The Instance Ends, Another Failure!

The world before Itō Hidetaka's eyes turned blood-red once more.

A large, blood-red character for "death" stood out in the void.

At the same time, a notification from the Firmament rang out.

[Instance notification: Your faction failed to withstand the people's riot. You have drowned in the ocean!]

[Due to your death, your challenge of the [Raging Waves] instance has failed! 5,000 personal points will be deducted!]

[Since all challengers in the instance have died and all special events have ended, this instance will soon close!]

[The final countdown now begins...]

[...20...]

[...19...]

[...18...]

The instance livestream switched once again from the challengers' perspective to an overhead view.

In the view, the challengers' Arsenal had been stained red with blood. Waves washed over the challengers' corpses, and seagulls let out mournful cries in the sky. The whole scene was as dark as the end of the world.

Soon, the people of Eastern Ocean Island raised the red sun flag representing Eastern Ocean Island atop the barracks tower...

Immediately afterward, the Firmament began displaying the instance statistics:

[The statistics for this instance are as follows:]

[Number of people eliminated by the instance: 19,930!]

[Longest time survived in the instance: 55 hours]

[Instance clearance rate: 0%!]

[Instance completion: 2%]

At that moment, the livestream was eerily quiet. Not a single bullet comment drifted across the screen.

After witnessing the massive riot, all the spectators felt as though they had experienced it themselves.

The terrifying atmosphere permeated not only the instance but also spread through the spectators' hearts.

[This... this instance felt like watching an epic movie...]

[Everyone, I'm really starting to question my life.]

[Did you see that? Every statistic for this instance was worse than last time! This time, it eliminated 19,930 people outright!]

[Fuck me, that was basically the whole army wiped out, wasn't it?]

[It was suffocating. This so-called Non-Combat Mode is actually scarier than Combat Mode. In War Mode, one way or another, a single blast kills you, but Non-Combat Mode is like boiling a frog in warm water.]

[Did you see? The instance completion is only 2% now. After two attempts, that's all the progress they've made. Is it even possible to clear this instance?]

If some spectators had gloated over the previous instance, this time everyone was genuinely frightened.

That sense of despair and helplessness left them gasping for breath, even through a screen.

This failure was far too devastating!

Last time, at least over 3,000 out of 10,000 people had survived.

This time, only 60 out of 20,000 had lived! The survival rate was only 0.003%.

Without a doubt, Raging Waves would break the Firmament's records for both the number of people eliminated in a single attempt and the elimination rate!

At the same time, some people questioned Itō Hidetaka's decisions in the instance, believing that the instance was not unbeatable and that his reckless actions had caused the failure.

[This was clearly a mistake in Itō Hidetaka's command. The Firmament gave him several warnings, but he insisted on having his own way, so naturally it ended in failure.]

[Those Great He Clan people didn't treat the NPCs in the instance as human at all. But Lin Ye's instance design was too realistic. If you toy with NPCs, of course they'll fight back.]

[Stop cursing them. If those Great He Clan people hadn't teamed up to challenge the instance, we might have been the ones who died this time.]

[So when all's said and done, we should thank the Great He Clan, huh? Weren't there a lot of Great He Clan people in the livestream just now? Why have they all gone quiet?]

The bullet comments continued to stir up debate, but the instance countdown had already ended.

Everyone was teleported straight out of the instance.

Itō Hidetaka returned to his luxurious villa.

He sank weakly to the floor. The sensation of drowning still lingered in his mind.

It was as though he were still bound in the icy seawater.

"Haa—"

He gasped for breath, but still could not shake that terrifying sensation.

[Firmament notification: Esteemed challenger, unfortunately, you failed the instance this time! 5,000 points will now be deducted!]

Then Itō Hidetaka saw his points rapidly decrease, dropping from 13,000 to 8,000!

[Since your personal points have fallen below 10,000, your level has been downgraded from Level 2 to LV1!]

[You have lost the privilege of bringing instance weapons into other instances! Challenger, please pay close attention to changes in your points. If your points fall to Level 0, you will lose all your existing instances!]

[The change in your points will be announced Above the Dome. Please take this as a warning!]

"Really? They really deducted them?"

"I dropped to LV1?"

The news struck Itō Hidetaka like a bolt from a clear sky! Under the intense humiliation, his whole body ached faintly.

Ever since he had been selected from Dahe Settlement, he had soared on the wind and risen straight into the clouds.

He had designed four instances in a single day, and then his personal points had grown rapidly, taking him from Level 0 to Level 2 in that same day!

From that day on, his level had never dropped!

Yet today, he had been knocked all the way back down to LV1.

LV1 and Level 2 seemed to differ by only one level, but a vast gulf separated their statuses.

Level 2s were the upper crust of this world! They were elites! They could even be hailed as the youngest genius instance designers.

An LV1, on the other hand, was merely an entry-level Dungeon Designer...

Worst of all, this humiliating affair was going to be announced to the whole world.

Itō Hidetaka opened the villa window with trembling hands and looked up at the dome.

[Congratulations to challenger Fanxiya on advancing to LV1]

[Congratulations to challenger Marlon Chris on advancing to LV1]

...

[Unfortunately, challenger Itō Hidetaka has been downgraded to LV1!]

The line bearing his name stood out Above the Dome, its color completely different from the other lines.

The other lines were all white. Only his was green.

In an instant, an immense sense of humiliation filled Itō Hidetaka's body.

Downgraded?!

That was an extremely rare occurrence on Azure Star.

Especially for those who had already advanced to Level 2—hardly any of them ever dropped back down.

Because once you advanced to Level 2, it meant you had high-quality instances, and it also meant you had powerful instance weapons.

Compared with lower-level challengers, your advantage could be said to be infinitely great!

As long as you held steady, you would basically never drop back down.

Yet he, Itō Hidetaka, had plunged from the heights just like that.

Something like this was a huge joke across the whole of Azure Star.

The news of his downgrade would soon become a topic of conversation at drinking tables in settlements everywhere.

Even without an announcement from the Emperor, one thing had already become fact: he, Itō Hidetaka, had fallen from his pedestal!

He was no longer that genius designer.

All kinds of emotions gathered in his heart.

Anger, humiliation, fear...

And his ever-deepening hatred for Lin Ye.

Itō Hidetaka felt his scalp tighten, and he fainted on the spot from sheer rage.