Chapter 182: Witch Hunt Instance
Su Ning was actually quite curious—curious how the system would evaluate her, and also curious about what kind of instance world she’d be sent into afterward.
As she pondered this deeply, the system’s voice suddenly rang in her ears.
[Ding! Player Su Ning’s overall strength has been assessed to be far above the average, standing out like a crane among chickens. Evaluation complete!]
[Ding! Congratulations, player! You’ve received an S-rank rating!]
Seeing that she’d been given an S-rank, Su Ning was a little stunned.
“An S-rank evaluation? That sounds strong… Is there some kind of reward for it?” she asked the system.
[Ding! That’s hard to say!]
Su Ning was surprised. She hadn’t expected the system to actually reply, but its answer was confusing.
“What do you mean, ‘hard to say’?”
[Ding! Your S-rank reward is… the system has specially increased your instance difficulty! Now you can enjoy a more thrilling survival game experience!]
Su Ning: “?? That’s considered a reward? Are you kidding me? Shouldn’t rewards lower the difficulty?”
She was about to complain more about this bizarre setup, but the next second, she disappeared without a trace.
By the time she regained her senses, she found herself in a brand-new instance world.
A familiar system notification sounded in her ears:
[Ding! Congratulations, player, you have entered the instance — Witch Hunt]
“Witch Hunt? What kind of instance is that?” Su Ning muttered, still annoyed at how the system had treated her.
“Though, this system seems different from the old rigid one. It actually answers my questions now—it feels like it’s… evolved.”
Shaking her head, Su Ning decided the system was too mysterious and not something worth focusing on for now. Instead, she opened the global chat to see what others thought about the new evaluation system—and what kind of ratings they’d received.
[Chat Log]
[My god, what’s up with this new evaluation system? I dominated my last survival instance and all I got was an F-rank? What kind of joke is this?!]
[F for “Failure”! Actually kind of fitting. Are you sure you were dominating?]
[What ratings did everyone else get? I got a B—not too high, not too low. What do you all think?]
[A B? That’s already great, man! Basically means you’re a pro. I heard the higher your rating, the harder your instance will be. Good luck surviving in there, B-bro!]
[Why does that sound like you’re insulting me…?]
[Looks like everyone’s being teleported into different instances again. Hope I find something good this time, like a treasure chest, so I can finally flip my fate around.]
Su Ning skimmed through the mostly meaningless chatter, understanding that everyone’s system evaluations varied wildly.
So far, she hadn’t seen anyone else with an S-rank. The highest she’d seen was an A.
“Maybe other S-rank players are like me—hiding in the shadows, watching silently.”
The system never said she was the only S-rank.
Su Ning looked around and found herself in a forest. A thick white mist hung in the air, giving the whole area an eerie vibe.
Bird calls echoed through the woods from time to time.
“I’d better get out of the forest first.”
While walking, Su Ning contemplated the name of the new instance:
“Witch Hunt… Is this a mission-type instance? Do I have to hunt down witches?”
When she heard the word witch, she immediately thought of western fantasy settings.
If this really was a witch-hunting instance, she knew witches wouldn’t be easy to deal with. Based on comics and shows she’d seen, witches often had all sorts of strange powers—it definitely wouldn’t be easy to kill one.
“Well, I’ll just take it one step at a time.”
She pulled some equipment from her inventory and, as usual, disguised herself with a bow and arrows.
Eventually, Su Ning emerged from the forest and spotted a village faintly visible through the mist in the distance.
That lifted her spirits.
She hoped to find a place to rest in the village, but when she approached, she realized the village was completely dead silent.
Her nerves instantly tensed at the sight of so many fallen villagers.
Su Ning stepped over to the nearest corpse and examined it closely.
Just as she’d expected, the villagers all had Western features and were dressed in what looked like medieval clothing.
And as for their cause of death, Su Ning could make a pretty good guess.
At first glance, there were no wounds. They looked like they had simply fallen asleep.
But Su Ning’s sharp senses picked up the truth—they had been poisoned. And it wasn’t just any poison—it was an unusually potent and peculiar kind.
Thanks to her Scavenger’s Poison ability, the moment she entered the village, she had sensed the faint presence of toxic particles in the air.
Her poison ability acted like a magic key, immediately breaking down and absorbing the airborne toxins.
Soon, her Scavenger’s Poison had fully absorbed and merged with the mysterious toxin—
—Unlocking a new poison ability: Sleep Toxin.
This toxin didn’t cause obvious damage to the body, but it induced intense drowsiness in anyone who inhaled it. Victims would fall into a deep sleep, and eventually stop breathing—dying in their sleep, never waking up.
Everyone in the village had died from this Sleep Toxin.
“What a tragic way to go… If I didn’t have my Scavenger’s Poison ability, I wouldn’t have been able to absorb it. I probably would’ve ended up just like these villagers—dead in my sleep not long after entering.”
Her sense of caution skyrocketed.
This S-rank instance was living up to its name—dangerous and not to be underestimated.
But there was no point staying in a dead village.
Su Ning turned to leave… but the moment she turned around, she was startled to see a figure dressed in priestly robes standing behind her.
When did he get there? she thought, alarmed.
She hadn’t sensed him at all.
The man radiated a holy aura, as if bathed in divine light. Just looking at him made one feel calm, like their soul was being healed.
But before she could fully process the strange atmosphere, a thunderous shout exploded in her ears:
“Wretched Witch of Venom! You’ve finally revealed yourself! This time, by the Lord’s decree, I shall cleanse you from this world!”
Su Ning was dumbfounded. She pointed at herself and asked in disbelief:
“Witch? Are you talking to me?”
The priest looked at her innocent expression and immediately felt revulsion.
Such a cunning witch, he thought. Even her disguise is flawless—so pure, so naïve. Disgusting.
How many people has she deceived with that face?
“Black hair like ink, black eyes like night, and a breathtaking face—Venom Witch, your disguise has no effect on me. Prepare to die!”
With that, Su Ning understood—this guy really thought she was a witch!
She hurriedly tried to explain, but the man clearly wasn’t interested in hearing her out.
He raised what looked like a holy scepter and began chanting.
A moment later, giant golden arrows materialized above his head, blazing with light like meteors streaking across the sky.
“O God of Light, grant your servant the power to punish evil—Arrows of Judgement!”
The arrows shot toward Su Ning with terrifying speed, like thunderbolts.
She dodged in a flash, narrowly avoiding the devastating attack.
The golden arrows struck the ground near her and exploded in a powerful shockwave!
