The Boss King actually disguised himself as a novice village chief?!
Chapter 369 - 313: Hell-Level Instance

Chapter 369: Chapter 313: Hell-Level Instance

Jane opened her eyes to find the campfire still burning, but there was no one in the room.

"Where is everyone?"

There were no signs of a struggle here.

Pulling up the friends’ list, Jane saw Heather was still online, but the messages she sent went unanswered.

"Could it have been a surprise attack?" Jane couldn’t help but wonder.

It was likely that her teammates had encountered some sort of accident.

However, the fact that Heather hadn’t died after so much time indicated that the enemy wasn’t very strong.

Jane left the room and stood on the desolate street.

Broken moonlight spilled from the sky, casting the whole street in a hazy glow.

Enemies could not exist behind them as they had cleared the way as they came, so her teammates could only have gone forward.

Ahead was a massive iron gate.

"Could they have gone into the manor?"

Jane sent several messages to Heather, but they still sank like stones in the sea.

She approached the manor, crouching down in front of the large iron gate to examine it closely.

She remembered the gates being closed when she saw the manor before, but now they were ajar.

Just wide enough for a person to slip through sideways.

She couldn’t see clearly from far away, but upon closer inspection, Jane noticed the elaborate decorations on the iron gate; despite the erosion from years of rain, the butterfly orchid patterns were still discernible.

This was a top-notch noble manor, and although it was far from the "Royal Palace Castle" that could be seen with a lift of the head, it must still be considered prime real estate at the emperor’s feet.

Jane tiptoed, trying to keep her voice as low as possible as she entered the manor.

She regretted not having a Banshee at hand to rob treasures; otherwise, even a big jump would make no sound.

Along the way, she encountered nothing amiss, but her vision was always covered with an indistinct fog.

There were over a dozen carriages ahead that had lost their horses, the webs and thick dust on them indicating they hadn’t been used in years.

Within the manor was a four-story building, and as she got closer, she thought she could hear a woman laughing.

Goosebumps uncontrollably sprouted from her elbows and back—the boss might be ahead, or perhaps... she followed her instincts and quickly turned away.

It would be better to wait until the others came online before proceeding.

Just as when she arrived without obstacles, leaving was also smooth, but as she was about to return to the fire, she saw three figures standing erect in the moonlight.

It was the three teammates who had logged off with her.

They had their backs to her.

"What happened?" she asked.

This street was safe, so she dared to speak a little louder.

The three teammates did not respond, still facing forward, motionless.

Jane slowly moved to their side and followed their gaze ahead—it was Heather, who had first been on lookout, with an eerily pale face, unnaturally white.

At this moment, he seemed to be in some abnormal state, dazed.

Jane was startled.

In her view, a puzzled Heather had a blood-red dress behind him, snuggling up to his shoulder like an affectionate lover.

There was no wind, yet the red dress swayed gently.

What’s more terrifying was that this thing had no health bar.

Jane felt her heart beating frantically and intensely—what do you do when you encounter a ghost in a game?

Under the stiff gazes of the four, an arm clad in a blood-red dress slowly extended out and lightly rested on Heather’s shoulder.

A pale hand, withered and adorned with long, bright red nails.

"Your, your, your shoulder!" Jane pointed out, his scalp tingling.

Upon hearing the warning, Heather instinctively looked over her shoulder, her peripheral vision catching sight of the withered arm laying on it.

"Thud" Heather fell to the ground.

Knowing this was a game and that they wouldn’t truly die, Jane and the others mustered their courage and surged forward when they saw Heather mysteriously collapse.

To their surprise, the red dress suddenly vanished.

After a few minutes, Heather had finally recovered.

"I just got disconnected." Heather sat up, her face filled with lingering fear.

While it was referred to as a disconnection, she would rather believe that she awoke because of a nightmare.

It made sense, given that the gameplay involved "dreamscapes"—being awakened from fear was quite reasonable.

Li Xiaoyao asked, "What happened to you before?"

"I..."

Heather recounted her earlier experience: "After you all logged off, I was sitting by the campfire watching videos on the official website. Then I heard footsteps, and I thought it was a dragon-plagued Soldier coming over, so I quietly grabbed my sword to check it out. Next thing I knew, I felt an inexplicable dread from the mansion and walked inside."

Jane nodded in agreement, earlier he had also felt certain that Heather had gone into the mansion and had followed suit.

If not for the eerie laughter that snapped him back to reality, he might have already entered the building.

"It’s probably a feature designed into the game." Jane tried to analyze and received nods of agreement.

High-level game designs wouldn’t simply provide coordinates for players to run to, but rather subtly influence the environment, making one feel like they should proceed inside.

Heather continued, "As I walked into the mansion, I saw a woman in a red dress with her back to me on the lawn. She had no health bar or red name above her head, so I thought she wasn’t dangerous. Then I approached and asked, ’Miss, are you alright?’ and the woman turned her head."

The campfire seemed subdued by the atmosphere, its flames shrinking in height, and the temperature in the room plummeted while visibility also dropped.

"It was a face devoid of expression, very pale, that’s all I can remember—just very pale. I was startled and wanted to run, but found my legs had gone soft and wouldn’t move. Then I saw Jane come in," she turned to Jane.

"I told Jane it was dangerous here, but he didn’t listen to me. I had been terrified of the woman in the red dress, but her arrival seemed to scare away the woman in the red dress and by the time I could move, Jane was already out of sight. When I finally escaped, I bumped into the three of you coming out."

Li Xiaoyao and the two others said, "We noticed both of you were online but not by the campfire, so we came out together to look for you."

The five of them regathered, facing the mansion ahead.

Now, the choice left to them was to either storm in to investigate or take a detour.

"It must be a tough boss-level instance," Heather said.

"Should we go in?"

"But it seems to have no health bar."

A boss-level instance isn’t scary, but an enemy without a health bar certainly is.

The five took a deep breath and stepped into the mansion; since the "main storyline" had led them here, their levels and power should suffice.

Seven minutes later, the five stood within the Rand Legion, surrounded by other Undead who had just resurrected.

This had become their designated Respawn Point.

"A hell-level instance," Jane declared.

Jane nodded in agreement: "We probably can’t handle it just by ourselves."

"Let’s report back."

From the moment an Undead first entered Royal City, they were all assigned the main quest of the Golden Throne, which was to explore and investigate the interior of Royal City.

Reporting back on military intelligence now would also be seen as completing a task, and with their space quiver stuffed with "pretty little trash," it was a deal well made.

As for that hell-level instance, whoever has the ability can go conquer it; as for them, they decided to pass.

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