Beating Instances through Words Left by the Dead

”I’m afraid the highest authority over the space of the Desolate Realm forces of the Four Major Organizations is currently in Lin Jiang’s hands.”

Wu Chang inquired, ”Mr. Hou, you mentioned before that to use the highest authority, at least five Red Wave Space managers must approve, so you...”

Halfway through his question, Wu Chang remembered Hou Jingchuan’s previous insistence on keeping Lin Jiang in the Desolate Realm and suddenly understood something.

Hou Jingchuan sighed and answered the question Wu Chang hadn’t finished asking.

”Lin Jiang cannot gain support in the Desolate Realm, but he can obtain it in the Realm of Reason.”

”As long as he gets authorized in the Realm of Reason, the blockade established by the temporary management authority of the Four Major Organizations cannot prevent him from returning to reality through the Pillar of the Present World. When he returns to Red Wave Space, he can use the highest authority to remove all blockades.”

”If it really comes to that, even if we initiate a vote to revoke his authority, by the time the process is complete, the guys from the Realm of Reason will have already arrived.”

Hou Jingchuan looked at Wu Chang with a serious expression:

”Lin Jiang is a peripheral member of the Bright Society. Everything he does is under the direction of the Bright Society. Everything, from the attack on the Four Major Organizations, is part of the Bright Society’s conspiracy. That’s why I’ve had to shamelessly ask Lord Peace to take action.”

Wu Chang closed his eyes, contemplating Hou Jingchuan’s words.

Anyone else would find Hou Jingchuan’s claim absurd, especially since the attack on the Four Major Organizations, with an insider, was bad enough, but how could a hacker infiltrate private spaces?

But upon hearing this, Wu Chang immediately thought of the God of Hackers hired by the Iron Armor Corps from the Hymn Company through a contract.

If it was that guy taking action, using the insider’s identity as a breakthrough, he might really pull off the attack Hou Jingchuan described.

For such a hacker to alter information and hide the highest authority right under the Four Major Organizations’ noses is no difficult task.

Hou Jingchuan’s description of the Four Major Organizations’ inefficacies contained many details, potentially even more outrageous than described.

But at this point, reflecting on their shortcomings serves no use.

In terms of results, the issue of the highest authority of the Desolate Realm forces landing in Lin Jiang’s hands should be true enough.

If Lin Jiang really succeeds, allowing those from the Abyss Second Layer to return to reality, even Wu Chang would find it troubling.

Wu Chang slowly opened his eyes and drank the tea in his cup. Just as he was about to raise his hand to grab the teapot, he noticed that Hou Jingchuan had already picked up the pot, intending to refill his tea.

Initially, he thought to stop him, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately allowed Hou Jingchuan to refill his cup calmly.

”I need information about that strange dungeon you mentioned.”

The seriousness on Hou Jingchuan’s face faded significantly, and he showed undisguised joy in his eyes.

In the eyes of the Management Bureau’s higher-ups, as long as Wu Chang agreed to act, the task was eighty-percent certain.

While pouring the tea, Hou Jingchuan described the dungeon Lin Jiang was about to enter.

This dungeon is located outside of the territories owned by the Four Major Organizations, so it belongs to no one and hence falls under all four’s ownership.

The Four Major Organizations divided it among themselves, tightly controlling access to the dungeon, and other players, to enter, could only rely on luck for a random matchup, the probability being one-tenth that of ordinary dungeons.

This meant the dungeon was not well-known externally and did not appear on any difficulty rankings.

The dungeon is named Cursed, and its content is quite simple, involving neither world-building mysteries nor unbeatable bosses.

All players need to do is one thing, to survive, and survive with stable mental health.

Upon entering, a player will periodically develop a Cursed Mark.

The Cursed Mark would bring random troubles to the players, such as incomprehensible terrifying illusions. If their spirit isn’t firm enough, they get influenced and have their temporary sanity reduced;

Sometimes players enter strange spaces, where slight carelessness could lead to death;

Other times, players face monster attacks from above, with survival depending on defeating or escaping the monsters.

Once inside, players are subject to unrelenting attacks from curses and sink into prolonged fear and fatigue, likely to crumble midway if unprepared.

The pressure is immense, but the rewards are equally substantial.

The generous determination allows even just fulfilling the basic survival mainline to reach over 60% completion, and participants are very likely to see certain Skills or Talents upgraded.

The most outrageous of known rewards received was by Sword Star, who completed the dungeon before level twenty, when a flash of insight advanced him to trigger the Sword Sect’s progression reincarnation task ahead of time.

For many among the Four Major Organizations who’ve cleared it, this is not Cursed but indeed Fortune’s Favors.

”Wait a minute,” Wu Chang interrupted Hou Jingchuan.

”Something seems off; you previously mentioned this dungeon was extremely difficult, even more bizarre than certain S-Level dungeons. So how did you say someone could clear it before level twenty?”

Hou Jingchuan knew Wu Chang would ask this and replied:

”That’s the most eerie aspect of the Cursed Dungeon. In this dungeon, all player attributes are suppressed to one-tenth, with a minimum limit of 5. The attribute gap among players is infinitely minimized within this dungeon.”

”Whether it’s a level ten player or level thirty player, upon entering the Cursed Dungeon, they become similar to ordinary people. More than attributes, a clear mind, powerful observation, and refined techniques are what truly aid in survival.”

Hou Jingchuan wore a complex expression as he remarked:

”Because of the Cursed Dungeon’s special mechanisms, it has become a cradle nurturing strong newcomers, yet now, this cradle for talent incubation has turned into a death trap dragging the Desolate Realm into ruin.”

”Lin Jiang seeks this place as a stepping stone to ascend into the Realm of Reason. After all, in the Cursed Dungeon, each player must strain every bit to ensure their own survival, leaving no room to hunt him down.”

Having explained this, Hou Jingchuan suddenly smiled at Wu Chang, leaving him with an unsettling feeling.

”Such a dungeon is exceedingly difficult for us, but for Lord Peace, it’s nothing

arduous.”

”During the Trial Dungeon, Lord Peace could perfectly clear the Moonlight Sanatorium. The Cursed Dungeon’s mechanism seems practically tailor-made for you.”

Wu Chang drank his tea expressionlessly, unable to resist a mental gripe.

This isn’t tailor-made for me; it’s clearly the nemesis of people like me who rely on numbers.

But having accepted the task, there’s no reason to back down now.

As Hou Jingchuan said, such a dangerous dungeon surely has many dying within.

The more players perish, the larger the stage he can showcase his abilities.

Having played the role of a numbers monster for too long, it’s time to recall his nature as a mechanism monster.

”How can I manage to snipe Lin Jiang?”

Seeing Wu Chang had reached this stage of questioning, Hou Jingchuan felt reassured, immediately handing an Item to Wu Chang.

”Item Name: Life Path Cube”

”Item Type: Special Consumable”

”Item Description: A player with temporary management authority can input specific dungeon coordinates into the Life Path Cube. Upon activation, the user can enter the designated dungeon based on the coordinates.”

”Note: Current designated dungeon: Desolate—91162, Dungeon Name: Cursed.”

Playing with the Life Path Cube in hand, Wu Chang acknowledged it was the first time he had seen a real-item designated dungeon tool among the Four Major Organizations.

Hou Jingchuan explained:

”The Cursed Dungeon is quite unique; every player can only enter this dungeon once, and it only opens at fixed times, for an hour each time. During its open time, all players queue into the same dungeon.”

”The next opening will be in four days at noon. Lord Peace’s dungeon cooldown should be finished, causing no delay to your time.”

Wu Chang toyed with the cube and asked, ”Mr. Hou, surely your Four Major Organizations will also dispatch your own people for this operation.”

Given that the chase of Lin Jiang involves the highest authority of the Four Major Organizations and the fate of the entire Desolate Realm, regardless of Hou Jingchuan’s trust, they wouldn’t place all bets solely on him.

Hou Jingchuan agreed, ”Besides Lord Peace, we will also make appropriate arrangements. The Cursed Dungeon allows a quota of fifteen entrants each time. The more of our people, the fewer random solo players, reducing variables.”

”However, rest assured. The people we select are carefully vetted; they’ll only serve as aids rather than burdens.”

Wu Chang nodded, placing the Life Path Cube back on the table, showing a smile for the first time since the conversation began—an official smile.

”Now that the operation is finalized, it’s time we discussed the remuneration.”