TSA Chapter 43

The Dark Prison was a lore-rich dungeon. True to its name, it was a dimly lit prison that once held many ferocious monsters. The Temple of Light had dispatched five knights to guard them, but the cunning monsters managed to escape during an unexpected opportunity. Now, the roles are reversed—the knights have been imprisoned, and the monsters have turned the dungeon into their stronghold.

Upon entering the dungeon, Ran Qi and his team received a quest to kill all the monsters and rescued the imprisoned knights unharmed. If they succeeded, they would earn the gratitude of the knights’ captain. However, failing the quest would yield nothing.

The captain’s gratitude was a gamble—it could come in the form of a pouch of coins (the amount depending on luck), a buff, a piece of equipment, or even a special item. Everything depended on chance.

Some teams, focused solely on experience points, skipped the quest entirely and adopted a speedrun strategy, mowing down enemies without caring about the NPCs.

Since it was their first time in this dungeon, Night Owl and the others watched a short cutscene and got a general idea of the dungeon’s context. Now, the question was whether they should take the quest.

The quest made it clear that the rescued NPCs would assist them in the final boss fight. However, if even one NPC died, the quest would fail.

Considering this, the risk of failure seemed quite high.

Night Owl asked, “What do you all think? Should we take it?”

“Let’s take it. I’m curious about what kind of reward the knight captain might give us,” Ran Qi spoke first.

Being well-versed in the game, Ran Qi knew the benefits of accepting the quest outweighed the risks.

Once they reached level 45 and ventured into Otto City and Hopper City, the game’s true lore would unfold, and they would become part of the Temple of Light to combat the forces of darkness. These knights were affiliated with the Temple of Light, so completing the quest would boost their favorability with the Light God, unlocking more benefits in the future.

Moreover, the NPCs were decent fighters, and their assistance would make clearing monsters faster. The only downside was that it would be particularly taxing for the healer, who must heal ten people at once.

But Ran Qi was confident. His healing output was high—he could handle trash mobs with a single recovery spell. Coupled with healing and Holy Light, the chances of anyone dying were slim.

Plume Ink laughed, “Haha, with Brother Ran’s lucky streak, those NPCs will definitely give us great rewards!”

Sword at Fleeting Time nodded in agreement. “I’m in favor of taking the quest too. It’s just an experience dungeon. We can use this run to familiarize ourselves with the mechanics. Even if we fail, it’s no big deal.”

“Alright, then we’ll take it.” With everyone in agreement, Night Owl stepped forward and accepted the quest.

The quest was automatically synced to each party member’s quest log, showing a completion rate of 0%.

“Let’s go. Be cautious as we move forward.”

During the beta test, the limited time forced them to focus on rapid leveling. After hitting level 30, they had jumped straight into clearing the Abyss dungeon and had never tried the Dark Prison. As a result, they were completely unfamiliar with this dungeon, making them naturally more cautious.

“Got it,” the group replied in unison.

Entering the dungeon revealed a long, dark corridor. Torches were spaced along the walls, barely illuminating the dim interior.

A few goblins with bows on their backs patrolled the dungeon, carrying lanterns. If observed closely, one could spot bone whistles hanging from their chests. It was clear that if these goblins detected intruders, they would summon a swarm of monsters with their whistles.

However, since they were here to farm monsters, they weren’t worried about triggering more mobs. In fact, they were eager for the enemies to come to them.

Without hesitation, Night Owl launched a fireball at one of the goblins. As expected, the goblin became enraged and blew its bone whistle, summoning a horde of bizarre-looking monsters.

Night Owl calmly cast a Glacier spell in front of him, slowing the advancing mobs. The team unleashed their attacks together, quickly dispatching the wave of enemies.

Next, they followed the same strategy, quickly advancing to the depths of the dungeon. Here, they could clearly see five wooden cages suspended high above the ground. Inside the cages were the NPCs they needed to rescue.

The cages were tied with ropes and secured at a height. Below were five mechanisms with rotating handles that needed to be operated to gradually lower the cages one by one.

However, touching the mechanisms would immediately trigger waves of small monsters wielding torches. If these monsters got close to the mechanisms, they would burn the ropes, causing the cages to plummet and resulting in mission failure.

Although having all five players operate the mechanisms simultaneously would save time, it was also extremely risky. Missing even one monster could lead to failure. The safest strategy was to assign one person to the mechanisms while the others defended against the monsters.

This responsibility fell to Sword at Fleeting Time since he was the only melee fighter in the group, apart from Gu Le.

When Ran Qi used to play the PC version of the game, this part wasn’t too challenging—you simply had to stand by the mechanism and wait for the progress bar to complete. But now, in full-dive mode, Sword at Fleeting Time had to physically crank the handles himself. It wasn’t just slow—it was exhausting, especially with five mechanisms to turn in succession…

While Sword at Fleeting Time worked hard at cranking the mechanisms, the rest of the team battled nonstop. The small monsters came in relentless waves, like a tidal surge. They darted forward like torch relay runners, extremely fast. If not for Night Owl’s Glacier and Fire Wall slowing them down, they might have missed one or two.

After finishing all five mechanisms, Sword at Fleeting Time immediately downed a stamina potion—he was utterly drained.

With the successful rescue of the five NPCs, a thunderous roar echoed from the depths of the dungeon. The boss had clearly been enraged.

The ground began to shake violently, and a massive ogre appeared before them.

This ogre was the first boss they needed to defeat. It wielded a giant spiked club and possessed immense strength. Its attack pattern was simple: sweeping horizontal swings with its club. However, each swing dealt heavy area damage, making it a tough adversary.

The rescued NPCs immediately grabbed weapons from the fallen monsters and joined the fight. With ten attackers focusing on a single boss, the battle became much more efficient. However, since the NPCs were all melee fighters, they were hit by the boss’s sweeping attacks every time, increasing the pressure on Ran Qi’s healing.

Fortunately, their team had more ranged players, which helped alleviate some of the burden.

Thanks to everyone’s combined efforts, the ogre was swiftly defeated.

As the ogre fell, the final boss—a Dark Blood Elf—emerged. The Dark Blood Elf resembled a human but was taller, with pointed ears, jet-black hair, and strikingly handsome features. However, its crimson eyes, vampiric fangs, and sharp claws made it clear it wasn’t friendly.

The Dark Blood Elf was bloodthirsty and deadly. Its teeth and claws were formidable weapons, and its speed was incredible. Anyone wounded by it would suffer a bleeding debuff, which could stack to lethal levels. The only way to counter it was with Purification.

The boss also had a particularly troublesome skill: Self-Destruct. When its health dropped below 20%, it would begin a countdown to explode, intending to take the adventurers down with it. The team either had to interrupt the Self-Destruct or retreat from its range within three seconds.

Because they had taken the NPC rescue quest, they couldn’t rely on the NPCs to follow orders. This left them with only one option: interrupt the Self-Destruct.

Ran Qi was tense but knew he couldn’t give instructions prematurely. He had to wait for the right moment.

He kept a close eye on the boss’s health bar. The moment the boss started glowing red, Ran Qi shouted, “The boss is about to unleash a big move! Soul Chaser, use Kick Shot! Plume Ink, use Triple Strike!”

Archer skills were instant-cast, and Kick Shot could launch the target into the air, while Triple Strike’s knockdown effect could interrupt the boss’s ability. With both players attacking simultaneously, the chance of success was higher.

The team’s combat instincts were sharp. As soon as Ran Qi gave the command, both attacks were unleashed. Ran Qi also activated Holy Light as a precaution.

Fortunately, the two successfully interrupted the Dark Blood Elf’s self-destruction. With that crisis averted, the boss let out an unwilling roar and struggled for a few more minutes before finally collapsing.

Among the rescued NPCs, the blond-haired, blue-eyed, handsome knight captain slowly stepped forward to Night Owl. In a deep, magnetic voice, he said, “Dear adventurers, with your help, we have slain all the monsters. As a token of our gratitude, please accept this.”

He handed a cloth pouch to Night Owl. Its contents were unclear.

“Wait! Let Brother Ran handle this!” Soul Chaser suggested.

However, the NPC was programmed to give the reward to the party leader, and it was too late to change the leader now…

In the end, Night Owl reluctantly reached out and took the pouch.

“Boss! Open it up and see what treasure you got!”

Since the pouch was bound upon pickup and couldn’t be traded, Night Owl had no choice but to open it in front of Soul Chaser and the others. He couldn’t shamelessly try to ride on Ran Qi’s legendary luck.

When he opened it, he received… 10 copper coins.

“Hahahahahahahahahaha!” Soul Chaser clutched his sides, laughing so hard he was in tears.

“Let’s do it again,” Night Owl said, pressing his lips together before immediately exiting the dungeon.

This time, however, Night Owl handed over the party leader role to Ran Qi.