Chapter 113: With Nothing Better to Do, I’ll Clear Two Worlds for Fun

Today, Lu Ou had a truly exhilarating day—no setbacks, no battles, and no encounters with any bosses. Well, that’s not entirely accurate; he did engage in one fight, took down a few foes, and earned two experience points worth 25 each.

He figured that the one who managed to escape must have been worth at least 50 experience points. Thinking back, Lu Ou felt a twinge of regret—he shouldn’t have let Cheng Ming get away.

But there was no use dwelling on it now. After a day of enjoyment, Lu Ou began contemplating his next move.

Gaining experience was a given, but since battles didn’t happen every day, grinding through the worlds had to be prioritized.

Lu Ou flipped through the world cards in his hand and found four miniature world cards he hadn’t used yet: [World: Island Prison], [World: Wandering Satellite], [World: Underground Dragon Palace], and [World: Secret Chamber].

Among these, Lu Ou was most interested in [World: Island Prison], as it seemed to conceal some remarkable figures.

However, Lu Ou didn’t have many expendable minions left; most had already been drained of their fighting power. Sending professional or supporting characters into these miniature worlds felt wasteful—he didn’t want to squander their strength needlessly.

In the end, Lu Ou decided to open two miniature worlds simultaneously: [World: Island Prison] and [World: Secret Chamber].

This time, instead of dispatching just one projection per miniature world—a method both inefficient and prone to missing details—Lu Ou planned to use all available projection slots at once, aiming to complete a world in a single attempt.

For [World: Island Prison], he assigned the minions: Minotaur, Merchant, and Lion.

As soon as he did, the Island Prison underwent a sudden transformation. It had originally looked like a sea-bound music box.

But with the minions sent over, everything changed. The Island Prison became a wandering steel island on the sea. The merchant, accompanied by the Minotaur and Lion, formed a small caravan and signaled their intent to board the steel island.

Watching this scene, Lu Ou was speechless. “Is this triggering a storyline? Do even miniature worlds have plots?”

Curious, he studied the scene further and noticed changes in the characters entering the world. The merchant had become plump and wore simple clothing; the Minotaur transformed into a hero clad in a tight outfit topped with a bull-head hat, serving as the merchant’s bodyguard; and the Lion was now a mechanical beast, laden with goods on its back.

When they boarded the island, Lu Ou noticed how large the steel island was—almost as vast as his own valley. This was only the surface area above sea level; what lay beneath remained a mystery.

Once on the island, a guard with glowing red eyes approached them. He glanced first at the merchant, then the Minotaur and Lion, before saying, “You may only move freely within District D-11. If you stray, the guards will automatically attack. Don’t bring trouble upon yourselves.”

The guard then unfurled a map, pointing out District D-11’s location, detailing which gates connected where, and how many prisoners were held there.

What goods the merchant might trade with these prisoners was left to chance.

The guard added that surveillance in District D wasn’t stringent. If prisoners escaped, the merchant had only two options: either stay clear or survive encounters with them. No third path existed.

With that, the guard walked away. Lu Ou looked at the map in the merchant’s hands and issued a command: “Start here.”

Without a word, the merchant led the Minotaur and Lion toward the designated area.

At this point, Lu Ou relinquished control over the merchant's group and shifted his attention to the other miniature world, [World: Secret Chamber].

In this world, Lu Ou deployed two low-ranking ninjas. To send the first ninja in, he even used up a mysterious potion. Alongside them was a minion thief.

Just like with the Island Prison, this miniature world changed once three character cards were deployed simultaneously.

The secret chamber transformed into a labyrinth with triple doors colored red, yellow, and green. Lu Ou’s three characters needed to find corresponding mechanisms and clues within the chamber to unlock the three doors.

Only the correct keys would safely open the doors. Using the wrong keys would trigger traps, making the labyrinth more treacherous or summoning terrifying monsters.

Only after all three doors were opened would the labyrinth’s final exit appear. Exiting the labyrinth meant completing the world.

Reading this, Lu Ou breathed a sigh of relief. His arrangement seemed solid—his two ninjas possessed enough combat prowess to survive traps and monsters.

The thief was adept at lock-picking and treasure hunting. As long as they chose the right keys, this stage should be manageable.

So, there wasn’t much to watch here.

After setting both worlds in motion, Lu Ou glanced at the small-scale worlds in his hand and realized he was beginning to lose track of their mechanics.

If miniature worlds underwent significant transformations when all projection slots were filled, would small-scale worlds behave similarly?

Since small-scale worlds couldn’t be restarted, if deploying six character cards at once caused such changes, would that be excessive?

Lu Ou hesitated, deciding to wait until he had finished with all the miniature worlds and accumulated enough character cards. Then he would return to test the small-scale worlds by deploying one, three, and six characters respectively to observe the outcomes.

Thinking this over, Lu Ou sighed for the lack of characters at his disposal. Several of his character cards hadn’t even had the chance to be projected yet.

It felt like a waste.

He had enough world cards now. If needed, he could try his luck tomorrow during a good time window and draw some 89-level characters again. If fortune smiled upon him like last time, pulling a protagonist card would be fantastic.

Wait, that might be troublesome—protagonists required exclusive buildings to deploy. Supporting characters were more practical. Ideally, he’d get more side characters like the Red and White Queens. That would make grinding through worlds much easier in the future.