He Wuning and Yi Luo’s plan received an unexpected level of support.
The command center directly assigned six combat teams to participate in this experimental operation. Incidentally, because the captain of the third team had been “honorably injured” the day before and was still at the treatment center with Bai Yan getting a debuff removed, Ji Ou’s seventh team was chosen as a replacement.
The lucky bastard himself looked expressionless — as if still unsure whether he should consider this good luck or bad.
They chose the Level 20 dungeon “Botanical Garden.” It was notoriously troublesome: most monsters inside were plant-type. The first boss was a giant man-eating flower that sprayed paralytic powder. The second boss was a carnivorous plant that spat corrosive acid. The final boss, an ancient vine monster, had an enormous health bar and could summon five random monsters (levels 10–20) every fifteen seconds.
That meant—if your luck was bad, it might summon a few weak mobs. If your luck was good... it might summon field bosses or bosses from other dungeons.
Even with reduced attack power, their sheer numbers and randomness made the fight extremely chaotic.
To avoid “too much good luck” from the monsters, Ji Ou’s seventh team was sent in first to trigger the dungeon.
Ji Ou glanced back at the others with deep resignation. “Alright, I’m going in.”
“Don’t take too long to follow!”
Behind him, the six teams raised their milk teas in unison, as if to toast him.
The seventh team returned the gesture, downed their drinks, and strode into the dungeon with tragic determination.
Yi Luo chuckled. “How funny. We’re going in to gang up on the boss, but he’s acting like he’s marching to his death.”
“He’s just giving the boss the respect it deserves.”
The shrill ringtone of the milk tea car cut through the air. He Wuning picked it up. “Hello.”
Ji Ou’s voice came through the line: “The dungeon’s on Hard Mode! Our team’s already one of the weaker ones physically—why’s it still Hard Mode?!”
After a quick complaint, he got to the point. “One original milk tea, ASAP.”
Since their team was still stronger than most normal players, being thrown into Hard Mode wasn’t that strange.
After He Wuning hung up, he turned around to see Xing Yue’s first team already piling into the milk tea car, eager to go. “All in position!”
The captain of the second team, a crew-cut man with a fierce face, called out, “Hey, Xing Yue! Don’t finish too fast—leave a few for us!”
Xing Yue grinned. “Depends how fast you move!”
A portal shimmered into view in front of the milk tea car. Yi Luo hit the gas, and the overloaded pink vehicle roared straight into the Botanical Garden dungeon, packed full of “stowaways.”
Meanwhile, Ji Ou’s team was still trudging slowly toward the first boss.
Their team had a support member who could reduce all debuffs by 50%, but since they’d already drunk Taro Milk Tea (which made them immune to paralysis), the poor guy was basically useless now. He looked gloomy and complained to his lazy captain, “Sir, if we go this slow, the other teams are going to make fun of us.”
“It’s fine,” said the vice-captain Tang Yu gently. “No one would dare make fun of our captain. Not if they don’t want bad luck.”
Ji Ou: “…”
The pink milk tea car burst through the portal with a roar. Perched on its roof in beast form, Xing Yue laughed loudly. “Hey, Ji Ou! You still dragging your feet? We’re going first!”
“Hahaha!”
His whole team leapt down from the car and charged the first boss head-on.
Tang Yu watched calmly. “Oh, except for that one. He’s doomed with or without our captain’s curse.”
The words had barely left her lips when the hulking orc, who had just leapt high to strike from above, tripped over his own feet—left foot on right—and fell headfirst into the man-eating flower’s mouth, completely blocking a burst of paralyzing pollen.
If he hadn’t drunk the taro milk tea, he’d probably be immobilized right now.
Even so, his self-sacrificial “heroic pose” looked ridiculously comical.
One of Ji Ou’s teammates coughed awkwardly. “So, uh… which one’s stronger, our captain’s good luck or Xing Yue’s bad luck?”
Yi Luo strolled over lazily. “Because Xing Yue’s bad luck made him fall in, and Ji Ou’s good luck nullified the pollen. Perfect balance — your character arcs are intact.”
Ji Ou: “…”
He Wuning got out of the car, tossed Ji Ou a cup of original milk tea as per his “order,” then glanced toward the overexcited first squad. “Hold them back a bit. We’re testing whether all six teams can be pulled in. If they kill it too fast, how will I run the next test?”
Ji Ou shrank his neck. “Uh, how am I supposed to hold them back?”
Tang Yu smiled sweetly, looking toward the chaotic battle. The first squad was currently trying to pull their captain out of the monster’s mouth—some climbing the vines, some tugging his legs, while Xing Yue kicked and clawed wildly, his tail puffed out like a cat’s. “Then maybe just… don’t pull him out yet?”
Ji Ou: “…That’ll suffocate him, won’t it?”
He Wuning and Yi Luo didn’t join the fight. “Two minutes,” Q-chan reminded them.
As planned, after two minutes inside, the outside teams would call in another “delivery order,” prompting the milk tea car to exit and pick them up.
Right on cue, the phone rang. To save time, the caller again ordered just one original milk tea.
The two worked in perfect sync—one slid into the driver’s seat, the other to the control panel. The pink milk tea car shot through the portal once again and vanished from the dungeon.
Ji Ou sighed in resignation. “Alright… let’s go.”
Tang Yu smiled. “You mean to go help?”
“No.” Ji Ou rubbed his temples. “To stop them.”
After a few trips back and forth, all six teams were now neatly lined up before the final boss. The crowd was dense and bustling, the scene lively enough that for a moment, He Wuning felt like he’d left the game entirely and returned to a normal botanical garden on a public holiday.
Only this time, the “visitors” weren’t exactly friendly — every one of them was armed to the teeth, and their smiles looked particularly dangerous.
He Wuning could already hear the crackle of static several times. The “Voice of the World” seemed to want to say something, but technically speaking, He Wuning wasn’t breaking any rules. The game never stated that players couldn’t move in and out of a dungeon freely, nor did it forbid “delivery vehicles” from carrying unrelated passengers.
Even if the system decided to patch this exploit later, the old vine monster standing before them wasn’t going to escape death today.
Shaking off the pollen clinging to his fur, Xing Yue bared his teeth in a fierce grin. “Heh, so you’ve got your comeuppance today, huh, boss?”
“Go!”
The ranged attackers responded first — fireballs, ice spikes, arrows, and bullets rained down like a storm, engulfing the dungeon boss completely. He Wuning watched its HP bar plummet — 20% gone in the blink of an eye.
He had intended to join the fight, but with so many people crowded together, there wasn’t even room to swing a blade. So he simply leaned against the milk tea car and admired the chaotic beauty of violence.
Team Five had even brought experimental weapons from the tech department — two cannons, over a dozen guns, and a whole basket of explosives. Even Yi Luo couldn’t help but comment, “Isn’t this… a little overkill?”
The monster’s HP quickly dropped to 50%. Just then, He Wuning locked eyes with it — and a familiar sense of dread hit him. His expression hardened. “It’s coming.”
The monster suddenly ramped up its attack speed. The old vine monster seemed to gain intelligence, tendrils bursting from the ground to destroy both cannons in seconds — and then whipping straight toward He Wuning.
“He Wuning!”
Before he could even draw his blade, the other combatants sensed the danger. They all turned at once, shouting his name, and in an instant, bodies rushed forward, layer after layer blocking the oncoming vines.
Yi Luo, who had just raised his shield in front of him, muttered dryly, “Alright, that’s enough. You’ve taken all the fighting — can I at least get one chance to show off?”
He Wuning lifted his gaze. He could almost feel it — the old vine monster had come alive. Its target was him. But…
Even with its abnormal strength from those “administrator permission fragments,” there was nothing it could do against this overwhelming sea of players.
He tilted his head back to look at it. The old vine monster was steadily losing ground—its HP was dropping smoothly and was about to hit zero—but for some reason, He Wuning still felt a faint sense of unease.
The crackling sound of electricity rang out again, but this time, the voice of the world spoke: “Difficulty adjustment request received. Verifying administrator permissions… authentication successful. Dungeon difficulty adjusted to—Nightmare level.”
“Welcome to the Nightmare Botanical Garden. Enjoy your game.”
He Wuning instinctively gripped the Tang sword in his hand. “Nightmare level?”
Yi Luo’s expression darkened. “According to the intel Xue Xun got, the highest dungeon difficulty ever discovered was only Hard... Who knew there was actually a Nightmare level!”
The monster was forced back, HP steadily falling toward zero. Even if the difficulty of the dungeon was suddenly increased at this time, it seemed to be struggling to its death.
The unease in He Wuning’s gut only grew stronger. He frowned. “Everyone, stay alert!”
The next instant, the old vine monster’s HP hit zero — but it didn’t die. Instead, it let out a long, hoarse scream. “No one leaves a nightmare alive,” it rasped, voice like a dry, cracking old man’s. “One of you must stay behind.”
The attacks didn’t stop, but every strike landed uselessly — the boss was immune.
Its eyes swept over the crowd and fixed on He Wuning. “Player He Wuning, bearer of administrator privileges… I came for you. Now, I give you the right to choose. Tell me — who will be my final sacrifice?”
“This is a skill I can only use in Nightmare Mode — the power to burn my life away and take one enemy with me.”
“Now then, speak the name.”
He Wuning stared back, expression unreadable. “A name?”
“Yes,” the vine monster hissed, grinning. “The name of the sacrifice. Come, choose quickly — or I’ll choose myself. How about this little girl with the taunting skill? She’s weak, but I do have a fondness for tender prey…”
“Or perhaps the lucky one over there — luck is such an annoying trait. Why not kill him first?”
He Wuning stepped forward. “I choose He Wuning.”
“Hey!” Yi Luo’s face changed instantly.
He Wuning glanced back at him, and Yi Luo froze — realizing suddenly that He Wuning knew something.
He repeated calmly, “I choose He. Wu. Ning.”
Xing Yue cursed. “No way! Pick me instead!”
“What a noble spirit of sacrifice,” the vine monster sneered. “Very well then — come to hell, He Wuning—”
But He Wuning stood motionless.
Nothing happened. The old vine monster’s body began to dissolve into streams of data. Its eyes widened in disbelief. “Why… impossible! Why doesn’t it work?!”
He Wuning suddenly chuckled — the carefree grin of a kid whose prank had just succeeded. Tilting his head slightly, he smirked. “Idiot. Who the hell uses their real name in a game?”
The author has something to say: All combat division members: “An arrow to the knee…”
Smart readers should already have guessed what our dear Brother He’s real name is. Cough.
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