Chapter 122 The Sound of Suonas Brings Joy and Sorrow to the Mountain "Everyone, may you have a lucky day..."
Heavy snow was falling heavily in the mountains.
To the south, the group of four traversed narrow, difficult mountain paths, but the wind and snow did not seem to pose much of a problem for them.
A tall, thin man wearing a dark green sleeveless hoodie suddenly paused, took a step, and bent down to look at a rock.
"Look what I've discovered!" He smiled, his fox-like eyes crinkling. He wiped the snow from his palm, which was wrapped in old cloth, revealing a hideous totem on the crystal. It looked like a group of crazed zombies charging into the city with torches. "A teleportation totem. This was premeditated."
The remaining three did not stop and continued walking. The man who had been ruthlessly abandoned by his companions shrugged, quickened his pace to catch up, and looked around as he walked: "The totem is here, but where is he? I'm a little interested in that rising star of the Stubborn Disease."
The middle-aged man at the back of the group answered hesitantly, "Which one?"
The fox-eyed man paused, "I forgot too, what was it called again? I heard it's not quite the same as the 'cold' weapons used by the group of people who filled the front lines with stubborn illness."
The short man next to him, with his naturally cold expression, said indifferently, "Just bored."
"I've been really bored lately, otherwise I wouldn't have come here." The fox-eyed man put his hands behind his head and sighed. "I thought this host would be interesting, but it turns out he's no good either. What a wasted trip—"
The middle-aged man thought for a moment: "I haven't played any raid dungeons in a long time, I don't have enough dice, so I can't investigate. If he can't find them all, when the time is up, should we just disband the raid or...?"
“The instance has already been generated, how could the system bear to waste it?” Fox Eyes said. “Turn it into an arena, but I don’t understand. What’s the point of watching a group of people fight like primitive beasts? It would be better to let us leave and go to the next one sooner.”
The short man sneered, "It'll be over in a few minutes."
Upon hearing this, Fox Eyes sighed again, and the peacemaker uncle chimed in with a comforting remark: "It is a bit boring, just treat it as a walk."
"If you ask me, Lao Lü was just fooled by the name 'Joy and Sorrow Mountain'... Well, me too, I haven't actually met that person yet."
He wasn't particularly interested in investigation team-type dungeons because the gameplay was too predictable: rolling dice, passing checks, and investigating anomalies.
He finally found a game where he was interested in both the host and the boss, but now the host is gone, the game can't start, and he can't even see the ultimate evil god.
Fox Eyes, settling for second best, thought of someone else who might be interested and joked, "Where did the chronic illness go? It shouldn't be far. This godforsaken place is hard to navigate, and it's not easy to find such a mountain path. Let's just end the fight off the field. Whoever wins goes. What do you say, Old Lü?"
The stone tablet in front of the village in the distance was already visible. The tall man who had been walking silently at the front had no expression and continued to move forward: "They will just have to give way."
*
The intractable disease has more than one totem on the outskirts of Mount Joy and Sorrow, or rather, Holder has more than one totem on Mount Joy and Sorrow.
Each guild has a teleportation totem, which is equivalent to a "blue dart" in guild dungeons. It is expensive to build and can be erased at any time. As long as the boss is not dead, the dungeon is still a dungeon and will always reopen, bringing newcomers and NPCs born in the dungeon.
But Mount Joy and Sorrow didn't have this problem, because no one dared to come, so Holder was tempted at the time.
The legend of that person has persisted. Holder has been very cautious and has not gone in person, but has sent the chronically ill to the Joyful and Sorrowful Mountains to reclaim the land.
Holder and the band had more of a collaborative relationship, but the chronic problem belonged to him. This guild, which had been fluctuating around the top ten on the charts, was a famous "suicide squad" and his repository of divine weapons.
This is an unspoken understanding; Sheng Hong comes from this guild.
So, although it's called a "stubborn problem," the players change frequently. If you don't pay attention for a while, there will be many new faces among the main players. The guild competition cycle is even longer, and the main players have changed several times.
Unfortunately, the one was beyond his imagination. Holder's leg was not broken on Mount Joy and Sorrow, but rather because of Mount Joy and Sorrow... The one who disliked others leaving marks on His land like dogs urinating.
He thought that after the warning, the totem would remove the ailment, but it remained.
It's like secretly making a copy of someone else's house key. The homeowner finds out but doesn't change the lock, as if waiting for the thief to make a nighttime visit. The thief quietly turns the door open, and the homeowner sits in the dark living room, facing the door, completely at ease.
...That's the most terrifying thing.
So Holder considered it all erased and never bothered with it again; he was a man who wanted to retire peacefully.
But Marco Polo, who was gradually taking over his power, was tempted.
He needs a springboard.
Many dungeons will eventually be destroyed after being opened multiple times, and the dungeon will become a "wasteland" and will no longer generate dungeons. There is no need to keep totems in such dungeons.
It is precisely because of a mysterious realm like Mount Xibei that seems to have no end that it is worth "keeping the gate open," and that's how he finally got his wish!
A golden opportunity!
Guild dungeon preparation takes a long time, and the host and players need to set off in advance, so guilds need to be matched after the dungeon is generated.
But as long as the game hasn't started... with both totems and the right to designate, it's entirely possible to exploit the bug!
Moreover, the timing of the forced addition of the chronic disease was crucial to prevent Xue Chao from succeeding—ten minutes before the countdown, the secret realm was completely closed, and the instance began recording player information.
What's the point of ten minutes?
There are two teleportation totems for the chronic disease, one in the south and one in the west.
The four were transferred to the south, then transferred again, and finally moved to the west.
Actually, it was the dejected middle-aged man leading the team, following behind his three expressionless teammates, smoking his secondhand smoke in the snow, and half-deadly pleading: "I'm telling you, even though we're destined to die, there's no need to be in such a hurry. When the time comes, once the village gates open, we'll be back in the primeval forest. We can't afford not to run wild! ...I'm really impressed with you guys. I told you Seven Killers were right behind us, right behind us, and you didn't even hide! The tenth-ranked guild walks wilder than the number one one!"
The three "human-machine" teammates remained expressionless, but knowing he was the leader, they nodded coldly and then walked one by one into the narrow path between the mountain wall and the village.
They walked very fast; in the time it took their leader to light another cigarette, they had already fallen behind. The dejected middle-aged man caught up, cursing, "In a hurry to be reborn... it's not time yet!"
Wrapped in a coat, they ventured into the dark and suffocating mountain path.
*
On the north side, opposite to the south, there was also a group of four.
They were all wrapped in exotic clothing with black backgrounds and silver embroidery. Two men and a boy had their heads wrapped in black cloths embroidered with strange characters, with only a little skin showing from their noses to their chins. They stood silently behind them.
The woman at the head wore a long black veil that hung down, revealing only her pale gray lips, making her look like a mysterious and aloof witch from a pagan religion.
They had already seen the village in the distance, but after receiving a "Cannot start game" notification, she stopped in the snow and stopped moving forward, instead looking up at the pale white mountain peaks in the distance.
They all knew that the game was over and there was no need to move forward. They might as well take the opportunity to look up at the immortal holy land of the Red and White Cult and feel the mysterious power in the wind and snow.
*
The group from the east arrived first, but they are also the only ones who haven't found the door yet.
The four ordinary players were not familiar with each other, but they were all terrified of being thrown into this kind of weird game, so they kept an awkward but close distance and chatted back and forth.
"This... this instance can't be opened, right?"
"Of course, there aren't enough dice! This host is really unlucky, who did he offend to deserve this?"
"...Let's worry about ourselves first; we haven't even found the door yet."
"This road is completely blocked. Let's change routes. Which way should we go?"
Pu Fengchun, who had been silent, crushed the crystal, rubbed the red soil, looked up at the small hill formed by the collapse, caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, and said his first words of the day: "There is a door here, but it is buried."
The others gathered around and were astonished to see her hand tapping and reaching out, pulling out a piece of torn fabric.
"Are there dead people inside?"
"What?! We haven't even entered the dungeon yet, and some players have already been killed!"
"It's probably not a player, it's an NPC."
Pu Fengchun called for their help, and they dug out the entire garment. The team leader's eyes lit up: "We didn't reach a dead end, we've stumbled upon a 'plot point'!"
He was excited for a few seconds, but quickly deflated: "Without a dice system, I can't play the investigation game. What's the use of finding anomalies?"
"...It's not necessarily impossible to open; the dice are just a symbol," Pu Fengchun said.
Before the game starts, the dice the host looks for are usually not the dice used by the players for verification.
Because the verification often requires multiple dice, and the dice must also conform to the style of the copy, most copies only have the common six-sided dice.
Therefore, the dice that the host found is actually a representative of a dice system, which includes all dice that are being tested.
This allows the Keeper of Secrets to communicate with players and help them pass checks.
It is more symbolic than practical.
Xue Chao only needs to find four more dice...
*
"He can't find it. This guy from Xibei Mountain doesn't like us mortals coming. Last time, he burned all the dice in the mountain."
After all, it's the boss's secret realm. Although the dungeons are all generated on the spot, since the dungeons are to follow the style of the secret realm, we must respect the boss's temperament.
The last time was the same, and this time will be similar. Apart from the twelve dice that the system gives out based on the number of players at the time after the instance is generated, there will be no thirteenth die in Joy and Sorrow Mountain.
The dejected uncle was relieved that his teammates, who were practically bots, still knew to ask questions, although their original words were, "If he finds the dice and starts the dungeon normally, what is our mission?"
"Our mission was to interfere and cause trouble, but now that our mission is complete, you all need to try your best to survive... and then help our master with as much as possible and share his burdens."
He cleverly added half a sentence, and the indifferent "weapons" indeed showed a bit of cold, solemn fighting spirit... That's how you have to talk to these guys.
With ten seconds left, all teams had reached the village gate.
The room's popularity was quite high, it dropped a bit and then bounced back, and it's still ranked just below Marco Polo, but everyone's there to laugh at it, to send the host off on his final journey, and to catch a glimpse of the Seven Kills.
It won't delay anything. Just like Qi Sha said, the battle will be over in a few minutes.
The comments section has already started to hold a funeral for the host, Cyber, and there's even cross-room collaboration, with both rooms flooded with comments.
"Goodbye (flowers)."
"Goodbye (flowers)."
"Goodbye (flowers)."
...
【00:00:01】
【00:00:00】
[Guild: 4/4]
[Player: 16/16]
【#￥%&CheckG）I&）*）】
The latest notifications on all player panels are stuck on this gibberish.
At the south gate, Fox Eyes, who had been leaning against the stone tablet, suddenly stood up straight. His intuition was pounding excitedly. He led the way through the gate, and the other three followed.
There was still no new information until they arrived at the Temple of the God of Wealth, where a square mahjong set was placed directly in front of the entrance.
With a raised eyebrow, Fox Eyes opened the box with a click. Inside was a feng shui compass, with a red dragon mahjong tile inside and three more scattered around it.
While he was still pondering what the riddle was, the player panel immediately updated:
[Beep beep! Dice system loaded!]
His fox-like eyes widened suddenly.
*
At the North Gate, the four members of the Five Poisons were also loaded with a dice system after opening the mahjong box.
They paused for a moment, then one of the men reached out to take it, and the four of them heard a lazy, pleasant male voice in their ears:
May everyone have a lucky day.
Two red lanterns hung at the north gate, one of which had a divination stick container hanging from it. After the man finished speaking, four sticks suddenly fell to the ground, pointing to the four of them respectively.
*
At the ruins of the East Gate, four people were carefully and quickly chiseling through the mountain when suddenly a piece of rock broke off and scattered into four pieces.
They quickly retreated to avoid the swirling snow and mist.
After they dispersed, they discovered an extremely narrow path that had been cleared by the villagers. They squeezed through with difficulty and found the mahjong box.
Upon hearing Xue Chao's voice, Pu Fengchun had a feeling of "I knew it."
Then, four divination sticks fell from the divination tube on the stone lion by the east gate.
They picked up their own fortune slips. The leader, with his lopsided eyes, held the "Very Auspicious" slip and looked at the others with suspicion: two "Neutral" and one "Very Inauspicious".
What does this mean?
Then the leader with the uneven eyes received a new notification:
Congratulations! You have obtained the "predicted position" for this game.
Don't let everyone down!
Team leader: "!"
Total number of game slots for this copy: 10
[The number of prediction bits for this copy is 4]
[...]
[Start Game]
Live streaming is now available.
At the west gate, in front of the gloomy two-courtyard mansion, a dejected middle-aged man hid behind three people, his hands holding the arms of the two on either side, and cautiously peering out through the gaps between the arms of the middle and right men.
The distribution of the four sticks was exactly the same as their positions.
The system notification has been sent out, and one person's flight slot has been opened, but they haven't received their visas yet.
So the three of them ruthlessly abandoned their leader, and the dejected uncle had no choice but to follow, picking up his "worst" fortune stick: "So these are the fortune sticks we use to predict luck? Yours is the best, it predicts the location of the machine... You really know how to play."
But if he remembers correctly, the dice system was only loaded when the mahjong box was opened, right?
He reached for the mahjong tiles again, and drew a red dragon tile, but there was no reaction. He tried another tile, but still no reaction.
He couldn't help but wonder if the dice system was really working. The next second, he touched the red mahjong tile in the compass, and the dice record page popped up on the panel.
His heart skipped a beat; he realized that he couldn't just pick any "dice."
He immediately had the other three try it, only to find that they could pick whichever of the remaining three cards they wanted.
His heart sank even further. He was the only one who had been oriented; the "dice" in the compass was special!
"...A good fortune slip has a predictive opportunity, but what about a bad fortune slip?" he asked.
The lazy male voice rang out again: "Hello, players, I am your Guardian of Secrets."
"The rules of this game are... Have you ever played mahjong?"
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