Chapter 2837: Exploring the Instance
Xu Huo picked up a flyer, said he would think it over, and then continued walking forward.
In this district, ordinary people enjoyed a high degree of freedom, and with strict laws, players were not as unregulated as in other wormhole point districts. As a result, it was common to see advertisements for ordinary people hiring players—for example, taking players into instances for fun, or having players go to specific places to handle specific tasks. Collecting rare plants was a common request, but there were also some bizarre demands, such as carving a name in a certain instance or bringing special items into an instance to place them.
The requests were all kinds of strange, but the pay was decent.
The welfare of residents in an A-level wormhole point was, of course, very good. If a player didn't need to enter instances, they could live a comfortable life retiring here. But if they needed to go in and out of instances to make a living, they would have to continuously purchase items and instruments, after all, entering an instance meant taking losses.
In Xu Huo's view, many players in this district had already become professionalized. Because of the transparency of instance information and the variety of auxiliary instruments, many players no longer expected to gain much benefit from clearing instances; they were just earning some extra cash.
Of course, this also had drawbacks. Instances were not permanent—they could disappear if destroyed, and repeatedly farming them could cause a sudden upgrade. Additionally, new instances were constantly being born, all of which required people with real strength to explore.
Therefore, various player organizations were also abundant in District 033.
Xu Huo received as many as ten invitations just walking down the street.
Whether true or false, this showed that it was already the norm in District 033.
After familiarizing himself with the street scene, he planned to find a place to stay. But just as he turned into a side street, a faint force surged toward him, instantly passing through his body.
Xu Huo stopped. The street was still as lively as before, but it was clearly different from before.
He tentatively took two steps forward, only to find his feet felt as if they were stuck in mud, making it difficult to lift them. The next second, he sensed a force traveling at high speed from underground, closing in before suddenly shooting out. At the same time, a curve of cold light slashed toward his face!
The defense barrier blocked this attack. The shadow hidden beneath the cold light retracted back underground, circled around behind him, and prepared to strike again with the same trick.
Xu Huo's evolution rate couldn't match that of an A-level player, but his spiritual power was strong. It was impossible for him to be attacked twice without being able to lock onto the attacker. However, when he saw what it was, he was somewhat surprised, because the thing attacking him was a mechanical monkey.
The force enveloping the street was likely some kind of item or trait power, first slowing him down, and then this mechanical monkey attacked from "underground."
The first attack was blocked by the defense barrier, and the second attack naturally had no chance of success either. Xu Huo pulled space rays to twist the mechanical monkey's joints, found the ray nodes inside, and gently flicked them, causing the monkey's limbs to shatter into pieces.
The player hiding in the shadows and launching the attack was far away. When Xu Huo manipulated space power to strike, the other player immediately turned and dove into a nearby space teleportation portal, clearly having prepared an escape route before acting.
"How interesting." The muddy-leg feeling disappeared. Xu Huo glanced around at the players observing him from the shadows and gave a faint smile.
District 033 had strong constraints on players. The more peaceful the district, the more bloody the battles within closed instances.
Based on the "clues" obtained from the Stellar Pharmaceuticals factory, he contacted the Purple Life Research Institute he had encountered earlier and agreed to participate in the exploration of a new instance two days later.
The location indicated by the clues had now become a closed A-level instance. The instance had only been born a month ago and was still in the stage of being explored by civilian players. Only after these people had blazed a trail would official players step in to explore and formulate a complete instance guide.
New instances might give birth to all kinds of strange and wonderful items, and many people were willing to take the risk to enter. The government side had deliberately set an exploration time, not only to reduce losses but also to give ordinary players a share of the benefits. Of course, if any good items were found, the government would also buy them at a high price.
The female player responsible for contacting him briefly inquired about his situation—for example, whether he had undergone super evolution, what weapons he was good at using, and whether his self-prepared instruments were sufficient.
It wasn't to pry into every detail, but to arrange suitable teammates based on his circumstances. Many people would be entering, and everyone couldn't possibly act together the whole time. Understanding each other's situations and helping each other out was the institute's original intention.
Xu Huo didn't mention spiritual evolution, only saying space and that he was good with a blade.
After learning about his situation, the female player arranged a contract for him. Since this was a paid exploration, the Purple Life Research Institute would not only issue them equipment but also pay a salary. However, after leaving the instance, all equipment, good or bad, had to be returned. If a player ran off with the equipment, the game-certified contract would take effect, and the cost would be directly deducted from the player's account as compensation to the Purple Life Research Institute.
Additionally, she gave him a list of intentions. The list contained several compatible players selected by the institute. He could choose two of them as companions, and of course, those two would also receive a list about him.
Xu Huo glanced over it briefly and finally settled on a female player specializing in long-range attacks and a male player specializing in close combat. The former had undergone a special evolution in her eyes, giving her excellent vision, while the latter had undergone a secondary evolution of his body, granting him great strength.
As a Spatial Super Evolver, Xu Huo's defensive abilities were not bad, so the institute quickly finalized their team.
This time, it was a closed instance, located in an old medical research institute on the outskirts. The research institute had long been abandoned. Although it occupied a large area, for some unknown reason, it had never been rebuilt or reused, remaining empty until the instance was born.
By the time Xu Huo arrived, more than a dozen players were already standing outside the research institute. He greeted the two teammates in his squad and then listened to the liaison officer explain some precautions.
"Although this A-level instance is a closed instance, it may contain multiple spaces inside. After entering, you cannot contact the outside through the game platform. The communicators issued to you are all in duplicate. You must keep them safe. They will allow you to communicate with your teammates when you are in the same space."
"The instance data that has already been explored is all in your communicators. You can review it before entering the instance. The batch of players who went in earlier have been gone for half an hour. You will enter in another half an hour."
"Also, regarding the micro energy bombs you received, use them with caution. A newly born space-type instance may not necessarily be stable. Excessive blasting could cause greater trouble, so it's best not to use them if possible."
"There are no detailed records of previous clearing players in the data." A female player who looked very delicate raised the question.