Chapter 3: The Dungeon Begins
Buzzing sounds echoed—
Brilliant colors flowed, and space shifted!
When Chen Mo finally felt solid ground beneath his feet, he realized he now stood upon a plaza fashioned in the style of a Greek temple, the entire square suspended in the air, drifting clouds swirling all around like a city in the sky.
A single glance revealed that the plaza hosted over a thousand people. Chen Mo even spotted the young punk with a green dragon tattoo, as well as the security captain.
It seemed everyone who’d been outside before was now here. His sister must be among them!
“Ning Xuan! Ning Xuan!” Chen Mo called out at the top of his lungs.
At that moment, Ning Xuan sat forlornly in a corner of the square, softly murmuring, “Brother, brother.”
Suddenly, as if from far away, she thought she heard someone calling her name. That familiar voice—she could never mistake it!
“Brother! I’m over here!” Ning Xuan stood and waved frantically.
“Ning Xuan!” Chen Mo, following the sound, rushed over and saw Ning Xuan searching for him with wide, anxious eyes.
Their gazes met, and in that instant, great tears rolled down Ning Xuan’s cheeks. “Brother!”
Chen Mo’s eyes reddened. He hurried forward, dropped to one knee, and pulled her into a fierce embrace, gently stroking her hair. “Don’t be afraid, little sister. Your brother’s here.”
Through her tears, Ning Xuan managed a laugh. “Who says I’m scared? I was just worried someone out there would bully you!”
“Yes, yes, my Ning Xuan is the bravest of all. How could she ever be afraid?” Seeing his sister unharmed at last, Chen Mo’s heart settled.
He took out his phone, only to discover there was no signal at all. Stranger still, the time had frozen at 10:20 p.m., as if the device had broken.
By now, the square was growing restless.
“What is this? We’ve been waiting nearly half an hour and nothing’s started yet!”
“I want to go home! Dad, I’m done with this game!”
Security captain Xiao Yong tried contacting the outside to report the situation, but neither his phone nor radio would work.
“Everyone, quiet!” Xiao Yong’s voice boomed above the clamor. “Let’s keep calm and work together to figure a way out of here!”
The punk with the green dragon tattoo scoffed. “Hah, you think you’re someone important? Just a security captain—here, you’re nothing!”
Courting death!
Xiao Yong’s face darkened. He stepped forward, ready to teach the punk a lesson, baton in hand—when suddenly, he found himself utterly paralyzed. A mysterious force dragged him away against his will.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
White light blazed. Over a thousand white halos rose from the plaza, each person forcibly teleported into a ring of light.
Chen Mo and Ning Xuan were separated. Chen Mo tried to tear through the ring and reach his sister, but suddenly a string of messages flashed through his mind.
[Insufficient Intelligence Core Level. Please collect more Intellect Shards to upgrade components.]
[First Intellect Shard Component (1/10)]
In other words, Chen Mo still needed nine more Intellect Shards to unlock the first component, though what it was for, he had no idea.
“Welcome to the Evolution Sphere. I am the Evolution Sprite!” An ethereal voice sounded from above.
A sprite, her skin luminous and white, hovered in the air, translucent wings fluttering. Her ice-blue hair cascaded over bare shoulders, orange-red petals artfully concealing her most secret places, stirring the imagination. Her crimson eyes blazed like twin suns, bewitching all who gazed upon them. Pointed ears peeked out playfully from her hair, her lashes longer and thicker than anyone’s, lips thin and red as if painted with cherry blossom—irresistible.
All eyes were drawn to the Evolution Sprite, unable to look away.
The sprite spoke sweetly, “This is a solo beginner’s instance—Temple Run. No death penalty, no item drop penalty, pain sensation reduced to 20%. Each person gets three attempts. You will now formally enter the instance!”
A bespectacled middle-aged man grumbled, “What nonsense is this Temple Run? I’m not playing your childish game. Let me out!”
Boom!
A bolt of lightning struck the man where he stood. He didn’t even have time for a last word—his body dissolved into white motes that floated away.
The sprite smiled. “Once inside the Evolution Sphere, you must accept the instance challenge. Any attempt to break the rules will result in death.”
The entire plaza fell instantly silent. No one dared to make a sound.
As if nothing had happened, the sprite’s voice remained sweet. “Instance teleportation countdown!”
“Five!”
“Four!”
Some people were filled with anticipation, some were deathly pale—no one knew what trials awaited them.
“Three!”
“Two!”
“One!”
Buzz—
The white halos beneath everyone’s feet rose up, enveloping them in radiant light.
When the glow faded and Chen Mo regained his senses, he found himself alone. The others had vanished. He stood before a temple suspended in midair, darkness yawning within, monstrous growls echoing from the gloom.
Screee—
Suddenly, five black gorillas burst from the temple, charging at him.
Each one stood nearly three meters tall. Terrified, Chen Mo turned to flee, but he’d barely gone a meter before one gorilla leaped high and smashed him to the ground with a single swipe. The pain was so intense he couldn’t help but cry out.
Damn it, wasn’t it supposed to be only 20% pain? Why did it hurt so much?
Worse still, the gorilla bared its fangs and, treating him like prey, bit down savagely!
Aaaah—
A scream torn from his very soul, Chen Mo’s body dissolved into white light and drifted away.
The Evolution Sprite’s voice echoed in the air: “Challenge failed. The first attempt is a trial run, to help players understand the instance. The method for clearing this instance is very simple: Temple Run. Escape the pursuit of the black gorillas. Every 100 meters you escape earns you 100 points. Points can be used in the instance lobby to buy items. Survive to 10,000 meters to clear the instance. As a beginner’s benefit, you may choose one of three system-offered characters to gain a special attribute bonus.”
[Please select your beginner character.]
[Warrior Apprentice: Superior physical constitution. Base stats—Constitution: 20; Mental Power: 5. Chance to acquire basic combat skills.]
[Mage Apprentice: Powerful mental senses. Base stats—Constitution: 5; Mental Power: 20. Chance to acquire basic magic skills.]
[Ordinary Person: Possesses nothing but an optimistic attitude. Base stats—Constitution: 5; Mental Power: 5. No special effects.]
Data scan!
Chen Mo’s Intelligence Core, more advanced than a standard Intellect Shard, revealed more detailed information on all three roles.
The Warrior Apprentice’s 20 constitution points were randomly distributed among three base stats: Strength, Endurance, and Agility.
Strength determined physical attack; Endurance affected health and defense; Agility influenced reaction speed, movement speed, and attack speed.
The Mage Apprentice’s 20 mental points were likewise spread across Spellcraft, Mana Core, and Meditation.
Spellcraft governed magical attack; Mana Core determined mana pool and magical shield; Meditation affected casting speed, mana recovery, and spell training rate, among others.
After reviewing the data, Chen Mo decisively chose Warrior Apprentice. Since this instance was Temple Run, what mattered most would be a strong body and swift speed—qualities best matched by the Warrior Apprentice!
“I choose Warrior Apprentice!”
No response.
“Hey! Miss! I want to be a Warrior Apprentice!”
Still, the sprite did not react, as if she hadn’t heard him at all.
Could it be that his physical stats were too low to select the Warrior? Fine, then he’d take the Mage Apprentice.
“I choose Mage Apprentice!”
The sprite batted her beautiful eyes, but still gave no response.
Damn it! Rage boiled inside Chen Mo—he wanted to tear the sprite’s clothes off and spank her senseless, but the memory of that spectacled man struck down by lightning made him lose his nerve.
“Hey! Miss, what is this? Why can’t I choose anything?!”
The sprite seemed puzzled as well, her tone turning strange. “Unknown error. Selection not possible. Please choose another role.”
Chen Mo guessed it must be a bug caused by the difference between his Intelligence Core and ordinary Intellect Shards.
Suppressing his frustration, Chen Mo could only pick Ordinary Person.
“Congratulations! You have chosen Ordinary Person and gained attribute bonuses!” For the first time, the sprite responded.
Congratulations my ass! Did I ever want to be an ordinary person? Chen Mo was ready to cry.
A beam of blue light and a beam of red light descended from the sky, merging into his body. Instantly, Chen Mo felt his arms and legs grow stronger, new muscle bulging beneath his skin; his mind cleared, his focus sharpened.
Tsk, tsk. So this was the bonus for an ordinary person? With just five points each in constitution and mental power, the improvement was already obvious. If he’d gotten the Warrior’s twenty points, he’d have the physique of a special forces soldier!
With an unearthly tone, the Evolution Sprite announced, “Character selection complete. Beginner instance—Temple Run—now begins!”