Dungeon record

Not long ago, Chen Guo, who had secretly wiped away tears over Ye Qiu's retirement, was now back to her usual self. After thoroughly briefing Ye Qiu on what he needed to know, she casually picked a computer to play Glory.

Standing not far away, Ye Qiu glanced over and saw that Chen Guo had entered the arena for a PK, but her heart wasn't in it. She made major mistakes repeatedly, some of them quite basic. After losing three games in a row, Chen Guo slammed her keyboard, quit the game, and turned to see Ye Qiu picking his teeth, pretending nothing had happened. She glared at him and then ran back upstairs.

Ye Qiu checked the time; it was not long before his shift at eleven o'clock. The barmaid had a good sense of timing too, as the progress bar of the Korean drama she was watching was just right. As the episode ended, the clock struck eleven, and she stood up with a smile towards Ye Qiu: "Brother Ye, I'm off work now?"

"Go ahead, go ahead!" Ye Qiu had been waiting for the computer for half a day. There was more than one employee finishing their shift at the internet cafe at eleven o'clock. The day and evening shifts were not as quiet as the overnight ones, and one person couldn't handle it all. Although the staff weren't very familiar with Ye Qiu, they politely said goodbye and left one by one.

The internet cafe became unusually quiet, with the sound of keyboards and mice echoing clearly, a stark contrast to the bustle of the new server launch the previous night. Thinking that all this was because of his retirement, Ye Qiu sighed softly and sat down at the bar.

He inserted his account card and logged into the game. As soon as he was online, he received a series of messages. Ye Qiu opened them to find greetings from Tian Qi and the others, lined up in a row.

"Expert brother, you're here!"

Tian Qi, Mu Yun Shen, and Qian Sheng Li all greeted him the same way, except for Yue Zhong Mian.

"Are you all here?" Ye Qiu replied to the three of them.

"Uh, Yue Zhong Mian didn't come." Si Qi replied.

"Having a tiff again?" Ye Qiu remembered that kid.

"No, he's in a bad mood. Didn't Ye Qiu announce his retirement today? He's a big fan of Ye Qiu, so he's feeling a bit down and won't be playing tonight," Tian Qi said.

Ye Qiu couldn't help but laugh and cry, never expecting that kid to be his fan. If he let him know that he was Ye Qiu, he wondered what that kid would think, given the despicable and shameless things he had said about his idol.

"If we're short one person, it'll be tough to take down the hidden boss in the Spider Cave," Ye Qiu said.

"Should we just add another person?" Tian Qi sought Expert brother's opinion.

"How about we go to the Skeleton Graveyard?" Ye Qiu suggested.

"Sure, sure!!" Tian Qi quickly agreed.

The Skeleton Graveyard was a dungeon for levels 15-20, and Tian Qi and the others had been wanting to go for a while, hoping to achieve a few more first kills under Ye Qiu's leadership. However, Ye Qiu's thoughts and needs were different from theirs. He didn't care about the glory of first kills in dungeons. Plus, to get first kills, one must always maintain a level in the top group, which Ye Qiu couldn't do—not because he lacked the skills, but because he lacked the time.

When he logged off in the morning, his character Jun Mo Xiao's level 18 ranking was proudly among the top five in the tenth district, but what about now? Ye Qiu opened the rankings to check again, and Jun Mo Xiao's name had disappeared, with the top ranks now dominated by level 22 players.

Why? Because the big guilds were organized in leveling up and competing for first kills. They would use one account for two or three people, keeping the character online 24 hours a day, employing a round-the-clock strategy. No matter how strong Ye Qiu's skills were, he couldn't compete with that.

For all these reasons, the first kill of a normal district dungeon wasn't very valuable. Aside from having one's name look good on the list, it reflected more on the team's leveling speed than their skills and strength.

In contrast, what better reflected a team's skills and strength was the dungeon clearance record.

This record was time-based, initially set by the system, and any team that broke it would have their name and the new record time listed. If it was broken again, it would be updated. This record-breaking reward could be claimed repeatedly and was generous, unlike the first kill record, which only offered some experience and money. It was guaranteed to award the team at least one piece of purple-lettered equipment, among other random rewards.

This honor mode wasn't available in the newbie zone. It only started in dungeons above level 20 after leaving the newbie zone. Ye Qiu casually checked and saw that the first kill of the level 20 dungeon, the Frost Forest, had already been completed, and the original system record had been refreshed. The number of refreshes was noted. It had been refreshed three times, with the team from the guild Zhong Cao Tang on the leaderboard, recording 26 minutes 12 seconds 48, at 18:23 in the afternoon.

Ye Qiu scratched his head, feeling a bit ashamed. He had a vague memory of what the dungeon was like, but he knew the record would be broken again. The highest-level players were only level 22 now, and the final results were usually set by a team of level 25 players. If any player in the team was over level 25, the dungeon score would be invalid.

"Expert brother, we've arrived at the Skeleton Graveyard," Tian Qi messaged at that moment. Their levels were consistent with when they logged off, it seemed they, like Ye Qiu, had slept all day.

"Alright, I'll be right there," Ye Qiu quickly made Jun Mo Xiao run towards the Skeleton Graveyard. Technically, they could have gone to this dungeon at level 15 in the morning, but Ye Qiu's Thousand Machine Umbrella needed "Strong Spider Silk" desperately. Yesterday, he made his needs clear to Tian Qi and the others, meaning he didn't plan to switch dungeons at level 15. In the end, the four guys stayed and kept grinding the Spider Cave with Ye Qiu to death.

They kept grinding, but the "Strong Spider Silk" was still not enough. This item was a guaranteed drop from the hidden boss, the Spider Monarch, while the normal boss, the Spider King, and the two minors had a certain chance to drop it. Ye Qiu and his team had worked hard until 11 o'clock, encountering the hidden boss three times, with the Monarch appearing once, yielding 5 "Strong Spider Silks". The other two times were Spider Warriors, which had no chance of dropping the item, and the minor bosses dropped a few more, for a total of 7. Adding the 4 obtained from the first kill, they had only gathered 16, still 24 short of Ye Qiu's requirement of 40.

At yesterday's rate, he would have to grind for two more days. Ye Qiu calculated silently, Tian Qi and his team had stubbornly leveled up to nearly 18 in the Spider Cave. Once they passed level 20, they would be 5 levels above the dungeon. In Glory, a 5-level gap is significant, affecting equipment, skills, and experience from killing monsters. Once over 5 levels above the dungeon, the experience gained would plummet, making "leveling" impractical. Ye Qiu wouldn't have the heart to keep bringing Tian Qi and the others to the Spider Cave to work for him for free.

Relying on luck to keep grinding was not a solution; it seemed he had to find another way. As Ye Qiu pondered, Jun Mo Xiao had arrived at the Skeleton Graveyard. He found Tian Qi in the friends list, requested to join the team, and quickly entered. Tian Qi messaged: "Should we add one more person?"

"We can do without," Ye Qiu replied. Speaking of which, the Skeleton Graveyard also had essential materials he had yet to obtain. Having not wielded the Thousand Machine Umbrella for long, it had already become a burden. It's not easy being a small account pioneering new territory, Ye Qiu sighed and stepped into the Skeleton Base.