webnovelfull Chapter 442: You've gone in a huge circle, are you kidding me?
Chapter 442: You've gone in a huge circle, are you kidding me?
A machine has appeared in the center of the Supreme Building's lobby.
It's square and rectangular, with a metal casing painted with tacky red and yellow stripes, and a thick lever on the front.
Hill, wearing overalls stained with oil, had half his body leaning out of the inspection port on the side of the machine.
She was holding a large wrench and was tightening some part with force.
"Click, click."
Hill was making muffled noises, his words unclear, but his tone was clearly cheerful.
Chen You walked to the machine.
This thing has three scrolling windows on the front, and below it is a huge tray.
Is this a slot machine?
"Hill, I have a question for you." Chen You tapped on the slot machine's casing.
Hill stepped out of the access panel.
She rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand, which was covered in black grease, leaving a noticeable stain.
She put down the wrench, casually wiped her hands on her overalls, and winked playfully.
"Boss, what's your problem?"
Chen You stared at the oil stains on Hill's face for two seconds.
"What do you mean, 'what problem am I'?" Chen You pointed to his nose.
"I am in good physical and mental health. Apart from being disgusted by the system rollback just now, I have no problems."
Hill laughed and said, "Boss, don't get excited."
She walked up to the front of the slot machine and patted the lever.
"What I mean is, sir, what kind of service do you want to inquire about? Is it equipment enhancement, skill upgrades, or...?"
Hill rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. "Purchase some high-end services that the system can't easily provide directly?"
Chen You pulled up a chair and sat down.
"The hidden quest in Hidden Star City." Chen You got straight to the point.
"Logically speaking, since I became the acting city lord and made such a big commotion, I must have triggered a hidden quest."
"What happened to the monster siege? Where's the experience? Where's the equipment?"
"That guy Sander, all he thinks about is singing and dancing, told me that not even a fly could get into Hidden Star City!"
Hill pulled over a towel to dry her hands.
"Boss, you have a misunderstanding of the underlying logic of the 'Source Realm'." Hill draped a towel over his shoulder.
"Monster siege is a regular mechanism set up by the system to balance regional energy and test the strength of players."
"I didn't see the standard procedure." Chen You tapped the table.
"Because you broke the rules." Hill leaned closer to Chen You, his hands resting on the table.
"The talent show you organized in Hidden Star City triggered a server-wide 'Artistic Judgment'."
"The system has determined that the energy fluctuations in the Hidden Star City area have far exceeded the physical limits that monsters can withstand."
Chen You frowned.
"Simply put, the system believes that sending tens of thousands of low-level magical beasts to their deaths is not cost-effective." Hill straightened up.
"Therefore, the system 'optimized' the hidden events in Hidden Star City during the rollback and reset."
"Where did the optimization go?" Chen You asked.
Hill turned around, gripped the lever of the slot machine with one hand, and pulled it down hard.
"Ring ring!"
The three windows on the front of the slot machine scrolled wildly.
A few seconds later, the window stopped and displayed three gold coin patterns.
A dozen or so copper coins tumbled out of the tray below with a "clatter".
Hill bent down, picked up the copper coin, and put it in his pocket.
"It's all about fate now." Hill patted the slot machine's casing.
"The system packaged the hidden events that should have occurred in Hidden Star City into a high-dimensional 'crisis blind box'."
"It won't trigger automatically; you need to find it yourself."
Chen You looked at the tacky slot machine.
"Don't tell me this is the blind box," Chen You said, pointing at the machine.
Hill looked in the direction Chen You was pointing.
His lips twitched twice.
She raised her right foot, which was clad in work boots, and kicked the side of the slot machine hard.
"Clang!"
The slot machine casing is dented.
Internal parts were scattered all over the floor, and a few copper coins rolled down the tray to Chen You's feet.
Chen You glanced down at the copper coin.
"Are you trying to cover up the crime?" Chen You asked.
Hill dusted off his trousers.
"Boss, you underestimate yourself. This piece of junk can only spit out a few hundred gold coins at most."
"This kind of low-end stuff is not worthy of your status."
Chen You pulled out a chair, sat down, and crossed his legs.
"Don't flatter me, where exactly is my hidden mission?"
Hill walked to the table.
She pulled a clear crystal plate from the pocket of her overalls and quickly slid her fingers across it.
"As I just mentioned, the system has optimized your hidden mission. This 'Crisis Blind Box' is not a specific item."
Hill pushed the crystal panel in front of Chen You. "It's in a 'state' right now."
Chen You glanced at the crystal plate, which was covered in a bunch of gibberish.
Speak like a human.
"It exists in every corner of the Source Realm." Hill retrieved the crystal plate.
"The triggering conditions may have changed; they may be at the bottom of a treasure chest in a dungeon, in an NPC's casual complaint, or even under the floor tiles beneath your feet."
"Moreover, this blind box isn't something you can just open by spending money."
Hill raised one index finger and shook it.
Chen You opened the backpack panel and directly withdrew 10,000 gold coins.
The gold coins were piled on the table, their gleam dazzling.
"Really not?" Chen You asked.
Hill stared at the gold coins, unable to resist swallowing hard.
She forcibly looked away from the gold coins.
"No, boss, the system has been patched for you." Hill said with a sorrowful expression.
"It added a restriction rule to the underlying code: it prohibits forced task settlement for a single transaction exceeding 50,000 gold coins."
"You've caused too much trouble in Hidden Star City. The system has determined that your fund flows pose a risk of disrupting the balance."
Chen You put away the gold coins, and the desktop returned to its dim state.
"Targeting me?"
"Obviously," Hill said, shrugging.
Chen You leaned back in his chair.
"How am I supposed to find it? Search every inch of the world? I'd be making hundreds of thousands of dollars in a minute, I don't have the time for that."
"You'll need to find it yourself," Hill said with a professional smile.
Chen You stared into Hill's eyes.
The two stared at each other for five seconds.
"A level is required?" Chen You asked vaguely.
Hill snapped his fingers.
She brought up Chen You's character panel.
"I don't know if it's a level requirement, but in the higher-dimensional judgment of the Origin Realm, you are currently level 46, which is considered a mid-level player." Hill pointed to the level number on the panel.
Chen You stroked his chin.
"Level 50 is a watershed moment in the Source Realm," Hill continued.
"Once you reach level 50, you might be able to access things at the 'rules' level. Since the system has hidden the blind boxes within the rules, you might discover something when you reach level 50."
"So I need to level up to level 50 first?" Chen You frowned.
Isn't this just coming full circle?
I wanted to trigger the monster siege so I could level up quickly, and now you're telling me I need to level up first to trigger it?
Chen You took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to flip the table.
"Do you still have that kind of thing that gives you gold coins to gain experience like last time?"