Chapter 26: Illegitimate Child
Underground Research Institute, main hall.
By now, Asker, with his rich gaming experience, had a general outline of this anomaly in his mind.
It was a classic large-scale anomaly dungeon, with a three-layer structure:
The outermost layer, located in the material world, was a virtual town constructed from the residents’ consciousness, filled with various “nightmare monsters.”
On this layer, players not only had to deal with monster attacks but also beware of replicas created by the psychic anomaly infiltrating their team.
If they couldn’t find a way to identify the replicas, the only way for players to clear this level was to kill all the monsters in the dungeon before the team fell apart.
Once all the monsters were killed, the town’s residents would wake up – of course, they would still be trapped in the sea of subconsciousness. And the real world would simply become an empty, abandoned town, cleared of monsters.
Therefore, this was an imperfect clear method. Players could only obtain a bunch of Philosopher’s Stone fragments to sell for money.
The second layer, located in the fog of the sea of subconsciousness, was the real town of Runefield, which had been swapped out by the anomaly.
If players saw through the replicas’ trickery, the anomaly, after confirming this through some algorithm, would teleport these “clever players” to the second layer.
Here, players could find the sleeping residents and learn part of the truth about the anomaly’s formation.
As the players on the outermost layer killed more and more monsters, the sleeping residents on the second layer would gradually awaken.
Asker guessed that when the number of awakened residents reached a certain ratio, the real town would be attacked by monsters – after all, many strange psychic supernatural creatures also lived in the sea of subconsciousness.
If the players on this layer were ultimately wiped out, then they could only hope that the players outside could kill all the monsters and achieve the first type of clear condition.
If the players withstood the monster attack, they could then look for a way to send the real town back to the material plane.
For example, among the awakened townspeople, there might be a senior scholar of the Mind Sequence who mentioned a method to restore the anomaly, but this method required a large number of Mind-type transcendental materials.
Players could obtain enough transcendental materials by killing Mind-type supernatural creatures in the sea of subconsciousness, eventually swapping and restoring the real town and the virtual town, so the town residents could return safely, and the players could also receive a more generous reward from the Duke of Carinthia.
As a veteran game developer + long-time player + professional player, although Asker was just guessing, his estimation of the dungeon plot was pretty close.
Of course, this still couldn’t reveal the truth behind the anomaly. Therefore, this dungeon had another core layer, the source of the anomaly – the ancient Solomon Empire research ruins.
This was equivalent to the dungeon’s EX hidden high-difficulty map. If the players were high-level enough to easily crush supernatural creatures, or had a strong desire to explore and were meticulous enough, or were simply lucky enough, they could find the entrance to the underground area in a remote warehouse.
It was conceivable that there would be more difficult high-level monsters in the research institute, as well as more generous rewards – potions or supernatural equipment.
To be fair, this dungeon system was well-structured, catering to combat-focused players who loved fighting, intellectual players who liked analyzing and reasoning the plot, and RPG players who enjoyed exploring and looting. In the game forums of his previous life, this dungeon would score at least 8 out of 10.
“Chief Asker!” Hans called out. “What do we do next?”
Asker came back to his senses, looked at the disgruntled swordsmen, and said calmly:
“This should be the entrance hall of the research institute. Let’s continue forward, maintain battle formation, and be ready to deal with any anomalies and monster attacks.”
“What kind of formation specifically?” Hans asked.
“Simple.” Asker said. “Three people per squad: a Fury Sword Style swordsman in the center, flanked by a Dueling Sword Style and a Splitting Sword Style swordsman. Outside the squads, the Winding Sword Style takes the lead and engages first, while the Glancing Sword Style disperses throughout the team, maintaining mobility.”
“All squads advance in an arc formation, with spellcasters and healers protected in the center.”
Isn’t that just what we always do? The swordsmen complained inwardly, since this was basically their usual formation.
The five styles of Richard Tennar’s swordsmanship, theoretically, every swordsman of each style would also practice the moves of all other styles. However, depending on the style, the swordsmen would have their own signature moves and fighting styles.
Fury Sword Style focused on “Mountain Splitter,” emphasizing offensive pressure, attacking wildly like a raging fire to quickly kill enemies.
Dueling Sword Style focused on “Throat Cut,” emphasizing weapon clashes and parries, focusing on defensive counterattacks.
Splitting Sword Style focused on “Moon Slash,” emphasizing dodging and attacking, a counter-attacking swordsmanship.
Therefore, Fury Sword Style dealing damage in the center, flanked by Dueling Sword Style and Splitting Sword Style for support, was the most standard formation.
Winding Sword Style focused on mobile offense, requiring quick reactions and decisive strikes. Dodging immediately after the enemy attacked and following up with a “Half Moon Slash” was very effective against surprise attacks.
Glancing Sword Style was a pure assassin-type swordsmanship, specializing in “Lunge.” They would stand sideways and glance at the opponent, luring them to attack, creating opportunities through defense and parries, and then ending the fight with a sudden slash or thrust.
In summary, the characteristics of the five sword styles had already determined the roles of the swordsmen in the formation. Asker’s tactical arrangement…was very standard, lacking any unique features, causing collective complaints from the swordsmen.
However, Hans fell into deep thought, he wasn’t as simple-minded as the other swordsmen. In fact, from the moment Asker effortlessly arranged this formation, Hans had immediately realized the key point:
This Chief Asker, who had never had any contact with their Richard Tennar Swordsman Group before, clearly knew the style and characteristics of each of their swordsmanship styles!
How did he do it? Hmm? Right! Could he be Master’s illegitimate child out there?
All the clues quickly connected in Hans’s mind.
Why did Master, usually a man of few words, recite so many poems today – a father reunited with his son, his heart filled with joy.
Why could this Asker withstand Master’s sonic boom attacks – demigod bloodline, extraordinary.
Why did Master insist on giving Asker the title of chief – inheriting the family business, continuing the glory.
Holy crap! Then wouldn’t this Asker become the leader of the Richard Tennar Swordsman Group in the future?!
Although Master was already a demigod, with an incredibly long lifespan, there was no guarantee that one day, in pursuit of a higher realm, he wouldn’t hand over all worldly affairs to Asker. If that day really came…
He had to start sucking up now!
“Hans.” A call startled Hans from his daydream. He turned his head and saw Martin, the fifteenth in command, sneaking over:
“It’s like this, everyone thinks this Asker guy is unreliable. It would be best if you led the team, Hans, otherwise, what if he gives us bad commands…”
“How do you know he will give us bad commands?” Hans glared and snapped.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Martin said with a smile. “Look at the formation he arranged, so bland and uninspired…”
“What do you mean bland and uninspired, that’s called steady! Steady, understand?” Hans scolded him. “Stop thinking about useless things, and tell those troublemakers behind you, whoever disrespects Chief Asker is disrespecting me, Hans! If anyone dares to disrespect me, I’ll kill them during training!”
Martin: …
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