My Misfortune Crushed Instances-Chapter 133: These Skills Are Pretty Nasty

"Ah, the arena. I thought that when Li Rui suddenly came to the border, he might encounter this Secret Realm."

Nan Jiumei shrugged, looking somewhat smug—not malicious, just the way he was.

Li Rui asked, "What does encountering a Secret Realm have to do with me coming to the border?"

Nan Jiumei plopped down on the windowsill of the watchtower. "Before you came to the border, did you encounter any illegal Secret Realm agents or any forces from outside the country?"

Li Rui blinked, realizing he hadn’t encountered any and had overlooked the issue.

"Right? Haha, let me tell you, the matching mechanism of this Secret Realm is quite particular. There’s no written rule, but we deduce that if you stay within your own country, it’s fine."

"Once you come into contact with external forces, I mean, whether through conflict, negotiation, cooperation, or any other way, you might enter their culturally traditional Secret Realm, like in the Western Regions, the Great Snowfield, or the desolate area in between."

Nan Jiumei explained with a grin, "Let’s talk about the Secret Realm. The central wasteland is set in the area between the Eastern Continent, Western Regions, and Great Snowfield, with the type being a deathmatch."

Li Rui had known from the start that this was a competitive Secret Realm, given there were no stars, but he didn’t expect it to be a deathmatch.

This type of Secret Realm isn’t a battle royale but is like a real game where players fight within a set time, can revive after dying, then continue fighting until time runs out, ranked by the number of kills.

"Does only the first place count as a win?"

"No, the top five counts as passing too, just the rewards differ. First place gets the most rewards, but it also relates to your total score."

Nan Jiumei chuckled, "This Secret Realm doesn’t have fixed levels, meaning you could encounter it in the 25th level stage, later at the 30th level stage, and even the 40th or 50th level stages. That’s why it’s called an arena; you can always study the terrain, it’s always useful."

Li Rui listened to his introduction about this Secret Realm, thanked him, and then shared the news with Dong Sanchuan.

"Do you need anything prepared?"

Dong Sanchuan said, "If you’re entering the Secret Realm here, I’ll keep watch. You can return to West Wind Province if you wish."

Li Rui said, "I have some equipment that needs upgrading. I’d better go back once."

"Alright, go back and prepare for the Secret Realm at ease, and tell me when you’re done—maybe we’ll move elsewhere too."

"Okay."

Li Rui agreed and drove back to Qing Garden City, West Wind Province, headed straight to the Qing Garden Branch alone.

After reaching the border, he participated in a total of four missions. The five-member group he defeated along the way was solo work, saving a batch of contribution points, which he plans to exchange for enhancement materials and upgrade the administrator’s jacket since he’s about to enter the Secret Realm.

However, upon encountering Pu Tong at the branch, he stopped and asked, "Brother Pu, hasn’t Xiaolin City certified the arrest of Li Xiaolin yet? The efficiency is way too low."

The other person smacked his head. "Oh, thanks for reminding me. I nearly forgot—it’s already done. Since you were at the border, I didn’t rush to find you. I didn’t expect you’d return suddenly."

"How was it determined?"

"You were awarded a special contribution prize and over five hundred contribution points. However, you need to apply for it."

Li Rui’s face changed immediately, "I’ve always said that our line of work involves safety issues, so caution is essential. It’s normal for processes to be a bit slow."

The contribution points were evidently recognized generously, carrying an element of personal favor, almost equivalent to a full Level 30 realm. The special contribution prize was an unexpected joy, likely related to capturing the target alive.

From Dong Sanchuan, he had learned that these personal honors and merits not only affected the approval for registering in Secret Realm battlefield but also the roles assigned upon participation.

To put it bluntly, the higher the evaluation during approval, the greater the freedom within the battlefield, increasing involvement in combat sections, meaning possibly achieving more results.

After completing the process and receiving the contribution points, Li Rui went to find the logistics personnel to exchange for enhancement materials.

"Hmm... Many people have come to the Northwest lately. Rare materials may not include what you need. Never mind, let’s check first."

The person inserted a separate storage disk into the device, and the screen showed all the rare materials in stock. Recently, the influx of people for training was indeed high, nearly cleaning out the Qing Garden Branch’s inventory, leaving no more than thirty items in total.

Li Rui glanced briefly and said, "I’ll take them all."

"Ah? These materials have incompatible attributes. Are you using them on different equipment? My personal advice, though you’re free to ignore it—many early-acquired equipment shouldn’t be rushed to enhance. It’s better to wait until the main entries are more developed."

"Thanks for the advice, but let’s exchange them first."

Seeing Li Rui insist on exchanging, the logistics personnel had no choice but to comply.

"No stock left, time to borrow from the provincial branch." He muttered as he stepped out.

At this point, Li Rui rubbed his hands together, eagerly approaching the enhancement equipment.

Having held back at the border for quite some time, today he would enhance to his heart’s content.

He had some stock on hand, and with the newly exchanged items, the administrator’s jacket should level up several times.

Li Rui opened the equipment, sorted the materials briefly, and began working.

After four consecutive "enhancement successes," the total elemental resistance increased by 12%, now reaching 22%, and physical damage resistance rose from 10% to 17%.

In addition, the fall damage reduction entry improved from 2% to 10%. This ’falling’ doesn’t just involve accidental falls; situations where one is blasted into a wall, too stubborn to move, are also considered falls, reducing secondary damage from impacts.

Against enemies stronger than himself, this attribute could be crucial at key moments—after all, it’s better than nothing.

Additionally, two new active skills were acquired:

[Crude version Explosive Trap: Utilize metal materials from the environment to create an explosive trap that detonates when touched by enemies, boosted by Spirit and Engineering attributes, with a maximum of two allowed at once.]

[Crude version Phantom: Creates a phantom image of oneself, lasting for 3 minutes.]

The Explosive Trap is a trap master’s exclusive skill; the original can use local materials while allowing up to three at once and can be detonated by thoughts.

Li Rui’s crude version permits only two at a time and requires environmental utilization, unable to use personal materials for creation, and can’t control explosion timing. Still, that’s unavoidable; it’s solely a skill granted by rare materials.

The Phantom is a mage’s ability, useful for confusing enemies and serving as bait.

"But, in whatever wasteland that is, they should be somewhat useful, right?"

Li Rui thought carefully, judging these two skills might be somewhat annoying in the complex-terrain wasteland arena.