Ye Ci had mostly never noticed the Builder’s Guild in her last life. With her always running from people after her life, she did not have time to care about the other aspects of the game.
This was her first time in the Builder’s Guild, and her first time meeting the super secret highly intelligent NPC.
The NPC was a bald man in his late seventies. He was dressed in a purple robe decorated by a crest with a black Gryphon. It was the symbol of the Council of Elders of the Eastern Continent, and a sign that the Guildmaster of the Builder’s Guild held a high rank in the Eastern Continent’s capital. Despite his plump face, the man’s beard was almost as white as snow, and the pair of glasses on his face hid the intimidating aura that would otherwise radiate from his stern gaze partially.
The NPC was poring over a large drawing with a magnifying glass when Ye Ci entered the room. He stopped his work and looked up at Ye Ci when he noticed her presence.
Ye Ci was immediately caught in his sharp gaze, and she greeted the elder with respect, “Greetings, most honorable Guildmaster.”
“Ah, an Elvish adventurer. I’m glad to meet you here.” the intimidating aura of the old man was replaced by a kind demeanor, “I’ve heard from Wyatt here that you’re interested in building something.”
“Yes, Guildmaster. I wish to build a series of fortifications in the wild. May I know what sort of procedures I have to go through first?” Ye Ci immediately went straight to the point. She knew that it was futile to attempt to trick a highly intelligent NPC that might even outsmart her. The only way she could get what she wanted was to be honest.
“Why do you want to do that, adventurer?” instead of answering Ye Ci’s question, the Guildmaster responded with a question of his own, “It’s way harder to maintain than buildings in already established cities.”
A smile appeared on Ye Ci’s face. An intelligent NPC would never make decisions based solely on a player’s words. They had their own thoughts, and would make judgement based on their interaction with a player. That was why Ye Ci responded with sincerity and truthfully, “It’s simple. I have my eyes on a nice stretch of land, and I’ve decided to build fortifications to protect it. What sort of procedure do I have to go through to obtain a permit?”
“Oh?” The Guildmaster narrowed his eyes at Ye Ci, trying to detect any lies from Ye Ci’s behavior. But the adventurer standing before him met his gaze firmly. It was apparent that she was not lying, “It’s not that you can’t get a permit, but it’ll be troublesome.”
“I am not afraid of trouble, Guildmaster.” replied Ye Ci.
Other than a large sum of fees, Ye Ci was required to submit blueprints created by at least one Master Builder. She was also required to obtain a quest item called the “Building Tome” from an NPC called “Traitor Builder”, which was the final BOSS of a 10-players dungeon called the Builder’s Guild Basement.
The fees and the blueprints were not a problem for Ye Ci, but the dungeon was an entirely different matter. It was a dungeon that was triggered by her actions in the game. Not a single player had encountered something like this in her past life. She was truly a pioneer in exploring this dungeon.
It was easy for her to recruit the help of ten of Upwards Ho!’s elite players. With the interior of the dungeon still unknown, Ye Ci formed a well balanced party with a Cleric, a Priest, a Warrior, a Rogue, two Sorcerers, a Worlock, a Berserker and a Huntress which was Ye Ci herself.
She did not bring any members of the first squadron along as they were busy with the exploration of the Scorched Canyon dungeons. Her party was formed from the elites of the second squadron.
It was the first time the players had the chance to work with Ye Ci, and some of them had only seen her for the first time. They were excited by the prospect of working together with a top tier player like Gongzi You. even the members of the first squadron might not have such an opportunity. A top player had skills that they could never learn from anybody else.
“Leader.” they saw a cloaked player sitting on the bench outside the Builder’s Guild HQ. Even though she did not identify themselves, the nine players of the second squadron were able to recognise Ye C right away.
Ye Ci had almost drifted into sleep when she heard their voices. She jumped up and saw the nine players with Upwards Ho! emblem standing before her, “Hello. I’m just someone running errands for the guild. You can call me Gongzi.”
Gongzi You had been described as someone who was heartless and cold in the forum, and this made the players anxious about meeting her. They did not expect her to be someone very friendly.
Ye Ci asked about their stats and the supplies they carried. Their equipment were not as good as the players from the first squadron, but were still better than the average player in the entire game.
The party then headed into the dungeon Builder’s Guild Basement.
“Gongzi, why have we not heard of this dungeon before?” asked the Cleric.
Ye Ci responded with a smile, “I’ve only heard of it after accepting a quest.”
“So… Does it mean that we’re pioneering this dungeon?” The players were excited when Ye Ci confirmed the question. They had thought that they would be clearing a normal dungeon with Gongzi You. They were all excited to learn from Gongzi You.
Unlike the other dungeons that were situated in large maps, the Builder’s Guild Basement was built underground. This meant that the players were surrounded by nothing but bricks and moss.
There were not a lot of monsters when the party first entered the dungeon. The monsters were lvl60 Elite Monsters, but they were no match for the 10-players party.
These humanoid monsters had a higher equipment drop rate than the other common monsters, and they would also drop different recipes of food, potions and other consumables. The party was able to acquire a sizable loot thirty minutes into their exploration.
As the nine other players were still living out their excitement of exploring a dungeon with Gongzi You and the bountiful loot that they had obtained, Ye Ci was quick to spot a problem. The party had been going around in circles at the same spot. Monsters would spawn whenever they came back to their original spot, giving them the illusion that they were advancing through the dungeon.
Despite her suspicions, Ye Ci was still not entirely sure. She did not want to cause unease among her party members as well. She lingered at the back of the group, and marked the surface of the wall with her dagger.
The party arrived at the same spot ten minutes later. One of the Sorceress in the party realised that something was wrong, “There doesn’t seem to be much of a chance in sceneries around here. Everything looks the same.”
The other members of the party realised the peculiarity as well. Ye Ci stood by a wall, and was able to spot the mark that she left with her dagger, “No, we’ve been going around in circles.”
“What!” the other members were shocked. “Are we trapped in some sort of anomaly?” asked one of the party members.
This elicited a laugh from Ye Ci, “We’re in a maze dungeon. The exit is definitely hidden somewhere along the route we’ve passed by just now.”
“A maze dungeon?” the nine players asked collectively, “What is that?”
A maze dungeon was a special dungeon in Fate that was very rare in the earlier stages of the game that players must solve with their wits. A traditional dungeon was relatively easy during the game’s early stages, with the only challenge being the BOSS battle. But a maze dungeon not only offered tough BOSS battles, but also required players to solve puzzles along the way. Solving the puzzles would yield a higher reward when the BOSS was defeated.
According to Ye Ci’s memories, maze dungeons would only be available to lvl85 players. Why are we in one right now?
“Don’t you guys think that we’ve been walking around in a maze?” asked Ye Ci as she could not give too much details about the knowledge from her last life.
Her explanation was immediately accepted by her party members.
“Have any of you played around in one of those mazes they have in gardens before?”
“I know what to do!” exclaimed the Priest.
“I have been exploring mazes like this in real life. All we have to do is to get back to the entrance and move along one of the walls. We should be able to find the exit that way.”
It might be a long route, but it was one of the simplest ways to navigate a maze. And the players immediately returned to the entrance, and moved as one along one of the walls.
