“Finally, I'm back.” Bai Ci collapsed onto the soft bed, pulling a pillow into her arms.
After waking up from that so-called Yefu District expressway, the instance hadn't ended immediately; she had lain in a hospital bed for an entire day.
Playing a character with a personality completely different from her own—especially one who was seriously injured—was more exhausting than covering for someone at work to play a character she despised.
During that day, she had woken up on and off.
The only benefit was probably that she had managed to piece together the background of the instance from the medical staff and the relatives who occasionally came to visit, which would help improve her evaluation score for clue gathering.
The young couple in the instance had originally planned to go on a road trip during their vacation. Their destination, of course, was not that Yefu District, but a famous scenic area.
The Bai Ci in the instance, just like herself, did not have a driver's license, so Yu Yue had been driving the entire way.
But fate was fickle. During their journey, they had crossed paths with an out-of-control vehicle.
At the critical moment, Yu Yue had suppressed his instinctual reaction to avoid danger and violently spun the steering wheel, letting the driver's side where he sat take the brunt of the impact.
By the time Yu Yue was brought to the hospital, he had already lost all signs of life. Although Bai Ci was severely injured, she had survived thanks to Yu Yue's protection.
“This kind of instance really isn't for me,” Bai Ci muttered, rolling over on the bed. Because the bed wasn't wide enough, she could only roll back on her second turn.
Compared to the protected and constrained Bai Ci in this instance, she preferred playing characters like Lora.
There was a basic background setting, but no rigid persona to bind her.
Without having to deliberately conform to a certain image, she could act as she pleased and use her own abilities to handle various emergencies. That kind of role-playing felt much more liberating.
Sentimentality aside, the instance was over, and the only thing left to do was check the evaluation panel.
Bai Ci pulled up the system panel, and the instance evaluation interface expanded before her eyes.
【Instance Evaluation
[Instance Name: Expressway]
[Basic Information]
Player: Bai Ci
Time Spent: 1 day, 3 hours, 43 minutes
Overall Evaluation: A
Consistently maintained clarity and rationality, successfully avoided multiple fatal risks, and achieved a survival ending. The analysis of the instance background was relatively complete. You have reached the limit of your current capabilities; please maintain this standard in the future.
[Basic Rewards]
Experience: 50
Points: 200
[Special Rewards]
Gift: Oblivion (Bound)
Don't look back.
(Effect: Upon use, grants proficiency in operating any vehicle for a period of time. The duration and cooldown period are determined by the complexity of the vehicle's operation and the number of times this type of vehicle has been used.)】
Bai Ci read through the evaluation panel word by word.
It was slightly better than she had expected. After all, she had merely followed the guidance throughout this instance, with little room to exercise her own initiative.
Just as the evaluation stated, this was indeed the limit of what she could currently achieve.
Even now that the instance was over, even if she reviewed all the known information, she still couldn't figure out how she could have achieved an S-rank evaluation.
On top of that, she had been a bit lucky. During that final run, if she hadn't put that 1 attribute point into agility back then, she probably wouldn't have been able to outrun the calling voices behind her.
As for the gift, this one had the shortest description she had seen so far.
Bai Ci was starting to get used to it. The few items she had received so far were all things whose names gave absolutely no clue as to what they actually were.
She took it out to look at it. The physical form of 'Oblivion' was a driver's license, and the owner listed was herself.
Considering its effect, it was quite fitting.
Moreover, the item's effect was quite good. It was a jack-of-all-trades item that allowed her to proficiently use any vehicle. This kind of versatility was highly valuable.
After reviewing the evaluation panel, Bai Ci casually opened her personal status panel. Aside from the changes in her experience, points, and past experiences, nothing else had changed.
Bai Ci still felt a bit of regret regarding this instance.
She was certain that the instance was a variation of the Eighteen Levels of Hell, and she could map most of the road segments to their corresponding hells. She even knew of Yu Yue's sacrifice.
However, there were still some details she had never fully figured out.
Most importantly, she preferred happy endings.
Just because she hadn't achieved one didn't mean others hadn't, right?
With this thought, Bai Ci wanted to open the Anomalous Infection forum to search for analyses of the Expressway instance.
After all, whenever an instance ended, players would always share their experiences and analyses on the forum.
Reading and learning more would not only help her understand her own oversights but also help her organize her thoughts in case she encountered similar instances in the future.
However, it hadn't been long since the instance ended, so there was a high probability that not many players had joined the discussion yet.
“Whatever, no rush. I'll sleep first.”
Anyway, there were still three days before she had to enter the next instance, and the forum wasn't going anywhere. It was better to get some good rest now, recharge her energy, and give the threads some time to grow.
Bai Ci relaxed, and sleepiness instantly washed over her. She quickly fell asleep.
Sleeping for three hours straight, Bai Ci woke up feeling refreshed, the fatigue completely drained from her body.
She opened the familiar forum interface and searched for the keyword 'Expressway.' To her surprise, a popular thread had indeed popped up.
【General Discussion Area】 - 【Interactions & Exchange】
【Share】 The Expressway We Chased Back in the Day
ID: She Smells Like My Perfume
【I heard that posting instance analysis threads builds up good karma, so here I am.
Please, let my luck turn around!
Disclaimers first: OP is an idiot and can't analyze anything systematic. I can only share my own theories and experiences in the instance.
P.S. I've already scolded myself, so you guys aren't allowed to scold me.】
【Floor 2 OP】: Just died and came back from the Expressway instance. Here are a few things I've confirmed.
The core of this instance is a variation of the Eighteen Levels of Hell. It's not necessarily hard, but it's not simple either. It's a pretty straightforward instance.
Even though there are misleading traps everywhere, as long as you strictly follow the rules the radio host mentioned at the very beginning and don't mess around, you can generally make it out alive.
Unfortunately, I did something stupid. At the second gas station, I saw a letter written by an NPC's younger sister. I really thought all of this was a dream and that committing suicide would wake me up. So, I actually committed suicide...
【Floor 3 King of Impatience】: OP, don't leave us hanging! Keep going! Does committing suicide in the instance lead directly to evaluation?
【Floor 4 OP Reply】: I didn't die. But when I opened my eyes after committing suicide, I found myself turned into a small animal.
Fortunately, the car had autopilot, so even as a small animal, I could still keep going through the instance.
Except when it came to that final running part before the exit, I was too small. I couldn't outrun the voice calling my name. I was caught, and then I was kicked out for evaluation.
【Floor 5 Jingle Bells】: No way? I also turned into a small animal—a Jerry—but I outran the voice.
The only thing was, after running to the toll station, I realized I had forgotten to bring my Stamp Book with me when I fled.
I thought I could just squeeze under the boom barrier, but who knew that barrier would suddenly turn into a blade and fall, making me cosplay as Louis XVI.
Rate on N.U.
