Chapter 327: First Job Hidden Instance

"Ning'er, I think you're being a bit ridiculous."

Tang Qianqian said.

"Why won't you believe me? I saw it with my own eyes. Jiang Li killed the Five Elements Jin Gang Skeleton King in one strike."

All the way, Xiao Ning'er's throat had gone dry from talking, yet Li Mengying and Tang Qianqian still didn't believe her.

Li Mengying knew Jiang Li was powerful, but this was too ridiculous.

Even when Jiang Li displayed his strength to the three of them during the last college entrance exam, he absolutely hadn't reached the level of killing the Five Elements Jin Gang Skeleton King in one strike. That was an Eternal Instance, a terrifying existence that only Class 60 or higher job holders had historically managed to defeat alone. How could an unclassed Level 10 person possibly kill it in one strike? No matter how you looked at it, it was pure fantasy.

Since the two women didn't believe Xiao Ning'er when she said so, the three women prepared to find Jiang Li to verify it personally.

Additionally, Li Mengying wanted to tell Jiang Li that the current situation was very unfavorable for him. At the same time, the three women also prepared to tell Jiang Li they wanted to form a party to get through this crisis when they met him. Li Mengying believed Jiang Li was very excellent, and since all three of them were top-scoring college entrance exam candidates, they should be able to overcome this crisis.

However, when they arrived at Jiang Li's home, they found it empty, and Jiang Li was nowhere to be found.

Dark Forest.

At this moment, although it was clearly daytime, the forest was like night, eerie and filled with ghostly wails. Countless ghost fires floated within the forest, and occasionally goblins of different skin tones would let out strange cries. Perhaps these goblins knew Jiang Li was difficult to deal with, yet none dared to approach.

Going deeper inside, it was nearly pitch black, impossible to see even one's own hand.

Jiang Li's eyes had been upgraded from Observation Eyes to the Eyes of Death. Even at night, he could see clearly. Yet, even so, the darkness before him had reached a certain degree; even he couldn't see very clearly. The deeper he went, the more thorns there were.

The thorns on the ground could pierce the defense of normal equipment, causing normal people to lose health even while walking on the path.

After walking for another half hour, Jiang Li stopped. He glanced behind him; the path behind was like a giant's mouth. Looking forward, backward, left, and right, it was all pitch black.

A slight feeling of retreat inevitably arose in his heart.

"Slap! Slap!!!"

Jiang Li directly slapped himself twice. Such silence; not even a fraction of an echo returned in the air. This indicated that the surrounding obstructions were so numerous that even his voice couldn't travel twenty meters.

"How can I have such a feeling of retreat?"

"So many people would beg for what I have, yet I feel like retreating. It seems I have truly grown accustomed to smooth sailing all along."

"The only thing I need to do now is move forward, forward. No matter what lies ahead, I must walk until I reach my destination!!!"

With a firm heart, he feared neither ghosts nor gods.

Jiang Li strode forward with long, broad steps.

Now, even if there was a mountain of knives, a sea of fire, or a pot of oil ahead, he had to see for himself. He wanted to see what difficulties this hidden reincarnation instance actually held. Not succeeding after effort might yield the same result as not trying, but without effort, there was absolutely no possibility of success.

He walked for an unknown duration. Just as Jiang Li thought the darkness had no end, a Chuansong Sect appeared before him, the surroundings still so dark.

The Chuansong Sect was like a mirror, emitting fluctuations similar to the Nine Yin Demon Prison.

In short, the feeling it gave was ominous.

Jiang Li knew he had no choice; he stepped into it in one stride.

He originally thought this was a Chuansong Sect.

His head indeed felt a momentary daze.

But—

Before his eyes, it was still pitch black, a forest.

"This..."

He looked left and right. Everything within a one-meter range on both sides had not changed; there was not the slightest change front or back. The only change was that the Chuansong Sect that had just been before him had vanished.

Jiang Li was somewhat uncertain about what exactly had happened.

He habitually reached to touch his nose, but his arm stopped in mid-air. He slowly moved his arm away to look at it, then touched his whole body. This time, he discovered something was wrong.

He appeared calm, but his heart was surging with towering waves.

"Damn, did I transmigrate?!"

His body, his clothing, his bones—all had changed.

His clothes had become silk with golden-yellow striped patterns.

His bones were at least three times larger than Jiang Li's former appearance. Jiang Li suspected he was now at least over two meters tall. He took out a small mirror to check his appearance and was stunned; he had transformed into a completely Western man: golden hair, blue eyes, and sharp, distinct features.

He immediately tried to summon the System.

Seeing the System panel and his own attribute panel, he knew where the problem lay.

He had triggered the First Job Reincarnation Hidden Instance. Because of the Norland Ring, when he entered the Kingdom of Norland, his clothes and appearance changed, turning him into an NPC with status within the instance.

【Notice: Job Holder Jiang Li has entered the Norland Empire instance. Job Holder Jiang Li is now a member of the Kingdom of Norland. He must now go to Blue Dragon Town to find the maid Long Long Lisha to trigger the next instance. Within the Kingdom of Norland, all are humanoid lifeforms. Therefore, no matter what happens, the Job Holder must not reveal his identity, otherwise the First Job Hidden Instance mission will fail and will not be triggered a second time. The Job Holder has only one chance.】

"So that's how it is."

At the same time, Jiang Li also knew this mission was absolutely not that simple.

Knowing he hadn't transmigrated, he walked to the roadside, leaned against a tree, and habitually took out some food, eating for a while.

Food, in fact, could be completely discarded by Job Holders.

But—basically all humans have not discarded the habit of eating.

After eating for a while, his body felt much fuller, and the darkness before his eyes seemed less terrifying.

He walked forward directly for another two hours, finally sensing a glimmer of light, so he quickened his pace.

After walking another hour, he exited the Dark Forest; he was now on a large mountain.

Looking down the mountain, there was a town: "Qinglongzhen".

Above the town at the foot of the mountain, three large characters marked the town's name.

The buildings in the town, and the people faintly talking and walking on the streets, made his heart cautious.

The buildings in the town had absolutely no modern atmosphere; instead, they carried the style of a Western ancient world with pointed towers.

The people in the town were also dressed one by one in medieval Western attire.

While descending the mountain.

"If I go into the town like this, will they be able to understand my speech?"

But then he reconsidered and felt he had overthought it.

Just don't speak, and that's it.

Having made up his mind, he glanced at his own attire and felt there should be no problem.

He carelessly entered Qinglongzhen, only to find his earlier worry completely unnecessary.

Since he had entered this hidden instance and done so as an NPC, his identity had shifted; how could he possibly fail to understand what NPCs said?

He merely listened to the hawking cries from both sides of the street.

He listened to passersby chatting as they walked by, their manner so natural.

The feeling that everything around him was real still made Jiang Li feel unable to distinguish reality from illusion.

He thought for a long time.

Jiang Li murmured to himself in his heart.

"Could these NPCs be another kind of person in reality? If they met us from the real world, would they, just as we view them, also think we are NPCs?"