7: Chapter 7 Hidden Mission: Seventh Frontline Battalion

Lin Yan let out a long breath and looked down at his status. His remaining health was 725, having only lost 110 points. He hadn't used a single intermediate health potion, and he still had one low-level health potion left. After two battles, his maximum health had actually increased from 1235 to 1391, and his Heartsteel stacks had risen from 635 to 791.

He crouched down to examine the corpses of the Rift Wolves. Each wolf had dropped four low-rank dimensional crystals, which were of slightly better quality than those dropped by the Rift Rats, with a wisp of light gray mist flowing inside them. In addition, there was something else beside the corpse of one of the wolves—a palm-sized piece of dark gray leather, tough in texture, with fine patterns on the surface.

[ Item Obtained: Rift Wolf Skin Fragment × 1 ]

[ Description: Low-rank material, can be used for crafting or selling. ]

Although it wasn't equipment, it could be sold for money; the Federation's recycling price was 10 Star Coins. Lin Yan packed away the wolf skin fragment and the crystals, then did a quick search of the surroundings to ensure no loot had been missed.

There were no other Rift Wolves approaching for the moment; the noise from the battle seemed to have scared away the nearby monsters. Lin Yan leaned against a broken wall to rest for a moment while checking his current attribute panel.

[ Current Level: Level 1 ]

[ Current Attributes: Constitution 4, Strength 1, Agility 1, Spirit 1, Luck 1 ]

[ Current Health: 725 / 1391 ]

[ Current Mana: 100 / 100 ]

[ Physical Attack: 20 ]

[ Magical Attack: 10 ]

[ Physical Defense: 30 ]

[ Magical Defense: 20 ]

[ Speed: 10 ]

[ Talent: F-Rank Weak Constitution ]

[ Skills: None ]

[ Equipment: iron bone breastplate (Level 1), standard issue dagger, Standard Issue Set (excluding breastplate) ]

[ Current EXP: 134 / 200 ]

[ Free Attribute Points: None ]

[ Items: intermediate health potion × 3, low-level health potion × 1, Some Food, low-rank dimensional crystal: 44, Rift Wolf Skin Fragment × 1 ]

One thousand three hundred health points.

Lin Yan clenched his fist, feeling the increasingly abundant power within his body. The attacks from the Rift Wolves caused him negligible damage, but their speed and tactical coordination were indeed a tier above the Rift Rats. If he hadn't been able to pin them in a narrow terrain just now, the battle wouldn't have been this easy if he had faced two Rift Wolves in an open area.

Continuing deeper into the middle area, it was very likely he would encounter three or even more Rift Wolves appearing at the same time. At that point, relying solely on kiting via terrain might not be enough to resolve the situation. He needed more efficient damage output, or more comfortable space for kiting.

"There are 66 EXP points left until I level up," Lin Yan calculated in his mind. "Three Rift Wolves, or seven Rift Rats."

After leveling up, he would have 2 free attribute points—leveling from 1 to 2, according to the attribute point reward rules, he would gain points equal to the current level, which meant 2 points. By then, his health would surge further, and the Heartsteel's proc damage would also rise accordingly. Once a virtuous cycle was formed, monsters of the same level would have absolutely no way to deal with him.

This was the terrifying aspect of the health-stacking build—it might appear unremarkable in the early stages, but once it crossed a certain critical point, the stat suppression would roll larger and larger like a snowball.

Lin Yan looked up at the sky. The sky of the Rift Wasteland was still that lifeless gray-yellow, but he clearly felt that it had gotten a bit darker than when he had first entered the Dungeon. Perhaps there was a day-night cycle in the Dungeon, or perhaps the clouds had just thickened. Regardless, time was passing.

The 72-hour time limit for the Dungeon had seen about six hours pass already. The progress was still sufficient, but he couldn't afford to slack off.

He got back up, adjusted the shoulder straps of his iron bone breastplate, gripped his dagger tightly, and continued to sneak deeper into the middle area.

He hadn't gone far when an intermittent rustling sound reached his ears. It didn't sound like the footsteps of a monster, but rather like the friction of wind blowing across some kind of metal surface.

Lin Yan looked toward the sound. About thirty meters in front, beside a section of half-collapsed iron fence, he could vaguely see a dark, square outline. The distance was too far to tell exactly what it was, but the architectural debris in that location was clearly more regular than elsewhere, looking like some kind of artificial facility.

Perhaps it was a new resource point, or perhaps something else.

He didn't approach rashly, but instead made a wide circle to flank and approach from the side. As the distance gradually shortened, the appearance of the square outline became clear—it was an iron door embedded in the ruins, entirely rusted, with a thick layer of iron-red oxidation on the surface. The concrete beam above the door frame had broken, and the whole door was slightly tilted, but the door itself was intact, and he could vaguely see a few lines of blurred text carved on the door panel.

Lin Yan got closer and finally read those lines: "Frontline... Camp... Number... Seven..."

Most of the text had rusted to the point of being illegible; he could only vaguely make out these few keywords.

A frontline camp? A supply depot?

But just as he was preparing to move closer, the corner of his eye caught something on the ground nearby that didn't belong to the ruins—a palm-sized metal nameplate, half-buried in the rubble, shining with a faint white light. The surface was covered in rust, but the inscription on it was surprisingly clear: "Seventh Frontline Camp · Second Lieutenant · Zhao Beicheng."

Lin Yan bent down to pick up the nameplate and turned it over to the back, discovering another line of small text: "Material Storage Voucher—This plate acts as a token."

A token.

Lin Yan's heart rate accelerated slightly. Such good luck! He had learned this term in class. Items with the "Token" tag in a Dungeon usually pointed to hidden side quests or hidden resource points. The rewards for completing such side quests were far more generous than those from ordinary resource points.

Just at the same moment he picked up the nameplate, the Dungeon system's notification sound rang in his mind: [ Hidden Side Quest Triggered: Find the Seventh Frontline Camp Supply Crate ] [ Quest Hint: Use the Second Lieutenant's nameplate to enter the frontline camp and find the sealed supply crate. ] [ Quest Rewards: Several low-rank dimensional crystals, Health Recovery Potion. ]

Immediately following that, another cold, mechanical voice belonging to the hextech system, which only he could hear, rang out separately: [ The hextech system has detected that the host has triggered a hidden side quest. Upon completion of this side quest, you will receive an extra hextech selection opportunity × 1. ]

Lin Yan held the nameplate in his hand and turned his gaze toward the rusted iron door.

Two systems, two sets of rewards, not interfering with each other. The Dungeon system gave resources from the Dungeon itself—hard currencies like crystals, equipment, and potions; while the hextech system treated his act of completing the hidden side quest as an additional trigger condition to grant an exclusive hextech selection opportunity. Both followed completely different settlement channels.

A complete hidden side quest, plus an extra hextech selection opportunity. This was an opportunity that was hard to come by in any one-star Dungeon.

But the problem was also obvious—the iron door was locked. The Second Lieutenant's nameplate was very likely the key, but the noise generated when opening an iron door that had been sleeping for who knows how many years would definitely not be small. And while it was quiet nearby for now, that didn't mean there were no monsters lurking. If the sound of opening the door attracted a swarm of monsters, he might not be able to hold them off alone.

"I need to plan this out. I'll eat something first, rest, and recover my condition."

Lin Yan muttered to himself, packed away the nameplate, and didn't immediately try to open the door.

He decided to first clear out a safe area in the surroundings, wiping out all the Rift Wolves that might be nearby to ensure that no monsters would sneak up from behind when he opened the door. At the same time, he would make up the EXP needed for leveling up—66 EXP points, not too much, not too little, exactly the amount provided by 3 Level 2 Rift Wolves.