Just Got Back from the Instance Dungeon

“Ah-ha,” the female voice said gleefully. “The reason you aren’t getting any compensation is, of course, because you deceived Paradise in another matter!”

Zhu Yan’s heart leaped into his throat.

Holy crap, what had he lied about this time?

It couldn’t be…

“As player [Zhu Zeyu], you were supposed to enter another instance and complete your player mission.”

The tension in Zhu Yan’s heart instantly dissipated.

That scared the hell out of him. He knew there was no way he could have deceived them.

So it was about that huge sucker, Yang Zhanbai, who had entered the instance today!

Zhu Yan immediately declared, “How can what happened with the [Hunter] be called deception? If you need me, I can go over there right now.”

The female voice fell silent, as if rolling her eyes.

“Unfortunately, you’ve delayed things for too long, dear [Hunter].”

“Even if you entered the instance immediately, you still couldn’t make up for the tremendous damage your companion inflicted on the horrifying creatures!”

All right.

Since the female voice put it that way, there was no doubt that Yang Zhanbai would clear the instance.

“However, since the [Hunter] contributed to the expansion of [Merry Paradise] this time, and used a reasonable yet extremely costly method to resolve his own crisis alongside Hunter No. 3…”

The female voice paused. “We have decided to make an exception and raise your player ability, [Acting], to Level 8.”

“Please continue working hard. Goodbye.”

Compared with the puppet Qiu Lingfeng’s side, the female voice’s broadcast for Zhu Yan was much more perfunctory.

One reward after another poured into the ears of the Qiu Lingfeng puppet, making Fog hop excitedly around inside its head.

“Hunter No. 3, you carried your teammate through the instance by yourself. By joining forces with your teammate, you not only resolved his crisis but also protected the horrifying creatures of the [Eye of the Abyss].”

“Although this instance suffered two signal interruptions for unknown reasons, that hasn’t prevented us from piecing together your outstanding performance from the clues we collected!”

All right, then.

“Congratulations. You have obtained the instance space [Tan Jade Temple].”

Zhu Yan pursed his lips outside.

That operation had indeed cost a fortune, but obtaining [Tan Jade Temple] as a space made it well worth the price.

“Notably, due to a special circumstance, the instance space [Tan Jade Temple] cannot currently be carried with you.”

Wait.

What?

Fog failed to control the puppet’s expression, and its face froze.

The female voice quickly offered an explanation.

“We have detected the presence of a special horrifying creature, [Lord of the Charnel Grounds], within [Tan Jade Temple]. It forms part of the production chain for instances such as [Endless Kitchen] and [Jumping Restaurant].”

“Considering [Merry Paradise]’s expansion plans, as well as the convenience of diners from [Merry Paradise], we are unable to convert [Tan Jade Temple] into your personal instance space. We apologize.”

Ah-ha.

Zhu Yan let out a strange cry inwardly.

He had to admit, he thought this arrangement made perfect sense.

“However, you may use it freely, provided that you do not disrupt the catering industry chain—or that your actions benefit it.”

Zhu Yan understood exactly what that meant.

Benefiting the catering industry chain meant making unpaid contributions by offering plenty of sacrifices to [Lord of the Charnel Grounds], allowing it to somehow refine the sacrifices’ flesh through the process of feeding souls back into them. The meat would then become tender and crisp before being sent to the restaurants.

Why should he do that for free?

The female voice seemed to understand what he was thinking.

“We noticed that you previously inquired of [Lord of the Charnel Grounds] about how to become a believer.”

“Your actions led us to conclude that you are actively integrating yourself into [Merry Paradise], unlike certain people who are trying to shirk their responsibilities and cut corners.”

Fog, hiding inside the puppet’s mind, stopped bouncing merrily about.

Elsewhere, Zhu Yan rubbed his nose.

He didn’t dare make any snide comments in his head now. He was afraid the female voice might discover the truth.

But this didn’t add up, did it?

That comment about “shirking responsibilities and cutting corners” had to be aimed at Yang Zhanbai, right?

“We appreciate your attitude,” the female voice sang cheerfully into the puppet’s ears. “Therefore, we have decided to offer you some special internal benefits.”

“[Hunter], you may choose to become a believer.”

“As long as you successfully find an Advanced Believer and have them help you convert, we will give you [Tan Jade Temple] as your personal instance space and promise to arrange a position for you in the restaurant production line.”

“You don’t actually have to become an Advanced Believer yourself!”

Oh…?

Oh.

This was practically the best treatment Hunter No. 1 had ever received!

Zhu Yan held back the torrent of complaints surging through his mind and patiently continued listening.

Fortunately, the female voice soon concluded its broadcast.

“However, this special offer is time-limited. Please complete everything before the public-test instance ends!”

“Additionally, the [Tan Jade Temple] instance space is visible in your [Hunter Personal Center]. It supports one-click teleportation, the setting of teleportation passwords, and other functions. Please enter it and take a look as soon as possible.”

“We will teleport you outside the instance in one minute.”

“Good luck, Hunter No. 3! We look forward to your next performance!”

The broadcast ended.

Zhu Yan scratched his head helplessly. He couldn’t hold it in anymore.

He had been a [Hunter] for quite some time and had battled wits with [Merry Paradise] for just as long. He had every reason to suspect that [Merry Paradise] had done this deliberately.

They had deliberately kept [Tan Jade Temple] in their hands first, forcing “Qiu Lingfeng”—no, forcing his puppet to convert and further integrate himself into Paradise. After that, they could follow the proper procedures and hand the place over to him.

For a moment, Zhu Yan felt lost.

One of his objectives had been to enter the [Eye of the Abyss].

If the head in his possession could accomplish that objective for him, then there would be no need for the puppet to convert.

After all, as long as he entered the [Eye of the Abyss Club], he would definitely find a way to get Ji Xiting’s restaurant into his hands.

Perhaps…

After returning, he should first take Qiu Lingfeng’s head and claim his reward. Then he could ask around and see what the [Eye of the Abyss] had to say.

Zhu Yan tried to lean against the wall.

However, a flash of light appeared, and the next second, he and the Qiu Lingfeng puppet were thrown out of the instance together. They landed heavily on the bed.

“Holy crap!”

Zhu Yan couldn’t stop himself from cursing.

This was Zhu Zeyu’s dormitory at the Silver Bay Research Institute.

Zhu Yan hurriedly activated [Acting], changing back into Zhu Zeyu’s appearance, and clumsily tried to climb off the bed.

At that moment, someone suddenly began pounding violently on the door.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

“Are you in there? We already told you—Commander Qiu wants to see you! We know you didn’t enter the instance!”

The people outside seemed to have been waiting for quite a while, and their tone was extremely impatient.

“How long are we supposed to keep knocking? If you don’t open up, we’re coming in!”

“Brother Huang, let’s go inside.”

This was another voice, accompanied by the rustling of clothing.

“I’ve got a universal access card. We’ve already knocked twice and he still hasn’t opened the door. Something’s definitely wrong.”

Qiu Lingkai?

They knew Zhu Zeyu hadn’t entered the instance?

Zhu Yan suddenly thought of an interesting possibility.

He quickly stored the Qiu Lingfeng puppet inside his ring and got up from the bed.

“I’m coming,” he called out, pulling the door open in one motion.

“I just got back from the instance. What’s going on?”