After a while, a portion of the map reappeared on the detector, and at the same time, a prompt popped up: “Detector undergoing self-maintenance, please wait patiently.”
“Ah, I see.” Selia suddenly realized: “This must be the ‘Regular Maintenance’ node.”
Encounter—Regular Maintenance.
A welfare node that can provide quite a bit of hope in the early stages.
Under normal circumstances, one can obtain two hope; if one holds the collectible “Amma’s Love,” one can even directly obtain fifteen points of hope.
Selia sat down unhurriedly and observed the scenery in the distance.
On the distant snowfield, Rift Beast cubs were playing with their prey, and a herd of Rock Horn Beasts was migrating.
The strange ecology of the Schicksal snowfield was an eye-opener for Selia.
Before long, the detector emitted a beeping prompt.
Selia opened it to look, and the map on it had completely returned to normal.
At the same time, there was also an increase of two hope on the panel.
“Phew…” Selia let out a sigh of relief.
Now, she had a total of four Foldartals in her backpack: [Affection], [Warrior], [Arbor], [Propagation].
Among them, the combination of [Warrior] and [Affection] declares that it can turn two combat nodes into Encounters.
And [Arbor] and [Propagation] can turn any node into “Step Ahead.”
As long as the Encounter node that is replaced next isn’t one of those forced combat nodes, she can stably pass the second floor.
Taking out [Warrior] and [Affection], Selia’s fingers trembled slightly.
“If only I had a nature-type Foldartal.
Triggering the Affection of the Concord can replace it with a ‘fulfilling ones wish’.”
Selia sighed and pressed the two Foldartals together.
“Come on, this is a high-stakes gamble, friend!”
The system also chimed in, egging her on:
[Win it all, or lose it all!]
Accompanied by the light produced by the fusion of the Foldartals, the system’s prompt tone rang out right on time:
[Start Declaration]
[Solid stone walls rise in the mountains, horn helmets covered in ice and cold.
In the vast frozen earth, we accompany each other, with hearts burning like fire.]
Subsequently, the terrain on the detector changed.
The building that was originally ahead was directly wiped from the map, and in its place was an Encounter without any markings.
…
Ten minutes later.
In front of Selia, a strange man appeared.
Even though it was a sunny day, the man was laying out various pieces of equipment he was carrying among a pile of luggage on the ground, while constantly muttering something to himself.
Selia moved closer, and only then did she hear clearly what the man was muttering.
“It’s black rain…”
“We had just finished collecting some samples.” The man said in a numb voice, “Now my samples and equipment are destroyed, and my people have run off…
What am I supposed to do about the money I owe the company?”
Selia was struggling to suppress the corners of her mouth, not daring to say a single word.
She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she would burst out laughing.
If one were to describe Selia’s current mood, it would probably be, “It’s stable, everything is totally stable!”
The man before her undoubtedly helped her confirm the name of this node.
Unexpected Encounter — Rain!
This node was also a safe event; depending on the choices made, one could obtain rewards like Interference Resistance or Shield points.
Selia kept a straight face as she picked up the detector he had scattered on the ground and held it before his eyes.
The equipment was clearly intact and hadn’t a drop of water on it, yet in the man’s eyes, it seemed to be a different story.
The man irritably swatted the instrument away.
He was about to push Selia aside, but upon seeing her somewhat petite frame, he merely waved his hand, telling her to take whatever she wanted and leave quickly.
Recalling the content of this Unexpected Encounter, Selia offered a few symbolic words of advice.
Once the man completely ignored her, she walked away quickly.
After walking a few dozen meters and confirming that the strange man had completely vanished from her sight and she had reached the next node, Selia no longer suppressed the joy on her face and cheered.
[Omedetou.]
The system clapped from the side, even using surround sound.
[Congratulations, Host, to be able to clear the first two floors on your first trial.]
“Don’t rush, don’t rush.
Once I clear it, there will be plenty of time to pop the champagne.”
Selia deftly took out the last two Foldartals, removed the outer protective layer, and slammed them down hard.
[Initiating Proclamation]
[Triggered the Soul’s Kovadi Agreement]
[Walking on high like the stars, overlooking the color of frost and snow.
Plants and beasts have their cycles of withering and flourishing, praying for long-lasting existence.]
On the detector’s map, the emptiness representing the Unexpected Encounter gradually faded, replaced by a building marked with an arrow-like symbol.
“Right, System.” Looking at the strange house not far ahead that represented the Step Ahead node, Selia asked, “If I send myself into the Step Ahead node to undergo elite 2, what would the result be?”
[Are you trying to exploit a bug here?]
The system retorted helplessly.
“Hehe, I just noticed this node is quite different from the one in the game, so I wanted to ask clearly.”
[Nothing special.
The enhancement system remodeled this node into a teleportation device.]
[If an Operator enters the device, they will directly undergo elite 2 and then be teleported to the next floor, but the prerequisite is that someone in the team must be outside to help them activate the device.]
[If you don’t enter the device, the system will automatically add two hope to your panel.]
“I thought it would send me directly to the third floor.”
Selia walked into the strange house, circled the teleportation device inside twice, and only left the node after the hope count on her panel increased by two.
“Last stop, the fixed fulfilling ones wish node on the second floor.”
Looking at the small grocery store in front of her, Selia took a deep breath and walked straight in.
Although the form of fulfilling ones wish is also a shop, it’s not actually possible to trade items here.
Instead, after chatting with the grocery store owner, he will proactively offer a few items, and the player then makes a selection.
In the trial modified by the enhancement system, this process was even simpler.
Relying on her knowledge of the shop owner “Big Bob’s” background, Selia chatted happily with the owner and successfully obtained a collectible.
“Tsk tsk tsk, Broken Staff – Sorcery of Suffering.” Selia flipped through the book-shaped collectible in her hand and sighed, “This is a good item, unfortunately, I can’t use it.”
[So, Host, are you ending this week’s trial here?]
“Eh?
Why not go up to the third floor and take a look?” Selia asked in confusion.
[Believe me, Host, you don’t want to.
You haven’t experienced any combat in between, so the increase in Collapse Paradigm isn’t obvious yet.
But once you reach the third floor, the accumulation of Collapse Paradigm will reach the threshold for a Collapse Paradigm to appear.
Before you complete elite 2, I suggest it’s better not to go to the third floor.]
“Fine, since you say so.” Selia followed the advice, pulled up the system panel, and directly chose to exit the trial.