I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Chapter 49, Section 1.4: The Fog Tracking Battle

"Damn it! How long have we been locked up like this!" The man glared at the desolation outside the window, angrily throwing the cup out. The cup was compressed into powder the instant it left the window and disappeared into the yellow sand.

The crowd fell silent for a moment, then erupted into an even louder murmur.

A handsome young man lay on the worn-out sofa, his white, tousled hair slightly obscuring his closed eyes, and his even breathing indicated that he was fast asleep.

Suddenly, he turned over, ignoring the noise around him, and continued to sleep quietly.

man:"……"

The man, his face dark, walked to the sofa, yanked off the blanket, and roared, "Get up! Daolin! How many days have you been sleeping? Tell me!"

"If you're not sleeping... then what are you doing..." The clear, boyish voice carried a hint of weariness, and the thick nasal tone indicated that he was still asleep. He reached out and pulled the blanket back over himself, then fell asleep again.

“Even if you are someone we are ordered to protect, we have no obligation to protect you in this godforsaken place. Get up!” The man pulled the blanket over and threw it on the ground.

"Don't you understand?" Dao Lin slowly sat up, rubbing his slightly narrowed ice-blue eyes with one hand, and yawned. "The reason I asked you to protect me is because I have a value that must be protected."

"Huh? What did you say?!"

A rustling sound came from nearby, completely different from the noise. Dao Lin yawned, his icy blue eyes instantly regaining their calm from confusion, and said in a low voice, "Shut up, it's coming."

A gentle knock sounded on the door.

"You must be joking, how could you possibly get in from the outside?" The man walked to the window, stretched out his hand, and showed it to the crowd, revealing his bloodied and mangled palm. "Outside, this is what you'd end up like!"

"The instance that has trapped us here for three days is about to begin." Dao Lin rubbed his white hair, his icy blue eyes narrowing again with drowsiness. He really wanted to sleep...

The door was suddenly flung open, and a gust of wind swept in, carrying yellow sand in a rush.

The murky air blurred the vision of everyone in the room, and the childish voice in their minds gradually froze their beating hearts.

Welcome to Misty City! I'm your good friend, Phyllis. Let's play hide-and-seek!

[Mission: Escort Mr. Adele's apprentice safely into the Dark City]

[Level: Unknown]

[Now, let's announce the rules of the game:]

[I. This instance is entirely a hide-and-seek mode with no time limit.]

[Second, you're eliminated if you're touched by a ghost.]

[III. Players can only move freely during game time; outside of game time, they must remain in the relief house and cannot leave.]

[IV. Daily game time is eight hours. The first day starts from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The start time will be delayed by one hour each subsequent day for one week. On the eighth day, the game time will return to the first day's schedule, and the cycle will repeat.]

[V. The terrain is unknown; players are encouraged to explore on their own.]

[VI. If Mr. Adele's apprentice is eliminated, all players are eliminated immediately, regardless of the highest rule.]

7. There is not just one ghost; each ghost has its own unique hunting habits and abilities.

8. Mr. Adele's apprentice was incapable of protecting himself.

The soft footsteps seemed to tread on everyone's hearts. As the door behind them closed, they finally saw clearly what kind of person this so-called Mr. Adele's apprentice was.

This was a child with exquisitely beautiful features, draped in a black cloak. Their striking good looks blurred their gender, making it difficult to discern whether they were male or female. Long, misty gray hair was tied back with a ribbon, giving them a capable and decisive air. A pure black mask, seemingly some kind of accessory, was worn at an angle to the side of their head. Their dark gold, vertical pupils held a coldness like that of a wild beast, unable to reflect anyone's image.

The moment he entered, the corresponding rules appeared in his mind.

Welcome to Misty City! I'm your good friend, Phyllis. Let's play hide-and-seek! [Mission: Safely transported to Dark City.]

[Level: Unknown]

[Now, let's announce the rules of the game:]

【1. You must not reveal the hidden rules of the game to anyone.】

[Second, they cannot act on their own; they must remain near the player.]

Thirdly, one can protect oneself but must not harm anyone, including ghosts.

Fourth, you must not reveal your identity.

【5. Please obey the game rules.】

[VI. The above must be followed!!!]

Does that mean he can only obediently be a burden...?

What interesting rules.

"Um... are you Mr. Adele's apprentice?" the man asked, looking at the seemingly frail young man and woman.

He glanced at him with cold, dark gold vertical pupils and retorted, "If it's not me, then it's you?" Mu Yin was in a bad mood and wanted to argue with everyone he saw. Mu Yegui hadn't spoken to him for three days.

Everyone noticed the pair of eyes that were clearly not human, and they all subconsciously assumed he was an NPC in the game, so they didn't dare to say anything.

"My name is Jing Yan. May I ask your name? Don't misunderstand, I just feel it's really impolite to call you 'hey'," Jing Yan said, rubbing his hair sheepishly.

"Mu Yin." Mu Yin turned around and walked to the sofa to sit down, but as soon as he sat down, he felt something hard under his buttocks. He frowned and turned his head to meet a pair of icy blue eyes full of dissatisfaction and weariness, as if they were angry that he had been disturbed from his sleep.

"Hey! Daolin!" Xiaomar called out quickly from beside the sofa.

"Let's consider the hidden game rules first. Most of the players here have already gone through several dungeons, so they should be quite familiar with this kind of thing," Jing Yan said as he walked to the chair in front of the table and sat down.

"Let me analyze it first. Rule one means that we cannot end this instance until we safely escort Mu Yin to Dark City. It doesn't matter if we are discovered by ghosts during the game, as long as we run fast and don't get touched, we won't be eliminated. In other words, we are still given the opportunity to hide. Rule three tells us that we can only carry out our mission during game time, and outside of game time, we should just stay put as we are now."

“There should be many relief houses, but we have to draw the map ourselves. The longer it takes, the worse it will be for us. The seventh day should be the night battle.” Daolin slowly sat up and continued Xiaomar’s words, “Regardless of the ghosts, the first day should focus on exploring the map. We need to know the location of the new relief houses before we can move.”

"That's rare, you actually woke up." Jing Yan said in surprise. It was the first time he had seen this guy wake up on his own. Had he finally woken up?

"Besides exploring the map on the first day, a few people need to make some mistakes to attract the ghosts' attention. No matter how many ghosts there are, we always need to investigate them all thoroughly," Dao Lin said wearily, yawning.

Dao Lin, a man of mystery, with the sleepiness of a pig, the memory of a fish, and the mind of a god.

In my opinion, the male lead isn't necessarily the one who's paired with the female lead. There are plenty of couples in this story, and Ling Tong is the male lead because his role is very important.

At first, my editor told me that it wouldn't work without couples, which I meant was there wouldn't be a true male lead. But there are so many couple pairings to satisfy any of you. See Mu Yegui and Fei Xiu for an example.

As for the specifics, let's see who gets more popularity as I continue writing.

The Ming twins haven't appeared yet, so don't rush.

This story is truly different from typical female-oriented novels, as evidenced by Mu Yegui's ability to solo the highest-level dungeons.

Mu Yegui doesn't need any help from the male protagonist because she is strong enough on her own. Their status is equal, so there's no question of who is stronger or weaker. If we're really talking about strength, Mu Yin is the absolute pinnacle of combat power in this story; no one can surpass him. Long live cold weapons!!

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(End of this chapter)