Chapter 5: The Secret Realm of the Dungeon
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Yan Qing had expected his sleep quality to be poor in this unfamiliar cave. He was always the type to suffer endocrine imbalance whenever he traveled—unfamiliar surroundings triggered Hakimi’s stress response in him. Yet, to his surprise, upon waking this time, he felt as refreshed as if he had donned red underwear on New Year’s Eve—a rare sensation he had long since lost after falling into the habit of office work.
After a quick wash, he reheated the leftover meat buns from the previous night—yes, there was even a fireplace in the room—and finished his breakfast before powering on the gaming console.
Messenger, activate!
With no windows to gauge the time, Yan Qing relied on the game to tell him it was just dawn outside, the sky still lingering in a deep blue night hue. ‘Yan San’ had already risen and was practicing his marksmanship.
“Switch gameplay mode from ‘auto-evolution’ to ‘manual control’?”
Auto-evolution was a feature Yan Qing had discovered when he planned to log off last night. A brief investigation revealed it was essentially an intelligent AFK system: the character would autonomously deduce his next actions based on past gameplay. For example, ‘Yan San’ had stumbled into military service at the barracks, so he would regularly sleep, drill, and obey orders until Yan Qing logged in to take direct control.
Yan Qing let ‘Yan San’ continue AFK, then retrieved a steaming bowl of pork rib soup from the communal storage—meat buns alone were insufficient; a hot broth was necessary early in the morning.
By the time the assembly bell rang across the training ground, ‘Yan San’ had leveled up again, meaning that even as a bystander, he could reach level 10 in four or five days.
The soldiers gathered in the training yard, and ‘Yan San’ quickly found his commander—the same fearsome knight from the previous day.
Above the commander’s head floated a name: ‘Captain Hyakuho, Ukimaru Style.’ Yan Qing had been informed of this by others, but once the game character knew the information, the system automatically linked the name to the figure.
Ukimaru Style announced, “Today, the Second Battalion enters the secret realm. As usual, the archery squad of ten gets a reward of five jade, the infantry squad of five gets thirty. You, join the infantry!”
The one singled out was ‘Yan San.’
Yan Qing was puzzled but went along with it, allowing the mounted slave to equip him with heavy armor, a spear, a longbow, a quiver of arrows, and even bandages and strong wine for first aid. Others eagerly volunteered, all scrambling for the archery squad, while the infantry spots were reserved exclusively by Ukimaru’s direct appointment.
Besides the archers and infantry, Ukimaru also selected twenty as reserves.
Forming the team, Ukimaru did not lead them outside the barracks but deeper inside, where the guards grew stern and numerous—watchtowers, barricades, chevaux-de-frise. Yan Qing realized the barracks he knew before was only the outer living area; the interior was far more fortified, with the army’s main strength seemingly focused on internal security.
Under the aim of dozens of crossbows stationed in four directions, the barricade gates slowly parted. Ukimaru led them into the most heavily guarded section of the barracks.
Even Yan Qing felt curious: what on earth was so valuable that the entire military camp was encircling it for protection?
On the screen appeared a mansion.
Yan Qing wondered what powerful figure lived inside to warrant such protection. Approaching, he noticed the vermilion main gate shimmered with a faint green ripple, and the game displayed information:
“Town of San Mountain, Zheng Family”
“Background: Zheng Shan is a renowned philanthropist, donating annually to bridge repairs, schools, and care for widows, orphans, and the disabled. Yet no one knows the Zheng family is actually a bandit den. Zheng Shan personally raids and plunders on distant roads each year, earning the notorious title ‘San Mountain Warlord’ among the underworld. However, his hometown beneficence has kept the authorities unsuspecting…”
“Challenge Level: 8 to 15”
“Max Group Size: 15”
“Objective: Eliminate ‘San Mountain Warlord’ Zheng Shan”
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At this point, Ukimaru reiterated, “Let me remind you all: all loot belongs to the group; only I can access the treasure chests. Anyone violating the rules will face my wrath! And you, stay by my side. If you come out alive, you will be a Hyakuho knight. But if I catch you fleeing or retreating from demons... you’ll remain inside forever.”
“Final weapon check, Second Battalion, enter the secret realm!”
So that was it!
No wonder the Black Wolves knew the bandits’ den so well.
No wonder Ukimaru bore a talisman for protection.
It dawned on Yan Qing that people in this world could discover dungeons and exploit their contents!
To these people, dungeons—self-styled “realms of heaven and earth”—were indeed aptly named “secret realms.”
As ‘Yan San’ followed the squad inside, the scene shifted abruptly; though it was dawn outside, inside the dungeon it was pitch night. They entered the courtyard surrounding the mansion, where many fire pits lined the path into the house. Five fierce-looking henchmen patrolled the center, labeled “Bandit Henchmen,” with health bars floating above.
Ukimaru ordered, “Archers split into left and right wings to prepare crossfire. Infantry, stay close and advance five steps!”
He then strode forward, driving his glaive into the ground, undeterred by the henchmen ten steps away potentially launching a surprise attack. Yet when the infantry lined up behind Ukimaru, the henchmen showed no reaction.
Yan Qing naturally understood why—the dungeon monsters followed programmed behavior, and Ukimaru was standing just beyond their aggro range.
Ukimaru drew his bow taut and commanded, “Ready!”
‘Yan San’ and others followed suit, while the archers positioned themselves behind, ready to fire.
“Shoot!”
Fifteen arrows flew like torrents toward the five henchmen, each receiving three arrows, losing a third of their health. Yet these bandit henchmen, though wounded, remained unfazed and charged forward with greatswords raised!
Data-driven!
Unlike real beings, these monsters did not weaken from injury; only when their health was fully depleted would they die.
“Guards, engage!”
Ukimaru seized his glaive to confront the lead henchman, while the infantry each grabbed one bandit, perfectly covering all five. Notably, aside from Ukimaru and ‘Yan San,’ the other infantry wielded sword and shield, focusing on defense.
As the henchmen charged, the archers fired another volley, so ‘Yan San’ faced foes already half-health. Since this was an 8 to 15-level dungeon, the henchmen were at least level 8, higher than ‘Yan San.’ Thus, ‘Yan San’s’ strike only inflicted 15% damage.
The fight ended quickly. Despite Yan Qing’s earnest control, ‘Yan San’ was struck twice, losing about 10% health.
Yan Qing opened his personal inventory and selected a meat bun to eat.
“Where did you get meat buns?” a panting sword-and-shield soldier asked in surprise.
‘Yan San’ replied, “Leftover from breakfast.”
After eating, a small green segment appeared on the health bar, slowly regenerating. As a seasoned player, Yan Qing understood: green health represented the meat bun’s healing effect, which took time to activate.
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After the battle, Ukimaru did not press onward but allowed a brief rest to relax their muscles. Yan Qing noticed the loot floating above the fallen henchmen—spiritual jade, roast chicken, healing pills, steel ingots. He glanced at the Hyakuho knights, who ignored the drops, then decided to maneuver ‘Yan San’ closer to collect them.
“You obtained Spiritual Jade ×300”
“You obtained Roast Chicken ×2”
“You obtained…”
“What are you doing!” Ukimaru’s roar pierced Yan Qing’s ears through the console.
The commander stood, gripping his glaive tightly, glaring at ‘Yan San’ from behind his demon mask.
“Why are you stepping on the corpses of these demons?”
Yan Qing, struck with inspiration, replied, “They hit me twice earlier; I’m annoyed.”
Ukimaru stared for a moment before saying, “Don’t step on them. Their clothes will be recycled later. If you’re injured, apply medicine quickly; we’ll resume fighting soon.”
Now Yan Qing was certain—people in this world could not see the dungeon monsters’ dropped items!
On reflection, it made sense—who would carry cash, food, and materials on their person? But since Messenger was an MMORPG, monsters could not only drop relevant items; otherwise, players would fill their inventories with low-grade weapons and armor from humanoid monsters, which was meaningless besides cluttering storage. Players would inevitably convert those into spiritual jade anyway, so it was more practical to drop jade, supplies, and stackable materials directly.
Though the locals could enter dungeons, they were not game players and thus neither saw nor benefited from these convenient loot mechanics.
After the rest, Ukimaru led them into the main house, where five henchmen dined inside. The routine repeated—maintain distance, initial volley of arrows, then infantry move in as the archers crossfire.
With limited space, the five infantry had little room to maneuver. Yan Qing managed to dodge only once, losing 20% health before the fight ended.
The good news: after two battles, ‘Yan San’ had reached level 7.
Just as Yan Qing prepared to eat roast chicken to recover, a sword-and-shield soldier nearby said, “Captain, I... can’t go on.”
This soldier had no health bar overhead but bore multiple injuries, including a deep gash on his shoulder that pierced his armor.
Yan Qing noticed that aside from ‘Yan San’ and Ukimaru, the other three sword-and-shield men were wounded and in poor condition.
It was understandable that Ukimaru remained unscathed—he had changed classes and possessed a protective talisman—but why was ‘Yan San’ also uninjured despite taking several hits?
Yan Qing glanced at ‘Yan San’s’ health bar in the lower-left corner and instantly understood.
‘Yan San,’ like the dungeon monsters, was a data-driven entity: no matter how many wounds, combat effectiveness was unaffected until the health bar was depleted. Real people needed to stop bleeding and disinfect wounds, but ‘Yan San’ only needed to eat buns or roast chicken to restore health.
This data-driven nature affected not only injuries but also combat style. The henchmen fought relentlessly, never dodging, trading blows without hesitation. Against such fearless, injury-immune monsters, even the most cautious fighter would be hurt. No wonder the infantry’s bounty was six times that of the archers, yet no one volunteered for infantry—the risks were simply too great.
In hindsight, it was only natural the locals referred to dungeon monsters as demons: they were tough, fearless, life-for-life combatants who resurrected with dungeon resets. What else could they be but demons?