Golden Bell Armor Iron Shirt was right—the next 20 days were indeed a chaotic parade of ghosts.
But the second 10-day dungeon was rather dull: "I’m the Best at Moving Bricks."
If not for her determination to maintain her perfect dungeon attendance record, Qi Xu wouldn’t have bothered participating. She had a hunch that keeping up the streak meant something—persistence always paid off.
Even though this dungeon had saved her life in the previous round of the game... it was honestly boring. Pure manual labor—the player who moved the most bricks within the time limit ranked highest.
So this dungeon was all about brute effort.
As long as you were willing to work hard and didn’t slack off, your final results would be decent. Players who pushed themselves to their physical limits even received attribute bonuses to enhance their strength. The only downside? Exhaustion.
But! It earned overwhelming praise from the player base, who clamored for the survival game to design future dungeons according to this standard—no more princess banquets or moral dilemmas.
"Just moving bricks is great! We absolutely love moving bricks!" For a while, the chat hall was flooded with frenzied adoration for Qiuqiu...
Qiuqiu: "......"
"I kinda prefer it when you guys curse at me. This vibe feels off."
Qi Xu naturally gained 2 strength points. Staring at her newly boosted strength attribute of 116, she fell into deep thought. She always felt she was more of an agility-type.
But the numbers spelled it out plainly: "No, you’re Popeye the Sailor Woman, the Queen of Brute Force!"
Qi Xu’s personality was such that if she participated in something, she gave it her all. She basically sprinted nonstop for four hours, furiously moving 329 bricks, edging out second-place Golden Bell Armor Iron Shirt by a mere six bricks to claim the top spot.
By the time she emerged, she was practically gasping for air, her hands shaking like she had Parkinson’s. It was more exhausting than fighting monsters for two hours straight. Clearly, players with high strength attributes had a massive advantage here.
She figured that running the whole time would at least help her keep up. After all, as a top-ranked player, not making the top three in a dungeon would be embarrassing—she had an image to maintain!
Who knew she’d end up in first place?
After exiting the dungeon and seeing the rankings, Qi Xu threw her head back and let out a triumphant roar, then immediately unleashed her bragging rights in the elite golden group chat.
"No such thing as too much grind—only more grind! This is the secret to healthy competition among comrades."
"What’s going on? I actually got first place in this kind of dungeon? Y’all are kinda weak, huh? Hehe."
Everyone: "......"
"Did Sister Cut You’s influence rub off on Whirlwind Boss? Even her speech style changed..."
Egg Nine, Egg Seven, Golden Bell Armor Iron Shirt, Old White Dragon in the Waves, Swimming & Fitness Coach Chen A, and the other strength-focused players instantly flushed red with embarrassment!
But when they learned that Whirlwind Boss had sprinted the entire time without a single second of rest...
They suddenly felt she totally deserved first place. Already this strong, yet still grinding this hard... It put pressure on everyone, pushing them to work even harder.
This was exactly the dynamic Qi Xu wanted to see.
"Born in hardship, die in comfort." Even though everyone got along well, enjoyed themselves daily, and supported each other whenever needed—making everything seem perfect—
It was like a beautiful, iridescent bubble. Gorgeous, yes, but fragile! They needed to stay sharp, stay relentless. That was the right energy!
As for Breaking Cocoon into Butterfly, Blessed by Luck, Cursed by Misfortune, Vitality Brother, and Magic Sister—players whose strength wasn’t top-tier—they were actually the most hardcore.
Sister Cut You and Song Peifeng... Qi Xu worried they’d work themselves to death. Every night, she made them check in to confirm they were still alive before she could rest peacefully. She never had to worry about these two slacking off.
They always fought like their lives depended on it. Sister Cut You was fine—she was well-rounded and formidable—but Song Peifeng... pure glass cannon.
Of course, there were also two... textbook examples of the opposite.
Bian and Master Chef happily embraced the slacker life together every day, especially after Little Tortoise leveled up and could shield their vehicle.
Bian immediately hitched a ride with Little Tortoise, and the two spent their days eating, drinking, and relaxing—one experimenting with gourmet dishes, the other tapping away on a computer.
Qi Xu felt this wasn’t ideal and once tried to take them monster-hunting. The experience left her questioning reality.
Master Chef’s legs trembled so badly Qi Xu’s heart ached for him. Without his shield, the kid lost all confidence, stumbling over his words.
As for Bian...
Qi Xu finally found a weaker rat, pinned down its head and legs, and handed Bian a dagger to finish it off. Bian was brave—no hesitation, charging straight in.
For a second, Qi Xu thought, "This kid’s got potential," eagerly anticipating his growth.
But it took him three stabs to draw blood...
The rat got so mad it started screeching and spitting everywhere!
"Kill if you must, but don’t torture! A rat deserves dignity—what’s with this half-hearted nonsense?!"
In the end, it shot Qi Xu and Bian a look of utter betrayal and slammed its head into the ground, committing suicide.
"Boss, it... it kinda feels like we went too far. And it cursed at me."
"Yeah, we kinda did. But letting it curse us a bit isn’t a big deal..."
The only silver lining was that Qi Xu’s loot luck had been decent lately. She was now only 2,000 vehicle upgrade cards short of the 10,000 needed to reach Level 7.
In the last game cycle, she never managed to collect all 10,000, so she didn’t know what other materials were required for Level 7.
She’d only heard players mention something about a "Ten-Thousand Axle Core," but details were scarce.
Qi Xu genuinely hoped the "Chaotic Parade of Ghosts" would last a few more months—she’d gather the Level 7 materials in no time.
Whether other players liked it or not, Qi Xu adored it. Little Seven and Sweet Girl had grown strong enough to fight independently, and Little Seven could even spar with Qi Xu now.
Though he often ended up "gently" kicked to the ground by her. When the master loves you, it’s real love—but when she kicks you, it’s real pain...
But no hard feelings! "Spare the rod, spoil the child." It’s all sincere expectations, so the two pets absolutely loved it!
Tonight, another dungeon was arriving.
All players were currently hanging out in the chat hall, hoping for another "moving bricks"-style, player-friendly dungeon.
They showered Qiuqiu with flattery, but Qiuqiu remained silent, ignoring every word.
Qi Xu, meanwhile, hoped for a team dungeon. She’d long promised to mentor Blessed by Luck and Breaking Cocoon into Butterfly but never got the chance. She also wanted another opportunity to interact with Fortune God's Only Daughter.
That girl was still embroiled in endless verbal battles with players from District 444—nonstop, without a hint of fatigue.
...........
