Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Future Plans and Re-entering the Instance
A Daoist pointed at the ranking board and asked, "If I remember correctly, ’Moonlight Sanatorium’ is that dungeon ranked fourth in difficulty. It suddenly shot to the most popular position yesterday, right?"
The person next to him joined in, "Yes, it’s a death dungeon with a 0% survival rate. The Management Bureau sealed it off a week ago and sent in four Breakers consecutively without success."
"I heard that yesterday a rookie stumbled in through the Trial Passage by accident. The whole world was waiting to laugh at us, but unexpectedly, the rookie actually cleared it!"
"Your information isn’t up to date." A shirtless Martial Artist shook his finger mysteriously and said, "Not only was it cleared, I heard they broke through it!"
"Breakthrough?!" The release of this news astonished the entire leaderboard area.
The Daoist stroked his duster and mumbled, "Oh my, breaking through an out-of-control B-Level dungeon, how much experience is that worth, enough to level them up to 5 or 6 in one go?"
The Martial Artist laughed self-deprecatingly, "Comparing with them can only lead to despair. I spent six dungeons just to reach level five, and back then because I broke the organization’s record, everyone used to call me the experience harvester."
A passing half-orc patted the Martial Artist on the shoulder, comforting, "Look on the bright side, the gap between you will only keep growing."
The Martial Artist spat on the ground in dissatisfaction,
"A gap with me? A gap with the whole world! Just watch, by tomorrow the leaderboards for the lowest level and fastest break through of a B-Level dungeon will refresh. You can keep these words to tell others on the leaderboard."
"What?"
"No way, a level 1 clearing a B-Level dungeon, can the top player in the Abyss Game Realm also speedrun without taking damage?"
"I get it, the major organizations are buying cheats from that guy!"
As the protagonist of the conversation, Wu Chang was just as shocked as the other players.
What does it mean, he’s become the top dog on the speedrun leaderboard?
In his original perception, clearing a B-Level dungeon during a rookie trial might spark discussion, but wouldn’t gain much traction.
After all, in past games he played, wearing top-tier gear, spending hours or even over ten hours to clear the final boss online, many people could easily clear it undamaged at level 1 with no gear.
In comparison, simply clearing a B-Level dungeon at level 1 seemed unimpressive.
Given Blue Star’s nearly ten billion population, any reasonable person wouldn’t easily think of themselves as the most special one.
But he overlooked one point, which is that the Abyssal Game isn’t a video game, there’s no turning back.
The geniuses who show off after growing up might not have a future of effortlessly killing bosses if they perish prematurely.
The enormous bounty flooding the leaderboard and the overwhelming discussion around him made Wu Chang feel a bit lightheaded.
Happiness came too suddenly, like finding an eight-figure sum in your pocket while walking down the street, who wouldn’t be muddled?
Fortunately, his Will Attribute was high enough, allowing him to sober up quickly.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and the forces offering such large rewards wouldn’t just be charitable.
The more one gains, the more one must bear.
Right now, he’s just a newcomer to the Abyssal Game, practically a rookie among veterans in the eyes of those old foxes.
If he rushes in recklessly seduced by greed, he might end up getting swindled and still help them count the money.
He just passed the rookie trial, and these forces immediately dumped all these chips into the pot, surely harboring such intentions.
He must hear what the veteran players have to say.
The whole leaderboard area is discussing him now, so he doesn’t have to worry about gathering information.
Not far from him, a battle team wearing tight suits in red, yellow, blue, and white, with pumpkin head costumes, was discussing which side was better to join.
White was the first to offer a choice, "This is a giveaway. If I were that person, I’d definitely choose the White Tower. The White Tower leads the world in Abyss exploration and research, definitely a better platform."
"Not so," Yellow shook his head and said,
"For a genius of this rank, any organization would allocate enough resources for training, the difference between platforms wouldn’t be too great. If it were me, I’d go to Sakura Island."
White scoffed, "Sakura Island can’t even break through a B-Level team dungeon not in the top hundred of the danger list, is it to offer technical support?"
Yellow let out a meaningful laugh, "Platforms don’t matter, the environment does. Sakura Island lures geniuses with a paradise called the High Celestial Plain made of Sakura’s special products, it’s a place where even a wine pond and meat forest would count as children’s shows."
"If you ask me, going to the Western Union would be better," Blue chimed in.
"Go to the Western Union, become a Divine Envoy, and play with even more extravagance than Sakura Island. Moreover, the Western Union’s exploration of the Abyss ranks just below the White Tower and us, there are fewer people, more resources, less dungeon pressure, and to compete with other major organizations, the offer is even higher, definitely a top pick for underdogs."
Red, who hadn’t spoken, finally did so.
"If it were me, I wouldn’t go anywhere, the Management Bureau is just fine."
"Why?" Wu Chang couldn’t help but ask, simultaneously with the Red, Yellow, Blue trio.
Red shrugged and said, "The reason is that since its inception, the Management Bureau has been distributing a beginner’s guide worth 100 Rotten Silver Coins to all officially enrolled players in Xia Country for free."
"90% of players can’t earn 100 Rotten Silver Coins after the Trial Dungeon, stuck in a vicious cycle requiring three or even four dungeons to afford the most basic beginner’s guide. This starting fund of 100 Rotten Silver Coins increases player survival rate by at least 30%."
White responded indifferently, "A big shot doesn’t care about such small favors."
"But even a big shot needs stable order," Red asserted.
"With the increase of Abyssal Game players, Blue Star’s old order will eventually crumble, shifting to a social Darwinism model of survival of the fittest. This trend may be unavoidable, but I believe that this place will definitely be the last to crumble."
"Living in a collapsing world, humanity will eventually be bitten back by power, Bosses in dungeons have shown this more than once."
Wu Chang listened to a few more groups of adventurers’ discussions, those veteran players’ perspectives provided him with lots of insights, helping him form a general plan for his future.
However, he didn’t rush to make a decision.
Others’ perceptions are ultimately theirs, he needs to witness and confirm for himself to come to his own conclusions.
He’s the one being fought over, with plenty of leeway.
That night, with the refreshing of the B-Level dungeon’s earliest and fastest breakthrough leaderboard, the Desolate Realm and the entire Abyss Game Realm were shaken.
Level 1 breakthrough of a B-Level out-of-control dungeon, breakthrough time two hours and thirty-five minutes.
The more veteran, the more they understand the weight of these two figures.
Some say this is a long-planned hype by Xia Country, selecting a particular dungeon to bolster some young generation.
Some say the rookie player has actually died in the dungeon, even though it was broken, what’s out is actually the dungeon’s Boss.
Others claim the clear is a Divine Envoy’s work, carrying supreme powers, descending to help humanity control the Abyss.
The top ten of the public zone’s most valuable bounty list began flooding again as major forces vied for that unknown genius in the void.
However, Wu Chang, at the center of the swirling opinions, didn’t continue to pay attention.
Following the strategy offered in the beginner’s guide, he sought out information-packed paid articles on forums, frantically absorbing everything about the Abyssal Game.
Half a month flew by, and Wu Chang arrived at a pre-booked e-sports hotel, hanging a do not disturb sign.
As the countdown to dungeon cooldown on his Attribute Panel hit zero, his vision blurred, and he re-entered the Abyssal Game.