Chapter 4
The five remaining players on the site were plotting to sneak out.
They already knew the priest had arrived.
One of them, whose newbie skill was “Enhanced Hearing,” could pick up conversations within a certain range and had overheard the news of the priest’s arrival.
Their next objective was to find the priest and obtain the corresponding item from him.
“We’ve had countless veteran players in our guild blaze the trail before us, and the most important lesson is this: inside dungeons, unless it’s truly life or death, you must not act rashly against NPCs.” [Hunter081], trying to guide this temporary team, shared insider knowledge known only to guild players.
“Most NPCs remain confined to their regions, but behind them are entire forces. Their influence can extend beyond one dungeon.”
“For example, there was once a player on the rankings who entered a high-difficulty A-rank dungeon, only to be hunted down by the boss. The reason? He had killed that boss’s relative in a low-level dungeon and been marked. NPCs have their own networks of power, just like our five great guilds. They too have churches, trade unions, knight orders—even nations.”
Hunter081 pursed his lips, hesitated, but decided to add more.
“The Church is the safest bet. If you really get hunted by NPCs, you can join the Church. In fact, one of our guild elites rose to become a Cardinal in the Holy Church, with incredible power. For anyone in our Abyss Guild, if you need to align with NPCs, your first choice should always be the Church.”
“But the system itself also maintains balance. To prevent players from completely rewriting the NPC worlds, it has its own purge squads. Rumor has it these are composed of bosses who lost their own dungeon domains. And if you ever encounter them, our guild master has only one rule—”
[Hunter081] paused and said, “If you have to die, then die inside an enemy guild’s dungeon. Our guild will provide the highest funeral benefits to your family.”
The other players’ faces all showed fear.
“But that’s only something to think about once you’ve advanced to an A-rank player,” [Hunter081] reassured them. “Right now, we need to meet the priest and earn his trust.”
The five players started brainstorming.
How could they slip past the foreman’s watch and meet this priest from the Holy Nation?
At that moment—
Lu Chuan was dragging the priest around the construction site, treating him completely like a subordinate.
“Father Eddie, I think this pile looks suspicious. There might be evil spirits in it. Quick, sprinkle some holy water.”
“Father, Father, what do you think if we paint this wall green?”
“Father, Father…”
…
Lu Chuan was fully displaying the traits of a spoiled, reckless rich second-gen, driving this priest from the Holy Nation utterly mad.
But Mary Tower’s boss and Mr. Hubbard were longtime benefactors of the Holy Nation’s funding, so as a priest he had a duty to protect their safety.
“That’s enough, Mr. Lu.” Father Eddie, barely in his forties and still somewhat handsome, felt he had aged years in just a few hours with Lu Chuan.
Next time there was fieldwork like this, he’d better let one of the younger clergy handle it.
“Father Eddie, how about this pit over here? Looks perfect for lying down in.” Lu Chuan suddenly pointed to a dirt pit.
Father Eddie had been about to lecture him, but when he saw Lu Chuan actually poised to jump in, the veins bulged on his forehead.
“Mr. Lu, get away from there—that place isn’t right!” Father Eddie hadn’t expected Lu Chuan to stumble upon something real, and his face turned pale.
Pits were common on a site, but Lu Chuan had unerringly chosen the only one with something wrong!
In a flash, Father Eddie yanked the death-seeking Lu Chuan back.
“Wow, Father, look what I just picked up.” Lu Chuan, wearing pristine white gloves, dangled a small tattered wooden doll and grinned.
Father Eddie immediately raised his cross.
Meanwhile, the main system was flooding with alerts:
[Congratulations, player! You have unlocked “The Pit of Sin.” Dungeon progress increased by 8%.]
[Congratulations, player! You have obtained C-rank item “Cursed Doll.” Warning: item far exceeds dungeon level, severe side effects, currently unbindable.]
[Detected: side effects of “Cursed Doll” nullified by B-rank item “Knight’s Cross.” Item now bindable.]
…
System 888 kept its mouth shut and just watched Lu Chuan show off.
Once he knew this priest had genuine power, Lu Chuan’s philosophy was simple: make full use of him—which meant doubling down on reckless antics.
“Stupid System, right now Hubbard and the others are desperate to sell me this tower. They’re the ones anxious to move things along. If they had no agenda, that would be harder to handle. But since they care so much about the building, that actually makes things easier. And this priest—so devout—of course he doesn’t want his own work to disgrace the Holy Nation.” Lu Chuan clicked his tongue.
He really knew how to play to his audience.
Once he realized the priest was the real deal, he ramped up the antics.
In Lu Chuan’s words: “It’s not me who has to clean up the mess anyway, so why not fool around? Any gamer knows the key to exploring new dungeons is relentless trial and error.”
If this priest was so powerful, surely he could handle a newbie dungeon.
So under the guise of recklessness, Lu Chuan furiously unlocked the site map.
In just one morning, he had toured nearly the entire site, covering more ground than the seven workers who had been slogging away since the start.
“Father, you’re amazing!” Lu Chuan applauded wildly.
“Mr. Lu, that doll may be suppressed by the cross, but it’s still dangerous. Please hand it to me so I can take it back to the Holy See for purification.” Even with his good temper, Father Eddie was already worn out, body and soul.
“Doll? What doll? I didn’t see any.” Lu Chuan replied while tucking the item into his briefcase. “Father Eddie, what are you talking about?”
“Mr. Lu, this is no joke.” Father Eddie’s tone hardened. “This is not something an ordinary person should possess.”
“Hello? Mr. George?” Lu Chuan put his phone on speaker. “The priest you hired is trying to snatch gifts from innocent bystanders? If that’s the case, I may need to reconsider our partnership.”
“Mr. Lu, absolutely not! Father Eddie is a strong candidate for the next regional bishop. There must be some misunderstanding!” George immediately countered.
Lu Chuan raised his eyebrows, shrugged, and handed the phone to Father Eddie.
“There’s nothing, Mr. George. Just a small misunderstanding between Mr. Lu and me.” Father Eddie’s face was stiff as he ended the call. When he looked back at Lu Chuan, the kindness of a priest was gone.
“Don’t look at me like that, Father Eddie. I don’t believe in your religion.” Lu Chuan patted his shoulder cheerfully. “Come now, Father, I’ll donate to your church eventually. Don’t give me that look. Surely the church’s patrons keep some curious trinkets on hand too? If not, the accidents wouldn’t be hitting innocent workers—they’d be hitting the site owner instead, right?”
Father Eddie’s expression was pained. “I came here to resolve their resentment.”
“Mhm, mhm. When they were alive, no one offered them compensation. But now that they’re dead, you step in to resolve their grudges. Impressive.” Lu Chuan gave a sarcastic thumbs-up. “Clearly, this could have been solved with money in life, but instead you let it escalate to this. Tsk, tsk.”
“Mr. Lu, not everything in this world can be solved with money,” Father Eddie snapped.
“Then it must be because not enough money was offered—or someone refused to spend it.” Lu Chuan shot back without hesitation. “From what I see, everything on this site boils down to greed. And if Mr. George weren’t a donor to your church, you wouldn’t even be here. Father, your words don’t carry much weight.”
Father Eddie turned away, realizing he couldn’t out-argue this Eastern man.
From the pit, a fierce cold air spread, frost crawling across the ground as if ice would soon form.
Faintly, agonized roars and wails drifted up—sounds that dragged forth painful memories.
For Lu Chuan, it brought back the misery of eating plain steamed buns for three meals a day.
The priest said nothing more. He merely had Lu Chuan step back, then stood before the pit with ritual tools, opening a Bible to chant.
Watching, Lu Chuan and System 888 couldn’t help their envy.
“Whoa, I actually feel the temperature rising while he chants. If this were our world, a priest this legit would have Hong Kong and Taiwan tycoons in the palm of his hand. One ritual would go for at least seven or eight figures.” Lu Chuan had once tried his hand at selling prayer beads outside temples—big money there.
A strand of beads costing only a few cents wholesale on Taobao, once “blessed” by a temple idol, could sell for hundreds. Add a few different-colored plastic beads, throw in a little “Fortune and Prosperity” charm, and the youngsters would buy them up in droves.
Unfortunately, Lu Chuan had barely made money for a few days before being squeezed out by the elder vendors.
[Host, I think you’re even more impressive.] System 888 admitted sincerely.
If this had been one of its past hosts, they’d be clinging to the priest for protection right now.
But Lu Chuan had the priest dancing in the palm of his hand.
“Hey, System, don’t compare me to others—it’s unfair. You, as a system, need to see others’ strengths too.” Lu Chuan waved theatrically. “Once Father finishes that Bible, we’ll be done here, right? Just like you said: newbie dungeons really are simple. Simple background, simple story, and simple NPCs.”
…Not quite that simple, actually.
System 888 decided to hold its tongue for now.
After who-knows-how-long, the chill from the pit finally stopped, and Father Eddie, drenched in sweat and nearly spent, looked exhausted.
“Mr. Lu, I’ll need to bring some companions here and seal this place for a few days. The wraiths feed on blood to strengthen themselves. For now, I’ve suppressed them underground, but they could strike other workers at any time.” Father Eddie’s voice was weak. “For the next few days, no one can remain on the site.”
No one can remain?
Lu Chuan blinked.
He didn’t care—he’d already cleared the dungeon and could leave anytime. The others could follow too.
But hey, if a dungeon offered two achievements, why settle for just one? Achievements weren’t easy to come by.
“Father Eddie, I don’t think it’s that hard. We just need to lure the wraith out, right?” Lu Chuan’s face curved into an innocent smile. “If magic attacks don’t work, then we’ll use physical ones. I’ll have Mr. Hubbard prepare dozens of tons of explosives and blow its lair sky-high. That’ll force it out for sure.”
