Ita Era

Chapter 116 Mini-Dungeon

Several hours later, Chu Yu arrived at Ding Shi Island. Ding Shi introduced Yu Yuan and Chu Yu to each other, and the two went aside to discuss their future plans.

They decided to rent 5 square kilometers of land from Ding Shi, spend $1000 to build a thatched-roof version of the city lord's mansion, another $1200 to build an auction house, and yet another $1000 to build a tribal teleportation array. This way, all tribal members could travel to the city lord's mansion and enter a single instance simultaneously.

Their plan was highly feasible, but there were some operational problems. The biggest obstacle was that Yu Yuan was the tribe's chieftain, capable of building the tribe's teleportation array, while Chu Yu was the city lord, possessing the city lord's mansion. The businesses owned by these two were separate and could not be shared.

Ding Shi suggested: "You can get married first and then fall in love, or you can use each other."

Chu Yu said disdainfully, "That's called mutual support."

You can apply for marriage through the system, and after marriage, you can change your private property into jointly owned property. In addition, couples can adopt virtual children, which are generated based on the parents' genes, appearance, and personality, and are said to be indistinguishable from real children. Most importantly, you can save and load your game.

For example, if you save your game in January 2001 and your child dies in February, you can reload the save from January. This can effectively prevent couples from arguing about their child's upbringing. You can also use save/load tests to see whether having children or not brings more happiness.

The day after the dungeon ended, Ding Shi, who was having breakfast, clearly felt the temperature dropping.

Sipping coffee, I opened the newspaper. The front page headline was striking: All Earth Dungeons Now Open. The title didn't quite register at first, but after reading, I understood. Before today, the types and styles of dungeons were controlled by the world of Ita. For example, the previous dungeon, choosing the Hard mode, was all about raft survival. Choosing the Nightmare mode, was all about the primitive era.

Second news item: The world of Ita will gradually enter an ice age, affecting not only private territories but also the Four Symbols City.

Translation and Comprehension: Because Ding Shi and his people had a dungeon, they could continuously produce large amounts of resources to combat the Ice Age and constantly upgrade their territory, improving their quality of life. The residents of Four Symbols City, on the other hand, had to find their own solutions. They could buy suburban land or build factories; after all, the disaster wasn't imminent. Most importantly, they were unaware that the Ice Age was approaching.

Ding Shi had a question: if players die and go to the Four Symbols City, where do the people in the Four Symbols City go when they die?

Ding snapped his fingers: "711, come here." He then asked his question.

711 took out a copy from the unread newspapers, opened the second page, and placed it in front of Ding Shi.

Answer: People from the Four Symbols City go to the Three Talents City after they die.

Where do the people of Sancai City go after they die?
Answer: That's Sancai City's business, none of your concern.

Ding Shi put the newspaper aside, and 711 respectfully took it back, opened the second page again, and placed it in front of Ding Shi.

Ding Shi looked at 711. 711 was meek and obedient. Was there a bug? There might not be bugs in the Ita world, but robots might short-circuit. Besides, it had just changed its name. Who could guarantee that it wouldn't harbor resentment and deliberately seek revenge?

Ding Shi read through the second version of the Q&A again but didn't find anything. Just as he was about to remove it, he saw an advertisement the size of tofu in the lower right corner: Ghost Market.

A special teleportation array appears every night at 11 PM. Spending 10 points of Yin Virtue allows you to travel to the Ghost Market, and you will automatically return to your territory at 5 AM. The Ghost Market's goods are divided into two parts: the first part consists of relics of the deceased, which are lost to those who fail in dungeons. The second part comprises goods offered by intelligent beings such as demons, monsters, and spirits found in various dungeons.

In addition, the Ghost Market also features restaurants run by Pu Songling and bathhouses run by Meng Po.

The two most important facilities are: First, Zhong Kui opened a clinic that can solve problems such as the inability of severed limbs to regenerate.

The second facility is the Yin Virtue Exchange Center opened by Bao Zheng, the Fifth King of Hell, where you can spend Yin Virtue to increase your upper and lower limits of Luck.

Ding Shi currently has 120 points of Yin Virtue. Considering that there are 10 points of Yin Virtue for travel expenses, now is not the time to go to the Ghost Market.

Ding Shi patted 711 on the shoulder with satisfaction: "Work hard, and I'll give you a promotion and a raise at the end of the year."

711: "Thank you, Master."

"Call the boss."

"thank you boss."

"Go ahead."

711 picked up the logs and ran 100 meters away, standing each log upright.

Ding Shi had a pile of iron blocks he had bought yesterday, each weighing one kilogram. He grabbed one of the iron blocks, used his primal force to throw it, and the iron block flew away, grazing the target piece of wood.

Sure enough, 100 meters was still too difficult; within 50 meters, Ding Shi could hit exactly where he pointed.

After throwing iron blocks for an hour, 711 went down the hillside to collect iron blocks and wood. Ding Shi went to the martial arts gym to practice with the girls, then went to the library to read. At noon, he ate lobster at the buffet. He took a nap, then threw iron blocks again. In the evening, he went fishing at the beach and told 711 to start a campfire. He returned home at 8 pm, bought two sea fish from a vending machine, and grilled them over the campfire.

Leaning against the soft cushions, warming myself by the fire, and eating fish, everything was so wonderful except for a slight feeling of loneliness.

……

It was a new day, and Ding Shi, full of energy, finally took out the wordless book and placed it on the stone table. He then took out the unsealing card and set it aside, lit a cigarette to pretend to be incense, and prayed to the gods of the four directions for five minutes. Finally, he placed the unsealing card on the wordless book and gave the command to use it.

The wordless book flew to Ding Shi and unfurled, revealing a vast amount of text on it at incredible speed. Before Ding Shi could even read a single word, the bamboo slips rolled up. Following the instructions, Ding Shi reached out and pulled out a bamboo slip, and the wordless book returned to his inventory. The bamboo slip transformed into four white characters that appeared before Ding Shi: Indestructible.

Ding Shi felt a surge of immense power coursing through his right fist, unleashing an unstoppable and invincible aura. He felt he could kill an excavator with a single punch.

But how can you know the power of a punch if you don't have an object to hit?

Ding Shi stood on tiptoe and saw a green figure confronting the electric ray in the sea. He then shouted, "Lord Tangtang?" with his right hand behind his back.

Hearing Ding Shi's call, Xiao Tangtang emerged from the sea, threw a bolt of lightning at the surface of the ocean in dissatisfaction, and then slowly walked up to Ding Shi: "Xiao Ding, what's up?"

Ding Shi gave a fawning smile: "Lady Tangtang, will you die?"

Little Sugar, without a second thought, replied, "Of course not."

Ding Shi asked curiously, "Will we die?"

Little Sugar said, "Yes, but not now. You will definitely die in the future." Ding Shi asked, "Will I die in my own territory because of an attack? You know, I've made a lot of friends lately, and I'm worried that some of them might be bad guys."

Little Sugar said, "In your territory, you will not die, and even if you are injured, you will heal yourself. However, in the world of Ita, death and injury will be converted into pain. The formula is: total pain = time × pain."

Ding Shi stretched out his left hand: "Look."

Little Tangtang peeked out, and Ding Shi punched her in the cheek. Little Tangtang suddenly disappeared from sight and reappeared 5 meters away.

Ding Shi missed his punch, laughed, and angrily cursed 711, who was weeding 300 meters away: "711, why did you hit my fist?"

Little Sugar said disdainfully, "Are you stupid? Unless it's an instant-cast skill, it's impossible for it to hurt me." Three bolts of lightning, three times the torture, Ding Shi, who failed to ambush, enjoyed half an hour of electric therapy.

The first layer of the wordless book: 1 bamboo slip.

The Wordless Book is an infinitely long bamboo scroll, which is simply a collection of bamboo strips pieced together. The first level of the Wordless Book contains one bamboo strip.

To put it simply, it's like drawing lots at a temple, where you randomly select a word or phrase.

Currently, only one piece can be drawn at a time, and the duration varies depending on the specific content. For example, "Indestructible" can only be released once and is effective for half an hour.

The cooldown time of the Blank Book of Heaven depends on the color of the bamboo slips drawn: white is common, green is fine, blue is rare, purple is uncommon, gold is epic, and silver is legendary.

White entries have a 1-hour cooldown, green entries have a 2-hour cooldown, and so on.

Ding Shi's question is, how does the Wordless Heavenly Book grow? One possibility is that using the Wordless Heavenly Book grants experience points, and accumulating enough experience points allows it to level up. Another possibility is that it can be used again with the Unsealing Card. A third possibility is that it requires a stroke of luck.

Just after finishing studying the wordless book, Ding Shi heard a ringing sound from the teleportation array. He looked at the teleportation array and saw a message: "A new 3-day mini-dungeon has been added. Tags: Ghostly, Double Seal, 200-hit invulnerability."

A "specific instance" is an instance that a player unlocks using a certain item, and that player has priority within the instance. Ding Shi had only seen this in newspapers before; this was the first time he had actually encountered a specific instance.

Ghostly Evil: There is a mysterious power within the dungeon.

Double sealing: sealing items and sealing skills. You can't take things out of the store, and you can't bring things in. Most importantly, double sealing also includes sealing your Force, forcing players to participate in dungeons as ordinary people.

$200 Immunity to Death: Pay $200 upfront, and you will receive no penalty or loss if you die in the instance. However, the $200 is non-refundable regardless of whether you die or not. You can choose not to pay, but then you will not receive the immunity to death.

Registration takes one hour.

Upon seeing the tags "Ghostly" and "Double Seal," Ding Shi knew he couldn't skimp on the "immunity fee." This was also his first time encountering this type of dungeon, leaving him with limited information. Two details particularly caught Ding Shi's attention. The first was the word "evil"—ghosts are ghosts, why add "evil"? The second was the lack of a difficulty tag.

Yu Yuan has obtained the card needed to unlock the feudal era, but in the group chat, the woman in red is still driving a truck in Ham Town, and Wang Meng's avatar is flashing, suggesting he's participating in the revival competition. Furthermore, Xiao Long and Xiao Feng are still in the instance. Although the herbalist isn't in the instance, she says she needs two days to cultivate.

With money, time, and a thirst for exploration, Ding Shi had no reason to refuse this small instance.

Ding Shi summoned 711 and gave it the Dugu Nine Swords, instructing it to sell them to Su Su for 200 dollars if it saw her.

Ask for another note, stating that you are going to participate in a three-day mini-program.

……

The dungeon preparation room will have half an hour to prepare.

The reason for giving so much preparation time is that we need to read the script.

Synopsis: Set in the Republican era, the Wang family is a prominent clan in Wangjia Village, spanning dozens of generations. The current patriarch, Old Master Wang, is skilled in business and has accumulated considerable wealth during his tenure.

On this day, Old Master Wang felt that his days were numbered, so according to the family genealogy, he wrote a letter to his descendants who were working in other places, asking them to come back to Wangjia Village. The old man wanted to distribute all his property to his descendants who had been scattered.

How many descendants of the Wang family are living elsewhere? It depends on how many players sign up. The reason the Wang family descendants are scattered is because Old Master Wang's father was a Taoist priest. After the deaths of several relatives, he glimpsed the secrets of heaven and gave his children a sum of money, allowing them to take their families and leave Wangjia Village, leaving only his youngest son, Old Master Wang, who had just been born. For the next several decades, they communicated only through letters.

There were 54 cards on the table in front of Ding Shi, one of which had long since become a phantom image, clearly taken by the player who opened the instance. Without hesitation, Ding Shi nimbly picked up a card.

Ding Shi's name in the instance is Wang Shijiu. Ding Shi must assume this identity and cannot change others' basic perception of him. For example, introducing himself as Ding Shi would likely result in his death for violating the basic rules of the script.

Wang Shijiu: 22 years old, the 29th generation of the Wang family, while Grandpa Wang is the 27th generation.

Occupation: gigolo, kept by Little Nightingale, a famous singer in Shanghai. Occupational trait: Skilled at charming women. According to the script rules, Ding Shi must be skilled at charming women, otherwise he will lose points, eventually leading to his death. You don't have to charm women, but if you choose to, you must charm them well; after all, this is your livelihood, and you can't disgrace the gigolo profession.

Knowledge: literacy.

A mirror appeared, and Ding Shi saw himself in it, feeling a mix of emotions.

Ding Shi in the mirror was wearing a cream-colored blazer over a vest, with leather shoes on his feet. His hair was parted to the side and heavily styled with hair wax. You could tell at a glance he wasn't a good person. But you have to admit, he looked very energetic and handsome, mainly because he had a good foundation.

Secret 1: Before your father died, he warned you not to return to Wangjia Village, and even if you did, not to trust Old Master Wang. You asked why, but your father did not answer.

Secret 2: Your father was the savior of Lai Fu, the long-term worker of the Wang family.

Because of Ding Shi's profession as a kept man, he still had some money in his pocket, which allowed him to shop, mainly for gifts. Currently, Grandpa Wang and his wife are still alive; they have no biological children, only an adopted son. It is for this reason that Grandpa Wang asked the relatives in the family genealogy to return to Wangjia Village to divide the family property.

This game has a special metric: the distribution of wealth. Currently, Ding Shi's share is 0.1%, representing his standing in Old Master Wang's eyes. To increase his share, he'll have to do a lot of things. Either cultivate a good relationship with Old Master Wang, or eliminate those with higher wealth distributions. However, nobody knows how much wealth others have.

The instance uses knives as the unit of currency, similar to the currency in Ita World. Assuming a total legacy of 1 knives, 0.1% would only yield 10 knives, requiring a minimum of 2% to break even.

This is also a relatively rare instance where the instance currency and the Ita currency are interchangeable.

(End of this chapter)