Because Deep Blue had informed everyone from the beginning that it was a high-end dungeon, many players who were not skilled enough hesitated to participate. They waited seven days to gather a hundred people before they were eagerly notified that they had been selected.
Ren Yifei and Saman both received notifications that their applications had been approved, as did everyone else in the group.
It is indeed a high-end dungeon; they can carry three items, three active skills, and two ghost cards.
Ren Yifei wasn't being arrogant. The 'Ink Bone Fan' was a bound item, so he also chose the 'Event Map', 'Heart of the Moon Elf', and 'Disguise Glasses'.
Just to be on the safe side, this time he brought two SSR cards: 'Star Goddess' and 'Fallen Angel'.
As for skills, a 'resume' is required, and there are two other options, which he gave 'Archangel's Breath' and 'False Identity'.
He doesn't have any obvious weaknesses, so it's better to focus on his strengths.
On the third day of waiting, the 'mini-game' video was released. Just as Saman had predicted, the 'full-health divine skill' immediately became the top trending topic. Everyone was curious whether this was a one-off or ongoing event.
Healing items and skills are extremely rare in the Wasteland and are highly restricted; any useful item that occasionally appears is hailed as a treasure.
The fact that high-level players are still hoarding healing bandages is enough to illustrate the shortage of healing items and skills. And the Black Rabbit's skill can instantly bring a near-death player back to full health, with any remaining health to give back to others.
What is this? This is a powerful single-target heal followed by a group heal!
Who wouldn't be tempted after seeing this?
Players were going crazy with excitement, and private messages flooded Ren Yifei's account like snowflakes. Ren Yifei, holed up at home, was grim-faced as he cleaned up these messages because the guide said his private message storage was about to fill up.
The original 20,000 private messages have now been stored up to 18,000.
"The player's private message storage is about to reach zero. Once the storage is full, other players will be unable to send messages to the player," the guide spirit reminded him.
Ren Yifei stared blankly at the screen, her fingers mechanically selecting all 'non-friends', clicking delete, and confirming the deletion. This was to make room for her boyfriend's private messages.
"Why--"
I sighed and continued deleting unnecessary private messages.
With guide wizards already available, couldn't they make deleting private messages a little smarter and more user-friendly?
"Huh? Ke Bei? When did he send me a message?"
Among his vast private message list, there was a letter from Ke Bei, which survived because of the 'friend's letter' feature.
He added the friend when he created the group chat.
The Wasteland Corner is a real-name system, and no one can use someone else's code name as their own nickname, so this can only be Ke Bei.
Judging from the time, it was only half a month ago, which seems to be not long after he finished playing the game.
"Why did he send me a private message?" Ren Yifei clicked on it, wanting to see what it said.
To his surprise, it was actually the details of the dungeon that Ke Bei experienced when he entered the top ten. Yes, it was the challenge dungeon that only appeared when entering the top ten.
Ke Bei stated that Ren Yifei completed the 'mini-game' ahead of time, from which he indirectly benefited, and therefore this was a return gift.
Ren Yifei was particularly surprised that this person would repay him.
He carefully read the private message. Ke Bei's challenge instance was set in an interstellar world, and the time limit was not seven days, but thirty days. He was a low-level Zerg in it.
The Zerg are a hierarchical society, from the Queen down to the cannon fodder soldiers. Roughly speaking, they can be divided into three levels, and more accurately, into five or six levels. Undoubtedly, Ke Bei is the lowest-ranking Zerg, lacking a strong body and special abilities, and is usually responsible for cleaning up the battlefield.
The mortality rate for lower insects is very high, and Ke Bei is responsible for clearing the battlefield, so he is constantly at risk of being hit by stray bullets. But the biggest problem is not the environment, but the limitations.
"Any items and skills obtained in the Desolate Corner will be unusable. Players can only rely on their own abilities and a Ghost Card as a support. The Ghost Card's usage has been increased to three times." This is a direct quote from the text.
Players' task is not just to survive; they must find symbols representing the seven districts of the Wasteland in this dangerous world to complete the game. The symbols differ slightly each time you challenge a new instance; you'll have to figure it out yourself.
However, the conditions for cracking this instance will be even more stringent.
"What are the seven districts of the Wasteland?" Ren Yifei, who had only recently arrived at the Wasteland and spent most of his time at home, began to feel confused.
It wasn't that he didn't know the names of the seven districts at all, but rather that he was unfamiliar with the characteristics of these districts and didn't really know what could be considered a symbol of these districts.
Ke Bei's article was mainly a warning to him; it didn't go into detail about his thirty-day mission. Anyway, after reading it, Ren Yifei was left with one impression—the desolate corner, really a dog.
A dangerous environment, a character who could die at any moment, with no outside help except for a ghost card, and the task of collecting the seven Dragon Balls and completing the ultimate mission.
No wonder these challenging dungeons have such a high mortality rate and are extremely difficult to solve.
"The case of Ke Bei alone is still too small a sample. After this instance, I wonder if there will be a chance to exchange other items for experience from the other top ten challenge instances."
He was busy until the sun sank into the sea, leaving it a deep blue. Saman hadn't returned yet; he was dealing with matters related to the virtual game.
After deleting over ten thousand private messages, Ren Yifei was annoyed when over a thousand more appeared instantly, so he temporarily disabled the private message storage function.
"Bang, bang, bang." There was a knock on the door. He put down the light screen and went over. As soon as he opened the door, he smelled a rich and delicious aroma.
"Crayfish, barbecue, milk tea, and grass jelly." High in salt, oil, and calories, but the temptation is irresistible—takeout!
Behind the takeout box, Saman flashed a charming smile: "May I come in and have a seat?"
Ren Yifei wanted to refuse firmly, but...
"Sure. There are crayfish in the desolate corner?" Ren Yifei's mouth started watering, and he didn't blink. Wherever the crayfish floated, his gaze followed.
Although he can't eat spicy food, it doesn't stop him from loving it.
"They're not native to the Wasteland, but you can buy shrimp fry from the shop to raise them. However, since the items from the shop can't reproduce, you have to buy shrimp fry every time, which is more expensive. So many players don't spend money to eat them, and they're not very famous."
Samantha tidied the table as he spoke.
He laid out a disposable tablecloth, placed a glass vase in the middle, and inserted a few sprigs of red plum blossoms diagonally. Then he took out the crayfish and other late-night snacks from the takeout box and arranged them on a plate.
These takeout boxes are specially designed to preserve the fresh-cooked flavor of food until the lid is opened. Samantha once tried to decipher the scientific principles behind these boxes so he could sell them professionally when he went abroad; he was sure they would be very popular.
"Spicy and five-spice flavors." Considering Ren Yifei's limited tolerance for spice, he bought two flavors of crayfish. As for barbecue, there was grilled crayfish, grilled corn, grilled eggplant, grilled five-spice tofu, grilled fish, grilled lamb chops…
Ren Yifei had already arrived. He went to the kitchen and brewed a pot of goji berry and chrysanthemum tea, adding a health-preserving touch to the late-night snack, thinking that this would prevent him from getting a sore throat. He then walked to the dining table and prepared to start eating with peace of mind.
Seeing Ren Yifei bring over a pot of freshly brewed, very hot chrysanthemum tea, Saman hesitated for two seconds before deciding whether to remind him that hot things would only intensify the spiciness.
After thinking for a moment, he silently placed the cup of grass jelly with taro paste and crushed nuts in front of Ren Yifei. It was iced and contained milk and cream, which could help relieve the spiciness.
"Why did you suddenly decide to bring a late-night snack?" Ren Yifei put on disposable gloves, reached into the plate of spicy crayfish, grabbed a plump crayfish, twisted open the crayfish's head shell, and sucked out the broth.
The hot, fragrant broth and delicious shrimp paste, carrying the essence of everyday life, assaulted his taste buds. A crayfish, a sip of rich soup, and his soul felt as if he were in a bustling bar, his tongue accompanied by rock and roll music.
That's great. There's no heavy metal pollution in the desolate corner, so we can eat things like shrimp paste without worry.
"Where I used to work, there was a night market street. After get off work, my colleagues and I would get together to have a meal there." Saman wasn't as skilled at eating crayfish as Ren Yifei. Seeing him peel the shells and spill a lot of soup, he wished he could rush over and peel them for him.
"You're not coming?" Ren Yifei inserted his chopsticks into the crayfish, pressed and pried, and the shell came off easily, revealing the plump, tender, and chewy crayfish meat inside.
"Not really, it's just that I used to think these things were meaningless, and all I could think about was making games and making money." Samant also painstakingly peeled open a crayfish and put the meat in his mouth.
"Even if I reluctantly agree to go out for a late-night snack with them, neither side will enjoy the meal very much... Hmm, delicious."
The tender shrimp meat has a unique flavor, even firmer than lobster meat, and is fully soaked in the broth, making it delicious no matter how you eat it.
He seemed to understand why crayfish was the top choice for late-night snacks; if he had a bottle of ice-cold beer with it, it could dispel the lingering boredom from a day's work.
Of course, it's best to eat with the right people, so he came to find Ah Fei.
Ren Yifei over here has already started eating the cool grass jelly with a slurping sound. The tender black grass jelly is soaked in white cream, along with crunchy peanut crumbs, which instantly washes away the spiciness left by the crayfish.
Spicy crayfish is delicious, but it's a bit too spicy. But if it's not spicy, it feels like it's missing something.
"Would you like to try the grilled lobster?" Samantha pushed the plate with the grilled lobster over.
Cut the baby lobster in half, pile the shrimp roe on the snow-white meat, then add onion rings, minced garlic and other side dishes, drizzle with sauce and grill.
The grilled lobster meat looked like taut pearls, plump and glistening with snow-white flesh beneath the golden-brown sauce—it looked absolutely delicious.
Ren Yifei used a small fork to scoop out the lobster meat and took a bite.
The plump lobster meat has a different texture than the crayfish meat from before.
After grilling, the lobster meat absorbs its own juices and the sauces added later, and is topped with a golden, legendary ingredient: lobster roe. One bite is like riding a magnificent, seven-colored lobster through a sea of delicious flavors, your mouth filled with fresh, sweet taste.
"This is good." Ren Yifei pushed the remaining half of the grilled lobster to Saman, and quickly set his sights on a new target.
Next to the grilled lobster was a sliced, roasted eggplant, drizzled with minced meat broth and minced garlic, then wrapped in foil and roasted until tender.
The originally bland eggplant perfectly absorbed the flavors of the meat juices and minced garlic, creating a unique taste.
Eggplant is truly an ingredient that goes well with all kinds of sauces. It's delicious in sweet and sour "Di San Xian" (a dish of stir-fried potatoes, green peppers, and eggplant), savory and fragrant garlic eggplant, and even simple steamed eggplant with just salt and a little cooking wine is delicious.
"Speaking of which, there's a very famous barbecue restaurant in my world, especially famous for its grilled eggplant. However, because the barbecue is too oily and salty, I can only watch the other staff members enjoy it. Even though I'm really craving it, I have to keep a mature and composed expression and not be tempted."
Ren Yifei picked up a roasted corn cob and smiled, "Actually, I was already tempted."
Watching Ren Yifei eat, Saman felt that the food in his hand was becoming increasingly delicious. However, the Desolate Corner was still too small, with few people, and lacked the variety of delicious food found in his original world.
"We're going into a dungeon tomorrow. What does Afei want to eat when we come out?"
"What do you want to eat?" Ren Yifei asked, biting the tip of his chopsticks. "I want to eat Dongpo pork. Dongpo pork is slowly simmered in a wine jar used for brewing Shaoxing wine. This way, the pork is translucent, fatty but not greasy, and lean but not dry."
"I do know a shop that's right after you come out of the Deep Blue dungeon. Shall we go there together?"
"OK."