The moment her feet touched solid ground, the dizziness from teleportation receded like a receding tide.
But the next instant, a terrifying force surged from deep within the earth, gripping Lin Qingyue's body and violently yanking her downward!
Caught completely off guard, her knees buckled, her bones groaned under the sudden weight, and she nearly collapsed to her knees.
"Damn it! What kind of twisted welcome ceremony is this?"
Lin Qingyue cursed under her breath, instantly tensing her core muscles. With a surge of core strength, she forcefully pulled her tilting body back into balance, barely managing to regain her footing and avoid embarrassing herself in front of her teammates.
Yet the crushing weight—as if she'd gained twenty kilograms out of thin air—remained stubbornly clinging to her, impossible to shake off.
Before them stretched a vast and tranquil coniferous forest. Towering pines pierced the sky, splintering the azure above into countless shards of blue. The air carried the sharp scent of pine resin mingled with cool, damp air, while the ground was carpeted in a thick, springy layer of brown needles that crunched silently underfoot.
Apart from the four members of the "Quantum Battleship" squad, there was no one else around.
Another random dispersal at the start? Well, at least it saves us the trouble, Lin Qingyue thought.
"Is this the 'Unnamed Dungeon'?" Lin Xiyue gripped her heavy shield, Immovable Mountain, muscles tensed as she scanned their surroundings warily. "The air here... it's suffocating. Even breathing feels like a struggle."
"The elemental concentration is extremely high, but it's chaotic, violent, and ominous," Su Wan murmured, extending her fingers to grasp at the air. Ice-blue Magic Power particles coalesced at her fingertips, only to violently tremble and dissipate within moments. Her brow furrowed deeply.
"Casting spells here would be far more powerful than outside, but the risk of losing control increases exponentially."
Xia Lian crouched down, lightly tracing the rough tree bark with her fingers, and lowered her voice.
"There are signs of battle, both old and new. It doesn't look peaceful here at all. We need to be careful."
Just then, a few lines of faintly glowing text silently appeared below the four women's class panels.
[You have entered the Dungeon: ???]
"They won't even show the name?" Lin Xiyue frowned. "What's their game? Afraid we'll guess the Purification conditions if we know the name?"
Lin Qingyue's eyebrow arched.
No wonder it's called the 'Unnamed Dungeon'—they're hiding things from the start. The malice here must be extraordinary.
The thought barely formed when the first rule slapped them in the face:
[Rule 1: Gravitational Pull]
[Description: Gravity has increased. Jump height and movement speed are reduced.]
"Ah!"
Xia Lian's startled cry carried a hint of panic.
"The feeling of being heavier was right after all... My agility has been cut in half!"
Lin Qingyue tried to leap into the air, jumping straight up from where she stood.
Her leg muscles surged with power, but her body felt impossibly heavy.
She barely cleared a meter off the ground before her upward momentum abruptly halted.
With a dull thud, her feet crashed back to the ground.
She quickly estimated that the gravity here was roughly 20 percent stronger than on Earth.
For a Ranger like Xia Lian, who relied heavily on agility and footwork, this was a devastating disadvantage.
Alright, no flying and speed limits. We're all grounded chickens now. Not too bad...
But her fleeting optimism shattered in less than three seconds.
[Rule Two: Truth]
[Description: You cannot lie.]
The moment this rule appeared, the four of them exchanged panicked glances.
The same dread filled their eyes: We're in deep trouble now.
Cannot lie?
This meant that tactical deception, misinformation, bluffs... all strategies were now useless.
Worse, it meant the final fig leaf of pretense between people had been ruthlessly torn away by an invisible hand.
Lin Xiyue instinctively tried to lighten the mood with a joke: "This rule is kind of interesting. So, if someone asked me right now—"
But the words caught in her throat, her tongue twisted, and her voice veered uncontrollably into her deepest, most immediate worry.
"...If someone asked me where I hid my secret stash, would I have to tell the truth?"
The words had barely left Lin Xiyue's lips when she froze.
Damn it! Why did I say that?!
Beside her, Su Wan blurted out almost reflexively, "You have a secret stash?"
As soon as the words escaped her lips, she herself froze.
She had intended it as a lighthearted tease, but under these rules, all pretense and tact had vanished, leaving only the most direct, most cutting questions.
Lin Xiyue: "..."
Su Wan: "..."
The atmosphere instantly shifted from oppressive to excruciatingly awkward.
The two women stood frozen in place, one desperate to explain, the other to retract her too-sharp remark. Yet both found themselves unable to offer any insincere reassurances, leaving the awkwardness to fester savagely between them.
Xia Lian watched from the sidelines, so anxious she could practically dig a three-bedroom apartment into the soles of her boots with her toes.
She desperately wanted to smooth things over, to say something to change the subject, but the moment she opened her mouth, what burst forth was her most genuine, unfiltered emotion:
"It's so heavy! I can barely walk... I really wish a tall, strong guy would carry me..."
As soon as Xia Lian finished speaking, her cheeks flushed crimson instantly, the blush spreading from her neck to the tips of her ears. She desperately wanted to find a crack in the ground and disappear into it.
Lin Qingyue's temples throbbed like a DJ's turntables.
This team was on the verge of collapse.
Damn it, this rule is even more brutal than I imagined!
This isn't a truth-telling rule—it's a massive, public execution of social norms!
From now on, I'll have to rely on answering indirectly and selective honesty to survive...
She could already foresee how absurd and thrilling their future days would become.
However, the Dungeon's malice clearly didn't end there.
[Rule Three: Echo of the Heart's Abyss]
[Description: Inner desires will be amplified.]
If Rule Two was social death, then Rule Three was like tearing out everyone's emotional switches and wiring them directly to high-voltage electricity.
Desires amplified.
A sliver of dissatisfaction would explode into a raging inferno.
A flicker of fear would balloon into crushing despair.
And a spark of affection...
Lin Qingyue instinctively glanced at Su Wan and Lin Xiyue beside her.
Su Wan abruptly stepped back, distancing herself from Lin Xiyue. A rare flicker of panic crossed her usually glacial, beautiful face.
"You... you should keep your distance from me."
At Su Wan's words, Lin Xiyue's bright eyes instantly dimmed, her entire demeanor wilting like a withered flower. Even her nonexistent ears seemed to droop.
"Why? Do I smell strange?"
She instinctively raised her arm to sniff her sleeve.
"No, that's not it..."
Su Wan's breathing quickened, as if she were desperately suppressing something. But the Truth Dungeon's rules made concealment impossible.
Her voice trembled with barely restrained emotion, and an unnatural flush rose on her cheeks.
"You... you smell too good..."
"If you get too close, I... my heart starts racing, my mind races with wild thoughts, and I can't focus on thinking properly..."
Boom!
These words struck like a thunderbolt, searing directly into everyone's minds.
Lin Xiyue's brain short-circuited instantly.
She stood rooted to the spot, staring dumbly at Su Wan's face, a mask of irritation and embarrassment, her earlobes burning crimson, as if about to drip blood. Lin Xiyue was utterly speechless.
Xia Lian had already given up on thinking. She buried her face in her hands, her shoulders trembling slightly as she let out a silent moan of anguish.
Save me!
What kind of wild, predatory words are these?!
Why am I stuck here listening to this?!
Physical debuff, mental debuff, plus a lust amplifier.
This Dungeon isn't meant to tear teams apart—it's meant for live-action matchmaking, isn't it? The kind where it's all or nothing.
Holy hell! I'm screaming internally! So this is what happens when the Iceberg Young Mistress's desires get amplified?! Cold and aloof? This girl's clearly a closet pervert!
[Ding! Host's genuine joy at witnessing a teammate's monumental social embarrassment has earned +666 Elation Value!]