Let's rewind time a few hours. Xu Tong woke up from his sleep, not feeling any fatigue at all. He probably went to bed around midnight last night, and now the sun had just risen when he woke up. His sleep time was severely less than seven hours, but Xu Tong's spirit was still very good. Even Xu Tong himself doubted how soundly he had slept last night, wondering how he could be so energetic after only a few hours of sleep. After changing the cat food and water for Vaccine, Xu Tong reached out and rubbed its head. "You like to soak your cat food in water so much. Do you enjoy drinking this yellowish water? Do you, little kitty, like eating rice soaked in soup?" After scooping the poop from Vaccine's cat litter, Xu Tong carried a large bag of garbage downstairs and happened to see his landlady sitting under the shade of a tree, playing mahjong with three other old men and women. After greeting the landlady, Xu Tong threw the garbage downstairs and then arrived at the entrance of the Bureau of Countermeasures. There were quite a few people at the Bureau of Countermeasures today. Xu Tong had received news early in the morning that he would be participating in the previously mentioned confrontation instance. Among the crowd, a familiar face spotted Xu Tong's figure at a glance, and after wading through the sea of people, came to Xu Tong's side. "What a coincidence! I haven't seen you in a few days. What have you been busy with?"
Xu Tong replied, "Nothing much, just running instances, running instances, and running instances. Didn't do anything else." "It's okay, this is the norm for us Abyss World players," Gu Mian said with a smile, then pointed at herself with a thumbs up. "Fun fact: I've also been frantically running instances these past few days. My level has already reached fifteen, and I'm almost level sixteen!" Gu Mian's leveling speed was considered quite fast among the members of the Square Group. For ordinary Square Group members, it might take running two or three ordinary-level instances repeatedly to gain a level. But in Xu Tong's opinion, it was a completely different matter. Gu Mian had very dark circles around his eyes. Xu Tong immediately realized that this guy had not gotten adequate rest and had devoted himself almost entirely to the instances. Even though he was working so hard, his level was still increasing so slowly. Xu Tong couldn't help but feel a little pity. He shook his head and reached out to pat Gu Mian on the shoulder. "Effort is a good thing, but you also need to pay attention to rest. Otherwise, it will backfire. You know I've always supported you." Although this sentence didn't seem to have any problems at first glance, combined with Xu Tong's slightly pitying expression, it looked a little off. Why does it feel like he's pitying me? Watching Xu Tong leave directly, Gu Mian still stood there, not knowing what had happened. Coincidentally, Jiang Yi also walked through the crowd and saw Gu Mian, who had just parted ways with Xu Tong. He went up and greeted the latter, "Good morning. Why does your expression look so bad? Stomachache?" Gu Mian looked at Jiang Yi with a puzzled look. "I just told Xu Tong that I've reached level fifteen and am about to reach level sixteen, but he didn't react at all." "Isn't that normal?" Jiang Yi didn't understand why Gu Mian had that expression at first, but then he suddenly reacted and said, "Oh right, you don't know Xu Tong's level, do you?" "What level is he? Wasn't he still level seven a few days ago?" Jiang Yi shook his head, revealing a deep and hidden smile, as if he was the one who was hiding something. "Last time, Xu Tong went with me, Long Ruiquan, and Pei Wenyu to run a difficult-level instance. At that time, Xu Tong's level was already thirteen. Now... it should be even higher, right?" Gu Mian's eyes widened: "How much? Level thirteen?" When he ran instances with Xu Tong, the level difference was a full six levels. Now, in the blink of an eye, the gap had been reduced to two or three levels, or even more? Gu Mian believed that his frequency of running instances was already high enough. Although he relied on clearing ordinary-level instances to farm experience points for leveling up, at least quantitative change could lead to qualitative change. During this time, it could be said that he hadn't stopped running instances except for eating, drinking, and relieving himself, and he hadn't had much sleep time.
Even so, he was still being caught up by Xu Tong? "Hiss..." A bold idea appeared in Gu Mian's mind. "This guy... hasn't he been constantly clearing difficult-level instances?" —— Dong—dong—dong— Hearing the sound of knocking on the door, Wang Qi walked to the door and opened it. Watching Xu Tong walk in from outside, Xie Zongyuan, who was sitting in the space chair, sized him up and down, even stroking his chin, pretending to be seriously analyzing him. He said, "Looking at this state, you really can't tell that he's very powerful." Wang Qi sneered, "You know shit. You haven't cleared an unreplicable perfect clear. You're just talking without any effort. Give the young man your seat, get lost!" Xie Zongyuan rolled his eyes and gave Xu Tong the space chair. "So, what do you need me to do?" Sitting in the space chair, Xu Tong asked this question. Wang Qi operated on his player panel. Soon, a string of new information appeared in Xu Tong's sight. «Received item gift from player: Wang Qi» «Received item: Mysterious Entrance Ticket» «Name: Mysterious Entrance Ticket» «Type: Item» «Quality: Common» «Usage Requirement: None» «Effect: After using this entrance ticket, you will enter a specific instance» «Evaluation: Heh heh heh... the fun times are about to begin!» Looking at the time, Wang Qi said, "You have five minutes to prepare yourself mentally, but it's okay. You don't need to feel so much pressure. We have a total of four Bureaus of Countermeasures, which are the east, west, north, and south regions respectively." "Our branch is the North District, and it has been a long time since we've had a powerful newcomer. We've been the last place for several consecutive sessions, so our starting point is very low." "Anyway, we're already at the bottom, so any action we take is climbing up. Don't feel any pressure." Wang Qi comforted him in the tone of an elder, "This time, the average level of the confrontation instance, excluding you, has reached level 28. We are here to participate, not to compete for the top ranking. Try to see more powerful players, understand?" Xu Tong picked at his ears. "You're almost saying these words right next to my ear. Even if I wanted to say I didn't hear you, it would be difficult." Wang Qi's expression froze, and he pulled his body back, clearing his throat. "Ahem, in short, just understand it yourself."
Seeing that the time was almost up, Wang Qi nodded. "Okay, use that entrance ticket." Xu Tong didn't delay and used the entrance ticket, closing his eyes and beginning to feel his body gradually sink into the Abyss World. «You have currently selected a difficult-level multiplayer instance» «Please wait a moment» «Heh heh heh...»