After the Dungeon Closed
Midnight, outside the Zane Dungeon Warrior Country Branch City.
The place was bustling with noise, and the lights were as bright as day.
The merchants completely surrounded the newly arrived underground city, each carrying a certificate issued by the Golden Lion Merchant Guild authorizing them to conduct business there.
On the outskirts of the core business district, there are also open spaces for vendors without permits or adventurers who want to sell their catch on the spot. Unfortunately, the space is limited and it is first-come, first-served.
Although it was only the first day that the Zane Dungeon was officially open to the public, everyone seemed to be very familiar with the business model surrounding the dungeon. In such a short time, all sorts of things had been set up around the Zane Dungeon portal and were already quite impressive.
Of course, it's also because some skilled merchants who originally operated near the Boulder Dungeon have moved here; the layout here is almost identical to that around the Boulder Dungeon.
Adventurers can feel a sense of familiar comfort the moment they emerge from the dungeon.
Besides the vendors, the outermost perimeter was completely blocked by onlookers, all curious about what the adventurers would gain or how they would react.
Anyway, it's already late at night, and people are pretty free except for those in special professions. A new dungeon will become a new spice in everyone's boring daily life. At least for a while, the talk of the town will be about the Zane Dungeon.
The guards of Black Rock City patrolled diligently here; after all, without their management, these merchants would probably have blocked every road on their own.
After all, wherever there are people, there will be trouble. Merchants are relatively easy to manage, but adventurers are not necessarily so.
"Aaaaaahhhhhh—"
Just then, a scream of despair came from inside the portal. An adventurer covered in feathers, who looked like a bird- Orcs, ran out of the portal crying and wiping away tears as he ran. He looked so pitiful.
The patrolling guards quickly went up to him and grabbed him; if they let him run around, he might cause harm to those around him.
"What's wrong with you? Calm down!"
Faced with the guards' inquiries and attempts to comfort him, the adventurer only rambled incoherently:
"Black, black, black cavalry, how scary!"
This situation is not an isolated case. As more and more adventurers leave the dungeon, the area where the portal is located can no longer be described as lively; it is at least "noisy."
Among these adventurers, very few looked like normal people.
Some stared blankly at the starry sky like salted fish, some were incoherent and excited, and some simply lay on the ground and refused to get up. It was truly a time when humanity's stars shone brightly.
This vibrant and thriving scene brought a nostalgic look to Gong Qiying, who was among the onlookers.
Wait, Gong Qiying?
"I feel a bit nostalgic. Back when the Zane Dungeon first opened in Bede City, the adventurers' reactions were pretty much the same as they are now."
Unfortunately, as the adventurers of the Arnor Kingdom became more and more cunning and shrewd after being trained by the Zane Dungeon, it became rare to see anyone break down.
For example, adventurers used to avoid the sewage in Farron Keep like the plague, and people with obsessive-compulsive disorder would vomit violently after getting it in their hands.
Nowadays, adventurers are even happily venturing into the mud in order to launch a surprise attack during an invasion.
Can you believe that?
The reactions of the adventurers from the Warrior Country gave Gong Qiying a sense of nostalgia; it was truly remarkable.
The only pity is that the inhabitants of the Warrior Country are generally more "resilient" in character, and even in a breakdown like this, they did not behave too out of control.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Gong Qiying pushed through the crowd and walked over to the adventurer who was staring blankly at the starry sky like a salted fish, asking, "What happened in the dungeon?"
The adventurer glanced at him, then said blankly:
"I heard a voice calling me by the roadside, it seemed to be coming from the woods by the roadside, but I searched for a long time but couldn't find it. I was even ambushed by a Demi-Human with magic and turned into a tree."
As he spoke, tears suddenly welled up in his eyes.
"I turned into a tree and stood there for a whole day! Neither my buddies nor my girlfriend noticed me!"
"What's there to cry about?"
"Then when they couldn't find me, they started..." The adventurer said something inappropriate for children.
My condolences.
Gong Qiying patted his shoulder with a heavy heart and began to reflect on whether some of his dungeon designs might bring unexpected situations to adventurers.
For example, catching someone cheating in the act?
He bought a chilled drink from a nearby vendor and enjoyed it while watching the adventurers' dazed expressions. It tasted absolutely wonderful.
Just as he decided to open a branch city from the Zane Dungeon, he sent his body from the outside towards this side. Although he could travel directly through the underground city, he still chose to use a series of shady means to successfully smuggle himself over here, and even obtained a fake resident certificate.
Is it considered a form of immersive role-playing?
However, if you're not doing any legitimate work, these kinds of certificates are completely useless.
As for why he wanted to bring the external body over, there wasn't really any special reason. Isn't it normal for a designer to want to see the user's feedback firsthand?
Another reason is to conduct an on-site investigation of the local customs and culture.
Suddenly, screams and a dangerous explosion came from the crowd not far away. Looking over, it turned out that You Fei, who had been gathering her fighting spirit earlier, had exploded near the portal after being teleported out. The scene was now in chaos.
Aide Jia hurriedly left the scene, while Te Pi called for someone to clean up the mess. Fan En humorously used the Saw Cleaver as a fan, constantly fanning You Fei, seemingly trying to calm her down.
"This combination is quite interesting," Gong Qiying thought to himself as he downed a glass of wine.
He had been watching the adventurers' reactions in the dungeon the whole time, so he naturally saw the scene of You Fei and the others fighting against Godrick. Gong Qiying had almost guessed their reactions correctly.
As the designer, he certainly knew which parts of Godrick would cause people to turn red, and there were two important changes.
First, Godrick skillfully switches between limbs during combat to utilize different abilities, making the battles more unpredictable.
There are limitations on the materials available for limb attachments, with the Grafted Dragon serving as the upper limit. Other limb attachment materials will not exceed this limit, and any other material can potentially appear within that limit. As for the plausibility, it's not unreasonable to say that Godrick Soldier wander around aimlessly all day and pick up some oddly shaped items.
The original Godrick's strength was rather pathetic; he needed to be changed.
Gong Qiying believes that the second change is the most important.
This might allow Godrick to become an even more famous leader than the Omen Demon.
That is: the limbs of adventurers who die in Stormveil Castle have a certain probability of appearing as limb materials in every battle of Godrick!
The adventurer limbs that appear in each battle are randomized; you might get a strong one or a weak one, depending on the adventurer's luck, and there is also a limit to the number that can be obtained.
In addition, the limbs of those adventurers would hang in a place that Gong Qiying named "Slaughterhouse". There are two slaughterhouses in Stormveil Castle. One was discovered by You Fei and his group and is the only way to explore Stormveil Castle. The other is an extra building added by Gong Qiying. It is just a large warehouse used to store limbs and is built next to the Godrick BOSS room. Whether you explore it or not is irrelevant.
The first slaughterhouse built on the only road will preserve the limbs of the first two hundred adventurers who died in Stormveil Castle, and will never replace them.
As long as the Zane Dungeon continues to function and as long as this area exists, these limbs will remain, and these adventurers will have the privilege of achieving "immortality" together with the Zane Dungeon!
It sounds like an alternative form of public execution, which was indeed added based on Gong Qiying's own perverse sense of humor.
With these two changes, Godrick will likely become the most unpredictable and random boss in the entire Zane Dungeon, as more and more adventurers explore and die in Stormveil Castle.
The battles between adventurers and Godrick will likely turn into battles between adventurers themselves.
Perhaps some powerful individuals will deliberately die in Stormveil Castle, just to leave behind their limbs to trap those who come after them.
With such high replayability, Godrick is sure to be loved by many adventurers, right?
Gong Qiying firmly believed this.
"Brother, brother, want to know the secret to becoming stronger?" Just as he was lost in thought, a young adventurer ran up to him and said mysteriously.
It turned out to be the random adventurer, Sai Ke, who had recently entered the Zane Dungeon and become an apprentice of Beinal.
"For just ten silver coins, I'll tell you how to learn powerful Weapon Skill," Sai Ke enthusiastically promoted.
Gong Qiying smiled and shook his head. Sai Ke didn't continue the conversation and went to find other adventurers to sell to. Surprisingly, one of the adventurers actually took out his money.
Looking around, he saw his partner Qiao Ke La, also out there selling things.
It's obvious they're selling information about Beinal. These two are quite business-minded. Although the Golden Lion Merchant Guild has received the relevant information and will release it soon, it's not public yet, so they can make some extra money with the information.
This is the way of life for random adventurers!
Gong Qiying has witnessed all walks of life today; it must be quite delicious to enjoy with a drink.
Just then, he noticed that You Fei had calmed down and was grabbing the barrel of liquor that Fan En handed him and chugging it down in a rather hearty manner.
The surrounding area was full of adventurers drinking heavily, which was a tradition for adventurers after work.
Meanwhile, an Adventurers' Guild staff member, looking rather hurried, squeezed through the crowd and approached You Fei and her group.