A flash of light, and the scene before Zhou Huai's eyes changed abruptly.

He found himself and the other nine standing in the center of a small town.

All around were dilapidated wooden houses, their walls covered in moss and cracks.

Slanted fences and dry wells all spoke of the desolation of ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) the place.

Several ragged old people sat under the eaves, their eyes vacant.

A few children chased each other in the mud, and seeing the group of people who had suddenly appeared, they were immediately scared and hid back in their houses.

A hint of surprise flashed in Zhou Huai's eyes.

There were actually humans in the instance?

Were they real?

"Don't look, they are not Immortal Masters."

Beside him, a short-haired senior sister spoke softly.

She saw the confusion in Gandalf's eyes.

"You can think of them as NPCs in a game."

"Even if they are killed by Strange Beast, they will still respawn the next time we come in."

She pointed to a towering clock tower in the distance.

"This is a simulation instance, simulating a small town being invaded by Strange Beast."

"Our mission is to protect this Leaf Town."

"There are a total of 150 NPCs in the town, and as long as the number of surviving NPCs exceeds half after the last wave of Strange Beast attacks, we will have cleared the instance."

Zhou Huai, controlling Gandalf, nodded in understanding.

This kind of instance was interesting.

"Alright, everyone come over!"

The team's captain, the warrior carrying a greatsword, clapped his hands, gathering everyone together.

He began to issue commands.

"Same old rule, two people per group, defend the four directions."

"Wang Hao, Li Kai, you go to the North Gate."

"Sun Qiang, Zhao Min, you go to the South Gate."

He looked at the other two ranged damage dealers in the team.

"Liu Fei, Zhou Qian, you two go to the West Gate, that side is open terrain and has the most pressure, try to delay as much as possible and wait for our support."

Finally, his gaze fell on Gandalf.

"This new junior, you're with me, go to the East Gate."

"The two remaining healers, as usual, roam and provide support."

"Go wherever the situation is most urgent first."

He surveyed everyone, his expression serious.

"The tactics remain unchanged, if you can't hold on, shout in the communicator, and we'll retreat together."

"It doesn't matter if the NPCs die, don't sacrifice your lives for an instance, understand?"

"Understood!" everyone responded in unison.

The captain took out a pile of ear-hook communicators from his Storage Ring and distributed them to everyone.

"Put them on, for easy communication."

Soon, the team quickly dispersed, rushing towards the four directions of the small town.

Zhou Huai, controlling Gandalf, followed behind the captain and arrived at the East Gate of the small town.

Simple defensive fortifications had already been built here.

A circle of sharp wooden fences surrounded the outskirts of the town, with a wooden watchtower on each side.

The captain plunged his greatsword into the ground with a dull thud.

He turned his head and looked at Gandalf, a familiar smile on his face.

"Junior, first time doing a ten-person instance, nervous?"

Zhou Huai shook his head.

"Not nervous."

The captain, however, smiled dismissively.

"Alright, no need to pretend to be calm."

"The first time I played, my legs were shaking."

"Fortunately, the seniors took good care of me back then."

He patted his chest.

"That's why I specifically put you in my group this time, don't worry, I've got your back."

"You just focus on dealing damage from the back."

As if remembering something, he asked again.

"Oh, right, I kept forgetting to ask, what type of Mage are you?"

Zhou Huai, controlling Gandalf, spoke in a calm tone.

"Forbidden Spell Mage."

After speaking, he ignored the talkative captain and walked straight up one of the watchtowers.

Leaving the captain alone, standing in place, stroking his chin in thought.

Forbidden Spell Mage?

What type of Mage is that?

Fire? Ice? Or Lightning?

Why had he never heard of it?

Standing on the watchtower, Zhou Huai's vision became wide.

Beyond the small town was a desolate, yellowish wilderness that stretched to the horizon.

Just then, on the distant horizon, small wriggling black dots appeared.

One, two, three...

The black dots grew more numerous, forming a thin black line.

A reminder also came from the ear-hook communicator from a teammate.

"Attention! The first wave of Strange Beast is here!"

Below the watchtower, the captain pulled out his greatsword and leaped out of the gap in the fence.

He turned his head and shouted to Gandalf on the tower.

"I'll deal with the front!"

"You're responsible for those trying to climb the wall!"

Gandalf did not respond, only silently watching the approaching horde of beasts in the distance.

The captain scoffed.

Still saying he's not nervous.

He's probably scared stiff by now.

Soon, the beast horde drew closer.

Zhou Huai saw their appearance clearly.

They were a pack of 【Wasteland Wolves】 of around Rank twenty, numbering about a hundred.

Quite a few, but compared to the real beast tide outside Donghai City, they were a drop in the ocean.

They did not rush forward all at once, but rather split into several waves, giving the defenders enough reaction time.

The captain twisted his neck, flexed his wrists, and prepared for a big fight.

Just then, Gandalf on the watchtower slowly raised the staff in his hand.

Ancient syllables chanted from his mouth.

"【Forbidden Spell - Meteor Shower】!"

Boom!

The sky above the captain's head was instantly torn apart.

A burning, fiery portal appeared out of thin air.

Immediately after, one, two, three... a total of five massive meteorites, wreathed in roaring flames and trailing long fiery tails, roared out of the portal!

They were like the judgment of the apocalypse, accurately smashing into the densest wolf pack below!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The violent shockwaves instantly tore dozens of Wasteland Wolves to shreds.

The flames generated by the explosions left huge charred craters on the ground, the inferno still raging.

For a time, wolf howls, explosions, and screams echoed across the wasteland.

The captain stood frozen in place.

His eyes widened, and the greatsword in his hand clanged to the ground.

I... what did I just see?

Meteorites?

Where did the meteorites come from?

And five of them?

If it weren't for the huge craters still smoking in the distance, and the smell of charring in the air, he would have even thought he was dreaming.

The communicator instantly erupted into chaos.

"Holy crap! What was that just now? I think I saw meteorites falling from the sky!"

"Absurd! So you all saw it! I thought I was the only one hallucinating!"

"Captain! The meteorites seemed to be heading towards your East Gate! What happened?!"

The captain swallowed hard with difficulty.

What happened?

I f*cking want to know what happened too!

He stiffly turned his head and looked at the watchtower.

Gandalf was slowly lowering his raised staff, his robes flapping in the wind.

The captain shivered, then scrambled and rushed to the base of the watchtower.

He looked up, his voice trembling slightly.

"Th-that... that... those meteorites just now, were... were they skills you released?"

Zhou Huai found his appearance somewhat amusing.

Now he wasn't even calling him "junior" anymore, directly using honorifics.

You kid, you're quite sensible.

He didn't answer, only spoke calmly.

"You guard here."

"I'll go support the other gates."

As his voice fell, Gandalf's figure leaped down from the watchtower and sped towards the West Gate.

Soon, the West Gate, South Gate, and North Gate of the small town all successively witnessed the spectacular sight of meteorites cleansing the ground.

The Strange Beast that had just rushed to the fence, before they even had a chance to roar, were completely engulfed by the apocalyptic disaster falling from the sky.

Even the NPCs in the town, who were merely background props, widened their eyes in fear, each hiding in their houses, trembling.

When Gandalf unhurriedly dealt with all the invading Strange Beast of the first wave.

There was a dead silence in the communicator.

After a long while, a trembling question came through.

"C-captain, are we... are we... just getting a free win?"

Everyone in the team finally realized at this moment.

That seemingly ordinary new junior brought by Lu Zhiyi.

Was actually a super big shot they needed to look up to.