“Take a left turn after two forked paths, and you’ll be at the boss room,” Zen urged.
After failing once to get both Liu Feng and Akiko to the boss room, Zen devised a new strategy. Honestly, this was a fourth-floor boss. With how strong Liu Feng and Akiko were before they integrated with their bloodline, it was unnecessary for both powerhouses to be there. Hence, the objective was to get at least one of them to the destination.Sending Liu Feng and Akiko to different areas on standby, Zen predetermined where the new boss room would appear. After seeing so many failed attempts, Zen narrowed down the possible locations of the boss’ room that he would include in the gamer guide. True to his hunch, the new boss’s room appeared near Akiko.Flying over at top speed, Akiko smashed through any traps from walls and ceilings. Ground traps were easy to avoid with her newly gained aerial skills. Although the Death Princess was still unfamiliar with“Do you think the boss was harder to locate because we were there together?” Akiko asked as soon as Zen showed up with the two other girls.Surprised, Zen asked if there was a difference between the boss dungeon Akiko had just defeated and the first time she speed-ran the dungeon. According to everyone else in the party who cleared floors by skipping the main quest, the boss monster did not drop armour upgrade tickets as a reward. Instead, they received various machine parts such as scrap metals, bolts or broken gears. It wasn’t very useful, but Damian wanted it, so they gave it to the cyborg for free.“The boss did not change rooms either,” Sasha confirmed. “He was just there at the end of the cave. I didn’t run into many kobolds or traps while doing the dungeon with Oritha. We bypassed every other monster here when we could in search of the boss room. After all, you can trigger the portal to the next floor by simply killing the b
After making arrangements with Damian to meet on floor five tomorrow, Zen logged out. The rest of his party members wanted to remain logged in while he prepared dinner as they wanted to become more accustomed to the new abilities they gained. Damian offered to record their training progress, and Zen didn’t want to interrupt their fun.Ping!Seeing a private message from Charlie and his party, Zen thought it might be a good time to discuss the new farming strategies with Party Freedom while he prepared dinner. They worked just as hard as those in the vanguard team, so Zen didn’t mind cooking any special requests they might have. Liu Feng wanted fried rice tonight, so Zen was thinking of making an assortment of rice-related dishes.Checking the fridge, Zen noticed nothing for his party members to eat if they were hungry. Apart from two bottles of supplement drinks, it was empty. Feeding these assassins was starting to become a full-time job. Zen wondered if
By the time the remaining members of Party Godly Food, except for Damian, arrived in the kitchen for dinner, Party Freedom was slumped over the kitchen counters, looking absolutely lifeless.“Thanks for the assistance,” Zen beamed as he welcomed the rest of his party members. “They helped to make dinner today, so there’s plenty of food. Even after setting aside the snacks for tonight and tomorrow’s breakfast, there’s still a heap of food left over. They packed the food they wanted and stored it in their rooms, but we still have this much left.”Akiko glanced over to the side where zip-lock bags were piled. There were three large pots of rice and an assortment of trays with different food on them. The plate that was specially reserved for Liu Feng’s meal was heaped. With this much food, the pantry was probably empty again. On the bright side, nobody would starve with this much food in the refrigerator.“What’s
Gawking at the audacity Yelena had artistically designed using ketchup, Zen didn’t know if he should stop his sworn brother from eating that omurice. There was nothing wrong with the sauce or ingredients. However, it was still a little strange seeing the Seer eating omurice with a phallic ketchup doodle on it.“What is it?” Liu Feng asked, feeling Zen’s stare. “Is there something on my face?”Shaking his head quickly, Zen nervously wished him bon appetite and escaped to have his dinner. There was no telling what Liu Feng would do if he knew he was eating fried rice with a dick pic created by Yelena. Technically, assault on an invigilator was against the school rules. However, Zen wouldn’t put it past Liu Feng to get his revenge on her if he knew. Apparently, there were many gutsy people in this academy who dared to pull on the lion’s whiskers.Taking this rare opportunity, Charlie and Remi talked with the Akiko about the
Eager to get started on the dungeon progress, Jessica and Benjamin left first. Akiko and Liu Feng agreed to boost them to the twentieth floor from the first stage because of the new members in their party. Damian was equally excited as Sasha and Oritha would start mapping out the twenty-first floor using his pedometer program. Nobody bothered Zen, who was teaching the new recruits how to clean his kitchen with double the enthusiasm and energy anyone else had. It was better to leave silently. The invigilators were there to escort them back after they were done, so there was no need to stay too long.Fifteen minutes after parting, Akiko and Liu Feng returned to the dungeon. Gambler and Tracer logged in slightly later but quickly joined up with the two powerhouses who were mock sparring as a warm-up.“That’s certainly something,” Remi grimaced.Beside him, Charlie nodded, too awestruck by the amplified raw display of agility and strength. Whoever
Unaware of the chaos in the dungeon, Zen took his time soaking in the tub after teaching Joaquin and Elena how to maintain some of his kitchen tools. The knives were the only tools he didn’t allow them to touch. A chef’s knives were akin to their hands and lives. If he could, he would have a set of ceramic knives made instead, as they were more durable and didn’t need sharpening as much.While Zen soaked in the tub, he thought about everything that happened that morning. There were still many things to do. He had no idea if anyone in Party Prayer knew what they intended to do. Moreover, Damian’s notes included with the name list were very comprehensive. One of the perks of having alternate reality technology is being able to view documents leisurely while in the bathtub without any risks of ruining them.Damian’s information was more resourceful than Zen’s. Although he spent a lot of credits reviewing every student’s game highlight
It’s been a while since Zen visited the shop. He walked through the portal expecting a different setting because it was a museum when he visited the rewards shop with his party members earlier. However, when he materialised at the shop, he saw a familiar bar counter and the same old lady who was snoozing shamelessly.“Hi, Vera. It’s been a while,” Zen greeted, startling the slacking shopkeeper, who quickly pretended she was merely resting her eyes and not napping.Chuckling at the cranky old lady, Zen sat down and looked at the menu. Even if this was a bar created in the system, they updated the menu accordingly. Previously, he ordered a hundred shots. Then, He ordered ninety-two shots. Tonight, he would be ordering only eighty-four. It was tragic that the number decreased each time. However, the migraines they gave him did not reduce.Glancing at Zen, Vera noticed a subtle change in the naive youth that came to her the first time he ordered a
Zen realised something after drinking close to thirty glasses and viewing more than half the game highlight clips from the shortlisted candidates. Apart from Vera’s helpful hints, there was something unique about reviewing the memory clips this time.Previously, Zen could only view them from a camera’s viewpoint. However, he could pause the clip tonight to take a closer view of the surroundings. The new feature allowed Zen to analyse what he saw in greater detail. He used this to help him take notes while viewing a memory clip. The power of technology was amazing.“You don’t seem to need any help recording your thoughts or observations about these candidates,” Vera slyly noted.Zen smirked. Was she playing clueless?“It’s the new feature,” he explained. “I don’t get headaches while I’m viewing the clip. At first, I thought I’d record it after viewing the clip. However, the first girl was so f