Chapter 287: Food, Water, Shelter, and Crossing the Road

When the hidden side quest was mentioned, Wu Chang was no longer sleepy; he perked up and observed the girl named Amber.

The girl looked about eleven or twelve years old; girls mature early, and she was already nearly one and a half meters tall, her cold, appetite-less expression giving her the air of a miniature adult.

She was exquisitely beautiful, like a doll come to life, with jet-black hair, snow-white skin, and deep blue eyes.

The girl's pupils were like a deep ocean—not only in color, but in gaze as well, as still and silent as the deep sea; gazing into them made one instinctively feel alienated, fearful, and unsafe.

Although Superintendent Susan had already instructed the girl to greet the two of them, she remained expressionless, standing in place.

Wu Chang detected no emotional fluctuation from the girl—no excitement, no anticipation, no aversion.

Such a reaction was highly unusual for a young girl raised in an orphanage.

Perhaps the girl's demeanor was tied to her tragic childhood and the attitudes of those around her.

When Superintendent Susan tried to persuade Wu Chang and the other to adopt a different child, she made no effort to avoid Amber; even in the Federation, where decorum was lax, speaking ill of someone to their face was excessive.

Although Superintendent Susan had low manners, she was very enthusiastic and continued to urge:

"Mr. Xiao En, as the orphanage's administrator, I have an obligation to inform you of everything. Though I am a religious figure and should show compassion and mercy to all, striving to redeem them…"

"Every time I face Amber, I feel she is a child of the devil, the source of all calamity."

Though Amber, as the subject, said nothing, Wu Chang found it unbearable; he frowned and defended his client.

"Superintendent Susan, to speak of a child this way—isn't that going too far? I think you should mind your words, or I'll begin to doubt whether you know how to communicate with children."

Facing Wu Chang's accusation, Susan did not retract; instead, she said:

"Mr. Xiao En, you are a kind-hearted person, but believe me—the twelve families who previously adopted Amber were all decent, well-meaning people."

A flicker of confusion passed through Wu Chang's eyes: How many?

Superintendent Susan noticed Wu Chang's astonishment—or rather, she had seen this expression many times before.

"Yes, you heard correctly: before you, Amber had been adopted twelve times, each time lasting no more than half a year; every time she left, the adopting family fell apart."

"Some broke into violent marital fights, resulting in one spouse's death and the other's imprisonment; some suffered sudden career collapses, lost their minds, and committed suicide; others became delusional, lost self-care ability, and were confined to Sigef Psychiatric Hospital."

"These were still the lucky ones."

Wu Chang: …

He repeatedly recalled Federation grammar, pondering under what context such fates could be called "lucky."

Susan continued: "More families who adopted Amber died in sudden disasters—for instance, the previous couple who adopted her perished in an air crash."

"I take full responsibility for everything I've said. For your own safety, please seriously consider whether you wish to adopt this child."

Although Susan made adopting Amber sound more dangerous than smuggling contraband into Xia, Wu Chang stood by his original decision.

"It's fine—I once consulted a mysterious Eastern fortune-teller, and he said my destiny is strong; I can't be cursed to death."

Superintendent Susan sighed; she now recalled an Eastern proverb: You can't reason sense into a man doomed to die.

She turned to Amber and asked: "Amber, what do you say? Would you be willing to become Mr. and Mrs. Xiao En's adopted daughter?"

Amber looked toward Wu Chang and Aileen; her head moved only slightly, as if only her eyes turned while her skull remained still—a chilling sight.

"I have no objections. In any case, I'll be back soon enough."

Superintendent Susan shook her head: "Seize this chance, Amber. If you come back again, I'll truly treat you as a demon."

Susan's words sounded like a joke, but her tone held no hint of humor.

She pulled an adoption registration form from her desk drawer and placed it before Wu Chang.

"If you've decided, sign here in the adoptive parent section."

The moment Wu Chang touched the adoption form, a prompt flashed before his eyes.

"Hidden Side Quest: Nurture Amber's Healthy Growth—Monitor her physical and mental well-being at all times and gain her approval. At the end of the instance, Amber's approval value must not fall below 60 points. No penalty for failure. Accept quest?"

Seeing the hidden side quest's requirements, Wu Chang's expression changed again.

What the hell? I'm completing a near-out-of-control A-rank instance, hunting down Lin Jiang—who holds the highest clearance from the Four Organizations—and bearing the fate of the Wasteland Realm. Do you think I'm here for a picnic?

"Every two points of Amber's approval unlock 1% of the player's attribute suppression."

Wu Chang immediately grabbed the pen and signed his name in the adoptive parent section at top speed, then said to Amber:

"In this world, you are my real daughter!"

Amber:?

While Wu Chang's main body triggered "True Traveler," the True Self hiding among the players was equally busy.

Since True Self had not obtained native status but retained player permissions, just as in the Song Company instance, True Self appeared alongside other players in the collective safe zone.

Before entering the instance, Wu Chang had imagined many possible scenarios.

Since players all spawned together in the instance and the Four Organizations had deployed many personnel to occupy positions, it was highly likely the Four Organizations' members would find Lin Jiang before the instance officially began.

The moment the safe zone vanished, they'd swarm and capture Lin Jiang immediately.

Like the Song Company instance, where Ironclad Squad seized random players at the start.

But plans couldn't keep up with changes—Wu Chang stared blankly at the overcrowded safe zone.

The original fifteen-player instance now held at least a hundred players.

Lin Jiang's Brotherhood Command had not only turned his Fate Cube's passage into a public one, but directly increased the maximum participant count, expanding the fifteen-player instance into a hundred-player instance.

Given the Deep Game's style, it was obvious that with so many extra players, the instance's difficulty had skyrocketed—no less than three or four times harder, even if not six or seven.

Hou Jingchuan had rated the original difficulty of the "Cursed by Misfortune" instance as comparable to an S-rank instance in strangeness; with this surge in difficulty, it was likely even two points harder than an S-rank.

The instance's safe zone was set inside an indoor basketball court; a hundred players crowded within, most of them bewildered, trembling as they stared at their attribute panels, terrified by the infamous lethality of the near-out-of-control A-rank instance.

Another group clearly knew the situation and had come prepared.

Among them were several faces Wu Chang recognized—Buck, Colton, and Veronika from the Song Company had all entered the instance.

After a quick scan, he estimated roughly ten players from the Four Organizations had been openly deployed, besides himself.

Though numerous, they dared not make a sound, only stealthily scanning the crowd for traces of Lin Jiang.

The "Cursed by Misfortune" instance's attribute suppression trait had drastically narrowed the gap between Four Organization players and ordinary players; combined with the 90% damage reduction among players, the power disparity between them had shrunk further.

When the power gap shrinks to a certain point, player combat becomes no different from a street brawl, and at this stage, numbers determine victory or defeat.

The players now appearing in the safe zone are mostly those who answered Lin Jiang's call, aiming to break the four organizations' monopoly on premium dungeons.

If they reveal their affiliation with the four organizations, other players—whether fearing retaliation or enraged by the organizations' secrecy—will naturally view them as enemies.

At that point, don't even think of capturing Lin Jiang within an hour in the safe zone; just avoiding capture would be good luck for them.

The members of the four organizations can only bide their time until the players scatter and Lin Jiang is alone, then let Lin Jiang know what a black hand truly means.

The Curse-Bound Dungeon's effect is severe on ordinary players, and it's no less severe on Wu Chang.

Even with the full activation of the Breakthrough Master boost and the Sea Giant power boost, his attribute panel remains somewhat meager.

Life: 12 (8) Strength: 20.4 (8)

Agility: 8.25 (5.5)

Endurance: 9 (6)

Energy: 22.5 (15)

Inspiration: 16

Willpower: 23

(Note: Values in parentheses are pre-boost attributes.)

Compared to other players, he still possesses combat power far exceeding the ordinary, especially in strength and energy; if he activates his true form as the Abyssal Giant Snake, his energy can reach as high as 38.

His greatest advantage, however, is his willpower.

All players entering the dungeon share the same secondary main quest: remain conscious, and do not let your willpower drop below 5.

Within the Curse-Bound Dungeon, willpower lost during the first three attacks can be restored through rest and item use.

But after the third attack, any further willpower loss from attacks will cause the secondary main quest to fail outright, and the lower your willpower, the stronger the curse attacks become.

None of the other players here raised their willpower above 50 in the Wasteland Realm, since it doesn't directly affect combat.

This means everyone except Wu Chang currently has exactly 5 willpower, while he has 23.

!

He leads far ahead in both error tolerance and resistance to mental curses.

As he recalled the intelligence Hou Jingchuan had given him and pondered how to complete the main quest first, his attribute panel suddenly popped up a notification: he had received a message.

He opened the message and found it contained detailed information about the Curse-Bound Dungeon—less precise and narrower in scope than Hou Jingchuan's intel, but thoroughly explaining the dungeon's basic mechanics and how to survive early on.

From the reactions of surrounding players, this was a mass broadcast to all.

It revealed many secret details; for such information to be so easily released surprised even Wu Chang.

But upon reflection, he realized Lin Jiang's move was the correct one.

Lin Jiang paid a heavy price to bring in a crowd of distractions to shield him and block the four organizations' actions—he must maximize their utility, not let them become mere cannon fodder.

Without his mass-distributed guide, the eighty-plus solo players following into the dungeon would die off by ninety percent within three days, leaving his presence utterly exposed.

Amid the crowd's cries, the protective barrier of the safe zone vanished—the dungeon officially began.

The players did not linger; they flooded out of the stadium in a rush.

While searching for Lin Jiang, the four organizations' members also had to conceal their identities to avoid detection by him.

Moreover, before entering the dungeon, they had all received notice that the main force of this operation was someone else; they were merely supporting roles, instructed to prioritize self-preservation.

Lin Jiang had the aid of the Illuminati and was no weakling himself; if their identities were exposed, they might very well be hunted down by him in return.

A hundred people pouring out of the basketball court startled Old Black, the guard watching the game broadcast in the security booth, making his eyes bulge.

He burst out of the guardhouse and shouted: "Hey, when did you guys get in?"

As far as he remembered, the gym had just opened and no one had entered yet—where had these guys come from?

Never mind their origins; with this many people, the court couldn't possibly accommodate them.

Coincidentally, the player nearest to Old Black was Booker.

Booker followed the classic redneck tough-guy style: he glanced sideways at Old Black, patted his revolver at his waist, then pulled out a police badge.

Old Black fell silent instantly and sprinted back to the guardhouse faster than he'd come out, locking the door tightly from within.

This was attribute suppression: a single glance could silence more than a thousand words of explanation.

It was nine a. m. The weather in Sigf City was clear, the sun blindingly bright.

After using landmarks to roughly orient themselves, the players headed toward their chosen destinations.

The Curse-Bound Dungeon was a survival dungeon; the players' most important task was to stay alive.

In a sense, the Curse-Bound Dungeon was like a wilderness survival scenario set in a city, where unexpected dangers could strike at any moment.

Anyone who watches wilderness survival shows knows that beyond minor culinary tips like "chicken-flavored crunch" or "head can be removed," the three essentials of survival are paramount.

The three essentials are food, water, and shelter.

This held true in the Curse-Bound Dungeon as well.

Within the dungeon, due to attribute degradation, problems once easily overcome by stats—eating, drinking, fatigue—now became critical needs to address.

Moreover, food and water could only be obtained from within the dungeon; any food brought from outside, no matter how much consumed, could not relieve hunger or thirst.

Beyond food and water, shelter was equally vital.

The dungeon was kind-hearted and could not bear to see homeless outsiders.

Players could only spend the night in official rooms; if they slept on the streets like vagrants, they risked various attacks—even on a peaceful night, waking up might bring the surprise of losing one point of willpower.

Food, water, and lodging all required money.

To earn money, one had to work hard.

Sigf City was a city where money ruled supreme; with enough money, one could solve any problem, break any rule—even physical laws.

Hou Jingchuan's intelligence to Wu Chang mentioned several examples: with sufficient funds, you could force workers to double their output endlessly, build a skyscraper in a single day, directly purchase official positions at the Sigf City Hall, or simply flood the market with cash to buy public influence.

Rumor had it that a squid-man from Bai Ta had turned the Curse-Bound Dungeon into a capitalist simulator, squeezing every last drop from the locals, amassing a fortune, and just days before the dungeon ended, spending five million Federal Credits to purchase 10% attribute liberation.

Money is important, but how to get it requires players to exercise their own initiative.

Whether you turn a body beset by misfortune into a workhorse simulator, a capitalist simulator, or a GTA simulator, it all depends on your own ability.

But no matter which one it is, surviving is the most critical thing.

Thirty meters ahead of Wu Chang, a solo player was sprinting; his destination was a W-brand café a hundred meters away.

W-brand café is the most popular coffee shop in Sigef City. On its golden signboard, a gaudily dressed woman in clown attire sits with her arms wrapped around her bent knees, her legs spread open in a W shape facing the customers.

Beneath the enormous signboard, people streamed in and out nonstop, showing just how popular this shop's coffee was with the citizens.

The mass-distributed strategy guides had mentioned that applying for a barista or server position at W-brand café could easily solve a day's food and clothing, making it a very comfortable opening choice. The solo player had clearly set his sights on that.

Only, he focused his attention too much on the job and didn't have time to look at himself.

Wu Chang saw it very clearly: behind the solo player, a mark wreathed in black mist had appeared.

The next moment, a deafening horn blared from the distance.

A large cargo truck came barreling in, so fast it left afterimages. Through the truck's windshield, one could see the driver frantically working the controls, trying to wrestle the runaway rig back under control.

But it was all too late.

The cargo truck flashed past, sending the solo player standing in the middle of the road flying high into the air.

By the time he landed, the solo player was already gone.

In Sigef City, if you want to stay safe, besides food, water, and shelter, you also have to remember to look both ways when crossing the street.

(End of chapter)