Contaminated Nightmare-Level Instance! Are You Crazy, or Am I?

"Why is Brother Wang so curious about Nightmare-Level Instances?"

The question had been bugging Baili Dao. It had been on his mind ever since he'd parted ways with Pending Death late that night.

The guy would occasionally message him with some very basic questions.

It was clear he was a rookie.

But he never asked about any Instance below Nightmare-Level, as if he couldn't care less about the other difficulties.

"Could it be that his next Instance notification has already arrived, and it's Nightmare-Level!?"

Baili Dao was startled by his own absurd guess.

Matching a rookie with a Nightmare-Level Instance? The 【Spirit Calamity Game】 couldn't be that deranged, could it?

"Wait… It seems there really was one recent case of a rookie getting a Nightmare-Level Instance."

Baili Dao suddenly remembered the last rookie Instance livestream, which had ended not long ago.

To this day, the Abnormal Affairs Bureau still had droves of technicians trying to analyze what that Nightmare-Level rookie Instance signified.

The current conclusion was that the clearance rate for a rookie in a Nightmare-Level Instance was still zero percent. It was most likely a bug in the game system.

The Instance in the livestream appeared to have been cleared, but technicians had detected a final scene where the clearer was "liquidated" by the game.

This meant that person hadn't truly cleared it. By now, the grass on their grave was probably knee-high.

If that weren't the case, Baili Dao might have thought Pending Death was that same heaven-defying rookie who had gotten the last closed beta slot.

Unfortunately, that person was already dead.

"Sigh, the higher-ups recently told us to cooperate with an investigation into some Instance Contamination issue. They said it's so serious that the Director himself is involved, so they don't have time to deal with my recruitment application."

Baili Dao sighed in frustration.

His colleague at the next workstation overheard him.

He couldn't help but tease, "Brother Dao, is that rookie you mentioned really that incredible? Or did you just not get any benefits from the Real-world Targeted Instance and are now making up excuses because you're worried we'll laugh at you?"

Ever since returning from the Instance, Baili Dao had been endlessly hyping up a certain rookie with immense potential.

But his claims were too outlandish. Basically, no one believed him.

A level-one rookie running circles around four veteran players with full loadouts, plus an Instance boss comparable to a Nightmare-Level one?

Not even Director Qing Long was that badass at level one. It was just too much of an exaggeration.

Still, Baili Dao had actually submitted a special-grade recruitment application the day he returned.

Unfortunately, it was rejected.

The Bureau's resources were currently being funneled into combating "Instance Contamination."

The difficulty of a contaminated Instance would skyrocket. Participating players were prone to suffering permanent mental damage, their sanity value completely depleted.

An Easy Instance, if contaminated, would be written off immediately. A Medium Instance would become as difficult as a Hard one. And a contaminated Hard Instance would transform directly into a Nightmare-Level threat.

This had caused the number of casualties in the Abnormal Affairs Bureau to soar.

"If that rookie you're talking about really entered a Nightmare-Level Instance, then there's no need to keep an eye on him," a voice suddenly came from behind them. "Just watch the news. See who in Mingyang City dies from sudden cardiac arrest. That'll most likely be him."

Baili Dao whipped his head around. It was his direct superior, the person in charge of the Abnormal Affairs Bureau's Mingyang City branch.

The assessment caused the light in his eyes to dim.

Indeed. If Brother Wang had really entered a Nightmare-Level Instance, then all he could do was prepare to collect his body.

"Let's focus on the Contaminated Instance mission for now," the superior said.

He had become unusually concerned about Contaminated Instances ever since attending a meeting with Director Qing Long at headquarters three days ago.

A strange idea popped into Baili Dao's head.

He asked without thinking, "Sir, what do you think would happen if a Nightmare-Level Instance got contaminated?"

The superior was silent.

The entire office fell silent for a long time.

Finally, the superior sighed.

"The consequence? You'd kneel, light a stick of incense, and pray your death isn't too unsightly."

A Contaminated Nightmare-Level Instance.

Do you even hear yourself?

Are you crazy, or am I?

A Nightmare-Level Instance already has a clearance rate of less than one percent.

Add contamination to that?

The clearance rate would be zero. Whoever enters, dies.

"Hehehe, Village Chief-grandpa, am I going to die?"

Wu Wang giggled foolishly at the Old Village Chief.

All eyes in the plaza were on him. To be precise, they were on the wooden plaque, which was now missing a piece of its graffiti-like drawing.

Time rewound to just before the feast began.

Just as in previous Yin Fate Grand Rituals, the Old Village Chief had invited all the villagers to come forward and perceive the aura of the wooden plaque.

One by one, the villagers took their turn to stare into the eye-like graffiti on the plaque for a cleansing.

Everyone felt their souls being purified.

Bathing in that great aura, they prayed for the Yin Fate Great God to grant them favorable weather and good fortune.

Until a certain little madman took the stage.

The moment Wu Wang looked over, the Red Vertical Pupil on his wrist opened and blinked in sync.

In just three seconds, a fifth of the ornate Vertical Pupil on the wooden plaque vanished.

The terrified Old Village Chief hurriedly pulled Wu Wang aside and had someone cover the plaque with a black cloth.

Whose unlucky child is this?

What did he do?

"You... which family's child are you?"

Aunty Li quickly stepped forward.

"Village Chief," she chimed in, "he's Zhang Sanfeng. He's the one we're using to worship the Yin Fate Great God the day after tomorrow."

A glint flashed in the Old Village Chief's eyes.

He nodded silently. "So it's him... Come forward and let grandpa have a look."

Wu Wang lowered his head and slowly walked forward.

He could almost smell the stench of corpses emanating from the Old Village Chief.

Hidden beneath that thick, padded cotton jacket was a nauseating skeleton.

He didn't know how the creature had managed to sew the human skin together. From the outside, nothing seemed to be wrong.

"Come, let Village Chief-grandpa look at your eyes."

The Old Village Chief's voice was like a demon's whisper from Hell. As it entered Wu Wang's ears, it left him dazed for a moment.

He instinctively walked toward the old man.

Who would have thought this skeleton could bewitch people's minds!

Unfortunately, the daze lasted only an instant.

The mind-bewitching curse was devoured by the Red Vertical Pupil.

The Abyss God's Mark was like a king among parasites. Whenever Wu Wang was afflicted by a curse or similar contamination, it would lash out and consume it.

It was as if it were declaring its sovereignty.

This boy is mine! Only I can contaminate him!

Pfft!

The moment Wu Wang reached the Old Village Chief, a bone spur erupted. It viciously pierced through the chief's padded cotton jacket, stabbing straight through his heart from front to back.

Meeting the chief's incredulous gaze, Wu Wang leaned close to his ear.

"Old Village Chief, you dropped something," he whispered. "I'm just returning it to its rightful owner."

"Shh... don't make a sound. You wouldn't want the villagers to know you're a ghost, would you?"

Meek and timid by day.

The center of attention by night!

Go on. Expose your ghostly form in front of everyone, if you have the guts!

Let's see if this Yin Fate Grand Ritual can continue then!

Wu Wang smiled, gripping the bone spur with one hand while using his body to block it from the villagers' view.

He twisted it. And twisted it again.

The Old Village Chief's face contorted beyond recognition.

For some reason, the creature truly couldn't reveal its true form. It could only suffer the humiliation in aggrieved silence.

"Don't worry," Wu Wang continued, his voice dangerously soft. "I never hold a grudge overnight."

"If I have a score to settle, I settle it the same day."