That night, as more and more people failed the Mist Dungeon challenges, one topic exploded throughout Deya City:
“Is there something wrong with this Mist Dungeon?!”
Whether in taverns, inns, or the Adventurers’ Association, adventurers were complaining to each other about how disgusting the Mist Dungeon was.
Its design was simply something no normal person could come up with:
“I’ve never seen a dungeon where a treasure chest spawns a monster! That thing jumped right into my face and kept spraying something into my mouth. By the time I came to my senses, I was already back at the bonfire…”
“You triggered the Insurance of Life as soon as you snapped out of it? Hah, that’s nothing! That Mist Wolf Den dungeon is even worse! We saw a Mist Wolf with its back to us, guarding a glowing item. I was just about to sneak up and ambush it when two more Mist Wolves instantly leaped out from the surrounding grass and swarmed me, biting me to death! My teammates didn’t even have time to save me! I never want to experience that despair and pain again…”
“That’s it? Have you ever heard of the Lure Skull?”
…
“So lively!”
At the gates of Deya City, after a full day’s long journey, Vieno finally arrived by hitchhiking.
Although Deya City looked small, nothing compared to Snowveil City, it was inexplicably bustling.
Even at night, it was brightly lit.
“High price paid for all kinds of special items from the Mist!”
“Party of three needs one more! Looking for a Mage or Elemental Priest to challenge the Ghoul Cemetery together!”
“Seeking all kinds of intel on Monster Soundseekers! Price is negotiable!”…
The adventurers at Deya City’s gates were mostly around First or Second Rank, but their numbers were ridiculously high.
This was the first time Vieno had so directly understood the phrase, “The Mist is the world’s best Newbie Dungeon.”
“Hey, are you new here? Are you a Mage? Want to team up? We’re not challenging dungeons, just gathering materials in the free exploration zone.”
Just then, a three-person party holding torches approached Vieno, inviting her to join. She smiled slightly and waved her hand in refusal.
“Sorry, I need to get familiar with this place first. It wouldn’t be good to team up with strangers right after arriving. By the way, I wanted to ask, is Deya City always this lively?”
“It seems like it started last month. Ever since the Ninth Saintess appeared here, Deya City and the Mist have undergone many changes. With many miscellaneous taxes abolished, a lot of people have come to Deya City to develop.
Then there’s the Mist over there. We don’t know, and we can’t be bothered to know if the various changes in the Mist are the Holy Maiden’s doing. As long as there’s valuable stuff inside, that’s fine. Plus, there are several unique newbie dungeons now!”
“But they say those dungeons are particularly difficult and extremely disgusting! I advise you not to impulsively go try them. Otherwise, you might be so grossed out you can’t eat for days.” One of the adventurers kindly reminded her, making Vieno even more curious.
‘Let’s see if this Mist can disgust a Ninth-Rank Contract Master like me…’
Under the cover of night, Vieno very discreetly entered the Mist alone from the eastern entrance.
She soon arrived at Fog Gate Plaza and found even more adventurers here than at Deya City’s gates.
Not only that, she saw a vast free trade area and a large construction crew working in three shifts.
“Deya City is actually developing the Mist? And they’ve set up a trade area with adventurers inside? And what’s with all these mushrooms on the ground? There were a bunch on the way here, but there are even more here…”
Vieno bent down and plucked a small Mist-Dispelling Mushroom. It instantly withered, giving her no chance to study it.
Just as Vieno was puzzled, suddenly, a notification appeared before her eyes:
[Dungeon Area Hotfix Update: Dungeon count expanded again. New queueing system for entry added. Difficulty of some dungeons appropriately reduced…]
Having all lost their Insurance of Life, and with only a half-hour exploration time each entry, Truth and the others had stopped attempting further challenges, deciding to part ways amicably once the time was up.
In the end, Truth said they should come find her to try exploring again once Alice and Eldon reached Level 20.
Otherwise, if they were too weak to even see the BOSS, it would just be a waste of time.
“Ah?! Why are there floating words in front of my eyes? And they look so familiar… aren’t these the things from the Challenge Crystal?!”
Vieno was startled by the sudden update notice, her hands instinctively swatting at the announcement in front of her. However, the announcement was visible but intangible, and it soon faded away.
“Haha, definitely a newcomer!”
Soon, several mocking laughs sounded near Vieno. A few passing adventurers saw her frightened reaction to the notice and chuckled:
“That’s the Mist’s unique notification method. Don’t be so nervous.”
“And it’s not just notifications. When you use a Party Card, or go deeper into the Mist, other things will appear in front of your eyes too. Don’t get scared, haha.”…
“Eh…”
Vieno suddenly felt like a country bumpkin who knew nothing.
The reason she was startled was mainly because the floating text in the Mist was exactly the same as that in the Challenge Crystal.
‘I thought I was about to get my level suppressed for a fight…’
After curiously wandering around Fog Gate Plaza for a few more minutes and discovering some peculiar little materials she’d never seen before, Vieno continued deeper into the Mist.
With the help of the Navigation UI, she headed for the dungeon area.
After the hotfix added the queueing system, adventurers no longer needed to waste time standing in long lines. Now, after selecting the dungeon they wanted to challenge in the small plaza of the dungeon area, a small prompt appeared before their eyes:
[Number of parties ahead of you in queue: 219. Currently queuing…]
Since they didn’t need to stand in line, adventurers could take the opportunity to explore the free exploration zone or wander around, which was very comfortable. It also greatly increased the Mist’s energy acquisition efficiency.
“So impressive… dungeons within a dungeon. The Mist is completely different from other dungeons, very special. No wonder it’s called a Disaster, even if it’s weak.”
Arriving at the dungeon area, Vieno carefully studied the queueing system.
Then, she went to the entrance of the nearest dungeon, “Abandoned Cellar,” and stared thoughtfully at the white mist blocking the entrance.
“This is getting more and more interesting. Did the Mist really create all these things itself, and no one made them? Speaking of which, I should be able to directly break through this restriction and enter the small dungeon, right?”
Vieno could sense that the white mist in front of her could only block adventurers below Third Rank. But for someone like her, at Ninth Rank…
‘Might as well try.’
Immediately after, Vieno pressed her right palm against the white mist.
With a flash of multicolored light, the mist was instantly transformed by the light into a special kind of colored crystal.
Then, with a slight exertion of force from Vieno, the white mist that had turned into colored crystal shattered with a crash!
The dungeon’s restriction had been directly broken by Vieno…
At the same moment, Truth, who was somewhere in the Mist re-dividing dungeon areas, sensed someone causing trouble:
“What the hell was that?”