One Person, a Hell Lair?

The two continued walking deeper into the Nest Plaza.

The further they went, the more people there were. Su Mu could see the entire Nest Plaza from afar.

It was a huge open-air plaza, paved with gray-white stone slabs, and surrounded by a ring of tall stone pillars. The plaza was bustling with people, much more lively than he had imagined.

Everywhere you could hear shouts, conversations, arguments, and even people yelling to form teams.

"The Black River Nest on Hard difficulty originally had four levels! We're missing a support! Priority will be given to those with both healing and crowd control abilities!"

"Mechanical Puppet Nest normal speed-run team needed! Level 18 or above required!"

"Our three-person team is one short. We need someone who can tank the front line for Nightmare Sky Curtain!"

Su Mu was somewhat surprised to hear these shouts. In his mind, students from the Tsinghua and Peking Universities Academy were the type who buried themselves in their studies and were refined and cultured.

But these people, though dressed in various school uniforms, all carried an indescribable aura... Some had bandages wrapped around their arms, some had cards in their card cases emanating lingering demonic energy, and some stood there with eyes as sharp as knives.

This is the dungeon raider.

Completely different from the college students of the previous life.

The students here also take academic subjects, but that's secondary.

They spent most of their time in their lair, fighting monsters.

After staying in this kind of environment for a long time, who doesn't have the smell of blood and charlatanism?

Su Mu's arrival did not cause much of a stir.

He wore an ordinary coat and carried a worn-out backpack; his face was unfamiliar, and he didn't stand out in the crowd. Only occasionally did one or two girls glance at him and then look at him again.

"Who is that? I've never seen him before."

"She's quite good-looking, a freshman, right?"

"Is that the senior student volunteering next to you? Is she showing the new students around?"

"Not necessarily. Volunteers usually just drop people off at the registration point; they wouldn't come here. Maybe they're a couple."

A girl noticed the senior student next to Su Mu, then sighed and looked away.

The senior seemed to have noticed as well, and teased in a low voice, "Looks like other people have mistaken you for my boyfriend."

Su Mu smiled and said, "Senior, you're joking."

The senior student didn't continue the topic, but led him through the crowd and deeper into the square.

The further you go in, the fewer people there are.

Those who were in groups or taking a break stayed on the outer perimeter. The groups that were actually going to enter the dungeon stayed inside.

Su Mu noticed that the area deep inside the square was divided into separate zones.

Each area is about half the size of a basketball court, with a huge light screen in the center. Dark green runes flow across the surface of the light screen, emitting a cold, eerie glow.

Above the light screen hung a stone plaque, engraved with the name and rank of the nest.

These nests are not distributed in a regular pattern.

On the left is a small nest of level 18, while on the right is a small nest of level 35.

Further ahead, there was another medium-sized nest at level 20.

The levels jump very quickly, with no clear order.

Su Mu was glad that his senior classmate was there to guide him.

If you were to search for it yourself, it would take a lot of time just to figure out the directions in this area.

He noticed that there were especially many people at the entrances of level 18 and level 20 nests.

Groups of young faces were gathered there; some were discussing tactics, some were checking cards, and some were encouraging each other. Judging from their age and equipment, most of them were freshmen who had just enrolled this year.

The entrance to the level 35 lair next door was deserted, with only a few people standing there. Two of the girls seemed to know their senior, waving from afar.

"Miaomiao! Over here!"

The senior student led Su Mu over.

The two girls, one with short hair and the other with shoulder-length hair, both looked to be in their early twenties.

The short-haired girl glanced at Su Mu, then smiled and said, "Miaomiao, are you here to help the newbies get familiar with the dungeon?"

The girl with shoulder-length hair next to him glanced at Su Mu, her eyes lighting up. "Luckily, he's a handsome guy."

Su Mu ignored their teasing. His gaze was already fixed on the stone tablet.

Spider Nest Deep Valley.

He walked to the light screen and reached out to press his hand on the control panel below the stone tablet.

The panel lights up, and options pop up.

Sure enough, the dungeons here are not like the wilderness nests where you have to fight your way up from the normal dungeons.

You can directly select the difficulty level here.

Normal: 100 points.

Difficulty: 300 points.

Nightmare: 500 points.

Hell: 1000 points.

Su Mu glanced at the number.

Entering the Hell dungeon once will deduct 1000 points.

Following the method the senior student used to earn points, entering the dungeon once does indeed cost quite a bit.

However, he can afford to spend these points.

He turned to look at his senior.

"Senior, I'll go in first."

The senior student was stunned for a moment. Before she could ask him which difficulty level he wanted, Su Mu had already turned around and placed his finger on "Hell".

Confirm.

A crimson light suddenly exploded from the light barrier, engulfing Su Mu entirely.

The intense red light was dazzling and stood out prominently deep within the Nest Plaza.

The senior student's hand froze in mid-air.

"Wait..."

Before she could finish speaking, Su Mu's figure was engulfed by the red light and disappeared into the light screen.

She was completely stunned.

The two girls next to them were also stunned.

The short-haired girl's mouth was agape, while the shoulder-length-haired girl's eyes were wide open. They stared at the lingering red light on the screen, then glanced at their senior.

"Miaomiao... he chose hell?"

The senior student didn't answer. Her face instantly turned deathly pale.

Not only her, but also the students who were forming teams in front of the level 18 and level 20 nests around her noticed the red light. It was a hellish red light. The color was completely different from normal, hard, and nightmare levels; it was so dazzling that it looked like someone had set fire to the square.

"What was that red light just now? Has someone entered the Hell instance?"

"Wait, that direction... Spider Nest Deep Valley?"

"Spider Nest Deep Valley Hell? Isn't that a dungeon that requires a full team of ten players, level 25 or higher, to even have a chance of clearing?"

"It looked like someone went in just now. Just one person!"

"A man going to hell? Is he insane?"

The murmurs quickly spread. More and more people turned to look. Those who were forming teams, resting, or chatting all stopped what they were doing.

"No way? Spider Nest Deep Valley Hell, all by himself? Does he even know how strong the monsters inside are?"

"He must be a new student. He just arrived today. He doesn't know the rules here and thinks it's the same as outside."

"Freshmen? Freshmen entering hell?"

"I saw him. I glanced at him as he walked over from that side. He was dressed very casually, and his backpack was old. He didn't seem like anyone important."

"Then he still dares to go into Hell alone?"

"Maybe they have connections in the family, and their core cards are exceptionally strong?"

"How strong can it be? The Spider Nest Deep Valley Hell difficulty isn't something you can clear just by having strong core cards. Mechanics, synergy, and quantity are all indispensable."