Life Dungeon Game

As early as the third day of the lockdown, the street was reopened, and pedestrians came and went on the bustling street.

"Your coffee, sir."

The waiter placed a cup of coffee next to the man who looked gentle.

"Just leave it there, thank you."

Li Cheng looked up at the waiter and thanked him in the language of the Tia Empire.

Should I add sugar for you?

The waiter carefully placed the coffee on the table, adding sugar as he casually asked, "Sir, you've been here for the past two days. Are you waiting for someone?"

"Waiting for a friend."

Li Cheng smiled gently, "Two pieces are enough, thank you."

Did your friend not arrange a specific time with you?

The waiter stopped what he was doing and asked, somewhat puzzled.

"He came back from a very far place, and we can't be sure of his exact arrival time."

Li Cheng maintained his gentle smile and picked up the coffee on the table. "Thank you for your help."

"It's nothing, it's my pleasure. Please enjoy your meal."

The waiter collected the tray and slowly left.

Li Cheng took a small sip of coffee, the rising steam brushing against his cheek.

While drinking his coffee, he glanced at the street. The dense crowd was just as it had been before; no one had suddenly appeared, and there was nothing unusual.

People continued to stroll leisurely through the streets.

Business as usual.

He turned his gaze away and looked at the computer in front of him.

The computer screen displays a summary report from those who survived the return of the ruins.

The report noted that this site is very different from previous sites.

First, the safe zone after arriving at the ruins is smaller; you'll encounter powerful monsters almost as soon as you walk out.

Secondly, the strength of the monsters near the safe zone has also increased significantly.

Previously, D-level explorers, when entering the ruins, would mostly encounter E-level beasts as long as they didn't go too far, with very few D-level beasts. But this time, they encountered a large number of D-level beasts, and even quite a few C-level beasts.

Many explorers returned with obvious injuries, even the strongest C-level superhuman, Ye Yun, was seriously injured.

Conversely, the chances of explorers discovering or finding powerful extraordinary items in the ruins have also increased.

It looks like some kind of 'newbie protection period' has ended, and the 'strength' of the ruins has been significantly upgraded.

Of course, none of these changes are actually the most eye-catching changes to the ruins this time.

The biggest change in the ruins this time is that the time flow between the ruins and the main world has changed from 12:1 to 6:1. So explorers who could return in 6 hours will now have to wait 12 hours.

In fact, the explorers spent three days in the ruins.

Although no organization knew what this change in the flow of time meant, almost everyone realized that something had changed at the ruins.

Some researchers have proposed a hypothesis that the difference in the rate of time flow is, in a sense, related to the distance between the ruins and the real world.

Related.

This decrease in the difference means that the ruins are getting closer to the main world.

No one can prove that this conjecture is correct, nor can anyone prove that it is wrong.

No one knows what it means that the ruins are close to the main world.

Because of this, researchers within various organizations have been arguing heatedly.

At this moment, Li Cheng was carefully reading the various speculations made by these researchers about this incident.

Just then, the bottom right corner of his computer screen flickered, and a chat avatar lit up.

He clicked on the profile picture; it was a message from Liu Zhengyun.

Liu Zhengyun: [Currently, Moonlight and World Tree have announced that those extraordinary individuals who have not yet returned will be included in the death list, and arrangements for compensation have begun.]

Liu Zhengyun: [We should also get into the process now. The logistics department has been urging us several times. There are also a few research projects here that need you to come back and take charge.]

Liu Zhengyun: [Normally, no one returns from the ruins...]

Liu Zhengyun: [Even if Hao Yi really is from the ruins and can get there in time, it's been four days and he hasn't returned yet. Maybe by the time he arrives...]

Liu Zhengyun: [Sigh]

Li Cheng stared at the messages, fell into a brief silence, then placed his hands on the keyboard and slowly typed a reply.

[Wait a little longer]

Liu Zhengyun's avatar flashed, and a line of text appeared next to it, displaying "[The other party is typing]". Then the text disappeared, and then "[The other party is typing]" appeared again before disappearing.

After this happened several times, he ultimately did not reply.

Li Cheng stared silently at the chat box. After a brief wait, he prepared to close it, just as a new message popped up.

Wu Lan: [Dean, are you not back yet?]

Li Cheng looked up at the message Wu Lan had sent earlier.

The previous message was from 2:30 AM today: "[Dean, Director Yang is drunk. He said he wanted to come and persuade you, but I stopped him.]"

The previous message was from around this time yesterday; it read, "[Dean, is he still not back?]"

Almost every day, there would be the same message, and Li Cheng would give the same answer.

He slowly raised his hand, preparing to reply to Wu Lan, and typed his reply into the input box.

click -

Before he could send the message, a slight sound of a chair being moved was heard beside him, followed by a slightly amused inquiry, "How's the coffee here?"

Li Cheng looked up at the seat in front of him, at the young man who had made no attempt to observe proper etiquette and sat down directly opposite him. He paused, took a sip of his coffee, and smiled.

"It's alright, but not as good as your cappuccino."

"You have to trust my eye for choosing coffee."

The young man shrugged.

"so······"

Li Cheng looked at the young man and asked tentatively.

"Dean."

At this moment, a figure stepped out from behind the young man, smiling as he looked at Li Cheng in front of him.

"came back?"

Li Cheng gazed at He Ao, his face still bearing a calm and gentle smile. "It's good that you're back."

"Eh!"

He quickly reached out and caught the coffee cup that was sliding down from the air.

A few drops of coffee liquid were scattered on the computer keyboard.

Li Cheng looked down at it.

The coffee cup with the handle in his hand now only had the handle remaining.

The part where the cup stem connects to the coffee cup was just accidentally crushed by him.

"Looks like we're here. I'll have to pay for another coffee cup before I leave."

Li Cheng smiled, his voice rising in pitch.

He Ao placed the coffee cup on the table, and at that moment Zhang Yusi and Yuan Guo also came out from behind him.

"Are you all back?"

Li Cheng glanced behind He Ao, then at He Ao, who was wearing a large coat that covered the bloodstains, and gave him a thumbs up. "Good lad, well done."

"Dean Li, shall we continue our discussion about the previous 'deal'?"

At this moment, Hao Yi stood up.

"Wait a mininute,"

Li Cheng nodded, closed his laptop, picked up his phone to send a message, looked at He Ao and the others, and smiled, "I called Li Le, he'll be here soon. Take a rest and go home."

"it is good."

Several people nodded at the same time.

"By the way, He Ao,"

At this moment, Li Cheng suddenly remembered something and looked at He Ao, "Go and contact your Department Yang. That old guy hasn't slept well for days."

"it is good."

He Ao nodded slightly.

Li Cheng discussed it with the coffee shop, paid for the cup, and then left with 'Hao Yi'.

He Ao, Zhang Yusi, and Yuan Guo rested in this coffee shop.

Asien wasn't with them; as soon as he got back, he went to find the Moonlight organization.

Shu Gui was taken directly to the hospital by He Aoxian because her injuries were too severe.

Zhang Yusi and Yuan Guo whispered something to each other, then the two of them came over to He Ao and said they needed to go to the restroom, temporarily leaving the coffee shop.

Just as the two were leaving, Li Le, carrying a shoulder bag, rushed over. As soon as he saw He Ao, he ran over immediately, his eyes visibly red.

"Hebe!"

He had also gone through life and death with He Ao back then.

“It’s okay,” He Ao patted his shoulder and smiled. “I’m back.”

"Ah."