I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Chapter 342 1.23 5 Paper Cutting
Bertias frowned slightly, sensing something was wrong, but upon closer inspection, he couldn't detect anything.

A delicate black butterfly fluttered its beautiful, translucent wings as it flew by, scattering specks of phosphorescent powder that shimmered with an eerie black light.

Lan Xiao looked up at Bertias, her face showing no fear whatsoever, but rather a faint smile. She slowly stood up, extending a finger slightly, and the black butterfly gently landed on her slender, white finger.

The translucent black wings, upon closer inspection, appear to be painted with black mandala patterns, both magnificent and alluring, exuding an indescribable beauty.

His blue-gray eyes reflected the slightly eerie black butterfly, and Bertias subconsciously took a step back. He had never seen a butterfly with such pure black wings that were transparent and had black mandala patterns on them.

Something unusual must be going on; this butterfly must have some important connection with Lan Xiao.

"Want to cooperate?" Beltias asked with a light laugh, extending his hand towards Lan Xiao.

With her emerald eyes fixed on Bertias, Lan Xiao remained silent, her long, curled golden eyelashes fluttering like tiny wings.

“If you don’t speak, I’ll take that as a yes,” Bertias said again.

"Why me?" Lan Xiao asked softly. "Wouldn't it have been better to ask Ye Gui or Ke Ya? Or at the very least, Ling Tong, who is also a boy, would have been a good choice."

"Ling Tong seemed reluctant to get close, so it's unlikely we'd cooperate. As for Ke Ya, judging from her attitude, she doesn't seem interested in cooperating with others either. I suspect she's been through something, which is why she won't act with anyone else."

I don't understand Mu Yegui. There's a sense of calm before a storm, which is too dangerous, so I'll skip it. As for that girl... never mind.

"After much thought, you're the only one I see who I can work with. Besides, I think you're not as timid as you appear, and you're quite intelligent; you'd be a good partner." Bertias pondered, glancing briefly at Lan Xiao with her blue-gray eyes, and spoke slowly.

"Use it?" Lan Xiao asked.

"It should be said that we're mutually exploiting each other. You probably need me too, right? I don't believe that with an eighth rule, anyone would still choose to genuinely trust their teammates to do well in dungeons without any reservations. Even a three-year-old wouldn't believe that," Bertias said with a light laugh.

“All of the player’s actions are reasonable and there is no violation of any rules,” Lan Xiao said softly, lowering her eyes.

"Yeah, everything is justified. Even killing a teammate to prevent them from dragging the team down is justified. It's a great rule. It's like encouraging infighting. For someone who's overconfident, I actually prefer to do dungeons alone rather than cooperate, but this is just too slow."

Bertias shrugged and added, "Before the story begins, you'll still need teammates' help. After the story begins, the need for teammates becomes less significant. This instance has never mentioned its level, so I speculate that it can be upgraded to a Crown Prince instance."

I haven't done the Crown Prince instance yet. Wouldn't it be great if I could upgrade it if I had the resources?

Lan Xiao remained silent, simply listening quietly to Bertias's eloquent speech.

Suddenly, she looked at Bertias and said, "Do you think that upgrading the instance to the Crown Prince level is due to the same undisclosed third rule?"

"Yes, that's what I think. If Mu Yegui hadn't thrown the card away, we would have known the whole story, and then we would naturally know what would happen next. In that case, the second rule becomes very simple."

If it ended there, why bother writing out the third rule? Koya didn't suggest analyzing the quest, but skipped it and went straight to analyzing the rules. She probably wanted to hide something and mislead us into not thinking about the quest for now. Because it's obvious that the meaning of the quest is clear once you think about it. The most important third rule will be key to whether this instance becomes the Crown Prince instance. The first and second rules seem less important.

The three rules correspond to the start, process, and result. If the process ends, the result will not be visible.

I think Mu Yegui threw away that card very well; at least he threw away the most important part, which could potentially prevent the completion of the second rule and thus unlock the third rule. What I want is to turn the possible into the certain, because a possibility is just a possibility, while a certainty is something that will definitely happen.

"The rewards from the Crown Prince instance are incomparable to those from ordinary instances. Don't you want them?" Bertias stared intently at Lan Xiao and asked softly.

"The rules don't specify what the reward is. Can I assume you're trying to get something for nothing?" Lan Xiao teased the black butterfly with her finger, speaking with a pointed remark.

"Lan Xiao doesn't even dare to gamble on this little bit?" Beltias chuckled.

"I'm just a coward. I'm most afraid of games with a gambling element. People with bad luck should never think about taking chances. The more you think about it, the less likely it is to happen, and in the end, you'll only be disappointed." Lan Xiao's words were very soft, as if she was warning herself about something, or as if she was warning herself about nothing at all.

“But I want to gamble,” Bertias said.

“Compared to a mundane life, I definitely need excitement to survive. A dull life would drive me crazy,” Bertias chuckled.

If Lan Xiao is a conservative who follows the rules, then Bertias is definitely a radical who craves danger.

"Cooperation?" Bertias repeated.

"I refuse." Lan Xiao took a step back, put her hands behind her back, and said softly.

The black butterfly disappeared at some point, as if it had never existed.

“That’s a shame,” Bertias shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.

"Don't come any closer to me..." Lan Xiao lowered her head and lowered her eyes, whispering a few words before turning and running away as if there were some venomous snakes or ferocious beasts behind her.

Bertias watched silently as Lan Xiao's figure gradually disappeared into the dark alley. His blue-gray eyes turned cold in an instant, as if he had gone from a hot summer day to a cold winter day in a second, without the slightest transition.

He stood in the dark alley, half of his body shrouded in darkness, concealing his expression and giving off a chilling aura, as if he were standing in a snowy field with howling winds.

A clear, youthful voice echoed softly in the narrow alleyway, sounding indifferent and heartless.

"it's a pity……"

It's starting, it's starting, Beckham is about to begin.

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(End of this chapter)