[You have entered the 'Gloomy Jungle' Instance Entrance.]
[Instance: Gloomy Jungle]
[Tier: 0]
[Current Difficulty: Normal]
[First entry, no pass required. Do you wish to enter?]
The panel prompt appeared, but Vincent paused. He directed his gaze to the leaderboard icon in the top right, opening the current Instance's speed-run records.
[Gloomy Jungle Speed-run Leaderboard]
[Gloomy Jungle Normal. Record Holder: Devil's Blade! Time: 7 minutes 43 seconds 31!]
[Gloomy Jungle Hard. Record Holder: Devil's Blade! Time: 32 minutes 16 seconds 33!]
[Gloomy Jungle Hell. Record Holder: Devil's Blade! Time: 1 hour 13 minutes 37 seconds 25!]
Every record was held by the team Devil's Blade. Vincent quickly deduced that, given the timing of the Centaur incursions, this name likely belonged to a Centaur-aligned squad trying to claim the Long Reach City records, just as they tried to monopolize Rabbit Instance.
He quickly committed the exact completion times to memory. Their goal wasn't just to beat the records; it was to beat them by a calculated, deliberate margin.
"Ready, Thalia," he said, and with her nod, he accepted the prompt.
A flash of light enveloped them, and Vincent and Thalia disappeared into the Instance, unnoticed by the busy crowd outside.
Simultaneously, at the bustling entrance to the Undead Mountain Instance.
Lyra, still dressed in the simple white robes of a Priest for appearances, took a deep, steadying breath. The air was thick with the shouted solicitations of Professionals:
"Level 10 Elite Mage, 300 Magic Damage, running Hard Instance! Need two tanks with 30+ dual resistance, starting now!"
"First Middle School team seeking healing support!"
With the Rabbit Instance compromised, Undead Mountain was overflowing with the overflow of Professionals. Lyra, who had haunted this area for three years, knew the Undead Mountain layout intimately. She'd struggled here, barely managing to survive the Hard difficulty before her teams eventually failed. Hard Instances were typically insurmountable for regular Rank 0 teams unless they were led by an Elite Professional.
Yet, for the first time, she felt not fear, but a coiled tension of anticipation.
She looked at the Instance entry panel. Normally, the security of her four teammates' avatars would comfort her. Now, the team slots were blank. She was going to solo the Instance.
Teaming up was impossible; the system forced a data share that would instantly reveal her Epic Professional status and breach the Paradise contract's secrecy clause. Her destiny, for the foreseeable future, was solitary power.
"You can do this, Frost," she whispered, using her new codename for internal motivation. She stared at the prompt, then, with a sharp nod of determination, declared: "Enter!"
With a familiar flash of light, Lyra materialized inside the Undead Mountain Instance.
The environment was typically gloomy: jagged, barren rock formations veiled in a perpetual, chilling white mist, the domain of skeletons and zombies. Though familiar, facing it alone felt terrifyingly alien. Eerie white bones and the occasional shrill crow call amplified the silence.
She quickly regulated her anxiety. She was no longer powerless. Waving her simple staff, she cast her defensive spell.
Whoosh! Blue light erupted, coalescing into the intricate, prismatic shield of Ice Crystal Wall Mirror. A comfortable, protective coolness spread through her, replacing the chill of the dungeon.
Clack clack clack. The sound of shifting bone came from the mist. Seconds later, a trio of tattered, 1.8-meter-tall skeleton warriors with cleavers emerged, their hollow eye sockets burning green. They spotted her and charged.
Lyra fought down the instinct to step back for a teammate to tank. She stood her ground and waved her staff, activating her Rank 0 attack skill.
A thick, crystalline ice tentacle shot out, instantly locking onto the first skeleton. Bang!
Above the monster's head, a number exploded onto the screen: 1974!
The skeleton warrior's health bar instantly vanished, and its body violently disintegrated into a pile of lifeless bone shards.
Lyra's jaw dropped. Nearly two thousand damage? Her base Magic stat was only 695. The skeleton warrior was a standard Rank 0 monster with decent defense. For her damage to nearly triple her Magic stat meant the skill's coefficient was astronomically high.
She scrambled to process the number. Normal Professionals had damage coefficients between 100% and 150%. Even the best Elite Mages maxed out around 200%. The damage she had just dealt implied a coefficient of around 300% on a basic, three-second cooldown skill.
This was the terrifying, unbelievable power of an Epic Professional. The sheer destructive potential was enough to shatter the foundation of her old world.
Before Lyra could fully celebrate her devastating blow, the remaining two skeletons closed the distance. Too late to retreat, the second monster's cleaver slammed into her.
CLANG!
A faint -13 flashed over her head, but it was gray, indicating the damage was fully absorbed by the Ice Crystal Wall Mirror shield. The attack didn't even touch her actual health bar.
Simultaneously, a crimson -57 appeared above the skeleton warrior that hit her, instantly dropping its health. This was the damage reflection from her shield. The skeleton, despite being undead, recoiled, its movements suddenly sluggish. A faint blue icon appeared above its head: the Frostbite status, slowing its movement and attack speed.
The third skeleton landed its blow, producing a similar flash of absorbed damage (-13) and reflected damage (-56), and instantly acquired the stacking Frostbite status. The skeletons were now moving at a crawl, their aggressive charges reduced to slow, stumbling shuffles.
Lyra realized the beautiful synergy. Her shield not only absorbed damage but also attacked the attacker, applying the crucial Frostbite slow and damage multiplier through her passive skill.
Her initial shock gave way to profound excitement. She was an absolute engine of destruction and defense. The Boss's ridiculous request to solo the Hell Instance no longer seemed impossible; it felt like a mandatory test of her new, boundless power.
"Brother, your Mage profession... is absolutely terrifying!"
Two hours later, in the final chamber of the Gloomy Jungle Hell Instance, a massive black panther boss violently collapsed into a pile of light orbs and loot.
Thalia stared, wide-eyed, at the sudden death of the creature. Vincent nodded with profound satisfaction. He had just tested Lyra's shared Professional Ultimate Skill, Withering End. The result was catastrophic. The Ultimate Skill detonated all five stacks of Frostbite on the boss, dealing frost damage based on its maximum health, followed by the Life Withering true damage effect.
The boss, which still had a third of its massive health bar remaining, was vaporized in an instant, proving the Epic Mage Ultimate was just as devastating as the Shadow Assassin's execution.
He had also successfully tested the defensive aspect. To push the limits of his new survivability, Vincent had intentionally stood still, tanking the boss's most powerful attacks head-on for a full minute. Thanks to his astronomical MP pool powering the Ice Crystal Wall Mirror, not a single point of damage breached the shield. Maxed out offensive power coupled with unbreakable defense; Vincent was immensely satisfied.
"Brother, is the second employee that pretty big sister we saw at the Instance entrance?" Thalia finally burst out, having processed the sudden influx of new skills and power. "How did you manage to recruit her? And what's her codename? You said we have to keep everything secret, so how does this work? Tell me everything!"
Thalia's excitement was palpable; she felt the Paradise organization was genuinely taking off.
Vincent chuckled. "Calm down, little worker bee. Yes, it was her, but I'll tell you the details later. We have a more pressing matter. Go collect the boss drops, and then we begin the real work: breaking records."
Thalia froze, then her eyes sparkled with mischievous zeal. "Oh! Is it finally time to cause trouble?"
They had deliberately run the three difficulties slowly, taking two full hours, a ridiculous time for their current strength. This was all part of Vincent's calculated provocation.
"The Centaurs wanted to block us at Undead Mountain," Vincent confirmed, a cold smile touching his lips. "Now, we're going to publicly announce our presence at the Long Reach City Instance and make sure the Centaur Clan knows we will not be contained."
Thalia abandoned the loot to run back to the entrance with renewed purpose.
They immediately left the Instance and queued to re-enter the Gloomy Jungle Hell Instance.
Time to stir up trouble.