Poverty makes me capable of anything.

An Ran glanced at the countdown clock on the wall: 4 minutes and 30 seconds. So that's how it is.

"You have the nerve to say that? If you hadn't been so slow last time, would we have rushed out with just pistols and bombs?" the leader of the charge immediately retorted.

"..."

Zhou Jieyu blushed and immediately retorted, "You learn from your mistakes. I was just trying to be helpful."

"Take care of yourself first, or you'll end up taking things from me again." The leader of the charge had already started choosing the weapons he wanted.

The dungeon is designed so that players can assemble their own set of equipment during the preparation phase.

This includes primary weapons, secondary weapons, and tactical attachments.

Anran chose a 3-round burst assault rifle as her primary weapon, equipped with a red dot sight.

His secondary weapon was a semi-automatic pistol equipped with a laser sight.

As for tactical accessories, they are still the usual combination of fragmentation grenades and flashbangs.

Let's go!

Anran stood at the exit, about to push the door open and go out.

"Wait, wait!" Zhou Jieyu called out immediately.

She has already fallen into the vortex of decision paralysis.

"Just grab any weapon you can..."

An Ran said nonchalantly, "They're just going to be used as cannon fodder anyway."

Emmm...

That's not a good way to put it, though; at least it's a mobile arsenal.

So Anran changed her mind and said, "Just take a sniper rifle and some grenades, that'll be enough."

With someone's guidance, Zhou Jieyu didn't need to bother making a choice.

After getting their equipment, the three of them stood at the door of the room.

Among them, those who lead the charge are the ones who most resemble special police officers.

Anran pushed open the door.

Just then, a narration suddenly sounded in their ears, beginning to tell them the background story of this instance.

"This is a small town located on the border, but a retired high-ranking government official lives in the town."

"The terrorist organization Morning Star had its sights set on this high-ranking government official, and they dispatched multiple units to attempt to assassinate him. Just before the operation was about to begin, the information was intercepted by the government."

"Due to the time constraints, the government had no choice but to send a special task force to disrupt the other side's plans."

"Mission objective: Ensure the survival of high-ranking officials before dawn (deadline: 6:00 AM)."

"Additional objective: +1 point for each Morningstar Rebel killed."

"Successfully eliminated all Morning Star Resistance invaders, points +50."

Narration complete.

An Ran asked, "What are the points used for?"

Zhou Jieyu shook her head: "I don't know."

An Ran looked at the leader of the charge again, and he shook his head as well.

An Ran lowered her head and thought. Since the dungeon has a points system, those points must be very useful.

The addition of extra objectives makes the same dungeon a completely different experience for experienced players and those who are not.

Even if a weakling tries every possible means to ensure the survival of a high-ranking official, success is not guaranteed.

While focusing on their main missions, the leader will also take the initiative to hunt down invading Morning Star resistance forces.

Shout it out, tell me, who is the real hunter?

"Croak, croak, croak..."

The sudden croaking of frogs brought An Ran back to her senses.

"Have we arrived?" An Ran looked up and found herself standing in a small alley.

There were no streetlights, only the faint light shining from the house next door.

Even the ground was muddy soil.

It truly lives up to its reputation as a remote town.

Outdated infrastructure, and the croaking that's most common sound on summer nights.

Listen to the chorus of frogs.

Looking further into the distance, Anran could also see green fireflies.

"Let's go find that high-ranking official first," Zhou Jieyu said softly.

"There's no rush yet."

Anran opened the extra panel.

"Croak, croak, croak..."

A virtual two-dimensional map with a red circle marking the location of an official.

Then, in the lower left corner of the map, there are also a points bar and a time bar.

Current points: 0.

It's 11:50 AM now, so there are still more than 6 hours left.

There are currently 30 minutes remaining until the Morning Star invasion.

“Let’s first conduct an on-site investigation near where the high-ranking officials live, and then make contact with the people from Morning Star to test their strength,” An Ran decided.

"No way, we're going to contact the people from Morning Star?" Zhou Jieyu and the leader of the charge exclaimed in surprise at the same time.

Isn't this just courting death?

"Offense is the best defense!" An Ran declared confidently.

Anyway, we won't really die here, so why not take a chance now? Besides, some players have been able to solo this dungeon before, so I don't believe I can't get through it even with two cannon fodder characters.

"..."

The objective of Chapter 25 is simply to keep the enemy alive.

Scouting terrain when there are no enemies is not a particularly difficult task.

An Ran still remembers that she has a job title called "Trainee Scout," which isn't very useful.

With two "cannon fodder" in tow, An Ran quickly made her way to the place where the retired officials lived.

According to the map, it is located in the central area of ​​the town, a prosperous area.

But this is only relative. After arriving at the destination, An Ran glanced around and found that the tallest building here was a 7-story commercial center.

The retired official's house was located to the side and back of the business center, next to a small green park.

The terrain is generally quite complex, and there are also many terrains suitable for surprise attacks if you are going to defend.

"Make sure you memorize the terrain properly, don't just keep staring at that commercial center," the leader of the charge said helplessly to Zhou Jieyu.

“I did memorize the terrain carefully!” Zhou Jieyu immediately retorted.

"Is it necessary to keep staring at that business center when memorizing the terrain?"

Zhou Jieyu exclaimed, "Brother, you don't understand. Look, I'm carrying a sniper rifle. Shouldn't a sniper be hiding in a high place to snipe people?"

"..."

The leader paused for a moment, then said, "What you said makes sense, but I don't think that's what you really think."

"How can a brother slander his own sister like that!" Zhou Jieyu immediately became unhappy.

"It's so noisy," An Ran frowned.

Two cannon fodder characters together are not cute at all.

She was wondering if it would be better to take one out first.

Zhou Jieyu inexplicably sensed a chill. The person leading the charge didn't react and was still lecturing Zhou Jieyu.

Or is it just my imagination?

Zhou Jieyu thought of it.

After circling the retired official's house several times, An Ran had no intention of seeing the official. She hesitated for a long time before finally asking, "Since our mission is to protect the retired official, why don't we go find her first?"

He learned from Zhou Jieyu that An Ran was very capable by leading the charge. In just twenty minutes of observation, he also found that An Ran was very professional, but his decision not to make contact with the target was really puzzling to him.

"Why do we have to contact him?" An Ran turned around and asked.

"This……"

The leader who charged forward was immediately stumped by a question: "The mission is to protect the target, so shouldn't we be making contact with it?"

“No one says that protecting a target requires making contact with the target,” An Ran said.

"..."

"Contacting the target now will not bring us any benefits, and may even put us in trouble due to some capricious actions by the target."

“You make a good point,” the leader of the charge said after thinking for a moment.

An Ran checked the time: "Protect the mission target. As long as he doesn't die, that's fine. We're here to participate in the assessment, not to be his babysitters."

"..."

Leading the charge, he broke out in a cold sweat.

Zhou Jieyu was gradually starting to understand An Ran's personality.

That's what Anran thought.

This is just a short-duration combat mission that lasts a few hours; the objective is to survive until 6 a.m. to complete it.