940 Save State

Once the Elder Pandarens had teamed up with Bu Dong to give the Dungeon Instance another try, the Pandamonium app questioned them on whether they wished to use their own 'save state' or to use the one of the Pandawan group.

They did not think that the Pandamonium App would take into account their new party member, making it the first time they encountered such a thing, proving that Jin's new dungeon instance provided quite an impressive save system. 

Before confirming their choice, the app did warn Bu Dong that by clicking the option of using a different save state, he would lose his previous progress. This new party's composition would be his new save state, and he could only change his party two more times after that.

Jin had chosen to limit the number of party changes to prevent any abuse by other Pandarens who might plan to sell off their progress. Anyone who just wanted to fight only the Nian to clear the dungeon quicker could theoretically do that by joining another team who had already completed all the side quests.

Any player who achieved their personal first clear (not counting the shop wide's first clear) of a dungeon, would get a decent reward. Generally, repeated clears would not provide such an incentive so as to prevent abuse of the dungeons.

While the System was of the opinion that they should curb down on the rewards, Jin insisted that they should stay as they are. With the increasing number of features in the shop, it would be best to have something to entice the new customers. They require some pull and push factors, or else the customers think that this is entirely a cash grab venture. (Which technically it is, just that Jin needs to make sure they do not feel it's too absurd.)

These free Panda medals the cultivators could earn from their personal first clear would allow them to gear themselves up for new and upcoming raids and provide a sort of enticement for veteran customers to spend on his older dungeons. (Assuming Jin decided to implement the save state into his other dungeons, but for the moment he kept it to the Nian Dungeon as its exclusive all-new feature.)

The more features the cultivators discovered in this limited dungeon instance, the more they started to suspect that this might be the start of an overall quality of life improvement patch and that the new event dungeon might just be the start of it. 

Of course, Jin required feedback for each and every feature they encountered. After the Pandarens left the shop, they would receive an email and a notification on the app asking them to help improve the shop by filling out Jin's survey. 

After confirming the selection of the Elder Pandarens save state, the tickets were bought and promptly printed out at the Information Counter. Now they only had to wait their turn for the massive ship to bring them to the Nian Island again.

On the way, Bu Dong and the Elders had been talking about the type of Panda Guardian they should bring along for the second dungeon run.

"We should go with Tanke and give him two sets of armour. That could help him withstand the onslaught of Nian Underlings and subsequently the Nian itself. I'm thinking of getting a high-grade pickaxe so I can at least help pierce Nian's armour." Bu Dong reasoned, yet before he could continue, the Hungry Condor Cultivator interrupted him.

"Alright, then we should hurry to get the things we need while we still have time. Let's go buy the stuff while one of us waits in the queue for the ship." Jing Yu suggested, and Xia Mao immediately volunteered himself for it.

"You guys go hit the shops and buy the stuff we need. I will wait here for the ship." Xia Mao yawned once more as he leaned on a railing and chased them away.

"Come, little Bu Dong, climb on my back. I will get you to the main Panda Street Instance in a split second." Zi Dan bent his knees and shamelessly offered Bu Dong a piggyback ride.

"Ehh, Uncle Zi Dan, don't you think I am a bit too old and heavy for this?!" Bu Dong adamantly refused and instead typed furiously on the Pandamonium Chat and sent him a message. (The Angry Ape Cultivator was too embarrassed to ask for a favour after replying to him.)

"You're the fastest of the group, so please get these miscellaneous items first? We might need more than a couple of them. If you don't have enough medals, I can-" 

"Ah, no worries! Uncle Zi Dan will purchase it all in a jiffy!" He nodded his head, and before Bu Dong could say anything else, the Bullet Cheetah had already run off.

Jing Yu finally had time alone with Xia Mao to speak on the situation with regards to Zi Dan. "Is it just me, or is he acting a little weird ever since the last dungeon run." She remarked while Xia Mao looked past Zi Dan's afterimage at the corner of his eye.

"You finally noticed it? He does not usually care so much if we clear the dungeon or not as long as we give it our best. For some reason, he desperately wants to get a first clear with us this time. Not to mention, his performance isn't as stellar in the dungeon as it was in the past. He made mistakes that a rookie would not have done… His mind is definitely occupied with something else." Xia Mao commented as he yawned a little, leaning on the railing.

"Do I need to be concerned about this? I... erm mean from a tactical point of view for the dungeon clearing?" Bu Dong knew it was not his business to butt into people's affairs especially when they just met, but he couldn't help but ask.

"Hahaha, don't worry, kid. Thanks for receiving my message and getting him out of the way for us to talk personally. Anyways, my instinct is telling me he has something he wants to get off his chest. After he does, he should be back to normal." Xia Mao said 

"I see if I can probe him in any way during the purchases but you know I am not that subtle. So, if I fail, I need to rely on you, Xia Mao." Jing Yu said as she beckoned Bu Dong to follow her to the shops. 

Once they were gone, Xia Mao took out his cellphone and started browsing his social media account, hoping he might learn the reason about Zi Dan's sudden change in attitude from it.

The Blind Cat Cultivator did have a hunch, yet he was not completely sure, even though the likelihood was high enough. During their daily breakfast chats, he had often spoken about his son and how well he did. Usually, he and Jing Yu had just shrugged it off as him bragging about his family, but perhaps he had made up his mind this time.

"Oh…? Maybe this is going to be a problem after all...." Xia Mao thought as he looked through Zi Dan's social media account. There were indeed posts of him indicating how he felt regrets in life and wanted to make them up whenever possible. It was as if Zi Dan had gained some enlightenment and pondered about life. 

However, Xia Mao knows that was just the tip of the iceberg, so he looked through his comments and found out about a comment he posted onto his son's picture. "That guy… Can't he just say it properly?!" Xia Mao felt a bit frustrated upon seemingly having figured out what Zi Dan was hiding from them.

It seemed as if his dear dungeoneering friend was finally leaving Shenzhen to move to Australia to live with his son and his new family.