Scarlet Tomb

Qin Chuan had learned about the Respawn Point from Dragon Soaring World.

Other than marveling, "As expected of you, Rakshasa One-Slash," Qin Chuan did not know what else to say.

Qin Chuan had never taken someone like Rakshasa One-Slash seriously.

After defeating Amos, Qin Chuan did not leave immediately. Instead, he walked to the edge of the cliff.

Amos's corpse had already cracked apart and was slowly melting into the earth, soon leaving a gap in its original spot.

Following the gap downward led to the entrance of a hidden dungeon.

Qin Chuan was familiar with the route. After a few jumps, he reached a platform beneath the cliff.

There was a cave here. A translucent curtain of light covered the entrance, and with weeds growing everywhere, it was pitch-black inside, making the scene beyond impossible to see clearly.

But Qin Chuan knew this was the place.

The moment he reached out and touched the light curtain, he received a system prompt.

"Ding. You have discovered a hidden dungeon first. A server-wide announcement will be made. Would you like to hide your nickname?"

"No."

[Player "Night Roaming God" has discovered the hidden dungeon beneath the cliff, Scarlet Tomb. All players are encouraged to explore it!]

[Please note: this dungeon is quite difficult. Choose an appropriate difficulty before attempting it!]

The moment the announcement appeared, every player went numb.

Oh, Night Roaming God again.

They were used to it.

Wait, what did the announcement say? A hidden dungeon?

The moment they heard the word dungeon, the players' eyes lit up with a hunger called desire.

Run dungeons!

Get equipment drops!

Get rich!

For a time, every player stopped what they were doing and began discussing where the dungeon was.

Dragon Soaring World, who had originally planned to return to the Wild Boar Plains to level up, also stopped. After hesitating for a moment, he sent a message: "Night Roaming God, is that dungeon in the Granite Hills?"

The announcement had clearly said it was a hidden dungeon beneath a cliff.

And among the cliffs around Newbie Village, only the Granite Hills to the north fit that description.

Moreover, the announcement had come so quickly. No matter how fast Night Roaming God was, he could not have run somewhere else.

Dragon Soaring World guessed that Night Roaming God had probably discovered the dungeon entrance while picking up loot after killing the BOSS.

The reason he asked—

was mainly because he was worried the dungeon might be a one-time instance. He did not want to compete with Night Roaming God for it.

No matter how good the dungeon was, it could not compare to his friendship with Night Roaming God.

But Dragon Soaring World quickly realized he had overthought things. Night Roaming God's reply was frank: "The dungeon is where Amos appeared. Follow the slope down and you'll reach it. But I suggest you come after reaching level ten and making proper preparations."

Dragon Soaring World replied, "Naturally. My level is too low right now. There's no point entering a dungeon."

With level-ten Silver Tier equipment ahead of him and a hidden dungeon waiting to be conquered, Dragon Soaring World's desire to level up blazed fiercely. He immediately led his team toward the Wild Boar Plains.

On the way back, Dragon Soaring World saw quite a few players rushing in groups toward the area.

There was no need to think about it. They were definitely going to attempt the dungeon.

In the team chat, the Assassin asked, "Boss, aren't we going to try the dungeon? Wouldn't it be a shame if someone else snatched the first clear?"

The Archer also said, "Yeah. We can't compete with Night Roaming God in the wild, but dungeons are different. Every team is independent, so we don't need to worry too much."

However, Dragon Soaring World shook his head. "Night Roaming God can't possibly be unaware of the Dragon Soaring Dynasty's raiding capabilities, yet he still told me to wait until level ten. That means this dungeon is extremely difficult."

"And with Night Roaming God around, I'm afraid the first-clear record for this dungeon won't go to anyone else."

"Even if A Hua and the others were assigned to the same Newbie Village as us, they still couldn't compete with Night Roaming God."

"Since that's the case, why should we rush? We might as well level up in peace."

"Night Roaming God can already solo a level-ten Silver Tier BOSS. If we don't level up soon, we'll only be able to drool over the equipment."

After a few words, the Assassin and Archer agreed with Dragon Soaring World's decision, though they also felt speechless.

Once upon a time, they had been regulars when it came to securing first BOSS kills in major online games.

Then Night Roaming God had appeared and single-handedly beaten them so badly that they had no way to fight back.

Where could they even go to complain about that?

Compared to Dragon Soaring World's calmness, most players did not think that much.

The dungeon was right there. Wasn't it meant to be conquered?

At worst, they would run back after dying. What was there to fear?

Brothers, charge!

The players formed small teams of two or three, endured the Granite Giants' attacks, and left behind a corpse with every step. At last, they reached the platform beneath the cliff and saw the dungeon entrance they had long dreamed of.

"Please select dungeon difficulty."

"Normal Tier, Warrior, King Difficulty, Nightmare Difficulty."

After discussing it, several players decided to play it safe. They would start with Normal Tier, gather some equipment, and only then consider the higher difficulties.

Then the first wave of monsters wiped them out.

The team stood at the Respawn Point, staring at one another.

What the hell just happened?

As more players appeared at the Respawn Point, everyone realized there was a problem and began condemning it furiously.

What kind of garbage dungeon was this? Even Normal Tier was this hard? You dogshit developers, are you even human?!

While leveling up, Dragon Soaring World received a message from a guild member.

Just as Night Roaming God had said, that dungeon was extremely difficult.

So far, the elite raiding teams organized by the major guilds had not even seen what the BOSS looked like. They had all fallen at the first wave of monsters.

Their equipment might have been a little lacking, and their attributes might have been a little low, but surely they should not have been unable to clear even Normal Tier.

Wasn't this bullying honest people?

After receiving the news, Dragon Soaring World smiled calmly.

You people really have no patience. Don't you know haste makes waste?

Night Roaming God really did treat me well. He warned me beforehand to wait until level ten. Otherwise, I'd probably be among those cursing the developers in a group right now.

At that thought, Dragon Soaring World felt a surge of pride.

Can any of you outsiders compare to my friendship with Night Roaming God?!

That said, how far had Night Roaming God gotten in the dungeon? Why had there not been a first-clear announcement yet?

It was just a hidden dungeon. Wouldn't Night Roaming God clear it effortlessly?

Naturally, Dragon Soaring World would never have imagined that after discovering the hidden dungeon, Qin Chuan had not rushed inside to farm it. Instead, he left directly and headed for Wild Wolf Slope.

Honestly, if he had not known about that hidden quest chain, he would have already started farming the dungeon.

But now, there was no need to hurry.

Qin Chuan knew very well that with the players' current levels and equipment, clearing Normal Tier was already their limit. The next three difficulties were each more brutal than the last.

Of course, compared to the Special Mode activated when the Wolf King jumped into the dungeon, even Nightmare Difficulty was nothing worth mentioning.

There was nothing particularly special about Special Mode otherwise. Its overall difficulty was comparable to Nightmare Difficulty.

The only exception was the final hidden BOSS. The resurrected Vampire Baron was absurdly powerful, making the fight excruciatingly difficult.