutely have to experience it for myself. Of course, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I'm genuinely very curious about what kind of dungeon it is."

"I see."

Lu Xiu nodded slightly. "Then it's you. However, accompanying the Architect to verify the relevant memories of clearing the dungeon will be greatly restricted, although I don't know yet how strict the Memory Blur mechanism of this dungeon is."

But I'm pretty sure you'll likely never remember anything that happened during the verification process.

Chu Huai nodded. "I was prepared for that. I'm not a professional strategy player, so I only need to rely on my subjective feeling. You said this dungeon is tailor-made for frontline soldiers and doesn't require any special training. If I need to give the soldiers extra help, then there's no point."

"Then don't make any absolute statements."

Lu Xiu chuckled and said, "Because the mechanism is simple, in order to make the dungeon rating passable and the rewards better, although the dungeon does not require you to face complex monsters, memorize any mechanics, or practice any moves, the number of monsters and the survival pressure inside are by no means small."

You know about the Strategy Group's Keyword Memory-Blur Countermeasure Method, right? It involves repeatedly reciting a few keywords before leaving a dungeon to memorize key points that you can't forget—and then using this method to solidify your memory related to the difficulty when you finally clear the dungeon.

If you find a certain part too difficult, and you really can't handle it, then you'll just have to sacrifice the rating and rewards.

Upon hearing this...

Chu Huai recalled the dungeons that Lu Xiu had previously created.

From the initial Resident Evil that tormented players to the point of wishing they were dead, to Monster Hunter that has left Strategy Group wanting to see a psychiatrist...

Regardless of the dungeon mechanics.

In any case, Lu Xiu seems to have never been lenient when it comes to the difficulty of the dungeons.

Thinking of this...

Chu Huai's expression turned somewhat strange.

But when he looked at Lu Xiu's beautiful, non-threatening face, he thought again and felt relieved.

Since she said this instance was specifically prepared for ordinary soldiers, and even specifically mentioned that it mainly features modern weapons and doesn't have complicated mechanics.

That simply means shooting.

No matter how you do it, the difficulty should be limited, right?

Even if it's difficult—it shouldn't be too difficult, right?

After all, these are modern firearms. As long as there's enough ammunition, what situation can't a professional soldier handle?

With this in mind, Chu Huai felt more confident.

"It shouldn't need to be changed."

Chu Huai shook his head. "Miss Lu, since it's training, there must be enough pressure. The soldiers on the front lines are not afraid of hardship, they are afraid of not even having the opportunity to suffer. Don't worry, no matter what kind of survival pressure there is, I can withstand it!"

However, I will use the keyword-based challenge method to remember the difficulty level.

"Okay, good that you understand..."

Lu Xiu nodded. "Then let's get ready to go in—but Jian Li and Shen Nian, are you really going together? I heard you say there's still the Ruiner Nergigante and the Shara Ishvalda we haven't fought yet?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Nian reached out and pressed down on Lu Xiu's shoulder. "Lu Xiu —do you know what else we need to fight before we fight those two monsters?"

"Fatalis?"

"That's it! We've already fought those incredibly tough monsters! Do you think those last two will be able to stop us?"

Shen Nian said irritably, "I don't know what you were thinking—you suddenly pull this surprise at the very end."

All right.

Because the dungeon doesn't have an endgame, Lu Xiu, for the sake of the performance, moved the Fatalis, which requires completing all the main storylines to be challenged, to the beginning.

This wasn't originally a monster you had to fight to complete the game.

But...

Shen Nian, being very curious, accepted it.

Shen Nian has been saying she wants to die countless times these past few days.

"Then come on over."

Thinking of this, Lu Xiu shook her head. "I'll enter the Construction Space first, and I'll invite you later."

soon.

Lu Xiu then entered the Construction Space.

Then they invited three people to participate in the instance verification.

The three people outside immediately clicked "confirm" upon seeing the notification.

The three were enveloped in Bai Guang.

Then the four of them entered the instance at the same time.

A brief feeling of weightlessness came over me.

Chu Huai suddenly opened his eyes, preparing to assume a defensive stance, only to find that his body was completely out of his control.

CG?

What are the features of the Lu Xiu dungeon?

That's what he was thinking.

really.

He found himself "starting to walk towards the convenience store."

Beside him were Lu Xiu, Jian Li, Shen Nian.

The camera then slowly pans up to the towering "GG" sign next to it, which displays an announcement.

[Due to the spread of the virus, this facility will be temporarily closed until further notice.]

Just a few words.

That explains the background of the story.

Virus transmission.

Order collapsed.

They play the roles of survivors trapped in the city, a four-person team preparing to escape.

The last evacuation plane landed on the rooftop of a hotel, and the four people were on their way there.

only.

When the four arrived at the hotel and climbed to the top floor, they discovered that the helicopter had already evacuated.

And just then...

Chu Huai found that he had regained control of his body.

He took a deep breath, snapping out of the CG he had just witnessed. The moment his senses returned, what struck him first wasn't any monster, but his sight and smell.

Looking down from the rooftop.

The sky was overcast with dark clouds, making it gloomy and oppressive.

Below is a modern city plunged into apocalypse.

Thick smoke and flames were everywhere, and the scene was one of utter devastation.

The surrounding area was filled with a pungent smell of burning and a faint stench of decay.

This, combined with the CG just shown.

The feeling came instantly.

The feeling of surviving the apocalypse.

As expected— Lu Xiu's dungeons never disappoint in terms of atmosphere.

Just as Chu Huai was thinking this...

The task popped up.

Rescue helicopters are en route to the shopping mall's evacuation point.

They had to storm the shopping mall.

"Choose a weapon."

At this moment.

Lu Xiu's voice rang out, attracting the attention of Chu Huai, Shen Nian, and Jian Li.

Lu Xiu pointed to a massive building on the distant horizon. "Looks like we'll have to fight our way through this hotel and the streets to get there. Pick your weapons, let's go."

Because passing the verification process strips away memories.

Lu Xiu didn't act too familiar with the situation, only saying what was necessary.

Upon hearing this, Chu Huai quickly composed himself and turned to look at a long table of supplies in front of the rooftop entrance.

But when he saw what was on the table, he paused for a moment.

Several red and white first-aid kits and a number of weapons were neatly arranged on the table.

However, the weapons were very rudimentary.

There were only a few basic standard-issue handguns, and a few melee weapons, such as Fire Axe, crowbars, and baseball bats.

Are these all the weapons you have?

Looking at the weapons on display, Chu Huai couldn't help but glance at Lu Xiu: "Are pistols the only firearms?"

"How would I know that the memories I built up when I verified the game were stripped away?"

Lu Xiu told a little white lie, "But the dungeon shouldn't only have pistols. It's probably just a beginner's level. Let's choose a weapon first."

Upon hearing this, Jian Li immediately picked up a pistol and a crowbar.

Because it's a copy.

Lu Xiu's requirements weren't that strict; pistols and melee weapons could coexist.

but.

However, one can only carry one spear.

Shen Nian then said, "Speaking of Lu Xiu, isn't this related to the Resident Evil arc? I think it's Zombie too—"

"No."

Lu Xiu selected a pistol and Fire Axe, and after briefly weighing the axe in her hand, said, "This is the only thing I'm sure of, and Zombie Zombie here are not the same as those in the Resident Evil instance. I'm also sure of that. You guys be prepared."

Chu Huai and Lu Xiu made the same choice, and upon hearing this, they said, "Then the Zombie should behave similarly to those in Resident Evil —if that's the case, then having only handguns seems reasonable."

Lu Xiu remained noncommittal.

After they had all chosen their weapons, she picked up the Fire Axe and asked, "Shall we go?"

"Hmm... to be honest, this is the first time I've seen you clear a dungeon. I've only seen clips of you verifying your clear times before... so what's it like to actually clear a dungeon?"

Shen Nian looked at Lu Xiu, who was carrying Fire Axe.

It has to be said that the visual contrast between such a stunningly beautiful young woman and a Fire Axe is truly striking.

Upon hearing Jian Li also silently looked at Lu Xiu.

Needless to say, Chu Huai was even more so.

In fact, every player is very curious about what Lu Xiu looks like when she verifies the completion of the dungeon.

Anyone who has experienced the dungeons she created will inevitably become curious.

After all, her dungeons were all so torturous----

As Lu Xiu walked down the stairs, she casually remarked, "I'm pretty much the same as you guys. I'm a player too. Do you think I can come up with anything fancy?"

Seeing this scene...

Jian Li immediately followed Lu Xiu, half a step behind her, maintaining a vigilant posture.

Shen Nian and Chu Huai exchanged a glance, their eyes both revealing a hint of disbelief.

But now was clearly not the time to delay, so the two gripped their weapons and followed.

I entered the building.

The environment gradually became dark.

Lu Xiu raised her hand and turned on the flashlight. The circular halo of light illuminated the dark stairwell, swaying slightly as she walked, and the putrid smell in the air grew stronger.

The group went up the stairs to the eighth floor.

The door to the eighth floor is closed; I can't go down any further.

However, the fire door leading to the internal corridor on the eighth floor was ajar.

Obviously.

The breakthrough to the dungeon begins here.

The battle is about to begin.

Shen Nian realized this as well, and immediately volunteered to step forward and block Lu Xiu's way. "I'll do it!"

That's all.

She excitedly grabbed the doorknob and pushed open the fire door.

But the moment Open Gate and saw what was inside...

Bang!

She closed the door again.

Chu Huai and Jian Li looked at her with suspicion.

Shen Nian was silent for a moment, then turned to look at Chu Huai and said, "I feel like I might have opened it incorrectly, General Chu, why don't you do it?"

As she spoke, she decisively retreated behind Lu Xiu.

Seeing her actions, Chu Huai couldn't help but smile and shake his head.

As soon as he went downstairs, he felt that the atmosphere of the dungeon was indeed well-done—the gradually darkening environment, the faint stench of decay, coupled with the mangled Zombie, made it quite terrifying.

Girls are still scared, as expected.

As the only man in the team, I had to take the initiative.

As he thought about it, he strode forward. "Okay, I'll do it."

After saying that, he also grasped the handle and pushed open the fire door again.

However.

Bang!

The next second.

Chu Huai, with lightning speed, pulled the door back and slammed it shut.

He gripped the doorknob, frozen in place, his face filled with existential dread.

Jian Li silently turned her head and looked at the soldier who had just been so confident.

Chu Huai completely ignored Jian Li's gaze, instead slowly turning his head to look at Lu Xiu incredulously. "Miss Lu, is this what you meant by 'different from the Zombie in Resident Evil '?! Is this really the beginning of a dungeon?! Is it really reasonable to give out pistols? And where did all these people come from in the hotel? Are you sure this isn't a subway station?! Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about hotels? Sufficient pressure doesn't mean you have to swarm so many monsters—"

He began to bombard the audience with a series of questions.

Lu Xiu was somewhat exasperated by the two people's overreaction.

"Ugh, you guys are so troublesome."

She stepped forward and said, "Let me do it!"

After saying that, she raised her foot and kicked the fire door hard.

Bang!!!

The door was kicked open violently in an instant, slamming against the wall with a loud bang.

The scene outside the door was now completely exposed to everyone's flashlights.

----Densely packed!

It was incredibly dense.

At a glance, the spacious eighth-floor corridor was almost shoulder to shoulder crowded with pale-faced, blood-covered Zombie! And from the open doors on both sides, Zombie were still wandering and pouring out!

The quantity was simply terrifying.

It's not that there's not even a place to put your feet.

But it really makes you want to close the door.

The loud bang of Lu Xiu kicking down the door was like a thunderclap in the deathly silent corridor.

The sea of corpses, which had been wandering aimlessly, stopped abruptly the moment they heard the sound.

Countless pale heads turned in unison with a horrified expression, staring at the four people at the door.

Roar!!!

The next second, a burst of dense roars suddenly rang out.

They started charging towards the front door like mad dogs, at a terrifying speed!

Some even use their hands and feet, just like wild animals!

moment.

Chu Huai and Shen Nian both felt a chill run down their spines!

They knew it!

Lu Xiu's dungeon is by no means going to be easy!