17: Chapter 17 unlocks the dungeon challenge.

[Novice Village No. 8063 Level Rankings]

No. 1: Game ID (15) Reward: All stats increased by 10%

No. 2: Ronin (14) Reward: All stats increased by 5%

No. 3: Old Demon (14) Reward: All stats increased by 1%

No. 4: Luo Yao (13)

No. 5: Luo Xue (13)

...

A line of small text at the bottom of the list reads: [This ranking is only valid in the Novice Village and will be automatically removed after leaving.]

"10%? An all-stat boost?" Zhao Yun shouted.

Jiang He chuckled inwardly.

A 10% boost might not mean much to others.

But for him, it was quite the opposite; his advantages were his high attack, high defense, and high HP.

Immediately after, a second system announcement dropped like a bombshell.

[Regional Announcement (Novice Village No. 8063): Dungeon System is now open]

[Challenge Rules]:

Party Size: 3-10 people.

How to Join: Go to the Village Chief to receive a scroll.

Dungeon Difficulty: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced (The higher the difficulty, the richer the rewards, and the stronger the monsters).

Dungeon Rewards: The first team to clear the dungeon receives First Kill rewards.

As soon as the announcement came out, the chat channel of the entire Novice Village was instantly ignited.

"Holy crap, dungeons are open?"

"LFM, 3/10, need a strong Tank and a Healer, DPS must be insane."

"Wuu wuu wuu~ Newbie Priest girl looking for a carry, I can cheer for you!"

"Paying high price for a high-quality team, Lv12 Fire Mage here, explosive damage!"

"Forget the dungeon, someone tell me where Game ID is first? There's a bounty on him, brothers!"

"Is your life more important or money? Only an idiot would go to their death, I'm going to farm the dungeon!"

...

Learning that the dungeon system had opened.

The four of them immediately set off, sprinting toward the Novice Village.

When they arrived, the sight before them made Zhao Yun gasp:

The entrance to the Village Chief's house was currently packed with a dense, black mass of people.

Heads were bobbing, and shouts, arguments, and team recruitment cries were all mixed together.

The Village Chief was surrounded in the middle, sweating profusely in anxiety: "Quiet, everyone stop pushing! Party leaders step forward one by one. There's no limit on scrolls, everyone will get one."

Jiang He's brow furrowed.

Push through?

Not only would it be a waste of time, but it might also trigger a conflict.

Just as the four were at a loss.

A small hand quietly tugged at the corner of Jiang He's clothes.

"Big brother, you're here too."

Looking down, it was the Village Chief's grandson, Xiao Hu, whom he had saved before.

Jiang He's heart stirred, and he squatted down, lowering his voice: "Xiao Hu, I want to take a dungeon challenge, but there are too many people..."

Xiao Hu gave a sly smile, looked around, and pulled a scroll from his chest: "Big brother, here. I secretly took this from Grandpa's drawer."

[Dungeon Challenge: Dark Abyss]

Jiang He was overjoyed and rubbed Xiao Hu's head vigorously: "Good kid, you're a real friend."

Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang He directly chose the highest difficulty and then crushed the scroll.

Four pillars of white light enveloped Jiang He, Bai Luoyao, Bai Luoxue, and Zhao Yun, and they vanished into thin air.

At the same time, someone outside the crowd shouted: "Everyone move aside, our Young Master Zhang wants to take the dungeon."

"On what grounds? We were here first. If you want the quest, go wait in line."

Zhang Zixuan sneered: "Those who don't want to die, get the hell out of my way."

Only then did someone notice that the other party was actually Ronin, the second-ranked player.

More importantly and terrifyingly, he was the one who had put out a high bounty to hunt down Game ID.

The entire Novice Village knew about this.

Everyone understood in their hearts that they would rather offend Game ID than the player before them.

If they angered him, he might just put a kill order on them.

The crowd began to disperse, making a path.

Zhang Zixuan glanced at the crowd and walked over with his men.

"Old man, I want to take the dungeon challenge."

The Village Chief frowned and threw a scroll onto the table: "Take it and get lost, you rude fellow."

Zhang Zixuan naturally wouldn't care about the attitude of an NPC.

What he wanted to do was be the first to challenge the dungeon and get the First Kill reward.

Just as he was reading the challenge rules, a system announcement came through.

[Congratulations to player Game ID's party for successfully challenging the Dark Abyss (Advanced Difficulty) and obtaining the First Kill reward...]

The originally noisy Village Chief's courtyard instantly fell into a dead silence.

"Damn it, when did he enter the dungeon?" Zhang Zixuan cursed inwardly.

At the same time, a dungeon ranking view function was added to the game interface.

[Dungeon Rankings]

Dark Abyss (Advanced Difficulty): Jiang He's Party (Score: 95)

Four pillars of white light flashed.

Jiang He and his group appeared in front of Zhang Zixuan.

After entering the dungeon, it couldn't have been simpler.

The others pulled the mobs while Jiang He soloed them.

In just five minutes, the BOSS's HP was cleared in three strikes.

"Oh, Young Master Zhang is also here to take the dungeon? Did you get the scroll?"

Jiang He hadn't expected to bump into Zhang Zixuan as soon as he came out, so he hurriedly took a moment to Taunt him.

Zhang Zixuan gritted his teeth and leaned in, whispering in his ear:

"Game ID, stop pretending. I know you have a hidden class. If you don't want me to expose your secret, join my team, otherwise..."

He stopped halfway.

Because Jiang He had raised the weapon in his hand and was looking at him with a face full of confusion.

"Young Master Zhang, what are you talking about? What hidden class? This game has hidden classes?"

Jiang He had long since used the concealment mask to change the appearance of all his equipment.

Seeing him holding a broken wooden stick, Zhang Zixuan was stunned.

"Impossible, why is it a wooden stick? Didn't you use daggers before?"

"Oh, maybe you're just blind?"

Zhang Zixuan was furious. He never expected that Jiang He was actually just an ordinary Priest healer?

"Fine, fine, fine, you just wait. Even if you aren't a hidden class, I won't let you off. You want to take dungeon quests, right? I guarantee you won't be able to!"

He immediately arranged for his men to blockade the entrance to the Village Chief's house.

Anyone could enter, except for Jiang He.

He knew Jiang He's combat power was strange, but this was the Novice Village, where combat power couldn't be used.

As long as he blocked him using human wave tactics, there was nothing he could do.

Just as he was feeling smug, Xiao Hu ran over.

"Big brother, you came out so fast? You're so amazing."

"Yeah, I have to thank you for that."

Xiao Hu rubbed his small hands and pulled out another scroll from behind him, handing it over.

Jiang He was shocked: "Did you steal your grandpa's stuff again?"

"No, this time Grandpa gave it voluntarily. I told him about you, and Grandpa said Big brother doesn't need to wait in line anymore. If you want to take a dungeon, just find me."

Jiang He chuckled. It seemed his quests weren't in vain; his favorability had gone up.

"Hey, kid, I don't want to wait in line either. Give me a scroll."

Zhang Zixuan, who had been listening from the side, finally realized.

It turned out that besides finding the Village Chief for the dungeon, finding his grandson worked too.

"You? You want a scroll too?"

"Yeah."

"Go wait in line yourself."

"On what grounds? He can take one from you, but I can't?"

Xiao Hu ignored him. After saying goodbye to Jiang He, he turned and went off to play.

Jiang He tossed the scroll in his hand and smiled: "Young Master Zhang, take your time in line. I'm heading to the dungeon first. See ya."

Crushing the scroll, the four of them vanished from the spot.