Arthur kept walking deeper into the forest. Soon, even the sunlight struggled to penetrate the thick canopy, leaving the surroundings almost completely dark. However, with his enhanced physique, Arthur could still see clearly. It was slightly darker than daylight, but that hardly mattered to him.
He was moving without any weapons.
Though Arthur already had a pair of Epic-grade daggers stored in his inventory, but he couldn’t use them until he reached Level 10. Epic-grade artifacts would only start appearing rarely after players entered the major cities upon reaching Level 11. From there, players would gradually develop until reaching Level 60.
After Level 60, they would enter a massive server domain where players from ten different servers would gather. Since there were no monsters above Level 60 in the outside world, players would have to enter these domains to continue leveling and become stronger.
Once Arthur reached Level 11, he would officially enter the Bronze Realm, leaving the Black Iron Realm behind. At that point, he wouldn’t be able to get any money by killing level 1-10 monsters. The same rule applied in above level as well.
"Let’s clear the dungeons first," Arthur muttered.
There were three dungeons near Azure Town, and each dungeon had three difficulty levels. The Easy Mode contained mostly Common monsters and a Common boss. Hard Mode contained Common monsters, Elite Commanders, and an Elite boss.
Nightmare Mode was completely different. It contained Elite monsters and was guarded by a Royal-grade boss. Arthur had originally planned to continue grinding outside for a while before entering one of them, but then he suddenly remembered something.
The first dungeon had been discovered accidentally by a group of Elite players who were among the top hundred players on Pandora. Arthur couldn’t remember the exact time when they discovered it, but he clearly remembered it was probably with 2 days after the game descended.
Arthur didn’t want to take any chances.
Boom!
Like a bullet train, Arthur suddenly accelerated toward a particular direction. Within moments, he crossed into a Level 4 to Level 5 hunting zone.
Suddenly, a huge Level 5 Common-grade boar appeared in his path. It was busy devouring the corpse of a wolf and didn’t even notice Arthur approaching.
The moment it sensed the incoming pressure, it raised its head.
Boom!
Arthur’s fist slammed into its body.
The enormous boar instantly exploded into a cloud of blood mist.
[Ding! You have gained 5 gold coins.]
Arthur had already instructed the system not to announce the 10,000x multiplication every time it activated. He only wanted to receive the final result. Otherwise, the constant notifications would quickly become unbearable.
Arthur suddenly came to a halt.
A group of orcs appeared ahead of him, each carrying an enormous cleaver. They were wandering around the forest as if they were guarding something.
Arthur narrowed his eyes.
This was supposed to be a Level 5 zone, yet every single orc was Level 9.
"Found you."
A faint smile appeared on Arthur’s face.
Behind the orcs was a massive cave.
This was the dungeon.
According to his memories, the group of players who had accidentally discovered it had been killed by these very orcs. Arthur had been searching for this location precisely because of that memory.
"Go. Deal with them."
Arthur calmly gave the order.
Instantly, five Skeleton Warriors emerged from his side and charged toward the orcs.
There were seven orcs in total, and every one of them was Level 9. Their HP bars were enormous, with each possessing roughly 3,000 HP.
Although they were only Common-grade monsters, their HP was comparable to that of a Level 4 boss.
"Roar!"
The moment the orcs noticed the approaching skeletons, they raised their cleavers and roared.
They immediately charged forward as well.
Boom!
The two groups collided.
Arthur’s eyebrows rose slightly.
The orcs were surprisingly skilled at fighting as a team. Their movements were coordinated, and they instinctively supported one another during the battle.
Unfortunately for them, the Skeleton Warriors possessed an Epic-grade foundation.
Their agility was far superior to that of the orcs, while their defensive capabilities were equally terrifying. The orcs could barely injure them, whereas every attack from the skeletons caused significant damage.
Slash!
Bam!
Slash!
Bam!
The battle continued for several minutes before the final orc collapsed.
Within ten minutes, all seven orcs had been eliminated.
[Ding! You have gained 49 gold coins.]
Arthur nodded with satisfaction.
He could have easily joined the battle, but he preferred this feeling.
Giving orders from behind while his summoned creatures fought and watching his wealth increase without lifting a finger was surprisingly enjoyable.
Arthur slowly walked toward the cave.
At the entrance, he noticed a strange crystal embedded into the stone wall. He reached out and touched it.
[Congratulations! You have discovered the first dungeon of Azure Town, Orc Graveyard.]
[Would you like to challenge the dungeon?]
"Yeah."
Arthur answered without hesitation.
[Ding! There are three difficulty levels: Easy, Hard, and Nightmare.]
[Which difficulty would you like to challenge?]
"Easy."
Arthur immediately selected Easy Mode.
He wasn’t afraid of the dungeon itself. His main concern was the announcement that would soon spread throughout Azure Town.
Once everyone learned that the first dungeon had been discovered, countless players would rush here.
Arthur didn’t want unnecessary trouble.
A dungeon could be challenged three times at once, meaning the three difficulty levels could be challeneged by three different team at the same time.
But if a team wanted to challenge a particular mode, which was already being challenged, they would have to wait until the players came out or wiped away.
Afterward, the dungeon would enter a one-hour cooldown before another party could challenge that difficulty.
Furthermore, a single party could only challenge each difficulty once per day.
Arthur stepped forward and entered the dungeon.
At almost the exact same moment, a system announcement rang throughout Azure Town.
[Azure Town Announcement: Congratulations to player Darklord for discovering the first dungeon of Azure Town! He may challenge the dungeon twice today.]
The announcement instantly caused an uproar among the players.
"Are you serious? Who the hell is this Darklord?"
"How did he find the first dungeon so quickly?"
"Damn! I’m going outside to find information about him. He should be from Aurora City just like us."
Since everyone from the same city had been placed on the same town, the players had already learned that they all originated from Aurora City.
"But you need to reach Level 5 before you can leave the city. What kind of ridiculous game is this?"
"Something is definitely wrong with this game."
"I’ve already died once, and I swear it feels like I’ve lost something incredibly valuable from my life."
"That’s it. I’m going to spend my money and reach Level 5 as quickly as possible. I can’t wait any longer to find out what the gaming companies are planning."
"If they’ve tricked us into paying money for this, they’ll regret it. They’ll have to compensate us dozens of times over!"
Soon, several impatient players began rushing toward the guild, desperate to increase their levels.
...
Outside world, all the major gaming companies were in complete turmoil.
Their servers were completely inaccessible.
They had tried countless methods to wake the players who were currently inside the game, but none of them had responded.
The companies quickly realized that this was far beyond something they could handle themselves.
They immediately contacted the government.
...
Inside the military base of Aurora City, several senior officers stared at the constantly updating screens.
"Hey, what do you think has happened?" one officer asked. "Should we try to send someone inside?"
"Send someone where?" another officer replied. "We don’t even know what is happening."
Another officer looked at the medical monitoring data.
"Their brain signals show that they’re still active. None of them appear to be in immediate danger. In fact, their neural activity suggests they’re experiencing something highly stimulating."
He paused before continuing.
"Let’s wait a little longer. If none of them wake up by morning, we’ll send a team to investigate."
The officers exchanged serious looks.
....
In a private island near the pacibic ocean, a couple was currently playing a wild game of sex.
"Hahahaha! Your fiancee probably thinking you are enjoying a vacation with your family."
"Shh! Don’t talk about him while fucking me. Press harder."
"Umm! Yeah! Harder."