Mutual Redemption with the Villainous Boss [Infinite] - Chapter 6

A new button suddenly appeared on the control panel in front of her. Zhu Ci clicked it to find a dungeon collection interface; since she had completed one, a single medal was now lit up.

It seemed that once she lit up a certain number of them, she could redeem rewards.

Before leaving this dungeon, she cast a final look back.

On the distant street, a figure stood silently.

A slender, thin frame, with a gentle breeze fluttering through its hair—it simply stood there, gazing at Zhu Ci.

“Thank you. I hope we meet again.”

Zhu Ci waved at it and took a photo using her phone, which was now enhanced by the limited-edition attachment card.

The surroundings began to twist and rotate. The scene shifted, and unable to withstand the transition, she lost consciousness.

When she woke up again, she was in a massive room. Zhu Ci lay on a soft, wide bed surrounded by display screens—all of which were showing her.

Her clothes remained as pristine as when she had first started, without a single trace of the crawling and struggling she’d done in the dungeon. She sat up and looked at the screens; the “herself” in the screens looked back at her, sending a sudden shiver down her spine.

“You’re awake. It’s always like this at the beginning; you won’t faint once you get used to it next time.”

She turned around to see one screen glowing with a piercing white light. A soft, gentle female voice came from within, speaking in a tone that invited calm.

“Zhu Ci, congratulations on officially entering the game world.”

“Where exactly is this place? Why am I here?” She looked around. “Where is Xiao Chuang?”

“Xiao Chuang accompanies you through the entire novice dungeon. Next time, it won’t be able to appear at will; you’ll have to summon it.” The voice was full of reassurance, allowing Zhu Ci’s emotions to relax slightly.

“This is the Boundless Paleconk. All players who pass the novice dungeon can live, chat, and trade here. Divisions are based on the different cultural languages of players worldwide; you are currently in District C.”

A transparent set of Paleconk Regulations unfolded before her:

1. Interaction: Players may trade and converse. Duels, robbery, and theft are strictly prohibited.
2. Points: Points can be exchanged for mall items as well as survival necessities. Housing, food, and extra amenities all require points.
3. Acquisition: When points are insufficient, they can be obtained through gifts, trade, or by entering dungeons and earning rewards.
4. Risk: Dungeons are fraught with danger. Death is permanent unless a Resurrection Card is used. Players should be mentally prepared.
5. Wish: We sincerely wish all players a happy and pleasant life in Paleconk.

Seeing Zhu Ci sink into thought over the regulations, the female voice spoke again: “Do not worry, Zhu Ci. Paleconk is your forever home.”

Zhu Ci snapped back to reality and addressed the glowing white screen: “I only have one question.”

“Please, speak.”

“How do I leave this game?”

“Heh,” a soft chuckle escaped as the screen flickered twice before returning to calm. “Xiao Chuang should have told you—whoever escapes first is the one who can save the world. If you want to leave, go find the way to escape.”

“Good luck, Zhu Ci.”

Everything around her vanished instantly. On a vast expanse of grassland, many people just like her stood together, looking at each other in confusion and helplessness. Some still carried lingering terror on their faces.

The sky was cloudless, a wide and lofty expanse of blue. A sun and a moon hung in the sky to the left and right, like sentries guarding the horizon. The sun was very small—so small it provided light without being dazzling. The temperature was moderate; it wasn’t cold even without an extra coat.

The moon, however, was enormous, occupying the entire right half of the sky in a perfect crescent. Its craters were clearly visible; if one looked closely, it felt as though they could glimpse the lunar palaces of legend.

A massive transparent screen floated in the air, listing a long string of names—roughly estimated to be a thousand. At the very top was the title:

Genesis: Weird Phobia District C Game Rankings

The name ranked first was Zhu Yuan.

Zhu Ci’s brother was named Zhu Yuan.

It must be a coincidence, she thought. Since District C covered an entire country, it was possible for people to share the same name.

Zhu Ci poked Xiao Chuang: “What is this ranking based on?”

In the empty space, Xiao Chuang poked out its golden head: “This is a comprehensive ranking! It’s a statistic calculated from decryption speed and completion rates. That first-place person only took ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes?” Zhu Ci was beyond shocked. That was too fast; she hadn’t even processed what was happening in ten minutes.

“Player, you have to realize there are many kinds of people in this world,” Xiao Chuang grinned and spread its hands, slowly fading away. “There are stupid ones, ones with clever little wits like you… and then there are the incredibly lucky ones. It’s all fate.”

As people gathered, the fear of unimaginable danger grew. Some began to wail and cry, while others knelt and begged, summoning their own Xiao Chuangs to plead for a way out. Some even had a change in their eyes, glaring at the crowd with predatory malice.

Suddenly, a line of red text appeared overhead:

WARNING: Player He Fanghui attacked another player. Confined to the Isolation Zone!

Everyone looked up. This line of text served as a warning to many who were harborng dark impulses. People became guarded, no longer daring to act recklessly. The agitation in the crowd seemed to lessen.

Zhu Ci clicked on the Survival Item Exchange interface. She currently had 970 points. She spent 500 to redeem a one-bedroom apartment in the Common District along with a few sets of clothes, and another 30 for three days’ worth of food.

Survival items were clearly much cheaper than item cards, but they were consumables. She calculated that her remaining 440 points would last her a month at most.

A few of the more composed people had also begun redeeming items. Quite a few had moved in like her; the Common District was bustling as everyone began making their own plans.

Though it was just a one-bedroom apartment, it was 30 square meters and fully equipped with appliances. Zhu Ci cooked a bowl of noodles, took a shower, changed her clothes, and finally lay down comfortably on the bed.

The day’s exhaustion and tension were finally released. After a long silence, she pulled out her phone and opened the photo album.

There were three recent photos. One was a selfie of her making a peace sign, and another was of that disgusting monstrous insect—she glanced at it and quickly swiped past.

The last one was the photo she took before leaving the novice dungeon: the RM standing in the distance.

It wasn’t very clear, perhaps because water had gotten into the lens at the time, making it look blurry. Zhu Ci zoomed in on the photo.

Something was different.

That RM was supposed to have the exact same appearance as her—the dungeon likely did that to emphasize the “twins” theme. But as she stared at it, she realized the person in the photo didn’t look like what she had seen when she took it.

The figure should have had long hair like hers, but in this photo, it barely reached the shoulders. The frame was slender, and the summer T-shirt and shorts had turned into long sleeves and trousers. The sleeves of the shirt were rolled up slightly, revealing a pale wrist.

And the face was a blur.

What exactly did I capture? Is this its true form?

Zhu Ci studied it for a long time before tossing the phone aside. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t find an answer, so she decided to stop.

Who knew what the future held? Better to sleep first.

After living peacefully for nearly half a month, Zhu Ci tried to find her family, but the group assignments seemed random. People from different regions were all mixed together; she searched hard but didn’t recognize a single soul.

Meanwhile, those lacking points or the brave of heart had already entered the Dungeon Selection Area, but few returned alive. Subsequent dungeons were different from the novice one; even “Easy” difficulty wasn’t that simple to pass.

Zhu Ci’s neighbor had gone too—a cute, outspoken, and straightforward girl who was a bit spoiled in her habits and wasn’t satisfied with just basic survival. Once her points ran low, she entered a dungeon and hadn’t returned since.

This happened constantly. Some lived in perpetual terror, even contemplating suicide. The number of beggars on the streets increased daily, but everyone was struggling to survive; who had points to give away?

A few days later, Zhu Ci couldn’t hold out any longer. She didn’t want to sit around waiting for death and decided to try her luck at the Dungeon Selection Area.

A blue light teleported her from the Common District to the Dungeon Area. Many hesitant and wandering people stood there, seemingly unable to make up their minds.

Zhu Ci joined them. She entered a door where a vast space opened up, displaying countless dungeon interfaces categorized by difficulty: Easy (N), Medium (R), Hard (SR), and Hell (SSR). The higher the difficulty, the more points were awarded. She browsed briefly; a Hard dungeon rewarded 10,000 points just for completion, while the rewards for Hell mode were immeasurable.

Would anyone risk their life for Hell difficulty?

If she did the same…

The thought had barely formed before she cut it off. You could die in a hundred ways in Hell difficulty; she shouldn’t think about getting rich quick.

A single dungeon could only be selected once, and the list refreshed every Saturday at 8:00 AM. It was currently Thursday. Very few people were entering dungeons now, so there was plenty of stock; if more people started joining, the good dungeons would likely have to be fought for.

She continued browsing. Easy dungeons didn’t give many points—only slightly more than the novice one—but most survivors came from Easy dungeons. She felt she could handle it.

In the Easy section, there were solo and multiplayer dungeons. Multiplayer ones required a successful match to start; before matching, one would fall into a slumber in the Dungeon Area. You could form a team freely, but it had to be done before entering, otherwise, the system wouldn’t recognize it and might even force team members apart.

Of course, temporary cooperation within a dungeon was allowed, as the system couldn’t intervene there.

After agonizing for a while, a multiplayer dungeon titled 《The Mermaid’s Treasure》 caught her eye because the hint was very clear:

“Simply find the Mermaid’s Treasure to clear the dungeon.”

It might just be a search-and-find game. Zhu Ci decided on it. 100% completion would grant 2,000 points, which could keep her going for a long time.

She used her remaining points to buy an R-rank weapon item: a lightweight handgun. Its ability was similar to the watermelon knife—it could fire 5 shots, but it had a three-hour cooldown between uses.

She only had 160 points left…

She had to be frugal and save them for emergencies within the dungeon.

Perhaps due to the effect of the Calm Card, she wasn’t that nervous. Taking a deep breath, she entered the dungeon.

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