NCCnovel Chapter 319 Going to the 8th Floor
Chapter 319 Going to the 8th Floor
Yuan Bao and Xiao 9 quickly searched the herb garden for hidden magical treasures. With the blessing of the "Hundred Herbs Essence Pill", they collected all three magical treasures of the [Feng Shui Master] set in just two hours - the Feng Shui compass key, the earth vein compass, and the celestial star map.
When the last magical artifact was acquired, a crisp system notification sounded:
[Ding! Congratulations to player "Yuan Bao" for activating the "Feng Shui Master" set!]
[Set Effect: Increases treasure hunting efficiency by 30%, and allows brief prediction of treasure location spawn points]
[First-time activation reward: 5000 points]
"Wow! Master!" Little 9 excitedly did a somersault in the air, "We've already earned 5000 points at the very beginning!"
Yuan Bao's lips curled up slightly, but he quickly suppressed his smile: "Don't be too happy yet. Shadow Blade said that the Treasure Tower Competition is the key."
She looked up into the distance—in the center of the instance, a towering bronze tower stood majestically, its body wrapped in light patterns like data streams; it was the "Treasure Tower".
"Let's go try out the PvP mechanic."
Upon entering the first level of the Treasure Tower, the surrounding space instantly transforms, with countless floating arenas swirling in the void, each representing a magical artifact PK.
A system notification popped up:
【Competition Tower Rules】
1. Opponents are randomly matched in each PK battle, and the outcome is determined by the strength of the magic weapon combination.
2. You can choose to watch the battle or skip it (rewards remain the same).
3. Victory Rewards: Base points + set bonuses + win streak rewards.
Without hesitation, Yuan Bao checked the "Skip all PK animations" option, and then her magic weapon combination was automatically added to the matchmaking pool.
Match successful! Opponent: Player "Ironclad Bear"
[Battle calculations in progress...]
[Victory! Points earned: 500 (base) + 1500 (set bonus) + 3000 (first win bonus) = 5000 points!]
"Another 5000 points!" Little 9's eyes lit up. "Master, at this rate, we can earn tens of thousands of points a day!"
Yuan Bao, however, seemed thoughtful: "Shadowblade specifically reminded us to skip the PK process, which means there's something wrong here..."
She pulled up the battle log and found that although the animation was skipped, there was still battle data remaining in the system log.
“Strange…” she frowned. “These combat calculations aren’t the game’s built-in algorithms at all; it’s more like… some kind of external program is interfering?”
Just as Yuan Bao was pondering, a dark figure quietly emerged from a corner of the Treasure Pagoda.
Shadowblade stood in the shadow of the data stream, her eyes beneath the silver mask fixed on her combat log.
"Sure enough, she discovered it," he muttered to himself. "The system is secretly recording her combat data..."
He raised his hand to bring up a hidden panel, which displayed:
[Experimental Subject Monitoring Log]
[Player: Yuan Bao]
Data synchronization rate: 12%
[Warning: Abnormal energy fluctuations detected]
Shadowblade's finger hovered over the "Force Logout" button, hesitated for a moment, and then withdrew his hand.
“Wait a little longer…she has to discover the truth for herself.”
Yuan Bao stood in front of the teleportation array of the Treasure Tower, her fingertips lightly tracing the score record she had just obtained—in a short time, she had accumulated 15,000 points, far exceeding the efficiency of ordinary dungeons.
But her brows furrowed even more deeply.
"Little 9, check my player data." She suddenly spoke, her voice tinged with unease.
Little 9 tilted its head and brought up the holographic panel: "Huh? Why is there a hidden marker in Master's status bar?"
[Player: Yuan Bao]
[Current points: 15,000]
[Abnormal Status: Data Synchronization Rate (17%)]
"What is this?" Yuan Bao reached out and touched the flashing red number, but the system popped up a warning:
[Insufficient permissions to view]
Little Nine's ears perked up alertly: "My lord, this data synchronization rate... I can't find any official explanation!"
Yuan Bao's fingertips felt slightly cold.
She recalled Shadowblade's warning, the tampered system logs, and even the azure pill that could affect the real world—this instance was definitely problematic.
“Let’s ignore that for now.” She took a deep breath. “Since Shadowblade said the answer is at the top of the Treasure Tower, let’s go up and take a look.”
The Treasure Tower has nine floors. The stronger your opponent's magic weapon combination becomes with each floor you ascend.
Yuan Bao used the precognitive abilities of the "Master of Feng Shui" set to precisely avoid high-risk battles, skipping through the battle animations and rapidly increasing his score to 25,000.
However, when she stepped onto the seventh floor, a sudden change occurred—
The entire space suddenly distorted, and the surrounding arenas shattered as if torn apart by an invisible hand, with data streams dancing wildly in the air like a swarm of rampaging snakes.
"Warning! Instance data anomaly!" Xiao Jiu's body flashed a dangerous red light. "Master, we've been forcibly locked to this level!"
Yuan Bao tried to bring up the exit interface, but found that the system menu was completely frozen.
At the same time, her data synchronization rate suddenly jumped to 35%, and a sharp pain pierced her temples—she could suddenly "see" the code.
The walls, the floor, and even the air are all made up of flowing green data.
Interspersed within these normal data streams are some malicious and abnormal codes, spreading like a virus.
"This is... the system's underlying architecture?" Yuan Bao murmured in shock.
"No, someone is tampering with the copy." A cold voice came from behind.
Yuan Bao turned around abruptly, and Shadow Blade was already standing behind her, his silver mask reflecting eerie data light.
He held a short blade made of code in his hand, severing several black data lines that were trying to approach.
“You can finally see.” His voice held a hint of weariness. “This means the synchronization rate has exceeded the critical threshold.”
"Who exactly are you?" Yuan Bao took a half step back, secretly pinching a silver needle in his hand. "What kind of experiment is this instance conducting?"
Shadowblade remained silent for a moment, then suddenly raised his hand and removed his mask.
Yuan Bao's breath hitched.
Beneath the mask was a boy's face that bore a striking resemblance to hers. What shocked her most was that in his left pupil, the same green data stream that danced, mirroring her own.
“I was the last ‘player’ trapped here,” he said with a wry smile, “or rather, I used to be a player.”
In the distorted data space, Shadowblade quickly explains:
The Jingbao Tower is actually a "data channel," with an unknown external interface hidden at the top.
The "elixir of immortality" is a dimensional stabilizer that can prevent consciousness from collapsing during traversal.
The mastermind is a high-ranking executive at the game company who uses dungeons to collect players' brainwave data in an attempt to digitize consciousness.
Yuan Bao's data synchronization rate is still rising, and has now reached 42%.
Her mind was a jumbled mess, and Shadow Blade's voice came from near and far: "...You must gather three sets of Heaven-Reaching Magical Treasures and reach the top of the tower before the synchronization rate reaches 80%, otherwise..."
Before he could finish speaking, the entire seventh floor suddenly trembled violently! Black code coalesced into a giant hand, slamming down towards the two of them—
"Watch out!" Shadowblade pushed Yuan Bao aside, but was swallowed by the code himself.
In his last moments before disappearing, he slipped a bronze token into her hand.
[Obtained: Shadow Blade's Pass]
[Effect: Allows viewing of system logs regardless of user permissions]
Yuan Bao gritted his teeth and pulled Xiao Jiu up: "Let's go! To the eighth floor!"
On her frantic sprint toward the teleportation array, she caught a glimpse of the last log message projected by the token:
[Experimental subject X-9 (Yuan Bao) has exceeded expectations in synchronization rate; forced retrieval is underway.]