After they finished showering, the takeout they had ordered earlier began arriving one after another.
The dining table was piled with food. Feng Ling and Huangfu Miaomiao sat at the table, eating while studying the Maze clues.
Huangfu Miaomiao was exceptionally serious about this matter.
"You should understand by now that Cards are a special kind of genetic chain. Any creature that comes into contact with a Card will undergo corresponding genetic mutations, and the Maze is an enormous experimental site where all kinds of genetic mutations constantly occur—"
Huangfu Miaomiao held a disposable fork and made an exaggerated gesture with her arms. "Very big. Incomparably huge!"
Feng Ling nodded obligingly as she peeled crayfish.
"Because it's an experimental site, the genes inside the Maze are extremely chaotic and unstable. A huge number of creatures mutate, reproduce, and die there, forming a special ecosystem. One creature will stand out from the rest and complete its final evolution. It is both the victor of the experimental site and the master of the Maze. The Players' mission is to defeat the Labyrinth Master! Destroy the Maze!"
Feng Ling understood. "So it's like a dungeon. Kill the dungeon Boss, and the entire dungeon will naturally disappear from the map."
"Yes, you can understand it that way." Huangfu Miaomiao nodded repeatedly. "Killing monsters in a Maze dungeon earns double Points, so Players flock to them."
"Do Cards drop after you kill them?" Feng Ling asked.
"No. Only stable genes can form Cards. The creatures in the Maze are all in unstable, chaotic states, so no Cards appear after they're killed. But the Labyrinth Master is different—" Huangfu Miaomiao narrowed her eyes and spoke very, very slowly. "The Labyrinth Master possesses a complete and stable genetic chain. Once it is successfully killed, it will drop a one-of-a-kind rare Card."
Feng Ling peeled a spicy crayfish, dipped it in sauce, and put it into her mouth.
"No wonder your Idols are placed inside Mazes," she said.
Huangfu Miaomiao froze for a moment. "...Huh?"
"To ensure that Players can obtain their rewards smoothly." Feng Ling glanced at her, continuing to peel crayfish as she spoke unhurriedly. "Obviously, the Labyrinth Master's Card is the most valuable reward in the entire Maze. But incompatible Card traits cause severe Corruption Value. If I were a Player, killing a few small monsters after entering the Maze would be enough. Why would I go after the Labyrinth Master? I'd have to work hard to kill it, and the Card it dropped might not even be useful to me. That would be a terrible bargain. So, to keep the greatest reward from becoming useless, the system placed those so-called Idols in the Maze, ensuring Players like you would have no worries."
Huangfu Miaomiao pondered it for a while. "That... really does seem to be the case. I'd never considered it before."
"Alright, tell me the clues you know." Feng Ling wiped her hands and turned her gaze toward the durian pizza on the table. "...Find the Maze, go in together. You get Points, and I get the Idol. A win-win."
She picked up a slice of durian pizza and took a bite.
Huangfu Miaomiao stirred the spaghetti bolognese on her plate with her fork. "I'm not sure we can find it... The clue to the Maze is a riddle, three lines in total. I've only deciphered one of them."
"Let's hear it," Feng Ling said as she ate.
"Frog in a Top Hat charges into the clouds, Salivating Kiss yearns to kiss the lone white bird, Snake Moon's Skyfire burns a door out of the ashes." Huangfu Miaomiao recited the riddle word by word.
Feng Ling: "..."
She suddenly felt that... she might never clear that 29% Corruption Value in her lifetime.
The Maze riddle was far too baffling!
"So which line did you decipher?" Feng Ling asked.
"The first one: Frog in a Top Hat charges into the clouds."
Huangfu Miaomiao seriously ate a few mouthfuls of noodles before saying, "Frogs don't wear top hats, and they can't possibly charge into the clouds. So whenever I was doing map-running quests, I paid attention to landmarks in the city that looked like frogs. Then I discovered that the Ferris Wheel at the Amusement Park used cartoon-themed cabins. The outsides were painted with rabbits, ducks, elephants, and things like that. One green cabin had Frog in a Top Hat painted on it."
Feng Ling felt slightly relieved.
If that was the case, then the riddle did not seem too difficult. As long as they found the right reference point, they should be able to discover the Maze entrance, right?
"Tickets to the Amusement Park are too expensive," Huangfu Miaomiao said. "I don't have the money, so I can't ride the Ferris Wheel. That's why I went to the Forum to look for help. I thought that as long as I provided the clue, they could at least let me earn some Points..."
There was no need to say what happened next. Feng Ling already knew.
Feng Ling stuffed the last bite of pizza into her mouth, opened the foil container holding charcoal-grilled pork ribs, and said, "After we eat, we're going to the Amusement Park."
Huangfu Miaomiao's face was full of disapproval. "Did you forget? Your location has already been exposed on the Forum. There will definitely be lots of Players coming to find you in the next few days. Someone in their teams might even use scouting skills. If you go out casually, you could easily run into them. It's too dangerous."
Feng Ling was a little annoyed. These Players were too much of a nuisance.
Her mood affected, she crunched the pork cartilage loudly between her teeth. Huangfu Miaomiao pursed her lips and silently lowered her head to eat her spaghetti.
After a while, Feng Ling said, "Message that person on the Forum. Tell her you want to buy information about the Hidden Boss, and see how she reacts."
Huangfu Miaomiao thought it really was worth probing further.
She opened the Virtual Screen, found the previous post discussing the Hidden Boss, then located the reply mentioning Qingjiang City among several hundred comments.
The Forum used an anonymous system, so she could not see the commenter's name. They had to add each other as friends before they could exchange private messages.
Huangfu Miaomiao sent the other party a friend request with the message: Buying Boss information at a high price.
"Ah, she accepted the friend request. So fast." Huangfu Miaomiao stared at the Virtual Screen. "Her name is Moon Shadow. She's probably a woman. Her total playtime is only two days. Either she's a new Player, or this is an account that logged in again after dying once."
"Tell her to name her price." Feng Ling sounded impatient.
"I'm asking..." Huangfu Miaomiao operated the screen, then saw the message from the other side. Her expression shifted slightly in surprise. "She wants 2,000 Points!"
Since it was not money, Feng Ling had no real sense of the value of Points. She casually said, "Then 2,000. Ask her how she wants to trade."
"2,000 is way too much!" Huangfu Miaomiao said anxiously. "That price is completely unreasonable! She's only providing a clue. Why should she get 2,000? The reward for killing a Hidden Boss might only be around 3,000 Points!"
Feng Ling said irritably, "We're not really giving her that many Points. The important thing is to lure her out, or figure out where she is."
"She said someone else offered 1,800 Points, so she'll only consider selling the information to me if I offer 2,000. I'm asking where she is now..." Huangfu Miaomiao frowned. "No, she's very cautious. She won't say."
That made Feng Ling even more annoyed. "How are we supposed to trade if she won't tell us her location?!"
Huangfu Miaomiao was anxious too. Just as she was about to ask again, she discovered that the message had failed to send. Her face immediately changed.
"...She deleted me."
A surge of anger shot up inside Feng Ling. She raised her fist and slammed it onto the table. Bang! All the food jolted out of place.
Huangfu Miaomiao stared at her as if she had been scared senseless.
I did great today! I updated five chapters! Hahaha~ See you tomorrow!
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