The mood in the group changed after Zheng Xun made his move.
The Wang brothers were the first to befriend him.
"Buddy, that was a great move!"
"Are you some talented player from a big guild, sent down here to rescue the likes of us in this crappy district?"
As always, Zheng Xun was polite but distant.
"No, I'm just a newbie. I don't know anything."
The older brother gave him a thumbs-up.
"That's an expert for you, keeping such a low profile!"
"Yeah, yeah, come on, buddy, don't be modest."
Zheng Xun wasn't being modest, though.
He really didn't know anything.
He had come back from the dead, only to wake up and find himself dropped into the Little Red Riding Hood instance, where he and his dear Sister Hood had loved and killed each other a thousand times, leaving him a little unhinged.
Hearing someone talk to him normally felt like a lifetime ago.
The Wang brothers wanted to get more out of him.
"Buddy, do you think the ten of us have any chance of surviving this life-or-death instance?"
Zheng Xun wore an inscrutable expression.
"Doubtful."
He was confident in himself. When it came down to it, there were only five or six monsters in this instance that could kill them, but there were plenty of frightening things.
It was entirely possible to die of fright.
By now, Zheng Xun was the only expert in the group of newbies, though he wasn't aware of it himself.
The moment he said "doubtful," the atmosphere grew noticeably tense.
Zheng Xun told everyone they were on their own and showed no intention of protecting anyone. The Wang brothers returned to the middle of the group, dejected.
The tall Meng Chuang sneered. It was unclear what he was laughing at.
: Zheng Xun did the right thing. They're not related, so there's no need to protect them.
: Being someone's protector isn't easy. To put it nicely, you're their dad; put it less nicely, you're their nanny.
: What's that Meng kid acting so high and mighty for? There's no shame in latching onto someone strong.
: Doesn't look good. Who knows if Zheng Xun will be able to step up next time? Maybe he just got lucky last time.
The road through the residential complex was uneven and hard to walk on. Tall apartment buildings stood on either side of them like silent soldiers, their oppressive presence bearing down on everyone.
Little Red Riding Hood hummed a creepy nursery rhyme in a light, sweet voice.
"Daddy went into the woods to catch a wolf
Mommy served Daddy at the table
The lamb and I together
I was the lamb, the lamb was me
Grandma and the wolf were at Grandma's house
Grandma fell asleep, Grandma ate Grandma
I brought the hunter home
Which one was fake, which one was real
The hunter ate me, I ate the hunter"
The girl's sweet voice sang the horrifying rhyme over and over, sending chills down everyone's spine except Zheng Xun's.
The nursery rhyme actually laid out the instance's main storyline. Anyone who paid close attention could figure out its clues and take precautions against the final scene.
Based on Zheng Xun's experience of clearing it a thousand times, the puzzles in this instance weren't very difficult, nor were they closely connected to clearing it in the end. They mostly served to establish Little Red Riding Hood's background.
Although the NPC was called "Little Red Riding Hood," the instance had merely borrowed the name from the fairy tale. The whole story was still set in modern times.
Zheng Xun thought the more likely reason this instance had been rated SSS was the real and fake grandmothers, the twist in NPC Little Red Riding Hood's identity, and the unsolvable hanging woman in the stairwell.
Yes, that hanging woman could only be avoided, not fought head-on. Touching her meant certain death; it was that unreasonable.
Don't ask how Zheng Xun knew. He had tried more than two hundred different bizarre approaches.
Not one had succeeded.
Xu Li still wanted to get closer to Zheng Xun. He made her feel safe.
This time, Chen Zicheng didn't stop her, presumably because Zheng Xun's performance earlier had changed Chen Zicheng's opinion of him.
Zheng Xun didn't move away when he saw her approach, and continued forward right beside his Sister Hood.
"Brother Xun," Xu Li said timidly, "was the thing you killed just now a... a spider?"
"Mm, yes."
Xu Li couldn't stop trembling.
"That spider was as big as a human head."
"Are you afraid of spiders?"
"I... a little... but it's all right. I can overcome it."
Xu Li clearly didn't want to trouble anyone. She knew she wasn't very capable, and she'd be lucky just to survive; she couldn't afford to be fussy.
But she really was afraid. Even a spider the size of a bean would make her scream, tremble, and have nightmares. They were practically an archenemy written into her blood.
Zheng Xun glanced at the road ahead. They would soon reach the seventh intersection.
"That's bad," he said.
"Huh?"
Xu Li looked bewildered.
"Lower your head."
"Brother Xun?"
"Lower your head, quick."
"Oh."
"Look by your foot, your right foot."
"O... okay."
"Is there a purple flower?"
"Where... oh, there really is!"
Xu Li looked down and bent over, reaching for the delicate flower with her fair fingertips.
The barrage of comments was full of confusion.
: What are they doing? Flirting?
: Damn, that's actually kind of sweet.
: Seriously? They're at death's door and still have time for this?
: Does Zheng Xun even know what he's doing? I think that last hammer strike was just luck.
Whether Zheng Xun's hammer strike had been luck soon became clear.
After Xu Li bent down, another human-faced wolf spider darted out of a corner, and Zheng Xun hammered it dead against the ground!
Xu Li, bent over to touch the flower: ?
Why did she feel a gust of wind over her head?
She stood up in confusion and saw Zheng Xun standing casually two steps away.
"Aren't you going to pick it?"
Zheng Xun, a menace to plants and trees, had once even uprooted every tree in the entire complex.
Xu Li shook her head, her brows knitting slightly, but she smiled.
"Let's just leave it there."
"Oh."
Zheng Xun shrugged, looking unconcerned, and continued forward.
The barrage of comments was going wild.
: That hammer strike just now!
: That strike proves how strong Zheng Xun is. His movements were so clean and beautiful.
: Where's the person who said Zheng Xun could only swing a hammer once? Why aren't you barking now!
: This newbie really is a monster. He's calm and bold, and he's a strong fighter too.
: A few minor monsters aren't much, are they? Is all this really necessary...
: We shouldn't lower our standards just because this is a crappy district ranked somewhere past a thousand.
: There should be people from the major guilds in the livestream by now, right? Are they still watching and waiting?
There were indeed members of guilds currently near the top of the White Tower rankings watching the livestream. A newbie with developed combat skills was one in a hundred.
Under the rules of the White Tower Game, talent was far more important than training later on.
Entering a White Tower instance required players not only to analyze and solve puzzles, but also to adapt quickly. Of course, combat ability was even more essential.
Zheng Xun clearly possessed all of these qualities. More valuable still, he kept his emotions steady and didn't quarrel with others, as could be seen from his interaction with Meng Chuang when they chose their weapons.
A genius who wouldn't challenge a guild's authority was harder to find than a mere genius.
Nearly an hour had passed since the instance began, and Zheng Xun had made a move twice, with a standout performance both times.
Normally, major guilds had an evaluation period for recruits, observing them through at least four or five instances and conducting a comprehensive analysis of their abilities.
But Zheng Xun was a little different. He stood out too much. If they didn't act early, another guild might beat them to him.
One guild could no longer sit still.
[Singing Sparrow Guild]: We cordially invite player [Zheng Xun] to join our guild. [Silver Contract]