Late at night, deep in the Shadow Desert, near the black tower placed by Wang Zhifan.
Dozens of gray-black strange birds suddenly descended from the night sky of the sa color, collectively landing in front of the black tower gate.
As soon as these strange birds landed, they all transford into players, revealing expressions of fatigue mingled with curiosity.
"Little brother, we’re very grateful that your tool helped us! But its consumption is a bit too high!"
"Thank you so much!"
"I guess that painting is at least an excellent-grade item!"
...
A middle-aged Asian man, who looked about forty, was the first to speak, expressing gratitude to the square-faced Xia Country player who shared the power of the tool with everyone, prompting other players to voice their thanks one after another.
"It’s just a tiny bit of help! No need for you all to dwell on it! Helping each other is a basic rule in the survival book! As for the high consumption, there’s nothing to be done about it because we sped all the way here, and my landscape painting’s consumption increases the longer it’s used!"
The square-faced player imdiately responded to these people, with a few traces of fatigue on his face as well, but his eyes were much more relaxed than when they were besieged before, a natural change after escaping from danger.
After the brief expression of thanks, everyone focused their gaze on the black tower in front of them and the white player who guided their way along the journey.
"There’s actually light up there! Soone must live here! This is indeed a good place!"
A player first noticed the top floor of the black tower in front of them, where it provided all the light they had, like a beacon in the vast and terrifying desert.
"Which skilled Assassin player wants to go up and check it out first?"
Another player took the opportunity to egg on others to investigate, though the seemingly mild proposal carried a hint of ill intent.
Because the height of the black tower in front of them was rely a piece of cake for these high-level players, even the slowest Priest or Summoner profession could easily climb up. But the question was, was there truly no risk in such an action?
Sure enough, after this person spoke, no one responded, with everyone either silently observing the black tower in front of them or waiting for the player who brought them here to explain, reflecting one of the common traits of high-level players—caution in their actions.
"My companion told this is probably a Trial Tower with many layers inside, each has monsters, but they’re not too hard to handle. The environnt inside might have water or food; it’s an excellent hiding place that can last for a month without much problem..."
The white player was speaking while opening his palm, revealing a small and ordinary black beetle—the very one used to contact the Mage companion earlier.
"I suggest we go in either in groups or alone because, based on speculation, people entering this tower are likely separated into different spaces. If everyone enters together in one space, it might lead to resource allocation tension."
He added this, making the players who were ready to check out the tower pause in their steps.
"Your companion even figured out a chanism similar to an independent instance? But why would such a setup appear in this instance? It doesn’t seem to fit the world background?"
A player who had reached the black tower gate turned back and asked, looking sowhat skeptical about the information provided by the other party.
"I’m not quite sure about that... but they will be coming out soon, so let’s ask them directly."
The white player, finishing his words, focused on the brass door of the black tower not far ahead, falling silent.
A few seconds later, under everyone’s gaze, the brass door suddenly opened, and a frail Mage player and a tall, strong female Warrior player walked out. They, too, were white, and from their appearance and deanor, seed to be part of the Summoner’s group.
"David, you brought this many people? It’s really beyond my expectations."
As soon as the frail Mage stepped out of the brass door, he spoke to the Summoner player, his face showing a bit of surprise, then he scanned the other players.
"Little brother, nice to et you. Can you help by introducing the situation inside the tower?"
The older player who had previously expressed gratitude to the square-faced player for helping everyone was the first to respond, with a standard smile on his face.
"I don’t think there’s much that needs introducing. Hidden checkpoint towers like this one have surely been encountered in previous instances; once you go in and pass a couple of levels, you’ll understand everything."
The frail Mage imdiately shook his head.
"But I suggest you enter in batches to avoid resource conflicts."
His suggestion to his companion was the sa: to have the players group up and enter in rounds.
However, so players found it hard to believe, expressing skepticism:
"Hehe... How do we know you aren’t up to sothing, deliberately splitting us up only for us to be picked off by your ambushed n one by one?"
The speaker was a skinny, slightly sly-looking Asian player, likely a Han Country native judging by appearance and accent, possessing the shrewdness typical of a small country.
Though his words weren’t pleasant, when considered by the players still outside the tower, they weren’t impossible or a re baseless concern. Or rather, it was this very worry that kept everyone from entering directly; after all, players who reached this level weren’t real fools, all too familiar with the internal struggles within the player community.
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