Chapter 931: After Binding the Child-Bearing System, Becoming a Winner in Life Chapter 932: Survival Instance Loading (22)

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

After Huo Mingze and Huo Mingjue cleared their instances, fixed instances also appeared for them, but there were very few — only one, called "Whitebeard's Christmas Gift," with a note suggesting entry at age sixteen or older.

In terms of following rules, the game still had some bugs, but it did a pretty good job.

Huo Mingze and Huo Mingjue each had one instance, stemming from a young boy's chuunibyou thoughts instantly seizing the high ground; they suddenly realized that if they insisted on entering a fixed instance, the game couldn't refuse them.

"Yeah, but I don't have this instance. If only the two of you enter, be prepared to not come out."

Shen Yao spoke words that could be called cold and ruthless with a smiling face; after all, when facing her own children, she never believed in gentle appeasement — some things only get worse the more you appease them; you have to harshly lay out all the severe consequences and let them see for themselves.

Huo Mingze and Huo Mingjue: ……

Mhm, although the two of them were chuunibyou and hot-blooded, they hadn't yet developed the idea of saving the world at their tender age; besides, with their little ability, if it weren't for the powerful items given by their bio dad, bio mom, and bio sister, they'd just be cannon fodder — blood bags.

Waving their hands with a grin, "Mom, we two definitely guarantee we won't enter a fixed instance."

"Right right right, not yet sixteen, we'll stay outside and honestly study and improve ourselves, absolutely won't cause you any trouble."

Huo Mingze and Huo Mingjue harmonized in promising Shen Yao they would absolutely behave; if they didn't, they'd hand over all their items.

Shen Yao: ……

"First, familiarize yourselves with the items you got. As for training, your dad will readjust." Since they were Apprentice Player status, their physical foundations would definitely be enhanced by the game; taking this opportunity to arrange everything possible, preparing in advance could also guarantee survival rates when entering instances.

Fixed instances having time limits was still manageable; random instances were the biggest difficulty to cope with — unfathomable and increasingly frequent; it seemed the instancing process of the entire planet was unavoidable.

Waving her hand to let the two kids go downstairs to study, this place had been under official surveillance since their disappearance, but with Huo Xunqi's return, the relevant monitoring was cancelled; as long as they didn't leave this Courtyard House, no one would rush to disturb them.

Shen Yao wasn't worried about Huo Mingze and Huo Mingjue's player identities being exposed; first, they were just kids; second, their father was the local chief of an official special department; third, it could also deter potential enemies; even in the worst case, they could still hide in an instance to seek a way to survive.

But if it really came to that point, Huo Xunqi and Shen Yao definitely wouldn't be able to spare attention for them either; the final outcome, good or bad, could only be left to fate.

Standing up and returning to her room, Shen Yao checked the Changming Botanical Garden instance she had just cleared.

Mhm, her rating was higher than the kids' — it was B-grade.

As for items, besides the A-grade Maple Leaf Hairpin (Red Maple Proof) Huo Xunqi gave her, and the Human-Faced Sunflower Seal she got from the Sunflower Garden, there were the instance rewards: a special item, Botanical Garden Invitation; a B-grade item, Silent Bracelet; a C-grade item, Calm Boots; and two D-grade items, Five-Color Bubble Ball and Water-Soluble Eraser.

The special item needn't be mentioned — it's similar to the Slaughterhouse Work Certificate, except the Invitation invites her into an instance, and once used cannot be cancelled.

Want to witness a true botanical garden? Open the Invitation, and a miracle will occur……

Just from reading, one could tell it should be a difficulty-upgraded version of Changming Botanical Garden; as a Shen Yao who still hadn't shaken off the "Apprentice Player" label, she didn't want to go courting death this quickly.

Silent Bracelet (B): A bracelet that can eliminate all sounds; wear it, and no creature will hear any noise you make.

Calm Boots (C): Put them on — not only will they keep your brain forever sober, they'll let you experience a flying sensation.

Five-Color Bubble Ball (D): Bubbles are colorful existences; it can dye any creature with dazzling, eye-catching colors.

Water-Soluble Eraser (D): Can dissolve in water, a magical eraser that can wipe away traces of any creature — yo, don't you find it interesting?

One sometimes wonders if the game has split personality from too many instances — how can its tone be so yin-yang weird? Worlds apart from her Silly White Sweet System.

After reviewing the items obtained, Shen Yao turned her gaze to traits; this time the trait was still only Mental Strengthening, but with the instance clearance, her Mental Strengthening had increased slightly, just like her physical basic strengthening — only for her, who was already mentally powerful, this tiny boost could be said to have no effect; it wasn't as obvious as the physical basic strengthening.

"Previously could lift objects twice her own weight; this time can lift objects two to three times her weight." As the Apprentice Player title is removed, physical basic strengthening will increase much more.

But this benefit is a reward obtainable by entering and clearing any instance; the difference lies in how much strength increases each time — unlike traits, whose rewards can be called exaggerated.

Shen Yao continued checking her fixed instances; besides the initial five, this time three more were rewarded: Yong'an Late Years, Changqing Pass Treasure, and Fleeing Luzhou.

…… Ancient Times instances were mentioned before; didn't expect that just out of Changming Botanical Garden, the three newly added instances are all Ancient Times instances.

Tsk

Shen Yao subconsciously touched her chin; compared to the previous five fixed instances, Ancient Times instances have always been harder to pass, because they must maintain their personas in the ancient instance, and most Ancient Times instances are fluid instances — meaning they need to interact with different NPC characters inside, and these NPCs watch players at all times; once any OOC situation is discovered, the fate is worse than death.

Huo Xunqi once mentioned this Ancient Times instance problem; Special Investigation Bureau players also hate entering this type of instance most — after all, the essence of clearing instances is to improve abilities; a high-investment, low-return business, who's willing to do it?

"Before becoming an Official Player, don't touch Ancient Times instances." Shen Yao still needs to clear two more instances to upgrade to Junior Player; for now she still has multiple instances to choose from, and at worst she can enter random instances anytime — no reason to drill into an Ancient Times instance just for a sense of existence.

Glancing casually a few more times at the Changming Botanical Garden clearance evaluation, Shen Yao closed the panel, opened the door, and went downstairs.

Huo Mingze and Huo Mingjue were still trying out the items in their hands on each other.

Because the items Shen Yao and the other two gave were all sustainably usable treasures with no obvious restrictions, the two of them only needed to figure out how to utilize their few offensive and defensive items in combination, and ordinary players wouldn't be their match.

Shen Yao watched them slowly go from unfamiliar to familiar to proficient, and nodded in satisfaction — teachable, good as long as they're not idiots.

"Up, I'll spar with you." Shen Yao spoke and attacked first, even using her mental power as interference; sure enough, in just a moment, Huo Mingjue and Huo Mingze were beaten into wailing — two greenhorns, where could they be opponents for a seasoned veteran?

"Don't be careless. Watch seriously, learn seriously. Others won't hold back like me.

Remember: if you encounter a very strong enemy, hide immediately — whether entering an instance or whatever; keep the green mountains, and you'll never lack firewood."

Absolutely don't learn those dead-brained people who fight desperately; doing something with zero chance of winning is just wasted effort. Hatred is a catalyst that can drive progress; as long as you don't admit defeat, there's a chance to turn the tables."

Instilling her ideas into the two kids' heads, Shen Yao then handed the Maple Leaf Hairpin (Red Maple Proof) Huo Xunqi gave her and the Human-Faced Sunflower Seal she obtained to the two children — "Use them in combination; catching them off guard can buy you time to escape."

One is a special item, one is an A-grade item; extremely few people can produce them. Shen Yao gave the items to Huo Mingjue and Huo Mingze because she felt they needed them more. As for herself, not to mention her items were already sufficient, the accumulation from previous worlds was also a considerable asset. Huo Mingze and Huo Mingjue were still young, lacked self-protection means, and were her children — of course they could get preferential treatment.

"Host, what about Shen Xi?"

"Shen Xi's side I have preparations for." Using instance coin minting ability plus Huo Xunqi's Special Affairs Bureau identity, Shen Yao could provide Shen Xi with more suitable items.

…………

The Juxian Garden instance lasted only one day, so by evening, the unlucky people dragged in had already come out in droves; if there was still no trace during that time, it was inevitably more ill luck than good.

Unsurprisingly, news of the Juxian Garden instance spread, causing an uproar online, but unexpectedly the comments weren't as sharp as Jinghua University's — mainly because Juxian Garden had rumors early on, and officials had banned the locations that should have appeared; but they couldn't stop the sudden Spiritual Qi Revival eruption, which sent places and people that shouldn't have been dragged in straight into the instance.

The most comments were sighs and pity, with some even gloating, saying officials already had relevant actions yet they still went playing recklessly — if truly dragged into an instance, they could only blame their own bad luck.

Perhaps because instance matters have been increasing lately, netizens, after passing the initial worry, had a kind of devil-may-care aesthetic — that kind of doing whatever one wants, unbridled indulgence.

Shen Yao, bored, would scroll through some comments, including the previous chat group — that investor surnamed Yang was still talking at length; the entertainment industry, ah, is a place even more collapsed than the outside; if the related chat content were released, it would be condemned for three days and three nights.

Shen Yao stayed at Juxian Garden with Huo Mingze and Huo Mingjue for a weekend, then drove Huo Xunqi's car to send the two back to the Huo Family to prepare for school.

As for Huo Xunqi and Shen Xi, who had not returned to gather with them since leaving the Instance, the two were busy to the point of having no time; the Special Affairs Bureau was formally established, many civilian players enthusiastically signed up, and Huo Xunqi brought Shen Xi along to screen out those with ill intentions among them — where would they find time to rest?

Shen Yao was helpless and could only instruct the two separately to pay attention to their physical condition, especially Shen Xi — young as she was, she must not learn from Huo Xunqi this workaholic; moreover, Shen Xi was still an Apprentice Player and had not become a Regular Employee, so she had to seize the time to clear the Fixed Dungeon — only with an Official Player title would she have a firm foothold.

Using special means, she transferred some Instance Coins to Huo Xunqi, instructing him that this was money for buying items for Shen Xi; afterward, Shen Yao rested two more days, then decisively entered the Changbai Apartment Instance.

This is the first one in the Fixed Dungeon; Shen Yao planned to clear them in order.

It was just unlucky — the time for this Changbai Apartment Instance actually required half a month, and the location where they appeared was not inside the apartment, but on a bus currently in motion.

Shen Yao: ……

There were fifteen people on the bus; among them, only five bore a resemblance to him in appearance, the rest were species with obviously distinct looks, similar to the Bai Sheng siblings in the Slaughterhouse Instance — they were players from different planets.

It was inconvenient to speak on the bus, so the crowd mostly just exchanged glances; the more forward ones leaned over to whisper in ears, until the bus dumped them outside a building that was obviously somewhat old — only then did they have a chance to communicate and conveniently form alliances.

"This is Changbai Apartment; our identity is tenants coming to rent rooms; clearance time is half a month; the clearance requirement is to survive."

"Obviously, this is a Survival Instance, only a little simpler than a Battle Royale Instance —" as for the reason, in a Battle Royale Instance everyone is an opponent to one another; in a Survival Instance each sweeps the snow before their own door, unless they run into those madmen so deranged they like to kill a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred themselves.

As the voice of the man standing in the center of the team fell, the fifteen people began to group up according to appearance; Shen Yao's side naturally formed a group of six — they all had special secret-signal techniques and knew they came from the same planet, counting as fellow townsfolk.

Fellow townsfolk meeting fellow townsfolk — no tearful eyes, no stabbing in the back.

If they really ran into each other after returning, this would not be a simple matter of apology.

"Us six, what do we say?" The middle-aged man who spoke earlier was one of their team, named Wei Cheng; he had previously worked as a bodyguard, and after being accidentally caught up in an Instance and becoming a player, he started operating solo.

"Rent rooms first, then investigate information; since it's a Survival Instance there must be key information — we have to know these things to survive better; we don't know if information will trigger rules and step into a trap — light consequence is injured arm or leg, heavy consequence is death."

"Let's exchange names first; our mission is to rent and reside — half a month certainly won't be peaceful; if we can help each other that's best, even if not, don't trip each other up." Someone spoke up, and the others chimed in agreement.

The six present — three men, three women — each gave their names, then they chose to enter through the main gate of Changbai Apartment, found the rental service center, took out the excuses the Instance had already prepared for them, and rented rooms in Changbai Apartment.

"Here there are Single Rooms, Double Rooms, Quad Rooms, Six-Person Rooms; different rooms, different prices — you few, what do you say?"

The staff member was an auntie with permed curly hair, a string of jingling keys hanging at her waist; her tone was light and casual.

The six privately discussed a round; as the one not lacking money, Shen Yao chose a Single Room; the remaining two girls, Tian Ying and Feng Jingjing, chose to partner up in a Double Room; the remaining three men rented a Quad Room.

"Fine, you follow me to view the rooms," the auntie swung her key ring and led the six upstairs.