novelden 3 Background Story
3 Background Story
When people saw that it was a three-star difficulty dungeon, they were stunned.
After all, the most difficult dungeon so far is only two stars, and even that has caused countless people to die in dungeons. Now that a three-star dungeon has suddenly appeared, it is almost impossible for people to solve.
Fortunately, this instance only requires ten players.
As for Qin Mian, his eyes were even stranger. "This Jingjue Ancient City, could it be the Jingjue Ancient City I know? Based on the previous scripts, it's very likely. Alas, it's a pity that there are only nine people. I guess it won't be easy to be selected. Even if I am selected, with my physique, I probably won't even be able to get out of the desert."
Qin Mian didn't have much hope.
The next moment, the background story of the ancient city of Jingjue began to play.
In ancient times, in the wild and untamed land of the Zaglama Mountains, early inhabitants witnessed the sky tear apart, a colossal shadow hanging from the heavens, like a divine serpent falling, its power overwhelming and impossible to look directly at! On the same day, the mountainside roared, and the earth split open, revealing a bottomless, abyss-like cave. The local tribes were horrified and reverently called it—the burial place of the serpent god, the source of all evil, the Ghost Cave!
The visuals are so realistic that they make you feel like you're actually there.
Within the rugged mountainside, a dark cave entrance, seemingly torn open by the claws of a giant beast, gapes wide and eerily.
At the edge of the cave entrance, the ancestors, dressed in simple animal skins and with primitive paint on their faces, knelt on the ground in terror, holding stone spears and torches, worshipping the darkness that swallowed up the light.
The appearance of strange phenomena in the cave stirred the hearts of tribes from all directions, all eager to witness the power of gods and demons. A wise man discovered a strangely shaped stone, resembling an eyeball and radiating a mysterious light. Gathering the strength of the entire tribe, and spending several years, they sculpted it into a perfectly formed jade eye!
An old priest, draped in colorful bird feathers and holding a staff inlaid with a skull, solemnly raised a jade eyeball with a pale green luster, aiming it at the direction of the ghost cave, surrounded by countless clansmen and chanting.
However, how can mortals glimpse the divine? This act may have angered the ancient will slumbering beneath the abyss! Divine punishment has descended.
The narrator's voice suddenly became rapid and shrill!
The next moment, a hissing sound that made your teeth ache came from the depths of the ghost cave, dense and numerous, converging into a tide!
Immediately afterwards, as if the gates of hell had been opened, countless monstrous snakes, as black as ink, with blood-red eyes and strange fleshy growths on their heads, surged out of the cave like erupting black magma!
The Black-Scaled Serpent, its venom burns the blood; a bite is fatal! When this serpent wreaks havoc, a thousand miles are instantly transformed into a bloody slaughterhouse!
The strange snake was as fast as lightning, leaping up and accurately biting the fleeing ancestors.
Before the bitten person could even scream, their face was instantly covered in a layer of deathly black, their eyes bulged out, and yellow pus and blood gushed from their seven orifices.
Livestock cried out and collapsed, the village was engulfed in flames, and everywhere there were mutilated corpses and wildly writhing black snakes—a truly horrific scene.
The Zagrama tribe was on the verge of extinction. A bloody battle ensued, leaving mountains of corpses and rivers of blood. At an unimaginable cost, they temporarily halted the serpent tide. However, a deeper curse, like a malignant tumor, had already clung to the veins of every survivor.
The scene shifts to a tribal camp, where terrified cries replace the relief of surviving a disaster.
Many young men suddenly curled up on the ground in pain, tearing open the animal skin on their backs. On their backs, a lifelike, hideous eye pattern, as if drawn with blood, was clearly visible!
At the same time, thick yellow liquid began to seep from their seven orifices, and they died in extreme pain.
[The curse of the demonic eye, lingering through generations! Even newborn infants bear this ominous, bloodshot eye branded on their backs. As members of the tribe reach forty, their blood gradually turns golden, then congeals like stone, ending in suffocating agony. Zagrama has once again entered the countdown to genocide.]
Despair enveloped the remaining members of their tribe, and numb sorrow was etched on every face.
[Our clan's ancestor, on his deathbed, offered his life as a sacrifice to the heavens, glimpsing a sliver of light for the future. He left behind a prophecy: stay away from the Ghost Cave to delay the curse's onset; to eradicate the scourge completely, only the Eye of the Serpent God—the Muchen Pearl—can be found!]
Thus, for the sake of continuing their bloodline, the descendants of the Zaglama tribe embarked, with tears in their eyes, on a tragic and arduous journey spanning thousands of years and traversing endless mountains and rivers, to find the Muchen Pearl.
The scene transforms into endless yellow sand and a long, winding road, with rows of ragged yet resolute figures disappearing into the mists of history.
Time passed, dynasties rose and fell. In the Western Regions of later generations, a legendary queen of extraordinary talent and lofty ambition accidentally discovered the ruins of a ghost cave buried by time.
Amidst the wind and sand, a slender and proud figure slowly walked towards the seemingly eternally unchanging dark cave entrance.
She wore a gorgeous and mysterious veil, which obscured her face, yet gave her an aura of unparalleled beauty.
Legend has it that the Queen ventured alone into the Netherworld Cave, enduring unimaginable trials, and finally found the Muchen Pearl, from which she drew upon a portion of the forbidden power belonging to the ancient Serpent God! With this immense power, she established the powerful Jingjue Ancient Kingdom, which dominated the Western Regions and looked down upon all other kingdoms!
A magnificent city built of black stone rises from the ground, its style both bizarre and solemn.
At the top of the towering black stone tower, the Queen of Jingjue, her face veiled in a thin gauze, stood indifferently, her cold gaze looking down at the endless procession of envoys from various countries kneeling in tribute below, her beauty unparalleled.
However, divine power was both her strength and her weakness. The Queen's rule was harsh and unpredictable; the blink of an eye could decide life and death, causing fear and instability in the vassal states. The Queen of Jingjue ultimately perished for unknown reasons… The once mighty ancient kingdom of Jingjue mysteriously vanished overnight, and the Queen rests in eternal rest in the darkest corner of the ancient city, forever accompanied by the shadow of the Serpent God.
That concludes the background information.
This instance requires ten players per run. Once all ten players have died, new players will be selected to join.
[Next comes the exciting moment of team selection, countdown 10, 9, 8...]
At that moment, the live stream suddenly fell silent, and everyone was extremely tense.
Two-star difficulty notebooks are already like meat grinders, so you can imagine how difficult three-star notebooks are. In people's eyes, being selected is almost equivalent to being sentenced to death.
Although the probability of being selected among thousands of people is extremely low, no one dares to underestimate it.
Qin Mian looked at the background description and sighed helplessly, "This background is similar to the Jingjue Ancient City I know. If I could be selected, I might actually be able to pass the level. Alas, the probability is too low, and besides, my body..."
Qin Mian was truly at his wit's end.
Clearing dungeons and obtaining rewards is undoubtedly the best way to become a superior person, which is a real pity.
Just then, the selection process began.
[Countdown complete. The list of participants for the "Ancient City of Jingjue" dungeon is as follows.]
[1: Scarlett Johansson, from the United States, has an ID number ending in 1052.]
[2: Japan, Ichiro Yamamoto, ID number ending in 6082.]
【3: Black Bear Country, Andreev, identity information ending in 5268】
[5: South Korea, Park Guk-chang, ID number ending in 5692]
……
【9: Qin Mian, Great Xia Kingdom, ID number ending in 8888】
Qin Mian's heart skipped a beat when he saw his name.
"Holy crap, isn't this the end of us?"
Although he wanted to be selected, he knew in his heart that for a 300-pound fat man like himself, entering the desert would be a certain death.
But that wasn't all. When the tenth person was announced, Qin Mian was stunned again.
【10: Great Xia Kingdom, Mu Yunni, ID card number ending in 8888】
……