Hardmode challenges?

Tang Hao couldn't help but squint his eyes, although Yakumo Zi was somewhat ridiculous, but it was not unreasonable to think about it carefully. Since the upgrade of the chat room, in the past half a month, everyone has either exercised themselves in the training level, or they are familiar with the new version of this 2.0, and they are also busy with their own affairs, and the recruitment task that is most related to the development of the chat room has not been carried out once.

Indeed, Tang Hao also had some itchy hands.

It's like playing a gacha game, the official long grass reproduction all day long, not to mention the new main line, not even a new character that makes people shoot out, how can there be any intention to save people, no wonder the masters have gone to the island of mules to raise donkeys...... Brother Jie is the first in the world!

Of course, with the revision of the chat room, the recruitment mission has also changed dramatically, not to mention the hero mode, even if the normal mode and hard mode are really like, no one can know.

In other words, someone has to go and clear the wasteland.

Tang Hao, as an administrator, while enjoying the authority, of course, duties such as clearing wasteland cannot be avoided, at least he still has this self-awareness, and compared with ordinary mode, the clearing of wasteland in hard mode is obviously particularly important.

After all, in ordinary mode, there is a chance of recruiting group members, that is, looking at the face, even if the task is completed, the face is not good, and the newcomer may not be able to be recruited.

So in fact, the safest way for a chat room to develop is always in Hardmode.

It just so happens that he now has a new power, which can be tested through actual combat, and as Yakumo Zi said, he is indeed relatively idle.

As for Elusa and Zoro's side, reinforcements have been sent, and the chat room can always keep an eye on it, even if there is really any accident, it is too late to send additional reinforcements, and there is no shortage of him as one.

Big Dumb: So, who wants to come with me?

Her Royal Highness the Princess: Didn't you just shout that you were going to pretend to be alone, why do you need someone to accompany you now?

Big Stupid: That's different, it was the known world before, I knew that I was pretending to be forced in the past, of course one person was enough, but now it's an unknown adventure, or a wasteland, of course, the more stable the better.

Her Royal Highness: Whatever you say makes sense, anyway.

Big Bendan: Anyway, now I'm going to choose one or two lucky people to accompany me to open up the wasteland, so who will be so lucky?

"President, I'll go with you." Tang Hao's words were just sent, and Asuna, who had not had time to return, volunteered.

"You...... I don't think it's a punishment. Tang Hao looked at her for a while, then shook his head.

"Why not?" Asuna's eyes widened suddenly, as if she was a little unconvinced, "Do you doubt that my strength will hold you back?" ”

"It's not a matter of strength, but your cultivation of the second soul is not very smooth, right? Although there is a chance to break through in actual combat, I think that in your situation, it is more important to empty your mind now, don't think about anything, and relax, and if you join this wasteland opening mission, it will slow down your cultivation progress. ”

"This ......"

"Listen to me, your most important task now is to master the second soul, and the task of clearing the wasteland will be done by others."

“…… All right. ”

Asuna pursed her lips, looking still a little unwilling, but in the end she still listened to Tang Hao's advice.

At the same time, everyone in the chat room was also discussing.

Sage Hui: Cultivating the wasteland together with Da Bendan, we ordinary people will definitely not be able to, right?

Under the Snow: Don't think about it, you'll probably be killed by his accident.

Ichikiriwa: Actually, Elusa and Ormet are quite suitable, but it's a pity.

Meowmori: What about Yatoshi and Kirito?

Yagus: I'm sorry, but I may not have time right now.

Celia: Mr. Kirito is online, but he hasn't spoken.

Dr. Roman: He probably hasn't finished his mission yet.

Phoenix Courtyard Fierce Truth: Hahahahaha! It seems that this kind of critical moment can only be done by me, a mad scientist, myself!

Assistant: You'd better forget it, the second disease.

Phoenix Courtyard Fierce Truth: Assistant You...... I'm not a secondary two disease!

Pache Rich: Actually, if you look at the list of group members, there are only a few people who are suitable for this wasteland clearing mission...... Illya Alarm Clock ...... Elementary school students still forget it, and they experienced that kind of battle not long ago.

Illya Alarm Clock: I'm so sorry I'm an elementary school student.

Little Five Lori: It's not good to roar, she still needs more time to grow.

Rum: Sorry, I can't help......

Little Five Lori: Don't care.

Her Royal Highness the Princess: Then the only people left are ...... I'm not happy and love the most too.

Favorite Qua Tai: It seems that I can only go up, but I can.

I'm not happy: I'm okay too.

Big Bendan: So decided?

Tang Hao flipped through the chat records, Mikoto Misaka and Kuriyama are completely guaranteed in terms of strength in the future, but such a combination always feels that something is missing.

Seventeen-year-old girl: Wait a minute, it's okay to be too little sister, I'm not happy that my little sister will let it go first.

I'm not happy: can't I?

Seventeen-Year-Old: Didn't you notice that this lineup is all aggressive? Lack of flexibility, since it is a wasteland, of course, we must pursue stability, in order to be able to adapt to more changes, it is best to change to an all-rounder.

Pache Elli: All-rounder? Do we have such people in our group? Are you going to play in person?

Seventeen-year-old: Of course it's not me, @童话魔女.

Fairy Tale Witch: ?

Tang Hao's eyes suddenly lit up...... Got beads?

Since joining the chat room, although she has been online most of the time, she has never said a word, and she gradually seems to be a ghost group member, and even Tang Hao will ignore her sometimes, but she didn't expect Yakumo Zi to mention her deliberately.

Seventeen-year-old girl: Are you interested in participating in this reclamation?

Fairy Tale Witch: Why me?

Seventeen-year-old girl: Mikoto Misaka is on the scientific side, you are on the mysterious side, as long as there is a combination of the two of you, whether it is the modern world or the magical world, you can do it, and with your magic level, whether it is reconnaissance and tracking or other work, at least in my opinion, you are a more suitable candidate than Kuriyama Mikuru.

Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: And most importantly, you are one of the five starters of Hero Mode, and Olmet and Elusa are already fighting side by side, so the three of you can also take this opportunity to run in, whether this reclamation is a success or a failure, it can be used as a pre-rehearsal for Hero Mode.

Seventeen-year-old girl: How's it going, is there a problem?

Fairy Tale Witch: ...... OK.

Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: Okay, that's it, @大笨淡, it's your turn.

Big stupid: What should I do, you've finished speaking, so let's join the group.

Tang Hao took the opportunity to send a request to Mikoto Misaka and Yuzhu of Jiuyuan Temple to join the group, and after both of them entered her group, Tang Hao typed four words vigorously.

Big stupid: Lao Tzu is on!

……

This is a hard-mode reclamation, and the relationship is not just the three people who open the wasteland, it can be said to be an important reference material for anyone in the group, so of course, the video is also turned on at the first time.

I saw that in the video, the originally dark background gradually showed a glimmer of light after Tang Hao and the three of them completely entered the world, and as far as the eye could see, it was a modern city, and on the streets where people came and went, Tang Hao and the three of them stopped in the crowd.

The sunset on the horizon is nearly dusk, and the time is evening.

Her Royal Highness: It's a modern world, but aren't those people moving?

Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: Well, all the people around me are frozen, but they don't look like dummies, I guess the mission hasn't officially started yet, so although they have entered that world, they are still outside the timeline...... Chat room interference bar.

Pache Rich: Then I guess there will be any hints next.

Sure enough, as soon as this sentence was issued, a line of crimson subtitles immediately appeared on the public channel of the chat room.

[Hardmode Recruitment: When the mission is activated, the interference effect of the chat room is reduced to zero until the mission is completed]

Her Royal Highness Princess: This ......

Interference impact reduced to zero?

When he saw this line of subtitles, Tang Hao also frowned.

The interference effect of the so-called chat room...... Take Kaguya's small black room as an example, if you live there for a year, the outside world is only equal to an hour, because this small black room is distorted by Kaguya's ability to distort the concept of time, but as long as you enter the chat room, you can correct the distorted time flow again, which is the interference effect of the chat room.

It is precisely because of the existence of this interference power that Kirito and Asuna, who are almost integrated with the chat room, cannot enter Kaguya's small dark room to cultivate.

In addition, the mobile phone with the chat room also has strong resistance on the physical level, for example, Tang Hao once used the mobile phone to block Cúchulainn's treasure, which also belongs to the interference effect of the chat room.

Now, this interference has been reduced to zero, which means that the chat room will no longer help the group members on the mission, either physically or conceptually, and will only serve as a communication tool and a teleportation tool.

Of course, before this, the members of the group who went to the unknown world to carry out recruitment missions rarely used this kind of power, and the only time was when Tang Hao blocked Cú Chulainn's treasure, so that the presence of this interference effect seemed to be very low, but in fact it was not.

Since the interference of the chat room has been all-encompassing from the physical level to the conceptual level, it can make the group members immune to many abilities in the process of performing tasks, such as the enemy's ability is time-based, so as long as you have a mobile phone, you can completely neutralize the opponent's ability, turning Kurumi Tokizaki into a melancholy little three.

Another example is the mind control department, the bee-eater Cao Qi has suffered this loss, her spiritual waves are completely blocked by the chat room, and LV5's mental control does not play a role in front of Tang Hao.

There are many more, even if most of the time the group members don't need this kind of protection at all, but as long as its influence is still there, it can at least make people feel at ease.

"Sure enough, the difficulty has increased, but I don't know if this interference effect is reduced to zero only in this dungeon world, or if it is all Hardmode."

Tang Hao lowered his head and muttered, logically speaking, it makes sense that there will be such a change, after all, there is no free lunch in the world, since there is a task system, of course, there must be a distinction between difficulty and difficulty. With the development of the chat room, the overall quality of the group members is also improving, and the chat room gives less and less protection, relatively speaking, it can tap the potential of the group members themselves.

In the final analysis, the chat room is just a platform, a channel, not a plug-in for one-click screen clearing.

"And new tips."

Mikoto's voice came from Misaka's ear, and Tang Hao looked at it fixedly.

[Hardmode Recruitment Quest is opened, in this mode, remove the fixed quest and change it to an open selection.] According to the choices and actions of the group members in the mission world, their own faction tendencies will be shifted, and in the process, the characters of the faction will intersect, and the resulting cause and effect points will determine the invitation of the new group members.

[During the mission, the cause and effect points generated by the group members and faction characters can be viewed on the task interface, and up to the five highest cause and effect points will be displayed, and when the cause and effect points with one of them reach 100, the recruitment task can be completed]

[After completing the task, the group members who perform the task will receive irregular rewards such as prestige, and the characters who have reached 100 causal points with the group members will have the permission to join the chat room]

[It's all your choice]

【Quest Begins】

When I saw these subtitles, the phrase came to everyone's mind: an open world of complete freedom!

Yes, although it is shown as a recruitment mission, there is no mission, there is no force for you to do anything, and you are not given a fixed goal, everything depends on how you do it, completely free.

It's like some open-ended games, you can choose to become the big demon king who destroys the world in the game, or you can choose to be a savior who saves all beings, you can feel the warmth and coldness of the NPCs in the game, for their sake, or you can pick up the Gatling and suddenly kill everyone, there is no good or bad ending, there is no so-called correct play, everything lies in the ...... How you want to play!

Hardmode gives you a completely blank paper.

How to fill in the answer depends on how you choose.

"How can I say it......" Tang Hao pondered for a moment, and finally only said one sentence, "A real and free world." ”

Yes, the new mission mode of Chat Room feels like reality.

Of course, the previous one is also a reality, but it is not free.

The previous model is like when you are born, your parents will help you set up your future and goals, tell you which university you want to be admitted to, what kind of industry you want to enter, you don't need to think too much, just work hard to complete your goals. Today's model is ...... You can live how you want, as long as you are happy.

Among them, the ones who feel the most are Asuna and Yukino, because they are the children who have been planned by their parents for the future, although they have no worries about food and clothing, and live a happy life, they do not have the freedom they want.

"This is Hardmode......" Yukino held her phone tightly, looking at those subtitles on the screen, her eyes sparkling, now she could be sure that this was what she wanted!

At this moment, she felt that she had found her purpose.

The meaning of life may lie in the word freedom.

In the video, when this subtitle gradually disappeared, the world seemed to come alive again, and the crowds on the street began to move around, passing by Tang Hao and the three.

The mission begins!

"Whew-" Tang Hao exhaled lightly and said with a smile, "Although it seems that there is no task anymore, it is still the old rule, first find out what landmark buildings and people there are, and determine which world this is...... Got beads? ”

Tang Hao found that Youzhu seemed to be in a daze.

Mai Trin couldn't help but cast a curious glance at her.

Youzhu came back to her senses, immediately put away her phone, shook her head and said, "It's nothing, don't worry about me." ”

Youzhu said lightly, but there were thousands of thoughts in her heart, she can be said to be the freest person, and the person who is the farthest away from freedom, because the fate of the witch is unchanged, as a witch, her future has already been decided, but ...... The fate of a witch only prescribes how to die, but not how to live.

She could live more freely than anyone else, but she tied herself up in that small mansion.

It wasn't until she walked out of the mansion this time that she saw the subtitle just now that she instinctively had mixed feelings.

Tang Hao didn't know what she was thinking, at least on the surface, it didn't look different from the past, so he didn't ask any more, greeted the two of them, and walked forward.

The air is filled with the atmosphere of a modern city, and there is nothing unusual in the evening, when it is the rush hour after work, and the pedestrians on the street are also hurrying to find a familiar face.

The only thing that is certain is that this is the city of Osaki, Japan.

"Misaki, do you have any impressions?" Mai Trin asked.

"Nope. And just from the name of a city,It's impossible to judge it.,Well, it's not an almost unique place like School City.。 Tang Hao shook his head and said, after all, disasters are happening in Japan in the animation industry all day long, especially Tokyo, who comes and goes I don't know how many times it has been affected, and knowing the name of the city is not helpful at all to determine which anime and which world it is.

"Uh......h Then I can't help it. Mikoto sighed, in fact, in order to cope with the current situation, some time ago she specially read a lot of comics that she is not usually interested in, especially combat superpowers, and when it comes to Misaki City, she is a little impressed, but she can't remember the specifics.

"There's another clue I just heard that the cherry blossoms in Misaki City are blooming later than in previous years." Youzhu said.

I have to say that Yakumo Zi's recommendation is still very reliable, not only in terms of strength, but also in terms of carefulness, Youzhu is far superior to Tang Hao and Meiqin, hearing this information, both of them were stunned.

But—

It's not an egg.

"There are basically cherry blossoms in Japanese anime, and this kind of information ......"

Tang Hao smiled bitterly and shook his head, before he finished speaking, his thigh was slammed, and when he turned his head, it was a bear child with a drink.

"I'm sorry...... Sorry ......"

The child's mother immediately ran forward and apologized to Tang Hao.

"It's okay, it's okay, be careful." Tang Hao smiled and waved his hand, not caring about it, and then when the mother took the child's hand and walked forward, he picked up the phone and opened the task interface.

"It's a blank slate."

There are no causally related names on the quest interface, obviously, he is not so lucky, as soon as he comes up, he meets important people, and it is just a bear child who usually passes by.

"Rather than paying attention to passers-by, I think this sky is more special, have you noticed that it seems to be slightly redder?" Mai Koto raised her head and said thoughtfully.

"Is there one?" Tang Hao also raised his head, and sure enough, he saw a reddish sky reflected by the glow, "But it's just because of the evening, the red sky...... Speaking of which, I think of a song. ”

"What song?"

"Crimson Sky."

Tang Hao smiled, and then, a light wind blew, blowing up the scattered cherry blossoms on the ground and fluttering in the air, as if to confuse people's eyes.

"Danger!"

At this moment, an anxious voice came from ahead.

Tang Hao hurriedly looked over, and the person who spoke was a teenager with an ordinary appearance, he belonged to the kind of person who couldn't be found if he threw it into the pile, just like him. The difference is that this teenager is wearing a black student uniform, and he should still be a high school student.

In front of the boy was a child running despite his mother's shouts, his body leaning forward and on the verge of falling to the ground.

Tang Hao almost laughed out loud, it was the bear kid just now!

Obviously, the high school student is more loving than Tang Hao, and when he saw that the child was about to fall, he instinctively rushed forward, and the person was already half-bent over.

Is such a caring high school student the protagonist?

Tang Hao was thinking about it, suddenly, a strange light seemed to rise on the ground, and in a flash, everything was still.

The child who fell to the ground, the mother who chased after him, the couple holding arms, the co-workers chatting as they walked, the passers-by around them, even the cherry blossoms floating in the air, everything seemed to be frozen.

Tang Hao watched this scene, but he was just watching, because ...... Even he was affected by this strange phenomenon, and he couldn't even move a finger.

Time pause?!

Tang Hao never expected that this kind of ability really appeared in this world, without the protection of the chat room, he couldn't be freed from this kind of shackle at all, but fortunately, he could still see that it was not absolutely static, so ...... What about beads? What about Mai Trin? Can they still move?

Tang Hao didn't know, because he couldn't turn back, but the next moment, he saw someone move.

That high school student!

At the moment when everything was still, he was the only one who was not affected, but the strange situation in front of him seemed to scare him a lot, and he dropped his schoolbag and ran in panic.

"Fake, right? This...... What the hell is going on? ”

In this still space, the sound was not isolated, and the panicked voice of the high school student and teenager came into Tang Hao's ears.

Then, at this moment, a huge doll appeared silently, slamming the ground to crack, and beside it, a sphere made of countless doll masks was floating.

"Okay, you're ready."

"It's not a lot, but it's enough, so ...... Let's go. ”

The giant doll and the doll toy spoke, and the next moment, the doll opened its mouth, revealing a mouthful of fangs, "Eat, eat, eat......"

Immediately afterward, the motionless people turned into blue-white flames and flew towards the mouth of the giant puppet.