A Daoist Priest pointed at the Leaderboard and asked, "If I remember correctly, the 「Moonlight Sanatorium」 is the Instance ranked fourth on the Difficulty Ranking, the one that suddenly jumped to first place in Popularity yesterday, right?"
Someone next to him chimed in, "Yes, it's a Death Instance with a 0% Survival rate. The Administration Bureau sealed off that Instance a week ago, sending four Game Breakers in a row, and none succeeded."
"I heard a Newcomer accidentally stumbled into it yesterday through a Trial Passage. The whole world was waiting to see us become a joke, but I didn't expect that Newcomer to actually clear it!"
"Your Intelligence isn't up to date." A martial artist with his upper body bare shook his finger and said mysteriously, "More than just clearing it, I heard he actually achieved a Game Break!"
"A Game Break?!" This news shocked the entire Leaderboard area.
The Daoist Priest stroked his horsetail whisk and muttered, "By the boundless Heavenly Venerable, breaking the game on a B-Level Uncontrolled Instance—that must yield so much Experience. It should be enough to let him jump straight to Level Five or Six."
The martial artist laughed self-deprecatingly, "Comparing people leads to death. It took me six Instances to reach Level Five back then. I was even called the Experience Reaper by everyone because I broke the Organization's record."
A passing Half-Beastman patted the martial artist's shoulder and comforted him, "Look on the bright side; the gap between you two will only grow wider."
The martial artist spat on the ground, dissatisfied:
"The gap between me? The gap between me and the entire world! Just wait and see, by tomorrow at the latest, the top spot for the lowest Level and the fastest B-Level Instance Game Break will be refreshed. You can save that comment for the others on the board."
"Huh?"
"Wait, Level One cleared a B-Level Instance? Can a Big Shot speedrun the Abyss Game without taking damage?"
"I get it now, the Major Factions are trying to buy cheats from that guy!"
As the subject of the discussion, Wu Chang, who was standing among the crowd, was no less shocked than any other Player.
What did this mean? Had he become the Big Shot topping the speedrun Leaderboard?
In his original Consciousness, clearing a B-Level Instance after the Newcomer Trial might spark some discussion, but the Popularity wouldn't be too high.
After all, in the games he had played before, the final BOSS that took him several hours, or even over ten hours, while wearing top-tier equipment, could be cleared easily without damage by many people online using only Level One and no gear.
In comparison, a Level One player only clearing a B-Level Instance didn't seem that impressive.
With nearly ten billion people on Blue Star, any rational person wouldn't easily assume they were the most special one.
But he overlooked one point: the Abyss Game was not an electronic game; there was no restarting.
A genius who shows off after growing stronger, if they were snuffed out early, there would be no future of casually slaying BOSSes with their eyes closed.
The massive bounty flooding the Bounty Board, along with the overwhelming discussion around him, made Wu Chang feel a bit giddy.
Happiness came too suddenly, like suddenly finding a ten-digit sum in your pocket while walking down the street—who wouldn't be flustered?
Fortunately, his Will Attribute was high enough to quickly bring him back to his senses.
Pies don't fall from the sky; the Factions willing to offer such huge bounties weren't fools.
The more one gains, the more one must bear.
Right now, he was just a Newcomer who had just entered the Abyss Game, a complete novice compared to those old foxes.
Rushing in blindly due to greed might result in him being sold off while still counting the money for them.
The fact that these Factions didn't hesitate to throw down so many chips immediately after he passed the Newcomer Trial suggested they might have harbored such intentions.
He had to hear what the Veteran players had to say.
Since the entire Leaderboard area was discussing his situation, he didn't need to worry about gathering Intelligence.
Not far from him, a combat squad of four, wearing red, yellow, blue, and white Bodysuits respectively, and pumpkin-head masks, were discussing which side would be most suitable to join.
Xiao Bai threw out the first choice, "This is an easy question. If I were that person, I would definitely choose the White Tower. The White Tower leads the world in Abyss exploration and Research; it's absolutely the better platform."
"Not so," Xiao Huang shook his head and said:
"For a genius of this caliber, any Organization would allocate sufficient resources for their development; the difference between platforms won't be that significant. If it were me, I would go to Sakura Island."
Xiao Bai scoffed, "Sakura Island can't even achieve a Game Break on a B-Level team Instance that doesn't even make the top hundred on the Danger Ranking. Are they going for technical poverty alleviation?"
Xiao Huang let out a meaningful laugh, "The platform isn't important; the environment is. To recruit geniuses, Sakura Island created a paradise called Takamagahara using Sakura Island specialties. The wine pools and meat forests are practically children's programs compared to that place."
"If you ask me, going to the West Union is better," Xiao Lan, who was standing nearby, interjected.
"Go to the West Union and become a Divine Envoy, legally superior to others, and have more fun than Sakura Island. Moreover, the West Union's Abyss exploration is second only to the White Tower and us. Fewer people there means more resources, less Instance pressure, and to compete with other Major Organizations, they offer a higher price. It's definitely the dark horse choice."
Xiao Hong, who hadn't spoken, slowly opened his mouth.
"If it were me, I wouldn't go anywhere; the Administration Bureau is quite good."
"The reason?" Wu Chang couldn't help but ask simultaneously with the White, Yellow, and Blue trio.
Xiao Hong shrugged and said, "The reason is that after the Administration Bureau was established, they distributed the Beginner's Guide, which originally cost 100 Decayed Silver Coins, for free to all Formal Players in the Xia Country Area."
"Ninety percent of Players can't earn 100 Decayed Silver Coins after the Trial Instance. Under this vicious cycle, they need a third or even a fourth Instance just to afford the most basic Beginner's Guide. This 100 Decayed Silver Coin startup capital increased the Players' Survival Rate by at least 30%."
Xiao Bai said indifferently, "A Big Shot doesn't lack this small favor."
"But a Big Shot also needs stable Order," Xiao Hong asserted.
"As the number of Abyss Game Players increases, the old Order of Blue Star will eventually Collapse, turning into a survival-of-the-fittest Social Darwinism model. This trend might be unavoidable, but I believe our place will be the last to Collapse."
"Living in a collapsing world, Humans will eventually suffer a Backlash from their power; the Dungeon BOSSes have demonstrated this more than once."
Wu Chang listened to several more groups of adventurers discussing. The viewpoints raised by these Veterans gave him a lot of inspiration, allowing him to form a rough plan for his future.
However, he wasn't in a hurry to make a decision.
Other people's perceptions were ultimately theirs; he needed to witness and confirm things for himself before drawing his own conclusion.
He was the one being fought over, possessing sufficient leeway.
That evening, as the Leaderboard for the earliest and fastest B-Level Instance Game Break was refreshed, the Desolate Realm and even the entire Abyss Game world were shaken.
Level One achieved a Game Break on a B-Level Uncontrolled Instance, with a clear time of two hours and thirty-five minutes.
The more seasoned the Veteran, the clearer they understood the value of these two statistics.
Some said this was a long-planned publicity stunt by Xia Country, selecting a Special Instance to build momentum for a certain younger generation.
Some said that Newcomer Player had actually died in the Instance, and what emerged wasn't the Player but the Dungeon BOSS.
Others claimed the clearer was a Divine Envoy, descending with supreme power to help Humanity gain control over the Abyss.
The top ten spots on the Public Area's most valuable Bounty Board began to refresh again, with Major Factions vying in the Void to secure that unknown genius.
However, Wu Chang, who was at the center of the storm of public opinion, paid no further attention to it.
Following the ideas provided in the Beginner's Guide, he searched the Forum for paid Intelligence articles packed with useful information, frantically learning everything about the Abyss Game.
Half a month passed in a flash, and Wu Chang arrived at a pre-booked esports Hotel, hanging the 'Do Not Disturb' sign.
When the Countdown for the Dungeon cooldown on his Attribute Panel reached zero, his vision blurred, and he entered the Abyss Game once more.
A new Instance begins. Please follow along; good brothers should try not to save up chapters. A Newbie really needs this.