Tianshu University's cafeteria was always the most vibrant place on campus.
The "Quantum Battleship" Squad had just finished a day of inhumane, high-intensity training. At this moment, they were sitting around a round table, staging a grand energy replenishment operation.
On the table, food overflowing with Spiritual Energy was piled up like a small mountain.
Lin Xiyue held a braised pork knuckle in her left hand and a piece of Braised Pork in her right. She ate until her mouth was covered in oil, her cheeks bulging out like a hamster's.
While shoveling rice into her mouth with the momentum of a Thousand Army Sweep, she mumbled indistinctly in praise, "Awesome! Spirit Food really hits the spot! I feel like the hollowed-out parts of my body are instantly filled back up!"
Su Wan maintained her elegant posture, a delicate vegetable salad sitting in front of her.
Suddenly, a chopstick-full of snow-white, tender fish meat was accurately airdropped onto her plate, without a single fish bone in sight.
"Eat more, you're too skinny."
With half a pork knuckle stuffed in her mouth, Lin Xiyue's voice was muffled, but her eyes were exceptionally serious.
"You're our team's artillery and control Core. Your Magic Power consumption is so huge; how can you get by without eating meat?"
Su Wan lowered her eyes and looked at the meticulously deboned piece of fish belly on her plate. The Frozen corners of her lips quietly melted, curving into an extremely shallow arc.
She gave a soft "Mm."
Then, she picked up the piece of fish, put it in her mouth in small bites, and tasted it carefully.
The icy aura lingering between her brows was somewhat melted by this sudden touch of worldly warmth.
Xia Lian, acting like a worrying old mother, ate her food in small bites while constantly serving more rice and dishes to the Lin Family Sisters, who had consumed the most energy.
Lin Qingyue's table manners were elegant, but her eating speed was astonishingly fast.
After polishing off the last portion of roast meat in front of her like a whirlwind, she intended to serve herself another bowl of soup.
Just then, the Personal Terminals on the wrists of all four vibrated simultaneously, projecting a faint blue Display.
[Campus Announcement: Notice on the Recruitment of Members for the Purification Mission of the "Unnamed Dungeon"]
The content of the announcement was extremely concise.
The official authorities had issued an emergency joint mission to major universities to purify a high-risk, large-scale Dungeon codenamed "Unnamed."
Dungeon Entry Restriction: Beginner Professional (Below Level 40).
Official Level Requirement: Between Level 30 and 39.
Special Note: The Dungeon was jointly discovered by multiple countries. Elites from "friendly nations" will participate together. Please apply with caution.
"A new mission?"
Lin Xiyue even forgot to chew the meat in her mouth, her large eyes instantly igniting with a light comparable to a searchlight.
She quickly skimmed through the announcement and excitedly turned her head to look at Lin Qingyue.
"Sis! Isn't this just a live target delivered right to our door? I've been practicing the basics every day, and my hands are getting itchy!"
"Don't get too excited."
Su Wan put down her chopsticks, calmly entering analytical mode.
"The task is aimed at levels 30 to 39. The number of freshmen who meet the standard is as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. This is essentially prepared for the sophomores, or even the juniors who are stuck by the promotion requirements."
The prerequisite for promoting to a level 40 Intermediate Professional is to achieve at least 20% contribution in the purification of a large-scale Dungeon.
This threshold was the nightmare of countless geniuses.
There were plenty of people who had enough strength but fell short by just one or two percentage points in contribution due to bad luck.
Of course, monsters like the Quantum Battleship Squad, who directly swept almost 100% of the contribution in the "Shattered Alliance" Dungeon, were not included in this.
"Su Wan is right."
Xia Lian also added softly, her voice carrying a trace of worry.
"In this kind of multinational joint task, 'competition' is just a nice way of putting it."
"The greatest danger is never the monsters in the Dungeon... but those smiling 'allies'."
She lowered her voice, leaning over mysteriously.
"There's a precedent. A top squad from Tianshu was charging when their backline support's shoelaces 'accidentally' tied themselves into a dead knot, resulting in the whole team being swamped by monsters and instantly eliminated..."
"What's there to fear!"
Lin Xiyue swallowed her last bite of Braised Pork, wiped her mouth vigorously with a napkin, and looked full of fighting spirit.
"When has our Quantum Battleship ever been afraid of competition? We beat the crap out of the Four Pests of Tianshu when school started, so why should we be afraid of a few foreigners playing dirty tricks now?"
"If they dare to tie our shoelaces together, I dare to 'accidentally' smack them right into a mob of monsters with my shield!"
She stared at her sister with burning eyes, her gaze practically screaming two words:
Cause trouble!
Lin Qingyue methodically finished her last mouthful of soup, wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin, and read through the announcement carefully.
"High-risk," "Unnamed," "Large-scale Dungeon," "Friendly nations," "Competition"...
These words circled and collided in her mind, ultimately converging into a word that made her heart race.
Fun.
The officials set the stage, and the whole world puts on a show?
Proud geniuses from different countries fighting for contribution points, all smiles on the surface while playing dirty behind each other's backs?
The more people, the grander the spectacle; the grander the spectacle, the more fun to be had.
An image had even begun to surface in her mind:
A group of arrogant foreign elites having their world turned upside down and doubting life itself by a freshman squad so unconventional they seemed to have barged in from another dimension, using all sorts of unheard-of "Ancient Martial Arts."
That would be way too much fun!
Moreover, with the entire squad at Level 32, ordinary training is no longer much of a challenge. We just happen to need a high-pressure environment to test our recent growth.
Most importantly, isn't a highly anticipated stage like this a showground tailor-made for me? It's absolutely perfect for pulling stunts and farming Elation Value! Those astronomically priced cards in the System Store are just waiting for my patronage!
The more Lin Qingyue thought about it, the less she could control the curve of her lips.
She looked up, met three pairs of eyes—each with a different style but equally full of anticipation—and made a crisp, decisive call.
"We're going."
Her words were loud and clear.
"Awesome!"
Lin Xiyue was the first to cheer, excitedly slapping her hand onto the table and rattling the bowls and plates into a crisp symphony.
Su Wan and Xia Lian exchanged a glance. The worry on their faces hadn't completely dissipated, but it was largely overshadowed by a mix of excitement and the resignation of having "boarded a pirate ship."
This team had long been led down an unconventional point of no return by their captain.
While other teams sought stability, their team sought thrills.
"Since it's decided, let's sign up immediately."
Su Wan acted with swift and decisive efficiency, immediately pulling up her personal terminal.
"The quota for this kind of mission is limited. First come, first served."
The four of them completed their registration right then and there in the cafeteria.
Less than a minute after the application was submitted, the approval receipt and the gathering notice arrived together.
[Gathering Time: Three days later, 8:00 AM.]
[Gathering Place: Tianshu University, South Gate Teleportation Array Plaza.]
[Leading Instructor: Chu Jingya.]
"Professor Chu Jingya?" Lin Xiyue paused in surprise when she saw the instructor's name.
"The professor who teaches Dungeon Intelligence Analysis? Isn't she a pure theoretician? Why would the university send her to lead the team?"
Lin Qingyue wasn't surprised by this; instead, her expression grew a bit more serious.
Interesting. The leading instructor can't enter the Secret Decree, so it shouldn't matter who they send. Yet they specifically assigned an intelligence expert.
Is this a hint that for this "Unnamed Dungeon", intelligence and brains will be more important than fists?
That makes it even better. The deeper the water and the bigger the storm, the more fun we'll have.
"Alright, the mission is set."
Lin Qingyue stood up and stretched, her joints letting out a series of faint, crisp pops.
"For the next two days, we will lower our training intensity. Rest well, recharge your energy, and adjust your condition to its absolute peak."
"Understood!" the three of them replied in unison.
-
Night, Room 206, Tingzhu Garden.
Lin Qingyue finished washing up and lay in bed, listening to the steady, forceful breathing of her younger sister from the next bed.
She kept her eyes open, staring at the ceiling in the darkness as her mind began to calculate.
Going on a mission meant that for at least a week or two, or perhaps even longer, she wouldn't be able to sneak off to the Elven Royal Capital at night.
'I'll have to ask The Queen for a leave of absence.'
A wicked smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth.
'Given how clingy she is, she probably won't let me go easily. I'll inevitably have to "appease" her properly...'
At the thought of Ilanier's likely reaction, instead of feeling a headache coming on, Lin Qingyue felt a surge of secret anticipation that even she was unwilling to admit to herself.
She silently slipped out of bed, her feet touching the floor without making a single sound.
She skillfully activated [As I've Written].
With a flash of light, her figure instantly vanished from the bedroom.
-
Early the next morning, before dawn.
A teleportation light flashed, and Lin Qingyue stumbled, her entire body sliding limply against the cold wall.
The flush on her face had yet to fully fade, and her expensive silk pajamas were wrinkled and disheveled—she had clearly just weathered a brutal storm.
A bout of soreness and tingling numbness, which even the Adeptus Breathing Method failed to suppress, exploded from the very depths of her tailbone, turning into countless electric currents that surged through her limbs and bones.
Succubus!
That woman is absolutely a succubus who has lived for hundreds of years! A human juicer!
She screamed frantically in her heart.
The process of asking for time off went smoothly, but the price was exceptionally heavy.
After listening to her explanation, Ilanier merely leaned lazily against the headboard. Her wine-red eyes rippling with moisture, she whispered in a tone that could melt one's bones:
"You may take your leave, but for the few days you're away, my share must be paid in advance."
And then... there was no 'then'.
That woman, even though she herself was so exhausted by the end that she couldn't even be bothered to lift a finger, still refused to let her off.
Fortunately, Cyrene was able to go over and keep her company, otherwise she probably really wouldn't have been able to get out of bed today.
Supporting a waist that felt like it no longer belonged to her, Lin Qingyue used her last ounce of strength to drag herself to the edge of the bed, crashing face-down onto it in a spread-eagle position.
She didn't even have the desire to move a muscle.
Luckily, there were still two days of buffer time.
If she played on the international server in this state, wouldn't she just end up being a free kill right from the start?