Chapter 198: Dungeon Lottery, A Test of Acting Skills

[Challenger Notification: Congratulations, player. You have completed the hidden dungeon mission "Death Space." The mission has ended prematurely... Settlement rewards: 112,392 points of Sacrificial Power.]

"Hahaha, this was a massive profit! It's a pity Old Dog and the others died early; otherwise, they would have surely become Echoers and fought their way back to the Monster World."

"As expected of the Lord of Benefits. Five trials yielded 110,000 points of Sacrificial Power as enhancement rewards. This profit came too fast."

"Pay attention to the time. Although it seemed like three months passed in the illusion woven by the Lord of Benefits, less than three days actually elapsed in the Monster World. This illusion technology is truly awesome."

"After all, illusions are the Lord of Benefits' bread and butter. Last time, I heard an Explorer say he seemed to experience a long duration within the illusion, yet upon purification and waking, only a few seconds had passed. This is clearly an application of the Bliss Rules."

"These benefits were originally meant for elite warriors, but we intercepted them. I estimate the Lord of Benefits is furious right now."

Listening to the veterans' team members chatting in the guild's channel, a faint smile appeared on the corner of Qi Sheng's mouth.

When the players accidentally discovered a Bliss Node in the Underground World this time, the Guide also investigated the current situation of the Lord of Bliss via the network connection.

As a result, it discovered the Death Space Project.

After understanding the details of this project thoroughly, Qi Sheng thought of the vast resources and wealth stored by the Lord of Bliss.

Thus, the idea of "secretly crossing Chencang" was born.

He issued a hidden mission to the veterans' team members who had discovered the Bliss Node.

Subsequently, he sent them from the Bliss Palace to the Death Space to participate in the cruel Gu competition as Bliss players.

To prevent the Lord of Bliss from detecting anomalies, he also modified the status of the veterans' team.

In the Challenger Notification received by the veterans' team, once they confirmed participation in the hidden mission, all enhancement abilities would be reclaimed, forcing them to participate in the hidden mission process as ordinary humans.

If they had participated in the Death Space competition at their peak strength, the veterans' team would not have needed to struggle so much and could have easily become Echoers.

However, the notification also explicitly stated:

After the mission ends, all sealed powers will be fully released, and all enhancements gained in the Death Space will be converted into Sacrificial Power and distributed.

In other words, the veterans' team became Bliss players solely as ordinary humans, receiving no special treatment.

As for the method of participation, it was very simple.

He had Ye Ming use the power of space to replace several ordinary beings who were originally supposed to be captured and taken to the Bliss Space, substituting them with the 27 members of the veterans' team.

Thus, a dramatic scene unfolded.

The veterans' team actually topped the first-place spot on the leaderboard for Squad No. 12 in this round of Death Space testing.

Originally, upon completing the ultimate trial, the veterans' team would have become what the Lord of Bliss called: Echoers.

Next, they would have been sent by the Lord of Bliss to the Monster World to participate in resource struggles across various regions.

During this period, they would certainly have enjoyed various benefit enhancements supported by the Lord of Bliss.

But the veterans' team was a single entity.

The massive death of teammates during the ultimate trial made them abandon the idea of continuing the fight, handing victory over to others.

This was also the reason why "Lin Xia," the Bliss warrior in the Death Space, was able to complete the ultimate trial.

It was also why Li Tie would say:

"Perhaps we will have the chance to meet again."

After the veterans' team members returned, Qi Sheng returned all the sealed abilities.

He extracted thirty percent of the rewards as a share, ruthlessly scooping up a huge sum from the Lord of Bliss.

After all, having sent a grand gift package of benefits to the Lord of Bliss for the New Year, asking for a return gift was perfectly normal.

If Bliss wouldn't give it, he would take it himself.

Last time, the average level of the Youlu Council members sent in a bundle exceeded one hundred, providing the Lord of Bliss with continuous output revenue.

According to feedback from the Guide, the Lord of Bliss was obviously stunned at the time.

It never expected that dozens of powerful elemental lives would suddenly descend upon its entertainment city without any warning.

But regarding resources given for free, the Lord of Bliss had not the slightest thought of giving them up.

It didn't even need to lift a finger; the Bliss Scenery had already pulled the members of the Youlu Council into the Abyss of Desire, beginning the continuous production of Bliss Power.

This process would last approximately three months, until the members of the Youlu Council died.

The revenue generated from this was far higher than the profits scooped back from the veterans' team.

As for the profits from the veterans' team, they amounted to nothing for the Lord of Bliss.

After all, the revenue from entertainment cities across the Monster World was extremely high, with massive amounts of resources flowing in every minute and every second.

But in Qi Sheng's eyes, it was a significant profit.

For the members of the veterans' team, this was even more so.

Old Dog, who received the highest profit, gained 130,000 points of Sacrificial Power, truly becoming rich overnight.

After this round of testing, Qi Sheng felt he had found another path of growth for the players.

That path was sending them to the Death Space created by the Lord of Benefits for training.

They could freeload resources for free while also gaining technical tempering from the experience, killing two birds with one stone.

The players' biggest shortcoming was the considerable gap in combat awareness compared to true warriors.

The Death Space was simply an ideal training ground.

He didn't need to spend resources to build the scenery, yet he could still earn the enhancement point rewards gained from training, which could be converted into Sacrificial Power income upon completion.

More importantly, the training within the scenery was conducted while assuming the identity of ordinary humans.

At the start, players had no external forces to rely on; their strength was even inferior to those true Bliss players who fought to the death.

To obtain more point rewards, they had to strive to grow.

Otherwise, surviving even one round of the Death Trial would be difficult.

With this idea in mind, Qi Sheng immediately contacted Ye Ming, asking him to help construct a concealed spatial line connecting to the Death Space.

On this basis, he still had one problem to solve.

Opening a transmission line connecting to the Death Space was not difficult, but disguising the transmitted players each time and replacing the Bliss players who were supposed to be sent into the Death Space was another matter.

He needed to forge this setup into a stably operating Cultivation Mode, interfacing with the Challenger System.

In the future, no active operation would be needed; simply transmitting would allow entry into the Death Space and automatically replace a recruited player.

Secondly, controlling the transmission volume was an issue.

If transmitted in large batches, the Bliss players cultivated by the Lord of Bliss would all become their own players.

That would be quite amusing.

For instance, creating a Death Space dungeon node in Emperor Tomb Village.

Once the dungeon appeared, players would inevitably flock to sign up in large numbers.

By the time the Lord of Benefits discovered it, he would probably cry until he fainted.

Just imagine such a scene.

Someday in the future, the Lord of Bliss steps out of the Bliss Space, deciding to flex his muscles and compete with powerful clans.

With a wave of his hand, countless pillars of light rain down behind him, summoning Bliss players.

But if the vast majority, or even all, of this batch of players turned out to be his players, the scene... would be too cruel.

Merely that would not be a problem.

The problem was that when players died, they would ultimately return to the Emperor Tomb Village space.

If players went missing occasionally, the Lord of Bliss, even unable to find the cause, would choose to continue advancing the plan.

But if it happened frequently, the problem would be huge.

The Lord of Bliss's choice would inevitably be: since the cause cannot be found, then simply stop looking for it and completely abolish the plan.

Therefore, wool-gathering must have limits.

One cannot exploit without restraint, nor can one affect the normal progression of the Death Space Project.

How to solve this problem, Qi Sheng fell into deep thought.

Setting up a spatial transmission array in Emperor Tomb Village was feasible, but the number of participating players had to be restricted.

The best method was obviously to distribute the limited qualifications to the strongest top-tier players.

They could create more enhancement revenue within the Death Space, and after each dungeon experience ended and they returned, he could also extract a substantial tax from it.

But this method had drawbacks.

For example, if the veterans' team participated every time, their combat experience would easily propel them to the top of the leaderboards.

Other top-tier players would be the same.

If top-tier players kept going missing, the Lord of Benefits would probably be so angry he would jump up and down.

Therefore, the best method still had to combine the ratio of top-tier players and ordinary players, presenting the lost strength intensity of Bliss players to the Lord of Bliss in a random manner.

In this way, it would believe there was a problem with the architecture of the Death Space, similar to the random losses in the space tunnel before, implying some undiscovered uncertainty existed.

But if top-tier Bliss players were lost steadily, given the Lord of Bliss's vigilance, it would be strange if it didn't become suspicious.

Even with this random method, it might still cause the Lord of Bliss to become suspicious.

But at least the random method would not shake the core foundation of the Death Space.

As long as the core issue remained error-free, the Lord of Bliss would continue to advance the Death Space Project.

After much deliberation, Qi Sheng decided to distribute qualifications via a lottery to increase randomness.

Letting both capable players and ordinary players rely on luck to draw for Death Space qualifications.

As for the distribution volume, he decided to tentatively set it at 100 slots per day.

This number of infiltrating players was well within the tolerable range of the Death Space Project.

Although 100 qualifications were merely a drop in the bucket compared to the current total player population.

But right now, this was only the fourth round of testing for the "Bliss Player Legion."

The scale hasn't been ramped up yet.

Once the Lord of Bliss expands recruitment and constructs more Death Spaces, he will simultaneously increase the number of dungeon qualifications distributed.

The exact quantity depends entirely on the Lord of Bliss's plans.

With an idea in mind, Qi Sheng immediately began formulating a detailed plan.

He assigned Luo Sha, who possessed spatial rules, and Gao Wei, who could strip players of their abilities, to handle the creation of these settings.

At 3 PM that day, a system-wide notification echoed in the players' minds:

[Challenger Notification (System-Wide): A new functional building has been added to Emperor Tomb Village Space: Dungeon Teleportation Zone.]

Dungeon Teleportation Zone Introduction: Players can use this zone to travel to specific dungeon scenarios.

Currently open dungeon: Death Space.

Death Space Introduction: An illusionary dungeon constructed by the Lord of Bliss. Time flows differently here than in the outside world. Players participate as Bliss Players in missions issued by the Lord of Bliss. Completing each internal illusionary dungeon grants Bliss Points, which can be used to enhance physical attributes and other abilities, increasing the success rate for future internal illusionary missions. Upon completion, players are returned to Emperor Tomb Village to enter resurrection cooldown; points gained and enhancements received are returned to the player in the form of Sacrificial Power.

Dungeon Notice 1: Upon entering the Death Space dungeon, all enhancements such as Star Veins, Body Tempering, and others cannot be used within the Death Space. Participants must engage in the death trial with their base attribute values; enhancements are only permitted via Bliss Points at the Enhancement Stone Stele.

Dungeon Notice 2: This dungeon is currently in the testing phase. One hundred Death Space dungeon qualifications are distributed daily. Players may draw for these via the newly added "Dungeon Qualification (Non-Tradable)" panel option. Qualifications reset daily between 0:00 and 1:00 AM, during which players can register. At 1:00 AM, the list of successful applicants is finalized. All selected players receive: a Dungeon Key.

Dungeon Notice 3: If a player dies during the first round of missions in the Death Space dungeon, they will receive no rewards. Rewards are distributed based on dimensions such as mission completion, combat performance, and team coordination.

Dungeon Notice 4: Players cannot reveal any player-related information within the Death Space scenario. The Lord of Bliss conducts random perception checks during the dungeon. If a non-Bliss Player identity is discovered, the individual will be forcibly killed. Players seeking the Dungeon Key must act out their assigned roles perfectly.

Accompanying the update notification, Emperor Tomb Village trembled.

In the empty grounds to the west, a pale blue halo suddenly exploded outward.

Like a stone tossed into a calm Firefly Lake, the halo rapidly expanded, outlining a circular profile over a hundred meters in diameter on the ground.

Countless glowing characters emerged from the void, swiftly written by an invisible hand, embedding themselves into the ground one by one.

Moving like living creatures across the surface, they quickly arranged and combined along complex trajectories. Golden light surged from the runes, weaving a net in the air.

Suddenly, the golden light emitted by the runes contracted, condensing into an oval-shaped gateway, its edges crackling with blue electrical arcs.

The space within the gateway rotated like a vortex.

Finally, a ring of pale blue light rose from the base of the gateway, encircling the Dungeon Teleportation Gate like a guardian.

The new functional building, "Dungeon Teleportation Point," was officially generated.

However, it was not yet open for use; even if players entered the gateway now, they would simply pass through.

Only players who obtained a "Dungeon Key" through the lottery would be sent to the Death Space to participate in the cruel competition.

But the "cruelty" here referred specifically to the Bliss Players.

For the legitimate players possessing immortal bodies, it was merely a wondrous journey, or rather, a training expedition.

Going forward, Qi Sheng did not intend to teleport players in squads like the Veteran Squad, forcing them to randomly combine with Bliss Players to undertake dungeons together.

How much dungeon profit one gained depended entirely on their specific performance within the Death Space scenario.

However, based on his judgment of the players' overall quality, he feared most would not survive the first three death trials.

Yet, merely passing the first death trial would yield substantial rewards.

Similar to the Ancient God Arena, the exact amount of reward depended on one's strength.

The launch of the new function immediately sparked heated discussions among players on the forum.

Fanzui Group: LOL, I bet the lottery pool only contains the four words "Thanks for Participating." Tens of thousands of players fighting for 100 dungeon keys? I suggest renaming the game "Unlucky Simulator."

Lin Hai: It reminds me of a brother still outside scrambling for qualifications. Last time he joined the New Year event, every red envelope he got contained only blessing messages. Forget game qualifications; he didn't even encounter a single red envelope with 1 point of Sacrificial Power. After snatching dozens of envelopes, his mentality exploded. On the phone last time, he kept cursing the Eclipse Clan for making him work for nothing. It cracked me up.

Di Di Di i: The Eclipse Clan's stinginess is baffling. They distribute game qualifications sparingly, and the resources in-game are equally meager. Why not just tweak the resources with one click and give everyone a million Sacrificial Power to enjoy? I don't think a million per person is much. By the late game, a million Sacrificial Power would probably only be enough to open a Star Vein slot; I bet ten million would be spent just as quickly.

Moon Under the Autumn Wind: After my rigorous calculations, I've proven that the probability of grabbing a key is lower than the chance of the cafeteria lady not shaking her hand while serving food (Photo of scratch paper.jpg).

Ming Zhu Tian Nan: Good heavens, life is getting more interesting by the day. Waiting for the shuttle bus at the Misty Coast during the morning shift, and now there are 100 dungeon qualifications up for grabs at midnight. The chance to get rich is drawing nearer. Speaking of which, 300,000 qualifications were distributed last round; there must be over 500,000 players now. Damn, 500,000 players fighting for 100 dungeon keys—do you think any human could come up with such a setting? Oh right, this is a game developed by beings from the Upper Realm (Teeth grinding to dust.jpg).

Dark Land is Really Fun: I don't care about anything else; I just have one question: when will the Name Change Card be launched? I've been mocked several times for this name when forming random teams (Bawling.jpg).

Qi Sheng directly ignored the players' complaints on the forum.

He would have loved to distribute unlimited qualifications at once, allowing players to go to the Death Space anytime to participate in the Gu competition and claim rewards.

But the problem was, the Lord of Bliss would not allow it.

During the fourth round of player Cultivation Mode testing, the Lord of Bliss recruited only around ten thousand Bliss Players per day.

Occupying a 1% proportion wasn't a big issue.

But if hundreds of thousands of players flooded in at once, the Lord of Bliss would likely think he was seeing ghosts.

Most importantly, these hundreds of thousands of Bliss Players would all flee with the loot after dying.

If qualifications were distributed without limit, the Lord of Bliss would probably revise the settings overnight, and the Death Space plan would be canceled the next day.

Qi Sheng naturally understood the principle that one shouldn't dig up the roots when harvesting leeks.

As for the players' thoughts, they were not within the scope of consideration.

Early the next morning.

Dungeon qualifications began to be distributed.

Players one after another opened their function panels, clicking "Dungeon Qualification" at the bottom of the numerous options.

The Dungeon Qualification interface was very simple, featuring only a red lucky pouch.

Upon clicking, players received a prompt:

[Challenger Notification: Successfully entered the dungeon qualification lottery. Successful applicants will be announced in 59 minutes and 59 seconds (at 1:00 AM). Number of qualifications distributed this time: 100.]

Choosing this time for distribution was to align roughly with the recruitment schedule of the Death Space.

After players entered the Death Space, matching would occur.

Entry was only possible after the Lord of Bliss recruited Bliss Players.

There might be a matching duration.

However, it generally didn't take long, with an average time of around 20 seconds.

At this moment, countless players' shouts rang out in the World Chat Channel:

"Frantically tapping the electronic wooden fish, racking up merit! Bodhisattva of the Star Net, Lord Guan, Buddha, Jesus, and God Di Zhao, this female believer is willing to trade her roommate's ten years of singledom for a successful draw!"

"Sacrificing my teammates' ten years of romantic luck, just begging for a flash of golden light to grant qualification. May the Ancestor of the Star Net protect me and let me win! After watching the Veteran Squad's livestream, the Death Space seems quite interesting!"

"I definitely won't draw a dungeon qualification. Star Net, please prove me wrong! Hurry up and slap my Iron Face, prove I'm mistaken."

"The last time I was this devout was when drawing for Monster World qualifications. Now I just hope good luck strikes again!"

"Everyone stop grabbing! The qualifications being distributed this time are actually a game virus. I guarantee I'm telling the truth. Don't click, trust me just once."

The chat channel became exceptionally lively during this period.

When the clock struck 1:00 AM, the distribution concluded, and the list of successful players appeared in the "Dungeon Qualification" interface list.

The World Chat Channel immediately erupted in wave after wave of condemnation, wishing these players would fail the first death trial.

Meanwhile, a purple Dungeon Key automatically appeared in the inventory pouches of the players who had obtained qualifications.

They rushed from various regions toward the Emperor Tomb Village Space.

Players located far away generally chose the easiest and simplest method to teleport back, though the teleportation took some time, requiring them to browse the forum for an hour while waiting.

Before long, the first batch of players arrived at the Dungeon Teleportation Point in Emperor Tomb Village.

After passing through the Dungeon Teleportation Gate, the Dungeon Keys in their backpacks vanished automatically, and they were transported by spatial nodes to the Death Space scenario.

Simultaneously, a Challenger Notification echoed in their minds; functions such as Star Veins, Soul Souls, and Body Tempering on the players were all sealed.

Presented before their eyes was a dreamlike, pieced-together scene.

In the square, many recruited beta-test players were setting up stalls to sell various equipment and props obtained from the death trials, earning Bliss Points through transactions that could be used for enhancements.

Upon descending into the Death Space, the players' hearts were incredibly calm.

Although they were operating primarily in the Monster World, the players generally had experience fighting across spaces.

Ancient God Arena, Doomsday Minor World, Shu Yan Space... and now the newly launched Underground Cave World; they were no strangers to independent spaces.

But even though their hearts were calm, their faces displayed terror.

They all transformed into drama kings and queens, beginning their performances.

This update explicitly stated that the Lord of Bliss might observe the recruited Bliss Players.

Therefore, acting skills were crucial within the dungeon.

Dungeon qualifications were exceedingly precious; getting lucky enough to draw one this time didn't guarantee knowing when the next opportunity would arise.

Thus, their thoughts were focused on maximizing the value of the dungeon experience.

They had to pass at least a few rounds of death trials to earn some profit before leaving.

Before that, they absolutely could not expose anything that made them stand out.

Videos of the Veteran Squad participating in the death trials had topped the forum's trending list; players entering the Death Space had watched these relevant videos in advance and knew what state they should maintain while participating.

Before long, following the prompts in their minds, they arrived before the stone stele.

Subsequently, they were teleported to the first round of the death trial scenario.

Players and tourists watching the livestream immediately burst out laughing at the subsequent performance of these dramatic players.

Within the Death Forest Illusion.

A certain player squatted on the ground, head in hands, burying his Iron Face in his knees, clutching his hair tightly with both hands, sobbing:

"I want to go home, I want to go home, I don't want to participate in the death trial."

Within the Dark Desperation Illusion.

A certain player wore a blank expression, lips trembling:

"What do we do? Are we going to die? I'm really so scared."

Within the Illusionary Realm of the Terrifying Ancient Castle.

A certain player huddled in the corner of a dilapidated starting room with dim lighting, arms wrapped tightly around his body, trembling like a leaf in the wind, teeth chattering audibly, his voice choked with sobs:

"W-what... what kind of place is this? I don't want to die here. Someone, save me!"

Within the Illusionary Realm of the Mutated Tunnel.

In a corner of the gloomy corridor, a player trembled as he retreated several steps, muttering incessantly:

"It's over, it's over. We'll never get out. We're definitely going to die here."

The arrival of the players caused the already despairing minds of the Bliss Clan players within the various illusionary scenes to completely collapse.

Driven by their emotions, sorrow spread, and wails rose one after another.

Upon discovering that the Bliss Clan players participating in the trial alongside him were crying louder than he was, the player decisively increased the volume of his own weeping, attempting to blend into the environment and make himself appear more normal.

(End of Chapter)