My Misfortune Crushed Instances-Chapter 32: And You Still Call Yourself a Good Person?
In the Secret Realm, the predecessors’ strategies can guide key choices, but many variables remain within the levels, and even the mission terrain might be randomly generated.
So now, He Chengli leads a four-person squad that must cautiously explore, determine their direction, and find a way out of the Ghost Garden.
Climbing over walls and forcing entry is impossible. Not to mention the green barrier around the perimeter of the garden, even without it, if they don’t leave through the main entrance as required by the mission, it counts as a failure, resulting in deducted experience and lost items, which is unacceptable.
"Trap Master, I won’t ask much about other skills, but at the very least, you should have the ability to craft traps by hand, right?"
Zhang Xiaoguang nodded and said, "I can utilize the environment or turn junk into traps, with a maximum of three at once."
He Chengli thought for a moment, "This garden is like a maze. We can only explore courtyard by courtyard to find our way out. You create traps, leave them on our path, to prevent enemies from sneaking up on us."
Wu Xing said, "Yes, yes, Chengli makes sense. I saw in the strategy guide that there are many Corpse Demons and Corpse Ghosts here in the garden, and they’re not easy to deal with."
The group decided on their strategy and started to explore outward.
.....
Li Rui has already received the main quest.
Stage one, explore the Yujiang Ghost Garden. It’s the same main quest as Zhang Xiaoguang’s group but from a different starting point.
According to the strategy guide, his task has only two stages, and the final outcome is to kill the boss lurking in the depths of the garden, which is more challenging than the other four’s escape.
The garden used to be the private residence of a cultivator, occupying a vast area. The cultivator had originally settled down to live in seclusion, but disappeared without a trace a few years ago, leaving behind a garden full of Corpse Ghosts and spirits, with no one daring to enter.
However, Li Rui did not plan to tackle the main quest first because if he accidentally gets killed by the boss, he would leave the Secret Realm immediately.
He definitely couldn’t do that. Before completing the main quest, he must find He Chengli and then bring him to complete the main quest. Afterwards, whether he can obtain the high-quality equipment promised by Wang Ba depends on this boy.
He walked down the street, wearing an administrator coat, with a pile of miscellaneous whiteboard equipment acquired at the Demon Wind Temple. Here, ordinary enemies couldn’t pose much of a threat to him.
The Gu Xuan Town is quite large, as its name suggests, it is a town suspended on the border of the Central Plains, practically a small city.
Without a god’s eye view, he really didn’t know how to find the way to the center of the town, so he turned his face and walked toward the old farmer selling watermelons by the roadside.
"Old man, can I ask you a question?"
He forced a smile and squatted by the melon stall.
To his surprise, the old farmer immediately gripped the knife used for cutting melons upon seeing him and asked, "What do you want?"
The melon farmer was on full alert, semi-crouched as if ready to run at any moment.
Li Rui then remembered that his fearsome appearance might intimidate ordinary people.
"Hehe, old man, don’t be scared. I just look ugly, but I’m actually a good person," he said with a chuckle.
This was a trial; the downside of his fearsome trait was an initial impression of -5 favorability and +20 fright value. He wanted to see if this impression could be reversed through subsequent interactions.
The melon farmer was skeptical but observed the person staying still, alleviating some of his wariness: "You don’t really look ugly, just somewhat scary in the brow and eyes."
Li Rui said, "Well, born like this, what can I do? Our body and hair are given by our parents; I can’t deface my appearance, right?"
Hearing words that matched his values, the old farmer relaxed more: "You have a point, young man, what do you want to know?"
"How do I get to the statue of the divine figure in the town center?"
"Oh, if you follow this road and turn left, you should be able to see that statue from afar. Once you spot it, you can navigate your way."
"Thank you, thank you."
Li Rui clasped his fists in gratitude and was about to leave.
At this moment, several burly men in fine clothes approached from the street, glaring at Li Rui cautiously. However, they said nothing but headed straight for the melon farmer.
"Didn’t we tell you not to sell melons in town? Can’t you understand human words?"
The group started yelling before they even approached. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
The melon farmer shrank slightly, not looking particularly frightened, but mumbled, "I... I... I’ve just been on the edge of the town, haven’t dared to soil your eyes."
"Still not allowed!"
The leader smashed a watermelon with a punch, grabbed a slice, and said while eating, "Get out, leave the goods."
Li Rui paused, seeing a prompt from the Secret Realm.
[Side quest updated: Melon selling dispute.]
[Choice: Help the melon farmer or help the bullies.]
He didn’t hesitate; of course, he chose to help the melon farmer, as the man had kindly given him directions.
At this moment, the old man squatted on the ground with a face full of conflict, silently looking at the bullies, with no apparent solution for their superior numbers.
The bullies saw him motionless and wanted to intimidate more but were suddenly dragged sideways by a strong force.
Smack!
A punch sent one flying skyward in a spiral, unable to utter a sound, left unconscious on the ground.
[Side quest updated: Help the melon farmer.]
[Quest objective: Drive away the bullies.]
[Quest reward: +600 experience points, two random quality items.]
Li Rui pursued maximum efficiency, not bothering with pleasantries, after taking down one, he immediately rushed toward the remaining few.
The reward for this quest was negligible, indicating that the bullies weren’t high-level, probably six to seven at most. He didn’t even need any skills; solely relying on physical prowess, he flattened all of them in an instant.
"Ah... Ah..."
Li Rui piled the moaning bullies together, asked the melon farmer for several lengths of hemp rope, tied them up individually, then woke up the leader.
Now, the guy finally saw clearly who had knocked him out with a single move.
"Hero! Please, don’t, don’t, don’t kill me."
The bully surmised he wasn’t a good character, yet seeing the person before him, he instinctively feared the seemingly fierce brow and eye even more, no courage left.
Li Rui realized the advantage of the fearsome trait and threatened, "Do stay here quietly, don’t try to escape, if I come back and find you’re gone, or anything happens to the old man....."
Crack!
He punched the bully’s little finger, then grabbed the opponent’s chin, stifling the scream.
"I’ll kill your whole family."
Li Rui noted the quest hadn’t settled, understanding the goal was to drive off the bullies; if not gone, it’s unfinished.
So, this quest progress stalls here; if later, he finds He Chengli and Zhang Xiaoguang, they can also partake in completing the mission.
Letting Zhang Xiaoguang partake was out of colleague relations; letting He Chengli partake was purely business acumen.
Wang Ba had said that good performance might yield a high-quality piece of equipment. What does good performance entail? Satisfaction means good performance.
This matter’s nature, in Li Rui’s view, was simply a business deal. He Chengli was a client; he was the power-leveling service. He not only had to help this noble young man succeed but also elicited positive feedback, which is called professionalism.
He enjoyed his own sharp mind, while the old farmer looked on with uncertain apprehension.
Killing one’s whole family?
And you claim to be a good man?
