24: Chapter 24 Young man, the wilderness is dangerous. Come back when you're stronger!

Zhang Jian and his companion ran side-by-side, watching as the distance between them and the monster horde grew.

Their expressions gradually relaxed.

It wasn't until they returned to the city that they finally felt completely at ease.

The guards at the city gate saw them appear, looking as if they had expected it.

A short, chubby man laughed smugly.

"I told you they'd be back in ten minutes at most."

"Look, exactly nine and a half minutes!"

"You all lost, pay up!"

The other men sighed and transferred money to him one by one via their personal terminals.

However, no one blamed Zhang Jian.

Instead, a tall middle-aged man even offered some comfort.

"Young man, now that you've seen the dangers of the wilderness, you must work hard!"

"Wait until you get into a good Professional University and increase your strength before coming back!"

Zhang Jian found it a bit amusing but didn't rebuff his kindness, simply nodding.

"Thank you, Uncle. We'll work hard!"

Without the previous urgency, the two slowed from a run to a stroll, leisurely walking through the city.

Wang Fei suppressed a laugh, the muscles on his face twitching wildly.

"If that uncle just now knew that you hunted over a dozen wild wolves ten Ranks higher than yourself in less than ten minutes, I wonder what he'd think?"

A look of regret appeared on his face.

"That fat guy looked down on us and even won money. It's really annoying!"

Zhang Jian's expression remained calm.

"Other people's opinions are just their own wishful thinking."

"As long as we know our own level, there's no need to care."

As they spoke, they passed a building with an extraordinary Aura.

This was the location of the Professionals Association.

The two carefully detoured around it, their eyes tense.

It wasn't until they were several streets away that they couldn't help but gasp for air.

"If we get caught, it's over!"

Zhang Jian checked the time on his personal terminal. There were still two and a half hours until the mandatory enforcement.

"We have to hurry!"

Not daring to delay, the two jogged all the way to the edge of the city.

They saw Brother Hu again.

When he saw Zhang Jian, his eyes lit up.

"The two little Geniuses are back so soon?"

Zhang Jian didn't want to waste words with him and signaled Wang Fei to pay.

"100,000 yuan received!"

A crisp female voice rang out, and Brother Hu's smile widened.

He wanted to exchange a few more pleasantries, but Zhang Jian interrupted him.

"We're in a hurry, open it quickly!"

Brother Hu had no choice but to operate the Dungeon Terminal.

The moment the light shone, the two quickly stepped inside together.

Brother Hu muttered somewhat helplessly.

"So impatient, as if they're rushing to their deaths!"

...

Entering the dungeon again, both of them were much calmer.

During the waiting period, they began their preparations.

Wang Fei had over 20,000 experience points left and didn't know how to use them for a moment.

Following Zhang Jian's suggestion.

He first upgraded [All-Around Buff].

Zhang Jian didn't care about the defense increase.

But the increase in mana recovery speed was somewhat useful to him.

The remaining 8,000-plus experience points were used to upgrade [Strategy and Tactics] to its maximum level of 3.

The base values of the two effects Zhang Jian valued most were both increased.

Cooldown reduction by 15%, and attack power increase by 7.5%.

After the solo and level-gap bonuses, along with Zhang Jian's affixes, this ratio would be even higher!

However, he didn't slack off either.

Even Wang Fei could leech 20,000 experience by following him.

He currently had nearly 100,000 experience points available.

He spent 80,000 experience to upgrade [Whirlwind Sword Slash] by one level.

The additional attack became 105%.

Then.

They welcomed the incoming monsters!

After Zhang Jian equipped the growth weapon, his attack power had reached 294 points.

When [Sword Qi Slash] was unleashed, the accumulated damage started at over 5,000 points.

Never mind ordinary mobs.

Even a Thug Leader with 7,500 health.

Under the attack power buff from Furnace, it could not escape the fate of being insta-killed by a single sword strike.

And after accumulating critical hit affixes.

Zhang Jian began to clear the screen.

Especially.

Under the empowerment of [Brothers Are Awesome].

The effect of [Concentration] directly became a 52.5% increase in mana recovery speed.

Skill cooldown reduction by 78%!

Combined with the occasional use of mana recovery potions, Zhang Jian could now achieve complete infinite insta-kills!

They crushed everything in their path.

Wave 1.

Wave 2.

...

Wave 6.

Wave 7!

Monsters that once required careful handling were now completely defenseless against their current strength.

In no time, they reached Wave 10!

Looking at the time, only 20 minutes had passed.

And that was including the wait time between each wave.

The actual combat time was probably only a few minutes!

Seeing this progress, Zhang Jian finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At this rate, they should be able to completely clear the dungeon before the mandatory enforcement.

By then.

With the various equipment and weapons over Rank 20, exchangeable skill books, and potentially dropped Crafting Recipes and Job Change Certificates.

It should be enough to scrape together 5 million, right?

He was full of anticipation for the upcoming battles.

...

On the street.

Two men in black walked together.

One carried a giant axe on his back, and the other held a long staff.

They went straight to the city gate and, after making some inquiries.

Found a quiet place together to respectfully report via their personal terminals.

"Manager, the gate guards said a youth who looks like Zhang Jian once left the city with someone else, but his Rank was only five or six, and his strength wasn't high."

"Furthermore, he returned in less than ten minutes, so he likely gained nothing."

"Likely?"

A roar came from the personal terminal.

"Don't guess everything based on your imagination."

"If you were a Rank 5 newcomer, would you dare to leave the city?"

"Find out where Zhang Jian is immediately; we must seize the collateral at the first possible moment!"

"Yes, Manager!"

The two hung up, their faces full of worry.

They both looked very young, likely because they had just graduated from Professionals University this year.

Returning to their hometown, under their parents' expectations, they joined the Debt Department of the Professionals Association.

Competition here was fierce, and survival was difficult.

As newcomers who hadn't yet become full employees, they were sent out on this mission.

To find the location of the debtor, Zhang Jian, and seize the collateral immediately.

But right now, they had no clues at all, which made them very worried.

"He came back after wandering outside the city, and since he's overdue, he can't enter dungeons. Where else could he go?"

"Wait, no!"

One of the men with a buzz cut had a gleam in his eyes.

"There's one more place: the Black Market!"

The other man with long hair also suddenly realized.

"Right!"

"In a place like the Black Market, there might be a way to enter dungeons even if you're overdue."

"Let's hurry over; we'll definitely find him!"

Seeing his companion about to rush out excitedly, the buzz-cut man pulled him back.

"What are you so excited for?"

"There are still nearly three hours until the deadline. Do you think he can save enough money to repay the loan by grinding dungeons in such a short time?"

The long-haired man smiled sheepishly.

"True."

"At his Rank, he'd probably struggle even with the lowest Rank 10 dungeon."

"And dungeons of that level don't drop anything good. Never mind once or twice, he probably wouldn't make much money even after a dozen runs."

"And besides."

The two looked at each other and voiced their doubts.

"If he really has a way to repay the loan, wouldn't that be even better?"

"What's the point of insisting on seizing the collateral?"

Laughing and chatting, the two strolled towards the Black Market.

What they didn't notice.

Was Zhang Jian and Wang Fei quickly running past on the opposite street.

The direction they were heading was exactly the same!