Chapter 21: A Thoroughly Satisfying Sparring Match

Create his own dungeon? When Liu Kongkong saw that message, his brain crashed for a few seconds. Fortunately, the shop had just closed at that moment, so Lonely as a Song hadn't caught the expression on his face.

He casually pulled up the creation interface.

Secret Realms available to create: 1

Secret Realm structures placeable: 50

Props and monsters placeable (point budget): 500

Secret Realm EXP reward: 500–2,000 (per person)

Secret Realm drop selection…

At the bottom was a button: [Begin Construction]

Interesting — but only mildly so. Liu Kongkong's enthusiasm was lukewarm. Building a dungeon did sound fun, but the most important question remained: what was in it for him?!

All the rewards go to the players — so I'd just be working for free!

He scrolled down and found that the interface had quite a few notes on things to keep in mind.

For instance, once construction was complete, he had to clear it himself first. Of course, the monster stats didn't apply to him — testers could one-shot everything inside. The monsters available to place were all drawn from the Starter Village's surrounding area, and there was a total cap on numbers, so there was no risk of anything being overpowered. The main concern was simply making sure the paths were connected and players could actually reach the end.

"Hm? What does this mean?" Near the very bottom, a line of small text read: "…Please endeavor to increase the dungeon's difficulty. For every one hundred cumulative player deaths within the Secret Realm, your lifespan points will increase by 1. All items dropped upon death will also become your property."

Liu Kongkong's whole body shuddered with excitement!

Now he had motivation!

He had no idea what lifespan points were, but the second half of that sentence was what really mattered!

By common sense, the gear a blacksmith could craft had obvious stat limitations. The truly good equipment always dropped from bosses, and his NPC identity meant he'd never have any connection to the Starter Village bosses. But with this system, on one hand he could recover equipment he'd already sold, and on the other hand, if luck was on his side, he might even get his hands on some boss drops!

How much money could he make off that?!

If it weren't for the upcoming meeting, Liu Kongkong would have dived in to start building the dungeon right then and there. He'd played countless games growing up and had seen all manner of bizarre dungeons.

He'd get to work the moment he got back!

Liu Kongkong stepped out of the shop and headed toward the Village Chief's house.

The moment he walked in, he saw every villager's face glowing with a blissful smile.

What's gotten into everyone? Did they all get drunk?

Liu Kongkong found his seat and hadn't even sat down yet.

"Hey, Little Liu. That's not your spot — move up two seats," the Village Chief said with a smile. "The first player to reach level 10 in our village is entirely thanks to you. You've earned it."

"Oh, alright." Under everyone's watchful gaze, Liu Kongkong took his seat. In just a few short days, he had climbed from dead last all the way to third place. Ahead of him sat a few class trainers and Widow Wang… The other NPCs didn't seem to mind at all — they all looked at him with grateful eyes.

Is it really that hard to get a player to level 10? Don't you all have tons of EXP to give? Just dump it all on one person — how hard is that? He couldn't figure it out.

"I understand how everyone feels, and today's meeting will be brief. But before we begin, we must give our thanks to Liu Dameng. Without him, there's no way we'd have unlocked the Secret Realm access this early! Everyone, give him a round of applause!"

The room immediately erupted in thunderous applause. Liu Kongkong had never experienced anything like this — he stood up and bowed repeatedly in thanks.

"Now that everyone has received Secret Realm access, I hope you'll all put some thought into it. As you've all seen from the Divine's message, lifespan is of the utmost importance to each of us…"

Liu Kongkong was taken aback. Lifespan points are literally lifespan? That's insane?

"Alright, enough preamble — let's begin the reports."

Ten minutes later, Liu Kongkong winced as he handed over 51 silver coins. The equipment he'd crafted today had been far too eye-catching — before the reports even started, the Village Chief had specifically complimented his shop's appearance, so he could only curse inwardly as he paid a little extra.

The meeting adjourned and he returned home.

"Let's go, let's go!" Liu Kongkong eagerly opened the Secret Realm construction interface. Before he could even click [Begin Construction], a woman's voice suddenly reached his ears!

"Dameng."

Holy shit! Liu Kongkong nearly jumped out of his skin. No one should be able to get in here! He spun around and looked…

"Widow Wang?"

Liu Kongkong blinked, his mind racing at full speed, yet he still couldn't figure out why an NPC had appeared outside her designated activity zone without any apparent reason. A hidden quest? But I'm an NPC myself right now. A scripted event? But there aren't any players around…

Before he could ask, Widow Wang spoke first.

"Even you call me 'Widow'…" Wang Xiuqin's expression darkened, her eyes filled with grief — which left Liu Kongkong at a complete loss. It really wasn't great to call someone "Widow" to their face. And according to the backstory, this woman was his Childhood Sweetheart.

"Ahem, I meant Xiuqin — I misspoke."

Hearing Liu Kongkong call her by name, Wang Xiuqin's expression softened somewhat, and the grief in her eyes shifted into a quiet resentment: "Ever since those players arrived, you haven't come to see me once…"

Huh? There's a whole storyline here?! Liu Kongkong quickly glanced at the letters the system had given him earlier. While they contained information about the villagers, specific events hadn't been recorded.

"I… I went over late, and you'd already locked the door!" Just treat it like a murder mystery dinner! Liu Kongkong made something up on the spot.

Wang Xiuqin looked puzzled: "But didn't I give you a key…?"

I have a key to your house?

Looking at the lovely-faced, strikingly-figured Wang Xiuqin, Liu Kongkong hurriedly opened his shop inventory to check — nothing! If I had one, I'd have paid a visit for sure!

Then he watched as Wang Xiuqin deftly opened a drawer and pulled out a key, then looked at him with a questioning gaze.

"Ah, so it was here — I couldn't find it before." Liu Kongkong had already seen the item's info: a special item, simply named "Wang Xiuqin's Front Door Key."

"Liar! You've fallen for someone else, haven't you?! These past few days I've noticed a young girl frequently appearing at your door, and today you even gave her a pretty headpiece!" Wang Xiuqin's expression turned furious, as though she'd been betrayed.

The headpiece — Ye Weinuan? She paid for it, so of course I had to give it to her. Though, to be fair, Ye Weinuan really was quite good-looking. Liu Kongkong thought back — while she lacked Wang Xiuqin's mature, seasoned charm, she had a youthful energy to her, and her figure wasn't bad either.

"Regardless, I don't care. Back then, I lured wild rabbits to kill that fool for your sake — I sacrificed so much. No matter what, you have to be with me!"

Good lord!

Liu Kongkong frantically flipped through his letters, but the system hadn't written a single word about this! And what did Liu Dameng even have going for him, that this woman would go that far?

Before Liu Kongkong could close the mailbox interface, he felt something soft press against him, and an intense fragrance made his head swim. But the very next second he snapped back to full alertness!

Wait — even though I'm playing an NPC, I'm fundamentally still a player. What's with this sensation? Why does it feel like the real thing?!

But the impatient Wang Xiuqin gave him no time to think. She grabbed him and pulled him into the bedroom, and in an instant, an intense one-on-one sparring match broke out!

Finally, one hour later!

"After you!" Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, Liu Kongkong clasped his hands together in a bow and watched Wang Xiuqin limp away.

He now had the answer to his earlier question.

It turned out that Liu Dameng was, in every sense of the word, ferocious.

Wait — the sensation from before still lingered in his mind, and Liu Kongkong suddenly realized something alarming: in reality, he should be lying inside his Game Pod right now.

"Could it be like dreaming you need to use the bathroom and then…"

A flicker of dread crossed Liu Kongkong's eyes.