Chapter 105 - 100: New Equipment in the Safe Zone

Chapter 105: Chapter 100: New Equipment in the Safe Zone

After all, it was recorded by the system and produced by the Alchemy Workshop. The results from the Curse Testing Device were highly likely to be accurate.

He had just made a slight mistake earlier.

Or rather, because the environment of the workshop wasn’t suitable for him, his performance had just been slightly off-balance.

"Let’s move this to the training room and give it a try. We can also place one in the small garden outside," Shi An thought.

Shi An quickly manufactured the second and third Curse Testing Devices.

The production cost for this thing wasn’t cheap, but since he managed the Safe Zone and raked in money daily, he didn’t care about such a trivial expense.

Shi An prepared to move one of the testing devices to Training Room One.

But he suddenly realized—why should he do the heavy lifting himself?

So, he called for Hair Ghost, who then fetched Yang Lina and the others from the hall.

At the boss’s command, they rushed over immediately, brimming with enthusiasm.

After all, they felt their salary and benefits were far too generous. Since there was rarely any actual work to do on an ordinary day, they felt uneasy taking their pay. Wu Qing and Wu Yue, the two little rookies, were the most anxious.

It was the first time the three new employees had entered the Alchemy Workshop.

Compared to other areas in the Safe Zone, this workshop was crude and gloomy. Just looking at the exterior, the quality was definitely more than a notch below the rest.

However, everyone remembered that a cold, deathly silence was the main theme of the Nightmare World. The workshop might look a bit dilapidated at first glance, but compared to the real Nightmare World, the environment was still top-tier.

Yang Lina and the other two coming here this time also served as a way to familiarize themselves with the location.

This area wasn’t open to the public, but as employees, they sometimes needed to come here to pick up goods.

Just like right now.

"This is our Safe Zone’s new equipment, called the Curse Testing Device," Shi An said. "It can detect a person’s Curse Power Control Power level. For these three machines... well, move two to Training Room One and Training Room Two, and move one to the garden outside."

Shi An planned to find an empty spot in the garden to place the device and designate a specific area as a testing zone.

He didn’t plan to charge fees for this Curse Testing Device either; he would just leave it there as a free perk for everyone to use.

Hair Ghost squatted down and, with a slight exertion of force, lifted the device—which was the size of a double-door refrigerator.

He was incredibly strong.

Naturally, there were no delicate damsels in the Dream Descender circles either. Yang Lina also effortlessly picked up a refrigerator-sized machine.

When Dream Descenders reached High Tier, even though they were still mortal flesh and blood, their physical fitness would ultimately be vastly superior to that of ordinary people.

Experts like Hair Ghost and Yang Lina had consumed Treasure Medicines themselves, granting them immense strength.

However, Wu Qing and Wu Yue were a different story. The two girls were essentially no different from ordinary people, and they were so anxious they were on the verge of tears.

"Just leave this one here for now," Shi An said.

Soon, the two devices were moved out.

One was placed in the open space outside, and the other in the corner of Training Room One—Shi An intended to secretly grind his skills and use it to test his own progress in strength.

The employees were somewhat curious about this new equipment, stealing glances at it from time to time.

"Give it a try, everyone," Shi An said.

He also wanted to see what kind of evaluation others would get when using the testing device.

With that, Shi An turned on the testing device and looked at Hair Ghost and the others.

"Wu Qing, you two go first."

Those two were the weakest of the bunch. Not only were they newbies in the Borrowing Stage, but their respective Curse Arts were also at the Incomplete Level.

However, as long as there were sufficient resources, an Incomplete Level Curse Object could be repaired to the Complete Level.

But a Complete Level couldn’t be upgraded to the Rare Level.

K’s Ghost Candle had been restored to the Complete Level early on. He was, after all, backed by the Countermeasures Bureau.

Therefore, the majority of Dream Descenders who were doing somewhat well had Complete Level Lifebound Curse Objects, while a minority had Incomplete Levels. The latter group had stepped into the Fusion Stage during their ignorant and inexperienced phase, missing the opportunity to repair their Curse Objects.

Wu Qing’s Curse Object was a Transverse Flute, while Wu Yue’s Curse Object was a Xiao flute.

The former’s Ability was Support, capable of emitting interfering sound waves; the latter was offensive, able to directly stimulate Formless Needle Qi. However, its current lethality couldn’t even break the skin when hitting a person.

The sound of the flute pierced through the target.

Wu Qing had clearly studied the flute; she wasn’t just blowing into it blindly.

However...

[Curse Power Output Value: 0.3]

[Curse Power Output Efficiency: 33%]

[Evaluation: Zero Rank of Power of Curse. You noob! ...]

Wu Yue’s test result was about the same.

The two girls weren’t too depressed by the evaluations given by the testing device; they were just a bit embarrassed, their small faces blushing red.

They knew they were noobs; now, they merely had a clearer understanding of this fact.

Looking at the test results, Shi An fell into deep thought.

He really wasn’t a noob himself.

His Curse Power Output Efficiency was 53%, almost double that of Wu Qing and Wu Yue! He was proud!

Shi An felt that comparing himself to these two girls was very fitting.

They were newbie Dream Descenders who had experienced three official Nightmares.

And what about him, Mr. Shi? He was even more of a newbie; he hadn’t experienced a single official Nightmare.

So it wasn’t that he was bad; he was just getting started.

"The Curse Power Output Efficiency is the core of the evaluation. High efficiency represents strong Control Power. As for the Curse Power Output Value on the line above, that roughly represents the upper limit of the power of the Curse Object itself," he reasoned.

He guessed that if a Curse Object contained one unit of Curse Power, a Dream Descender’s full output would be about "1." An Incomplete Level Curse Object indeed only contained zero-point-something Curse Power.

What about the Rare Level, or even the higher-tier Excellence Level?

Shi An had a bit of an urge to test the waters, but he held back.

There were so many people here. What if he tested and got a Zero Rank of Power of Curse? What would he do then?

The next to try was Yang Lina.

She stimulated her Lifebound Curse Object, condensing a phantom in front of her that looked exactly like herself but was constructed of light and shadow energy.

This was Training Room One, shrouded in a mysterious power.

As soon as she stimulated her Curse Object, Yang Lina clearly felt the side effects brought by it significantly decrease. The process of stimulating the Curse Object felt divinely assisted; she faintly seemed to have grasped a hint of the direction needed to create an exclusive Curse Art.

"Is this the miraculous aspect of the Training Ground? No wonder so many Dream Descenders are constantly longing for it," she thought.

She had long lost her aggressive drive and didn’t want to risk exploring Nightmares.

But it wasn’t that she didn’t want to become stronger.

She still did.

She just didn’t want to take risks anymore.

And this Training Ground was a highly precious place where one could become stronger without taking risks.

BOOM!

The humanoid phantom threw a punch, sending ripples echoing outwards.

[Curse Power Output Value: 1.4]

[Curse Power Output Efficiency: 81%]

[Evaluation: Fourth Rank of Power of Curse, Skilled Level of Curse Power Control Power. The stimulation process of the Curse Object is relatively slow. The recommended direction for improvement is...]

This time, not only did the testing device refrain from its toxic remarks, but it even offered guidance!

So this was the correct way to unlock the Curse Testing Device!

Meanwhile, outside the mission hall, quite a few Dream Descenders had gathered in the empty space of the garden.

The focus of their discussion was this peculiar piece of equipment.

However, although the Dream Descenders surrounded it with immense curiosity, no one had actually laid hands on it yet. This was the Nightmare World, not a supermarket in the outside world; there were very few clumsy or careless people among the Dream Descenders who had survived Nightmare after Nightmare.

Before the Manager or the shop’s employees indicated it could be used, they absolutely wouldn’t touch it indiscriminately.

Even if the flow of people in the Safe Zone increased and an occasional ignorant person showed up, they would be stopped by others before they could touch anything they shouldn’t.

Everyone was responsible for maintaining order in the Safe Zone!

If the Manager saw them, praised them, hired them, or rewarded them, that would be an incredibly wonderful thing.

Soon, employee Wu Yue walked over. She explained the usage and function of this instrument, stating that it was a perk given by the Manager for everyone to use free of charge.

But she quickly added, "You must queue up according to the rules to use the instrument. Also, stimulating Curse Objects is strictly limited to this designated circle. You cannot cross the boundary. If you destroy the flowers, grass, or floor tiles outside, then..."

She looked around.

There were quite a few ferocious-looking Dream Descender experts surrounding her, but she still said firmly, "Then you’ll have to pay for the damages!"

"Don’t worry, little miss, we know," a man said. "Everyone understands the rules of the Safe Zone. If anyone dares to break them, I, Old Zhu, will be the first to object!"

He wasn’t saying this just to humor the girl.

In the Nightmare World, beauty was worthless; it was better to fight for a few more minutes in the training room.

Everyone followed the rules because they understood how rare it was to be able to come to the Safe Zone. Any normal person would cherish this hard-won opportunity.

More than a dozen Dream Descenders quickly lined up.

A young man stepped forward and stimulated his Curse Object according to the operating instructions.

He slashed his blade against the target woven from light and shadow.

BEEP!

[Power of Curse, First Rank. Evaluation: Noob. The Curse Object is purely a waste in your hands.]

The young man’s face flushed red.

"I... I just made an operational error! If I try again, I definitely won’t get such a low score!"

However, the people queuing behind him were already glaring like tigers watching their prey.

The young man gave an awkward smile. Naturally, he still didn’t dare to break the rules. He obediently walked to the very end of the line and started queuing up all over again.

Soon, the second, third, fourth... one Dream Descender after another took the test.

The evaluation most people received was noob, trash, or worse than trash.

The young man from the very beginning now wore a peaceful expression.

"So it isn’t that I’m bad, but that everyone is bad? Then that’s fine," he said.

"You guys might say the standard set by this Curse Testing Device is a bit high, but I don’t think so. Think about it—this is equipment created by the Manager. The standard is naturally set by the Manager, and given the Manager’s capabilities..."

The others suddenly understood.

Indeed, in the Manager’s eyes, they were worse than trash.

It wasn’t that the testing device’s scoring was too harsh; it was genuinely because they were too weak.

They still needed to work hard.

Inside the empty Training Room One.

Shi An stared at his "First Rank of Power of Curse" evaluation, his face turning dark.

"This testing device is my nemesis!" Shi An thought.

"It’s probably the fault of the Curse Objects," he continued to ponder. "A Curse Object like Steel Rod Bones is too weak, and I rarely use it anyway. Invisible Corridor and Mask of Night Shadow, on the other hand, are too strong. It’s perfectly normal that I can’t fully control them."

Shi An looked straight ahead.

The evaluation box was still hovering in mid-air, displaying:

[Curse Power Output Value: 51]!

This was the power of the Night Shadow Mask.

It was excessively powerful. Because of that, his Curse Power control was a bit lacking, which made perfect sense.