Chu Fu was a bit troubled.
“I’d like to, but I don’t know how to notify anyone. I don’t even know which hospital I’m staying in now, and I can’t remember my brother’s phone number!
All I know is he arranged a game pod for me and told the nurse to take good care of me and give me nutrient fluids.”
After all, Chu Fu had transmigrated, and the original owner had been in a coma for three years as a vegetable. Besides, even the phone numbers of the closest people are stored in phones—no one necessarily memorizes them.
Thus, she had naturally lost all means of contact.
Suture Saint said cautiously, “A game pod costs one million each, and your brother even arranged for a nurse to look after you? That alone would make any hospital curious. I can ask my senior and junior fellow apprentices if they’ve heard anything about you.”
“Okay! My name is Chu Fu, and my brother’s name is Chu Feng,” Chu Fu replied.
Who’s Calling Who Blind had paused earlier while helping fight monsters up front. Hearing this voice, their figure froze for a moment.
He wanted to take off his blindfold and turn around, but he felt the gesture would be strange.
No wonder…
No wonder she had helped fight against Universe Studio as soon as they met.
But thinking that there were still outsiders around, Who’s Calling Who Blind said nothing more and focused on fighting the monsters.
“I’ll also help get in touch. I have relatives who are doctors,” Shen Chi said softly.
“Great! Once I contact my brother, I’ll ask for more dungeon guides and hidden quests!”
Chu Fu felt there was nothing she couldn’t share.
Whenever she read the book, she always had a strange feeling in her heart.
Chu Feng had chosen a lone wolf path, getting everything himself, becoming incredibly powerful—but that path was too lonely and too helpless.
At the end of the book, he fought the beast tide alone, but countless compatriots died, and cities were frequently destroyed in tragedies.
For guides and quests that didn’t conflict with interests, Chu Fu felt it didn’t hurt to share them. If more humans mastered them, naturally there would be more fresh forces to join this battle.
The ancestors had relied on this kind of spirit—working together to create the prosperous era they now enjoyed—not on a lone hero, to achieve peace.
Chu Fu wouldn’t dare claim that just because she was in the book, she could achieve what Chu Feng had.
But she didn’t want everyone to end up with a tragic fate.
At least now, Chu Fu had met four teammates, and she hoped they would all do well, shine brilliantly in the game, and later, when the game invaded, every one of them could become heroes, holding back the countless invading beasts.
“Then I’ll definitely latch onto your brother’s coattails! Don’t worry, I won’t freeload—I’ll pay for the guides,” Jiao Jiao Bu Jiao said.
“Hmph, why not latch onto my coattails? My golden thighs are pretty thick too!”
Jiao Jiao Bu Jiao made a disgusted face, then patted her arm.
“Plant girl, take a look. Are your thighs any thicker than my arms?”
Chu Fu looked down—her arms were like twigs, skin and bones, the flesh hanging loosely, not firm at all.
She really was too scrawny.
“Dammit! I’ll fight you, you well-fed rich girl!” Chu Fu said, deliberately grinding her teeth, but because she was so weak, her voice lacked strength and came out soft and tender.
“Hahaha!” The dungeon echoed with Jiao Jiao Bu Jiao’s hearty laughter. When you’re weak, even anger looks adorable.
If it weren’t for the fact that Chu Fu was a top-tier player in the game, in real life she would have been seen as a delicate little sister, the kind who’d be pampered and protected.
Chu Fu didn’t feel offended, either. She could tell there was no malice in Jiao Jiao Bu Jiao’s smile, and she didn’t take it to heart or feel upset.
That was because she knew what the future held.
A year from now—no, nine months—the monsters would descend.
Before Chu Feng’s rebirth, the game’s invasion had indeed happened a year later.
But perhaps because Chu Feng’s presence was like a butterfly flapping its wings, the overall strength of the players had increased far more than in his previous life. This caused the game’s fusion with reality to occur in the tenth month instead.
Now, the servers had been open for thirty days.
In just nine months, every player above level ten would be able to synchronize their stats with the real world.
By then—by then—she, with her super high stats, would finally become healthy.
Before the invasion came, she needed to stack as many attribute points as possible.
At the very least, she couldn’t afford to miss the attribute rewards from nightmare-level dungeons.
While the group chatted, gossiped, and badmouthed Huan Yu Studio, the thousand monsters finally finished respawning.
They walked through the corridor and arrived at the first cavern hall.
A figure appeared, standing upright like a human, wearing a tattered robe and holding a bone staff.
It was a white mouse.
【Mutant Rat Sorcerer (BOSS) Level 5, HP: 12,000.】
It raised its bone staff, ready to strike.
“I’ll tank!”
Jiao Jiao Bu Jiao had paid for the run, and Chu Fu was willing to let her coast through the dungeon, but Jiao Jiao Bu Jiao wanted to train herself instead.
She raised her shield and charged forward, blocking the Mutant Rat Sorcerer’s attack.
[Taunt.]
“Roar!”
Jiao Jiao Bu Jiao let out a fierce cry, and the Mutant Rat Sorcerer’s blood-red eyes locked onto her, ignoring everyone else.
But the staff strike barely scratched her.
“It’s out of mana—its combat power’s down by eighty percent! Go all out!” Chu Fu shouted as she started planting dandelions and clematis vines.
“Squeak squeak squeak squeak!”
The Mutant Rat Sorcerer shrieked.
That was its skill for calling in guards.
Too bad—no rats came to save it.
Shen Chi and That Guy Who Called Me Blind went all out, and soon the Mutant Rat Sorcerer collapsed.
Drops scattered across the floor; they picked them up and added them to the team loot panel.
“A skill book and two pieces of Black Iron gear dropped!”
【Summon Rat Minion: Summon a mutated rat minion to fight for you. The rat minion has its own independent XP bar and can level up. It returns to the pet dimension when offline, but its growth resets to zero if it dies.
Class Restriction: Summoner, Beast Tamer, and related professions.】
Finally, a good piece of loot, and no one in the team could use it.
But Chu Fu knew that this was how the Mutant Rat Sorcerer’s loot pool worked. This skill book was its signature skill and a must-have for summoners.
“Do you want to take it, Jiao Jiao?”
“Sure. I remember there’s a Beast Tamer in the party who runs a reptile shop in real life; she’s been trying to contract the village cats. Now she’ll get three big rats instead.”
The skill book had dropped in previous major zones too, with a current price of about 10 silver coins. Since this was the first one on the server, Jiao Jiao Bu Jiao added 5 extra silver coins. The two Black Iron items were decent as well.
【Wizard Rat Ring (Black Iron): Magical Attack +5, Spirit +1.】
【Rat Hide Belt (Black Iron): Defense 7, Agility +1.】
Chu Fu unhesitatingly claimed the Rat Spirit Ring. Accessories were relatively rare, priced higher than regular equipment but not as costly as weapons, so she contributed 650 copper coins to the team pool.
Shen Chi also took the Rat Skin Belt, adding 400 copper coins.
Then, as the team leader, Chu Fu distributed the boss’s earnings.
The payout was based on each member’s contribution percentage. Arrogant Yet Full of Charm and Suture Saint held 2% and 1% respectively, earning a few hundred copper coins.
“No need to pay me. I just wanted to join in. Doing this makes it awkward for me to bid later!” Arrogant Yet Full of Charm quickly said.
“Same here. My healing output was just padding. Getting a share feels embarrassing!” Suture Saint said sheepishly.
“Consider it a participation bonus. The real rewards still come from our rich benefactor Arrogant Yet Full of Charm. Don’t fret over small change. Let’s keep going—there’s another boss!” Chu Fu knew that leading a team required fairness. For now, Arrogant Yet Full of Charm was the sponsor, but she could become a teammate in the future.
Just because she contributed money didn’t mean she escaped earning her share based on team contribution.
Similarly, every team member who wanted equipment purchased it at a fair price, after which the earnings were distributed to everyone. That was the only way to ensure fairness.
Not dwelling on these trivial amounts, Chu Fu turned her gaze to the three tunnels ahead.
The nightmare-level dungeon differed from the previous two in one key way: the maze!
With three entrances, Chu Fu recalled that the correct path was the third one. However, the exact route beyond that wasn’t described in detail in the novel.
She had no clue and could only rely on guesswork.
