A little earlier.
After seeing Jian Li off into the dungeon.
Yan Fushou put the matter out of his mind and returned to the mountain of paperwork. However, the more he read, the more he felt as though he was going bald... The pressure on the front lines was immense, yet the Raid Team still couldn't come up with an effective plan. Progress in almost all the top-tier dungeons had ground to a complete halt.
The reason was simple.
They were simply too difficult. Only a handful of people in the Raid Team could consistently clear them, and even those few relied entirely on their individual abilities. Their methods offered no useful reference for others, making it impossible to develop strategies that could be applied more broadly.
Under such circumstances, there was naturally no way to arrange for front-line soldiers to enter these dungeons.
As for the lower-difficulty dungeons that could be arranged, their rewards were too meager to provide any substantial help...
And so, they had reached an impasse.
What troubled Yan Fushou most was finding a dungeon that front-line soldiers could clear consistently while still obtaining worthwhile rewards... It had been quite some time since they had last discovered a suitable one.
The enemies on the front lines wouldn't wait for them. Their attributes and abilities increased at almost regular intervals.
Meanwhile, the strength of the front-line soldiers had improved very little. Apart from gaining combat experience and honing their skills, they had made almost no significant progress.
After all, they spent nearly every day on the battlefield. Where would they find the time to explore dungeons...
As one side grew stronger, the other inevitably fell behind.
There were no serious problems for now... but the threat truly was a Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.
The Raid Team had to find a dungeon capable of improving the overall strength of the front-line forces as quickly as possible.
As for why the monsters on the front lines periodically grew stronger.
Perhaps that, too, was part of the selection process...
That Goddess might be doing all this to force humanity to evolve continuously... Monsters had spread throughout the world and were periodically strengthened. If players couldn't keep up, they would be eliminated. Their only path to survival was to keep entering dungeons, keep growing stronger, and somehow endure.
However, the reason the country wasn't overrun with monsters was that it had chosen to contain them at the front lines.
But that meant someone had to make sacrifices, giving up opportunities to explore dungeons and devoting themselves entirely to fighting.
The front-line soldiers were the ones making those sacrifices.
As time went on.
At present, apart from elite monsters, the vast majority of monsters on the front lines no longer dropped equipment or skills, nor did killing them provide any attribute increases.
Now, if front-line soldiers wanted to grow stronger, they depended almost entirely on the Raid Team to identify suitable dungeons where they could obtain attribute points, skills, equipment, and items. The rest of their time was spent fighting on the front lines.
But finding a dungeon suitable for sending front-line soldiers through in organized rotations was anything but easy...
The Raid Team was under tremendous pressure.
A few months earlier, some extremists had even proposed following the example of certain other countries: simply opening up the front lines and forcing everyone onto the battlefield.
Natural selection. Survival of the fittest.
The burden of national defense would be shifted onto individuals.
That way, those with sufficient ability would naturally survive, clear dungeons, and eventually become strong enough to withstand the monsters' offensive.
There would, of course, be a price to pay along the way. Many people would die, particularly those unable to adapt to the changes of the new era.
But according to the proposal's supporters, those were necessary sacrifices, preferable to the current situation... where soldiers on the front lines fought desperately while ordinary people in the rear, sheltered from danger, struggled through worthless dungeons with little to show for their efforts.
In the end, however, no one supported the proposal. Many even pointed directly at its advocates and cursed them to their faces.
Yan Fushou went through the intelligence reports on the existing dungeons one by one, his brow furrowing deeper with each document.
Knock, knock.
A sudden knock came at the door.
Yan Fushou raised his head. A staff member pushed the door open and said, "Division Chief, there's a meeting."
***
Yan Fushou arrived at the conference room. Director Li Bao of the Coordination Bureau and several other division chiefs were already present.
Also attending were representatives from the front-line military and the heads of other functional departments under the National Abnormal Space Response and Survival Committee.
The conference room was thick with cigarette smoke.
The ashtrays in front of many attendees already held five or six cigarette butts. Their expressions were grim. The only person whose expression remained unchanged was an elderly man with dark skin, dressed in a faded, old-fashioned short-sleeved shirt.
At the sight, Yan Fushou felt his heart sink slightly. He pulled out the chair to the old man's left and sat down.
He had barely taken his seat.
The front-line military representative turned toward him and went straight to the point. "The monsters on the front lines have grown stronger again."
Just as expected.
Yan Fushou's brow tightened.
"It's the same as before. All their attributes have increased. New types of monsters have appeared, and some elite monsters have even developed new resistance skills."
The front-line military representative tapped the report lying on the table. "We can still manage for now, but we need new dungeons... It's already been two months."
Hearing this, Director Li Bao also turned toward Yan Fushou. "Has the Raid Team still not found a suitable dungeon?"
Yan Fushou remained silent for a moment before answering. "There are currently no suitable dungeons. Progress in almost all the top-tier dungeons has stalled. The ones that have been cleared were completed entirely through the individual talents of top players, so we haven't been able to develop any effective strategies from them. For now, we can't arrange for front-line soldiers to enter. As for low-level dungeons, the few attribute points they provide aren't even enough to offset the monsters' growth."
"..."
As his words faded, a deathly silence settled over the conference room.
The front-line military representative couldn't help lowering his gaze.
Even though he had mentally prepared himself, reaching a point where there were almost no suitable dungeons left to choose from was still deeply discouraging.
The front lines were holding for now, but what about the future?
Was shifting the burden of national defense onto individuals truly their only remaining option?
"In that case, I propose putting an end to the rotation system for members of the major guilds."
At that moment, one of the division chiefs slammed his hand against the table and rose to his feet. "Make those top-tier players remain on the front lines permanently! They're the ones consuming all those resources. If they aren't going to give their all now, then when will they?"
"I can't agree with that."
Another division chief considered the suggestion for a moment before shaking his head and countering, "If we tie down our strongest combatants on a battlefield that offers no rewards and deprive them of the time they need to improve themselves in dungeons... within a few years, even they will have fallen into mediocrity. By then, the monsters will eventually grow strong enough that even they can no longer handle them, and we'll have lost our last and sharpest weapons."
"Then conscript more people!"
Someone else muttered, "Expand the pool of available manpower."
"We aren't short of people on the front lines."
The front-line military representative turned toward the speaker. "What we're missing is a way to make our soldiers stronger—dungeons they can clear consistently. Without that, no matter how many people we recruit, we'll only be throwing more of them into the same vicious cycle."
"Last year, we conducted a trial rotation program, withdrawing some veterans from the front lines so they could clear dungeons. The results were far from ideal. Even battle-hardened veterans struggled to balance both responsibilities. Do you seriously think newly conscripted soldiers could manage it? What good would that do? Throwing fresh recruits into the fighting would accomplish nothing except making the casualty lists longer."
"..."
The conference room fell silent once more.
In the end, everything came back to the same problem.
The front lines, the dungeons, gamification...
All of it was essentially a selection mechanism designed to force individual humans to evolve.
And protecting those who couldn't adapt inevitably came at a price.
However, the silence didn't last long.
"Yan Fushou, arrange for Jian Li, Cheng Xiu, Fan Lixing, and the others to enter the dungeon 【Island】 again. Then have the rest of the Raid Team go back through every A- and B-rated System dungeon and evaluate them all over again."
Director Li Bao continued, "Even dungeons that reliably provide attribute points will suffice. If the rewards from one dungeon aren't enough to compensate for the growing gap in strength, then use two. If two aren't enough, use three... As for dungeons that have already been cleared but still have reward attempts remaining, continue arranging for people to clear them. The rewards from a second or third clear may be worse, but they won't be completely worthless."
The front-line military representative opened his mouth to speak.
Director Li Bao shook his head slightly. "I know the risks involved in rotating soldiers through dungeons are high. If the difficulties become too great, the Coordination Bureau will arrange for the Raid Team to reinforce the front lines... We're already in the process of revising the regulations governing major guilds and top players. In addition, the Coordination Bureau is steadily advancing the Reserve Army Plan. We intend to make full use of the fact that low-difficulty dungeons are easier to clear. By making up for quality with quantity and industrializing the dungeon-clearing process, we aim to obtain more Survival Points and cultivate a reserve force with reasonably strong attributes.
"This should effectively ease the pressure, but it will take some time."
The front-line military representative nodded silently.
Director Li Bao continued, "Whatever happens, we cannot allow the front lines to collapse. That is our absolute bottom line. Everything I've just mentioned is merely a temporary measure. The Raid Team still needs to find suitable dungeons as soon as possible. Yan Fushou... do you understand?"
"Understood."
Yan Fushou nodded slowly.
The meeting adjourned under a heavy, oppressive atmosphere.
Back in his office.
Yan Fushou sank heavily into his chair. Gazing at the bustling city outside the window, he let out a long breath.
The enemies on the front lines, growing stronger at irregular intervals, were like a noose slowly tightening around everyone's neck.
If they couldn't break this vicious cycle, the peace they enjoyed now would be nothing more than the final illusion before everything collapsed.
For the moment, things were still under control.
But what would happen if the day came when the Raid Team could no longer find any suitable dungeons?
How much longer could they keep walking this tightrope?
No one knew.
Rumor had it that some people had already proposed constructing fortress cities.
Dungeons, dungeons, new dungeons...
Thinking about the work awaiting him, Yan Fushou rubbed his temples as a splitting headache began to set in.
Just then.
A brilliant white light suddenly flared in front of his desk, and the surrounding space warped slightly. A slender figure landed without a sound, her waist-length silver-white hair fluttering gently.