Chapter 2

New player?

Wu Chang frowned; this opening line didn't sound like anything good.

Before he could think further, the electronic voice continued:

"After universal random screening, Planet Blue has been selected as the Lucky Planet, successfully drawing the Abyss Game qualification, linking to the cosmic origin, and gaining a great opportunity for evolution."

"All intelligent beings on Planet Blue will be randomly selected as Abyss Game players, exploring the secrets of countless dimensions and achieving transcendence alongside their respective dimensions."

"Congratulations! You have been selected by the Abyss Game. The mysteries of the universe, the limits of life, transcendence and immortality are within reach. Would you like to enter the game immediately?"

A massive "Join Game" button, styled like a web game, appeared before Wu Chang.

He frowned and searched for a long time but found no option to refuse.

"Can I choose to exit?"

The electronic voice fell silent for a moment, as if it hadn't heard Wu Chang's question, and continued pitching:

"The Abyss Game matches players with dimensions according to their strength, offering a smooth difficulty gradient; new players can easily get started, suitable for all ages."

"I asked—can I choose to exit?" Wu Chang repeated.

"We regret to inform you that the will of Planet Blue has already agreed to join the game; individual entities cannot opt out," the electronic voice replied coldly.

So the damn thing dropped the act, started forcing sales now.

Wu Chang sighed; the scammy tone in the electronic voice's script was unmistakable—even across a dimension he could tell. Such a low-level script would get you three beatings in two days in X-Beijing.

Didn't anyone give the great Mother Planet Blue an anti-scam app? Watching tens of billions of years of senior comrades get scammed and ambushed like this?

Since there was no way out now, he pressed the "Join Game" button before him.

"Your player identity has been activated."

"Your player number is: 4444444."

"You are currently in Abyss Layer One: Wasteland Realm."

"Matching you with a beginner trial dungeon… Dungeon difficulty: F… matching…"

"Detected: Player inherited another player's qualification. Dungeon difficulty adjusted. Adjusted dungeon difficulty: B! Official recommendation: Minimum level 15 for dungeon exploration. Players should proceed with caution."

"Re-matching trial dungeon…"

Hearing this, Wu Chang's face changed instantly.

What the hell?

Where did the smooth difficulty gradient and easy start for new players go?

And from the electronic voice's tone, the dungeon difficulty had increased because he inherited the camouflage man's game qualification.

Before he could curse the camouflage man for repaying kindness with betrayal, his vision blurred—he appeared in a strange single room.

He lay on the bed in the single room, surrounded by a thin mist that acted like a barrier, restricting his movement.

The mist blocked his movement but did not obstruct his vision.

As he examined the room's layout, a player-panel-like interface projected onto the wall directly opposite him.

Player Nickname: Wu Chang (To ensure player safety in the real world, it is recommended to change your nickname promptly.)

Player Level: 1 (0/100)

Life: 8 (5)

Strength: 9 (5)

Agility: 8 (5)

Endurance: 7 (5)

Energy: 0 (0)

Inspiration: 50 (5)

Willpower: 30 (5)

(Values in parentheses are the average for adult males aged 20–40.)

Skills: Mamba Iron Elbow, Firearms Use (Proficient).

Talent: Transcendence.

Ming: Death is the destiny of all things, unstoppable; yet between death and oblivion—two originally unified forces—a you has inexplicably intervened, causing a slight separation. This is unreasonable. The Administrator suspects you are cheating, but no evidence exists yet.

The format of the player panel resembled games Wu Chang had encountered before; understanding it was not difficult.

His previous abilities, now concretized by the panel, became straightforward and clear—such as the basketball technique he used to take down Blood Thorn.

"Skill Name: Mamba Iron Elbow"

"Skill Level: D"

"Skill Description: Deliver an unexpected elbow strike to the target's face, causing brief blindness, dizziness, bleeding, weakness, poisoning, etc.; if your Willpower exceeds the target's, the strike always lands and cannot be blocked. Damage and duration of abnormal effects are influenced by Inspiration."

Besides Mamba Iron Elbow, the attribute panel also concretized his talent ability.

He saw that his resentment ability remained usable in the Abyss Game—and from the skill description, it was clearly powerful, with great potential ahead.

As for the Administrator's suspicion and slander—it was pure slander!

Not banning me is part of the game's mechanism; have you ever seen a client with a built-in spirit?

After choosing a vegetarian-style nickname—"No Beef"—the surrounding mist dissipated, and a prompt appeared: successfully entered the dungeon.

"Successfully entered 'Wasteland—46957 Dimension'."

"Dungeon Name: Moonlight Sanatorium."

"Dungeon Type: Single-player Survival Dungeon."

"Dungeon Difficulty: B."

"Dungeon Status: On the Brink of Losing Control."

"Main Quest One: Escape Moonlight Sanatorium."

"Main Quest 2: Explore the secrets within the Moonlight Sanatorium." "After completing Main Quest 1, the player may choose at their discretion whether to end the dungeon and leave the current plane."

"Upon clearing the beginner trial dungeon, the player will receive access permission to the Crimson Courtyard and become a formal player."

Meanwhile, inside a certain red temple, a portal of light was gradually forming atop the central altar.

Around the altar stood a dozen people, their expressions grave, staring at the portal as if something terrifying lurked beyond it.

But for those present, if what lay behind the portal were merely monsters, they would not be this tense.

Those who stood here were all veteran players of the Abyss Game; what monstrous things in the Wasteland Realm had they not seen?

Their tension stemmed entirely from the fact that the portal connected to a B-rank dungeon, a B-rank dungeon on the verge of losing control.

The dungeons in the Abyss Game were not repeatable programs; their essence was partial connections to real planes.

Each dungeon's core was unique; before complete clearance, players could repeatedly explore and clear it.

But correspondingly, deceased players would become nourishment, absorbed by the dungeon.

External energy contamination of the dungeon plane would cause its difficulty to continuously rise until the dungeon broke free from the Abyss Game's control.

!

A B-rank dungeon on the brink of losing control was no less difficult than a normal A-rank dungeon!

If the dungeon lost complete control, it would erode the real world backward along the path players had entered, causing massive devastation.

A recent earthquake on Sakura Island, which claimed over thirty thousand dead or missing and hundreds of thousands injured, occurred because a B-rank dungeon lost control and invaded reality.

To prevent such occurrences, player factions with administrative permissions monitored high-rank dungeons within their jurisdiction.

When a dungeon entered alert thresholds, "Breakers" would be dispatched to clear it.

But Breakers did not always succeed.

Some dungeons were so unusually difficult that even Breakers avoided them.

In the Abyss Game, a dungeon was considered cleared if its completion rate exceeded 40%.

A dungeon with completion rate below 40% was deemed a failure, incurring penalties; but as long as completion exceeded 5%, players could find ways to barely survive.

Yet this dungeon—neither had any player achieved a completion rate above 40%, nor had any player escaped alive.

The official difficulty rating for this dungeon was: Extinction Level.

Due to the absence of survivors, by the time monitors detected the anomaly, the dungeon was already nearing losing control.

With no surviving players, no intelligence could be transmitted out; lacking information and strategies, Breakers and first-time entrants were indistinguishable.

Thus, five Breakers fell one after another within the dungeon behind the portal; the only intelligence transmitted was the dungeon's name: "Moonlight Sanatorium."

According to calculations, this time the point of erosion into reality would appear in Xiaguo's Wanghai City.

Now that the dungeon behind the portal had entered its critical state, it could lose control at any moment; the final chance to break it fell to Xiaguo's strongest Breaker.

A middle-aged man stood before the portal, wrapped in a thick down coat, his face pale as if recovering from serious illness, occasionally covering his mouth to cough softly.

The frail-appearing man was Leng Shan, Xiaguo's strongest Breaker in the Wasteland Realm.

Leng Shan, Level 30, one of the Wasteland Realm's top players, had led the clearance of two S-rank dungeons and was hailed by Wasteland Realm players as the most reliable Breaker.

Whenever he wished, he could leave the Wasteland Realm and enter the next layer of the Abyss.

Leng Shan asked beside him: "How is the dungeon status?"

A bald, muscular man replied: "Status stable. We've used our permissions to seal all access to the 'Moonlight Sanatorium.' Even if someone harbors ill intent, they cannot act."

"Good."

For this Break, Leng Shan had prepared for a full month.

To resolve the dungeon's losing control, a Breaker must not only complete its tasks but also locate and eradicate the root cause of its anomaly.

Converted into completion rate, this required at least 70%, achieving an A- rating.

Facing a completely unknown, A-rank difficulty, officially rated Extinction Level, solo survival dungeon, even he felt pressure to achieve an A- rating on the first attempt.

In this past month, he had devised multiple plans and adjusted his mindset to its optimal state: "Absolute Calm."

Under "Absolute Calm," his will and judgment would greatly improve; even facing life-or-death crises, his emotions would remain utterly still.

As the portal fully formed, the bald man said: "Mr. Leng Shan, the fate of Wanghai City is in your hands."

"Rest assured—I will die only after clearing it," Leng Shan said softly, yet his resolve weighed heavier than Mount Tai.

Leng Shan spoke, then stepped forward without expression—only to instantly collide with a transparent wall, his forehead striking the portal.

The previously unshakable Leng Shan instantly panicked.

"Damn! Someone has already entered the dungeon!"

The bald man glanced toward the distance and immediately denied:

"Impossible! The seals on the 'Moonlight Sanatorium' and the dungeon lobby remain intact; no other player could have selected it—not even with designated dungeon items! Unless..."

Leng Shan's face twisted into a bitter smile. "Unless a non-formal player entered through the trial passage."

The final, crucial chance had been handed to a novice who had just entered the Abyss Game.

What a hellish joke.

In any other dungeon, this joke might have amused Leng Shan—but here, in the "Moonlight Sanatorium," no one present could laugh.

The bald man opened the records for the "Moonlight Sanatorium" dungeon; the dungeon and reality had different time flows, and the records showed the average time to failure:

12 hours!

The players who left these records were veterans; the one now entering was a novice who hadn't even cleared the beginner trial dungeon.

How long could this novice last?

The bald man shouted in despair: "Alert Wanghai City to maximum alert status!"

"Evacuate everyone who can! Those who cannot evacuate, take shelter nearby! Prepare rescue operations in surrounding cities—we have at most minutes!"

(End of Chapter)