Chapter 20: The World Is Focused on You

Inside the red temple, everything was unnaturally quiet.

With Gao Lao's precedent, no one dared utter another word; all held their breath, eyes fixed on the altar's changes.

The situation was grim—the instance's contamination level was rising rapidly, already reaching its runaway limit.

The contamination value displayed was merely the upper limit of the instance's monitoring system, not the Moonlight Sanatorium's true limit.

Now, Gao Lao and Lei Huo and others no longer prayed for the instance's novice players to clear it—they prayed the instance wouldn't run out of control and invade the real world while still active.

If it reached that point, this scenario would likely be named "Moonlight Sanatorium-type Instance Runaway."

At that time, no one knew what would happen.

As the head of Wanghai City, Gao Lao felt his blood pressure slipping out of control, his heart rate racing toward 200.

He turned his head away, refusing to look at the screen monitoring the instance's status, gasping for breath, trying to calm himself.

As a veteran player and city head, Gao Lao had undergone rigorous training—he never panicked, no matter how dire the situation.

Unless he couldn't help it.

He swallowed a pill to force calmness, closed his eyes, and adjusted his state in just half a minute—his heart rate dropped back below 100.

When he turned his head back toward the instance monitoring screen, he froze.

The screen's information had vanished.

In those half-minutes he turned away, it felt as if he'd missed a century.

He glanced left and right—everyone's expression mirrored his own: utterly bewildered.

"What just happened?" he couldn't help asking.

Lei Huo shook his head blankly, pointing at the screen: "I don't know—the data just cleared out. Mr. Leng Shan, do you have any idea?"

Leng Shan opened his mouth but held back, checked several times, then said uncertainly: "He probably cleared it."

"Huh?"

Gao Lao couldn't accept it—was the Moonlight Sanatorium instance's theme stock trading? One moment it was plummeting from near-clear to max contamination, the next it cleared instantly from max contamination with no buffer.

He briefly contacted the outside world, confirmed no energy anomalies in Wanghai City, and only then dared believe the instance hadn't run out of control.

Looking at the altar's now-dimmed portal, he asked: "So what's the instance's current status…?"

Leng Shan: "Clearly, he broke the system."

Everyone present had suspected this—but hearing Leng Shan say it aloud, they all sucked in a sharp breath; the temple's temperature dropped several degrees.

Breaking the system meant at least 70% completion, an A- rating.

A novice who hadn't even completed the trial task cleared the Moonlight Sanatorium—an instance of A-level difficulty—in his first attempt.

Their emotions couldn't be summed up by a single "fuck"—they needed a string of them.

Gao Lao suddenly realized something: "Wait—how long did he take to clear it?"

Lei Huo checked the log: "Two hours and thirty-five minutes."

Gao Lao: "Do you remember the fastest system-break for a B-level instance?"

Leng Shan said slowly: "The fastest B-level system-break was four hours and fifty-two minutes. The fastest A-level was ten hours and three minutes."

"So our new player—no, our new big shot—has broken the record for the lowest-level system-break and also shattered the fastest system-break record."

Everyone fell silent instantly. Even with their asses, they knew: the new player who broke the Moonlight Sanatorium couldn't be ordinary—he was almost certainly a monster cultivated by some organization or individual.

He must have possessed immense power before entering the Abyss Game, even entering the instance with powerful gear already equipped.

Lei Huo scratched his head: "The trial instance spawned here—his real-world location is likely within our borders. If we can recruit this monster, won't this year's World Instance be guaranteed?"

Leng Shan's expression shifted slightly: "You're right. We must inform the higher-ups—they must accelerate the search. If we find him, no matter the price, we must get him to join!"

If he were an organization's creation, he wouldn't have entered a trial instance at this critical moment—he wouldn't have slipped under the radar entirely.

Someone's private little group must've struck gold. This kind of luck? Their ancestors' graves must've been built right on a volcano's mouth—anywhere else wouldn't spew smoke this big. Gao Lao reacted differently—he sent out a message to lift the alert while muttering: "The world's going to get turbulent."

After today, not just us—other nations and major organizations—will all go mad searching for the Moonlight Sanatorium's system-breaker.

Whoever secures this monster won't just gain control of the upcoming World Instance in the Wasteland Realm—they'll seize dominance over the entire Wasteland Realm for the next few years.

Broadly speaking, if the Moonlight Sanatorium's system-breaker doesn't die young, the entire Abyss Game's balance could shift because of him.

This alone would drive every faction mad—willing to break any agreement to send agents to Xiaoguo to snatch him.

Leng Shan paid no heed to Gao Lao's worries; he coldly said: "Whichever hand dares cross the border—cut it off."

Watching Leng Shan hurry away, Gao Lao prepared to leave and check Wanghai City's actual condition.

He'd just stood up when Lei Huo suddenly elbowed him.

"What?"

Lei Huo cleared his throat, whispering: "You remember that bet we made?"

Gao Lao's heart lurched; sweat beaded on his forehead.

He forced a stiff smile: "What bet? The situation was too tense—I forgot."

Lei Huo pulled out his phone and played a video.

"I hoped Wanghai City would be fine—but if a new player clears the Moonlight Sanatorium, I'll run naked all the way around Bai Shui Bay!"

Gao Lao's face changed: "Name your price—how much to delete the video?"

Lei Huo shrugged: "I didn't record it. Someone anonymously sent it straight to the org's group chat. The comment chain watching your livestream already hit three digits."

Gao Lao: …

Inside the Moonlight Sanatorium instance, Wu Chang didn't know his performance tonight had drawn the world's gaze.

At this moment, he'd just woken from his dream, observing his surroundings.

On the ground, Randy's flames had died out—his body remained, meaning Leyman's soul had vanished.

This time, he'd truly cleared it.

Escaping Leyman's dream and returning to reality, he found his perception of the world sharper—many details he'd never noticed now stood out vividly before his eyes.

Player nickname: NoBeef.

Player level: 1 (0/100)

Health: 9 Strength: 9 Agility: 9 Endurance: 8 Energy: 0 Inspiration: 94 (84+10)

Willpower: 60 (62-2)

Skills: Mamba Iron Elbow, Firearms Proficiency (Skilled).

Items: Silver Dawn, Favor of the Goddess of Luck, Echo of the Whisperer ×1, King's Seal, Secret Art Seal, Eye of the Demigod.

Talent: Transcendence.

The experience of seeing Lyman's true form in a dream, nearly shattered by despair and terror, was not without reward.

Seeing and understanding Lyman's existence had increased his Inspiration and Willpower by 30 points each! In that case, the Echo of the Whisperer consumed was more than worth it.

If every encounter could yield such a massive boost, next time he met another Demigod, he'd definitely find a way to peel off its makeup and see its real face.

A wisp of rising red mist drifted past his eyes, pulling his attention back to the present.

The dissolving red mist came from the bloodthirsty resentment on the Anti-Magic Crossbow bolt.

He rubbed his hands together eagerly, wondering what treasures old Anderson's centuries-old resentment might grant him.

(End of Chapter)