Chapter 0 Secret Hunt

【Task Type: Regular Task】
【Task Name: Secret Hunt】
【Task Objective: Eliminate the hunting dogs wandering in the Taiding Flower Garden】
【Task Time Limit: 1 hour】
【Task Reward 1: 500 Experience Points】
【Task Reward 2: 500 Game Coins】
【Task Reward 3: Random Quality Random Item *1】
【Task Reward 4: Random Quality Random Scroll *1】
【Failure Penalty: None】

Triggered.

Wang Congshan didn't move, took a deep breath, and calmly reported all the information from the task prompt in the communication channel.

"Secret Hunt..."

Li Ang frowned, his mind racing. "The task objective is to eliminate the hunting dogs wandering in the Taiding Flower Garden, which is this unfinished building.

"The number of hunting dogs isn't specified, so there's likely only one. Otherwise, it would say 'all.'

"Considering your current strength, the hunting dog isn't a normal dog, but some kind of monster.

"As for the word 'wandering,'

"It implies that the hunting dog habitually patrols the building.

"In other words, the hunting dog didn't suddenly appear with the task refresh; it's been there for a while – the energy fluctuation detected by the Hetu formation originated from it.

"Also, the hunting dog is likely restricted in some way, unable to leave the Taiding Flower Garden."

Li Ang paused, looking at Xing Hechou. "Before this, has this unfinished building been flagged as abnormal?

"For example, has the Skynet system noticed any collapses or sudden shattering of glass, etc.?"

"This..."

Xing Hechou hesitated, glancing down at the tablet.

After the villagers in rural towns responded to the call and moved into city buildings,

The original rural buildings were not completely abandoned, but retained basic electricity,

And the monitoring system remained under the supervision of Skynet.

"I don't see any relevant records."

Xing Hechou scanned the Skynet monitoring records and said, "This building has been silent for months before our arrival, and no one has entered.

"Only during a rainstorm did the hail break the glass in the west corridor on the seventh floor."

"I see."

Li Ang nodded and continued his rapid analysis. "The task time limit is one hour, which proves that the system believes you can complete the task within that time.

"You haven't chosen a power system yet, and don't have extraordinary powers,

"So, searching slowly like an ordinary person, it's definitely impossible to thoroughly search every corner of the entire building in one hour.

"In other words, the hunting dog won't be too small, and it's not a hiding-type creature,

"It won't hide in narrow, remote places like behind cabinets, passively waiting for you to find it."

"Mm."

Wang Congshan said softly, "Will it actively attack?"

"It's possible."

Li Ang said sternly, "Perhaps it will attack you after smelling your scent,

"Or perhaps it will attack after seeing you or hearing your voice.

"Either way, its strength should be close to yours – the task rewards aren't too far beyond your strength or level."

Based on the Special Affairs Bureau's experience, the difficulty of regular tasks depends on many factors,

Such as the mystery of the anomaly itself, and the player's own level of strength.

In the same task, a high-level player's task objective is to kill the monster,

While a low-level player's task objective may simply be to steal feathers or fur from the monster.

It's possible to infer the overall difficulty of the task from the objective, time limit, rewards, and penalties.

"Since it's an elimination-type task, and the rewards aren't too exaggerated, it should still be within your personal ability to handle."

Li Ang thought for a moment and said, "Where are you now?"

"First floor, west corridor, about to go up,"

Wang Congshan said softly, "I heard the system notification the moment my foot touched the stairs.

"But the watch hasn't reacted to any enemies yet."

The Special Affairs Bureau had issued her a lot of standard equipment,

Including a multi-functional watch that can sense hostile reactions and detect air and liquid composition,

A strong flashlight that can penetrate low-level dark energy,

A multi-functional night vision device,

A signal gun,

An electric grappling hook,

Tactical boots that slightly enhance jumping and cushioning abilities,

A magazine loaded with some enchanted bullets (that can hit incorporeal souls),

Bandages and hemostatic gel spray (to seal wounds and stop bleeding).

These modern equipment are fully functional, but won't make her too strong.

At the same time, simple items like the electric grappling hook and tactical boots were assembled by herself under the guidance of the coaching staff,

So they won't be considered powerful hacks, attracting system penalties.

"Heard the notification when your foot touched the stairs..."

Li Ang pondered for a moment and said, "You should be fine for now. The hunting dog probably hasn't found you yet, otherwise the task time limit would be shortened to 30 or 20 minutes.

"Continue searching upward, don't need to enter every room, just open the door and take a look to confirm there are no special circumstances.

"If there's a hostile reaction, the watch will automatically send a signal, and I'll be able to see it here."

"Okay."

Wang Congshan held the gun in her right hand, picked up the full-coverage respirator mask hanging on her waist, put it on her face, raised her foot, and gently stepped on the stairs.

The light in the unfinished building was dim,

Scattered bricks, wood fragments, and exposed steel bars were everywhere,

Some semi-transparent plastic sheeting that hadn't been removed hung in the corridor, swaying in the wind, as if beckoning to those who came.

Wang Congshan walked in the dim corridor, the bright flashlight attached to her assault rifle, shaking from side to side, illuminating the dark blind spots.

After the regular task started, the drone hovering outside moved away a bit – during the task, external factors cannot actively interfere,

Otherwise, it would cause the anomaly to intensify.

Li Ang also didn't use his divine sense to carefully scan the building for this reason.

"Unpainted cement walls, bamboo scaffolding, plastic discarded lunch boxes – probably left by construction workers, a lighter, cigarette butts..."

Wang Congshan's breathing echoed in the full-coverage mask.

She searched along the way, reporting everything she saw to Li Ang and the others in detail, without omitting anything.

"Second floor searched, I'm going up to the third floor now."

She slowly climbed the stairs. Suddenly,

"Drip"

A drop of transparent liquid dripped from the ceiling, landing directly on Wang Congshan's respirator mask's lens.

"Leakage caused by last night's rain?"

Wang Congshan subconsciously took a half step back and looked up at the cracked, dull-colored ceiling above the staircase,

Thinking of the large and small puddles she saw outside the unfinished building,

She frowned, and used her finger, through the tactical glove, to gently wipe away the liquid on the lens.

Both the lens and the surface of the gloves are made of waterproof material, which does not absorb water like a lotus leaf, and is corrosion and high-temperature resistant.

Buzz!

The watch on her wrist vibrated slightly.

Wang Congshan's heart trembled, and she looked down at the watch.

The periphery of the watch didn't emit red light, meaning that no hostile targets had been detected yet,

But a line of small characters lit up on the watch face.

【Abnormal Odor Detected】

Odor?

Wang Congshan subconsciously looked at the drop of liquid on her fingertip.

Transparent, slightly yellow, more viscous than water, with a... highly decayed, nauseating odor.

Not rainwater...

As the distance closed, the multi-functional watch on her hand detected the components of the liquid.

The luminous dial with yellow background and black characters, printed out the words.

Corpse oil.