Chapter 63: Three-Star Dungeon Crystal!

"Will this actually work?"

Lu Xiaobei slipped the finger sleeves onto her left hand, a look of doubt in her eyes. "Can these really hit the corresponding keys accurately? Why does this look a bit sketchy?"

"Are you questioning my technical expertise?"

Standing beside her with my arms crossed, I replied, "You just need to rest the middle finger of the sleeve on the S key, and you don't need to worry about anything else. Once a row of dance directional prompts appears, the camera will precisely capture the motions and press the correct commands at the exact right moment. The only thing you need to do is hit the spacebar after the input sequence is complete."

"Alright, I'll give it a try first..."

Half-skeptical, Lu Xiaobei opened Audition, logged into her account, and started a ranked dance match.

The first match was won without a single suspense. With zero mistakes, she thoroughly thrashed several opponents in mere minutes.

Instantly, Lu Xiaobei's confidence soared, and she immediately queued up for a high-difficulty track!

Thus, from around eight in the morning until four in the afternoon, Lu Xiaobei didn't touch a single bite of food or water. Too busy to even eat, she pounded the spacebar until it practically smoked. Maintaining a zero-error streak throughout the entire marathon, she actually brute-forced her account rank all the way up to the terrifying Dance Saint level!

The very moment she broke through to Dance Saint, a system chime rang in my ear!

[Congratulations! You have completed the daily quest "Lu Xiaobei's Dance Saint" (Grade B)! Rewards obtained: Character EXP +250,000, plus an additional bonus: "Underground Lair - Dungeon Crystal" (Ultra-Rare ★★★)!]

Finally, a dungeon crystal dropped!

I was ecstatic. The EXP required for leveling up after Tier 2 was so massive that even my trip to the Wailing Hive hadn't pushed me to Level 24. But clearing this rare-grade dungeon would definitely guarantee a level-up to 24. Moreover, this dungeon crystal was a three-star ultra-rare variant, which meant it had a chance of yielding top-tier treasures at the end!

The hour was still early. I would grab a quick meal, head out, and easily clear this dungeon before midnight!

Politely declining Lu Xiaobei's invitation to dinner, I instead bought a few steamed buns from a local shop. After devouring them in record time, I immediately activated the dungeon crystal!

"Whoosh!"

On the main map, a dungeon portal marker appeared roughly a mile away.

Jogging all the way, I located the dungeon portal next to the park. Stepping forward like an ordinary sightseer, I vanished from the spot, instantly materializing inside the dungeon map!

Chimes continuously rang in my ear!

[Please note, you have activated the dungeon "Underground Lair - Dungeon Crystal" (Ultra-Rare ★★★)!]

[You have entered the map: Hydroponic Agriculture Dome Sub-Level!]

[Objective: Eliminate the Boss Mutated Rat-man!]

[Tip: Firearms are strictly prohibited in methane zones. Bio-pustules must be eliminated using melee combat!]

...

A wave of stench assaulted my nostrils. In the blink of an eye, I found myself in an underground labyrinth resembling a sprawling network of utility pipes connecting a grid of hydroponic farming plots. Right ahead, three pairs of eyes stared fixedly at me!

They were massive rats, fully half a meter in height, covered in coarse fur and equipped with razor-sharp teeth. Their glaring eyes radiated greed, as if they wanted to tear a human to shreds in seconds!

Sewer Giant Rat, Level 30, Elite Monster!

Gathering my focus, I immediately equipped the Roarer and unleashed a barrage of gunfire at the three rats. Before the magazine was even empty, all three sewer giant rats collapsed to the ground, dissolving into wisps of EXP light.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak~~~"

Up ahead, more rat screeches echoed from the darkness of the pipes, and within moments, a dozen more sewer giant rats lunged forward!

The muzzle of the Roarer spat fire once more. Amidst the shrill squeals of the dying rats, I skillfully swapped magazines, continuously backpedaling while maintaining a safe distance.

At the same time, I closely monitored the methane gas distribution on the mini-map. Once inside a methane zone, firing guns was strictly forbidden; otherwise, the resulting explosions would be catastrophic!

After dealing with another batch of giant rats, I followed the underground pipes deeper into the dungeon map. Before long, a chilling roar pierced the air!

"Whoosh!"

A figure appeared ahead—neither fully human nor beast, its body bloated and covered in fleshy tumors, yet possessing powerful, mutated human limbs.

Biochemical Aberrant, Level 30, Green Boss!

"I smell the scent of fresh flesh!"

It let out a hoarse rasp. It indeed appeared to be a mutated human; dangling from its lower abdomen was a heavily blood-stained and defiled employee ID badge. Only the photograph remained discernible, revealing a blond Caucasian man. Regrettably, he had mutated into this grotesque, inhuman monstrosity!

"Die!"

It charged forward abruptly, swinging its razor-sharp claws!

"Bang, bang, bang~~~"

After landing a full magazine of bullets directly into its head, I swiftly executed a Stepping Slash to brush past it. Pivoting instantly, I fired another volley into the back of its skull. The moment the magazine emptied, the green Boss let out a miserable whimpering groan and crashed to the ground!

Armed with the blue Roarer combined with Level 10 Advanced Shooting, emptying a single magazine was indeed enough to effortlessly take down a green Boss!

[Congratulations! You have slain the "Biochemical Aberrant" (Green Boss) and obtained the item: "Boss Esper Crystal" x1!]

...

According to the mechanics of *Stellar Abyss*, slaying any Boss guaranteed an Esper Crystal drop, and green Bosses were no exception. I immediately opened the Esper Crystal, and my eyes lit up.

[Congratulations! Your "Boss Esper Crystal" has been successfully opened. You obtained the item: "Modified SMC Submachine Gun" (Quality: Green)!]

A green submachine gun, and a Tier 2 one at that.

Joy surged in my heart. This green Tier 2 submachine gun was worth roughly 20,000 credits on the market. In short, I had just made a small fortune. A three-star dungeon truly lived up to its reputation!

Instantly brimming with enthusiasm, I clutched the submachine gun and pushed deeper into the map.

Soon, I reached an experimental farm.

The field teemed with a horde of sewer giant rats chittering wildly. A pale-yellow underground methane gas hung heavily over this area, meaning gunfire was once again out of the question.

It was time for cold steel!

I instantly swapped my primary weapon to the Legion Blade and charged straight into the swarm of sewer giant rats. A single Earth-Piercing Slash instantly shaved off half their health bars, followed immediately by an Explosive Dash to pierce through their ranks, after which I cleaved them down one by one with sweeping sword strikes!

"Squeak, squeak~~~"

The giant rats roared in fury, utterly helpless against my Level 23 character. Their attack power wasn't high; striking my 167 points of defense felt like nothing more than a gentle tickle. Meanwhile, my life steal had stacked up to 8%, meaning every sword swing converted 8% of the damage dealt into my own health pool. After finishing a grueling melee brawl with the horde of sewer giant rats, my health bar remained comfortably above 95%. Extremely safe!

And so, I peacefully farmed rats across the map.

"Ding!"

Around eight o'clock in the evening, a WeChat message arrived from Zhang Ruolin: "Ding Han, care to come out for a drink? Both Xiao Bai and I are here, plus another gorgeous female player. She's as tender as water and would be a perfect match for you..."

"..."

I replied with a doge meme: "Is that so?"

"Of course. Are you coming or not?"

"Not coming!"

"Hmph, so cold..."

Zhang Ruolin grumbled, "If you aren't out leveling up, it seems like you completely vanish from the face of the earth."

"What kind of talk is that..."

I snapped a screenshot from inside the dungeon and tossed it to her: "I'm very busy, unlike you, a beautiful villainess who spends her days indulging in debauchery!"

"Whoa, another dungeon? How many stars?"

"Three-star ultra-rare!"

"Whoa!!!"

Zhang Ruolin sent a sticker with star-shaped eyes: "A solo dungeon? You can't carry people through it, right?"

"Mhm."

I nodded: "It dropped from a daily quest. Most dungeon crystals from those are solo instances, so bringing people really isn't an option."

"Oh well, nothing to be done then."

Zhang Ruolin said, "Remember to keep me in mind if an opportunity arises. I'm saving the prettiest girls in the bar just for you!"

"You promised, you better save the prettiest one for me! I'll go check them out as soon as I'm free! (Doge.JPG)"

Zhang Ruolin sent a laughing emoji in response.

After that, our conversation ended, and I refocused entirely on clearing the dungeon.

...

Around eleven o'clock at night.

Finally, having slaughtered every last rat in the hydroponic laboratory, I arrived at the very end of the dungeon map.

There, a lone, desolate figure stood bathed in a faint blue glow. As I approached with my gun raised, it slowly turned around, revealing a bizarre visage. Not only did it possess tufts of hair, but its protruding fangs made it look quite terrifying.

My gaze lingered for a moment as the Boss's stats materialized before me.

[Mutated Rat-man] (Blue Boss)

Level: 35

Attack: 400-620

Defense: 100

HP: 40,000

Skills: [Bite Lv7], [Agility Lv7], [Toxic Venom Lv7]

Details: A mutated rat-man. Dr. Vance of the hydroponic laboratory mutated after being bitten by a toxic rat, ultimately transforming into a powerful rat-man. Having lost all traces of his humanity, proceed with extreme caution.

...

A Level 35 blue Boss—quite a high level!

I frowned slightly, my posture dropping into a lower stance, the muzzle of my gun pointing straight at him.

"Punk, you actually think you can kill me?"

The mutated rat-man sneered. Suddenly, wisps of blue wind patterns swirled around his body, and his speed exploded. With lightning-fast, S-shaped serpentine movements, he closed the distance instantly!

My eyes narrowed. As I stepped backward, I pulled the trigger. Amidst a staccato of "bang, bang, bang" reports, bullets streaked through the air, several striking him dead center in the head for a headshot bonus!

"201!"

"603!"

"199!"

"1,218!"

"621!"

...

His so-called serpentine footwork was utterly negligible in the face of maxed-out Advanced Shooting!

Moreover, the damage numbers were delightfully high. Not only did I land headshots, but several instances triggered a double-stacked headshot plus critical hit, dealing a massive sixfold multiplier of total damage!

At this point, my critical strike rate had stacked up to 7%, and ranged weapon damage could benefit from critical effects. Thus, in the early stages of the game, a 7% critical chance was already quite substantial!

A single magazine alone shaved off over 10% of the mutated rat-man's health bar, causing his eyes to turn even more venomous as he swung his razor claws and lunged at me from the flank!