Chapter 87: A Detailed Explanation of the System (Fifth Update)

Although the game initially assumed that everyone was in a party, a new division-party state was now being activated because of the large number of people present. Those here could go find others and form smaller parties at will. Each smaller party must have at least two members, with no upper limit.

The instant that thought surfaced in Beast One's mind, a huge screen appeared before everyone's eyes.

In addition, there are twelve rooms here in total, and each smaller party may enter a room only once. If a member dies within the party, they may use a return ticket in time to come back and rejoin the battle.

However, if the fallen member cannot return before the last surviving member of the party is still inside the room, then once the party is wiped out, that party will no longer be able to enter the room again. Players who wish to fight again may only do so in an individual capacity.

Also, the more members a smaller party has, the stronger the boss will become once they enter the room. Therefore, once again, players are warned not to assume that more people are always better!

Just as Beast One thought that the contents of the screen ended there, he tapped it, intending to close it. Yet to his surprise, there was still more after that. By the time the flood of messages had finished, Beast One had also gained a clearer understanding of the matter.

There were twelve areas here, corresponding to the twelve zodiac signs and to their respective bosses. As for who these bosses actually were, the previous update had already mentioned them: Paguiro Beast, Vajra Beast, Mikira Beast, Andira Beast, Morin Beast, Sandira Beast, Indra Beast, Poira Beast, Mahura Beast, Zhandara Beast, Joduro Beast, and Vikala Beast.

These twelve each corresponded to the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Dog, Rooster, and Pig of the zodiac, and they were also the subordinates of the Four Sacred Beasts. They were known collectively as the Twelve Imperial Demons, all at the Perfect level.

A crowd of Rookie-level digital monsters, together with perhaps a few Perfect-level ones, had to challenge a Perfect-level dungeon boss. No wonder the system allowed them to gang up on it. However, in order to prevent everyone from swarming in at once and sending thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, or even more digital monsters to obliterate the dungeon boss with a single strike, the system had activated the smaller-party system and the boss-enhancement system.

To be honest, if all of them formed one single party, the authorities probably would not object. But if that happened, then the boss in whichever room they entered, no matter who it was, no matter what rank it held, and no matter how strong or weak its combat power was, would likely be strengthened to a level even greater than NEO in an instant.

By then, no matter how many of them there were, they would probably all be killed in a single move by the boss.

For example, if one player had a combat power of one thousand and another had five hundred, their average would be seven hundred and fifty. Then the dungeon boss would very likely have a combat power somewhere around seven hundred and fifty as well. It might be a little higher, or a little lower, but it would certainly be at least as strong as the weakest among them.

Beast One also knew that this was only a rough calculation of his own, and it was probably wrong. The dungeon boss could not possibly be given such an easily readable combat-power value. Otherwise, although it would be stronger than the weakest player, would it not also be weaker than the strongest one?

At that point, the strongest player could simply step in and bring the boss down, could they not? That would be far too simple. So his calculation was basically impossible, but the underlying logic ought to be something like that.

The system likely intended for everyone to try to find players of similar strength and strike together, so as to avoid slackers on the team. If there really were slackers, then the chance of a smaller party being wiped out would probably be even greater.

Still, according to the system’s intention, forming a smaller party did not seem to be compulsory. In other words, even without forming one, it should still be possible to enter alone and fight. Going in alone would reduce the number of participants to the minimum, and in that case the dungeon boss should also be reduced to its weakest state.

However, after all, the Twelve Imperial Demons were all Perfect-level, and none of them were weak. Even if fighting them alone caused them to become their weakest selves, their combat power would still be at least at the full value of a Rookie-level combatant.

Of course, all of the above was merely Beast One’s own conjecture. Whether it was accurate or not, he was not entirely certain. Still, as these thoughts flashed through his mind, Beast One quietly opened the exchange and bought a ticket.

This ticket was for emergencies. If he were truly unlucky and got instantly killed, at least he would still have one chance to start over.

The next moment, Beast One looked coldly at the large number of people in the distance who were still discussing party formation, but he had no intention of teaming up with any of them. Turning around, he walked straight toward the nearest room.

Perhaps because there were so many people here, the system had also granted everyone the extraordinary ability to pass through other people. Otherwise, in the earlier state, without the ability to pass through others, it would probably have taken until who knew when just to squeeze to the room’s entrance, let alone get inside.

Beast One glanced at the door. It was made of stone, and carved into the surface was the image of Paguiro Beast. Unless something unexpected happened, this should be the room guarded by Paguiro Beast.

Beneath Paguiro Beast’s image, there was also a palm print. According to the official explanation, as long as one placed a hand on that palm print, one could enter the room.

Hello, Mr. Beast One. My name is Ryoma Inoshita, and I would like to form a party with you.

At that moment, a system panel appeared before Beast One. At the bottom of the panel was a party invitation.

Hello, Mr. Beast One. My name is Hirozo Minamoto, and I would like to form a party with you.

Hello, Mr. Beast One. My name is Sansen Shikimoto, and I would like to form a party with you.

Hello, Mr. Beast One. My name is...

In an instant, countless party invitations surged toward Beast One. It was obvious that they had already noticed, or rather discovered, Beast One, who on the surface was the strongest among this server region.

It could be said that if Beast One accidentally tapped one at random, he would probably become someone else’s teammate right then and there. But Beast One remained calm; he silently watched the messages, his expression not changing in the slightest.

Then Beast One ignored them all outright and pressed his hand against the palm print, entering the room.