(I felt the ending of the previous chapter wasn’t quite right, so I added a short extra passage. If it doesn’t connect properly, babies, go back and take another look. I noticed that over two hundred of you have already clicked “urge for updates.”)
With the matter resolved, Chu Feng returned from the sea.
Chu Fu connected to the outside voice channel. “Brother, I’m running a dungeon. I’ll need a little over an hour!”
Chu Feng understood. Chu Fu wasn’t doing the dungeon alone, but she couldn’t use that as an excuse to avoid rehabilitation.
“Remember to work out once you’re done.”
“Okay…”
Chu Fu felt that exercising was painful now, too.
After all, she was omnipotent in the game, and the contrast upon returning to reality was enormous. On top of that, she had to take medication and eat regular food.
Rehabilitation also required physical exertion.
Her whole body hurt.
She practically wished Suture Saint could extract his ability and give her a couple of needles.
Come to think of it, once Suture Saint extracted his ability this time, she definitely had to go mooch off him—at the very least, she needed to do something about her muscle weakness.
Then Chu Fu continued leading the team through the dungeon.
Nightmare, Hell—even Abyss difficulty could not stop a team led by two SSS-rank players.
The speedrun rankings for [Lich King’s Shriek], however, were the exact opposite of those for [Necromancer’s Conspiracy].
For [Necromancer’s Conspiracy], the time limit in the standard dungeon was extremely tight, preventing many players from improving any further.
But for [Lich King’s Shriek], the time limit was thirty-eight minutes on Hard mode—and it was also thirty-eight minutes on Nightmare, Hell, and even Abyss difficulty.
No matter the mode, the damage-output requirements were simply too extreme for ordinary players.
Given everyone’s current average level and equipment, it was impossible to meet them.
As a result, the speedrun leaderboard could only compete over second through fourth place. First place had always been monopolized by Lu Xing.
But now his little sister had arrived!
Under Chu Fu’s leadership, the party bombarded everything in their path and cleared the dungeon completely.
On Abyss difficulty—
As the terrifyingly powerful Lich King collapsed to the ground, a huge pile of loot burst forth.
[Lich King’s Scepter (Dark Gold Grade)]
[Necromancer Class-Change Certificate (Special Class)]
[Improved Lich Phylactery (Dark Gold Revival Item)]
“Wow!!!”
Cheers immediately erupted throughout the party.
Although the Abyss-level [Lich King’s Shriek] dungeon was extremely difficult, its chance of dropping Dark Gold items was not one hundred percent—it was only ten percent.
High difficulty, poor drop rates, and few teams capable of meeting the requirements meant that Dark Gold equipment was quite rare even in Linjiang City.
Yet three valuable items had dropped at once: two pieces of equipment and a class-change certificate.
They had struck it rich this round.
“Although this is the Lich King’s staff, any magic-based class can use it—except healers. Starting bid: one hundred gold. Bids will be calculated according to contribution. I have priority bidding rights, so I bid one hundred gold. Any player bidding after me must bid double.”
“Two hundred gold!” Laoji Fuli made his move.
“Old sir, don’t say I didn’t give you a chance, but that’s far below market price. I’m a businesswoman—I can make a good profit even by reselling it! Five hundred gold!” Jiaojiao Bu Jiao joined the bidding.
A Dark Gold weapon was currently worth at least eight or nine hundred gold, and popular class equipment could even exceed one thousand gold.
Jiaojiao Bu Jiao’s real-world assets had taken a hit, but her in-game business was thriving. At the very least, the deputy mayor position Chu Fu had given her allowed her to open many shops.
Equipment shops were naturally the most profitable.
The Thorn Guild’s warehouse was overflowing as well, especially with gear from novice maps, all of which Jiaojiao Bu Jiao was handling.
Of course, Jiaojiao Bu Jiao knew better than anyone that money was hard to make in the low-end market. If she wanted profits, she had to deal in high-end goods.
So even though Laoji Fuli was an old chief, she would not yield too much.
There was no way she would let him take the weapon for only two hundred gold.
Laoji Fuli understood as well. In fact, he rather liked this atmosphere. It reminded him of when he had first entered the game and played alongside a group of young teammates.
Now, whenever he ran dungeons with official responsibilities attached, everyone was always giving way to him. He got all the good items, and sometimes he even felt as though he were being bribed.
It made him uncomfortable to take them.
Chu Fu’s party system really was excellent.
He continued bidding, and in the end, it was Shafu Liangu competing with Laoji Fuli for the item.
After all, the Lich King’s staff was actually highly compatible with a Gu Master as well.
In the end, Laoji Fuli secured the staff at the normal market price of seven hundred and eighty gold.
“Next is the Necromancer class-change token. It can be used to switch to a rare class and offers a substantial boost in combat power. Players who haven’t obtained a good class will definitely need it. It’s in high demand and short supply—if it went to auction, it could probably sell for over a thousand gold. Starting bid: five hundred gold.”
Jiaojiao Bu Jiao made another move.
She ultimately won it for one thousand gold.
Last came the Lich’s phylactery.
“[Improved Lich Phylactery (Dark Gold Revival Item)]. Its effect is that after death, you can revive from the phylactery within twenty-four hours. Each revival also permanently increases the attributes of Death and Dark skills by ten percent. It can be used indefinitely, saving you the cost of revival scrolls.
“Most importantly, doctors can’t treat themselves. This phylactery is actually especially suitable for healer classes—it’s a form of insurance.
“Holy Healing Angel cannot bid; her attributes are incompatible with it.
“Starting bid: one hundred gold.
“Based on contribution, Suture Saint gets the first bid. Other players must bid double.”
Suture Saint bid one hundred gold.
Little Sister Wu was a rich woman now too, having received Laoji Fuli’s money, so she joined the bidding.
In the end, she won the item for five hundred gold.
The other Gold-grade equipment was worth relatively little, so Jiaojiao Bu Jiao scooped it up at low prices for resale.
Afterward, the party distributed the earnings according to contribution percentages. As a level-thirty player, Laoji Fuli’s share would inevitably have been higher than Dream King’s and Bitter Melon King’s.
Yet he did not say a word about taking any money.
The old man understood better than anyone that, without Chu Fu leading the party, he could have led a team to clear the dungeon—but he would never have claimed first place on the speedrun rankings.
As someone who had paid to be carried, he absolutely could not take money from Chu Fu’s party.
Chu Fu’s contribution share was forty-two percent, and she earned another one thousand gold.
Once you reached higher levels, that was when the real money started coming in!
“Next, have Feng Huimin arrange a reasonable distribution for all of you. I need to log off and do some rehabilitation.”
“Don’t worry, Boss!” Feng Huimin immediately replied.
Chu Fu clicked out of the game. It was already three in the afternoon.
Under the guidance of a professional doctor, Chu Fu began her exercises.
A level-thirty player could extract their attributes. Logically, Chu Fu could have waited until she reached level thirty, extracted all her attributes at once, and spared herself the hardship she was enduring now.
But extracting in-game attributes came with many restrictions.
Previously, even using an extraction card had required deep sleep—let alone truly extracting strength.
Especially when going from nothing to something: if she tried to extract all of her strength at once, she could end up unconscious for three months.
If she spent three hours a day exercising now and restored her body to health, extracting those abilities later would become easier.
As she exercised, Chu Fu glanced through the news.
