Ladder Tower

Why did the major guilds in this game feel a bit like big corporations in the real world?

Zuo Cheng'an answered without a second thought:

"Great benefits, but hard to get into, right?"

Yu Le thought for a moment, then nodded emphatically, his little face solemn:

"Hard. Really hard. Dawn Moon and Thousand Hunt require veteran players to have reached at least the First Heavenly Tier. That only gives you a chance to get in. You're still very likely to be rejected.

"They basically don't accept newcomers, but if someone's a monster who earns an A rating on their very first dungeon as a newcomer, they'd definitely welcome them with open arms.

"If you really want to compare them, Chasing Waves is relatively easy to join. At least they recruit newcomers pretty often, but..."

Yu Le gently tugged at the hem of Zuo Cheng'an's clothes, motioning for him to lean closer.

"But I heard that people from Chasing Waves sometimes deliberately use newcomers to test a dungeon's killing rules. Sometimes, by the end of a dungeon, the veterans haven't suffered a scratch, while every newcomer is dead."

Zuo Cheng'an made a note of that. Although he currently had no plans to join a guild, that didn't stop him from learning about them first.

"What about smaller guilds? Surely Zone 7 doesn't only have those three big guilds?"

"Small guilds are simple. Some of their recruiters were right outside the market earlier.

"Just show a recruiter your panel, and you'll find out whether you can join.

"Some guilds only require you to be a person. Others require attributes like strength and speed to reach certain values. Their requirements all differ."

Zuo Cheng'an nodded and made a note of that.

A basic understanding of this information was enough. Showing someone else his panel was absolutely out of the question.

Next, Yu Le took him to see the safe zone's entertainment center, arena, and Ladder Tower. Their final stop was the property sales center...

Huh!? A property sales center!??

Having just come from the Ladder Tower, Zuo Cheng'an froze. Could they actually develop real estate in a game?

Yu Le said, "Of course. The game itself is the biggest developer. Every player needs somewhere to live, after all.

"Once you have a home, you can choose whether to teleport straight home or onto the street when you leave a dungeon. If you're badly injured, you can go straight home and slowly recover.

"It also gives you a lot more privacy. At least you won't have to change clothes or bathe in the street."

Zuo Cheng'an checked the housing prices. A standard single-occupancy serviced apartment cost 20,000 points to buy, or 30 points a week to rent.

"What if you can't afford the rent?"

Yu Le knew this one well. He pointed at the park across the way and the space beneath the nearby bridge:

"You can sleep in the park or under the bridge. But since the bridge shelters you from the wind and rain, getting a spot there is a bit of a hassle."

In the direction Yu Le pointed, piles of players' bedding could be seen laid out.

One bedroll lay right beside another, like one huge communal bed, without a shred of privacy.

When he parted ways with Yu Le, Zuo Cheng'an paid him an extra four points.

It was payment for all the additional information he had provided. Most importantly, he had explained the Ladder Tower, the part Zuo Cheng'an cared about most, particularly clearly.

Then he decisively spent 30 points to rent himself a cheap room.

The moment his panel was linked to the room, a weightless sensation swept over him. When he opened his eyes again, he was in a room measuring a little over forty square meters.

He didn't know whether the room existed in a separate space.

In any case, opening the door led straight to the plaza outside the Instance Hall, while opening the window offered a view of all of Safe Zone 7.

It was conveniently located and had a great view, without a single drawback.

Zuo Cheng'an stepped out through the room's front door, and the next instant, he appeared at the entrance to the Instance Hall.

This was the very center of Safe Zone 7, making it convenient to go anywhere from here.

After getting his bearings, Zuo Cheng'an headed toward the Ladder Tower.

"Ascend the Heavenly Ladder" was the players' own expression. The game's official name for the place where they increased their levels was the Ladder Tower.

Because players climbed the tower floor by floor to level up, much like climbing a ladder, combining that with its name had produced "Ascend the Heavenly Ladder."

On his personal panel, Zuo Cheng'an's level was "Not Yet on the Ladder."

As a result, his attributes could no longer increase after reaching 10. To advance any further, he had to ascend to the Ladder Tower's first floor.

As for how to ascend, it was simple: clear one unopened dungeon of the corresponding level.

These dungeons had yet to appear in the Instance Hall, so naturally, no corresponding guides existed. They were a serious test of a player's true abilities.

Of course, if someone could find a high-level expert willing to take them along and steamroll the dungeon,

that would be another matter.

But only a minority had connections like that.

Of Safe Zone 7's total population of a hundred thousand, over twenty thousand were players who had yet to ascend. This was precisely why so many players had not ascended the Heavenly Ladder.

Without ascending, they could still scrape by in the game using guides. But if they tried to ascend, they really might die there.

Guides seemed to keep most players alive and improve dungeon clearance rates.

In reality, however, they stifled players' ability to act independently and, over time, fostered dependence.

Actually, that was still relatively good.

Some were so thoroughly terrified by the dungeons that they slept on the streets every day, ate cold food, and worked themselves to the bone just to save up the 100 points needed to waive the weekly dungeon requirement, living one day at a time.

Most of the guides who camped near the newcomers' spawn point were people like that.

There were also players who relied on a particular skill, purchasing raw materials in the game and turning them into clothing, food, furniture, and other goods to sell.

Over time, this had made the safe zone no different from the real world.

At the very least, you could likewise buy a fragrant jianbing at a crossroads here.

It tasted exactly the same as in the real world, but the ingredients were healthier.

Although Zuo Cheng'an couldn't currently see the barrage of comments filled with foul language, he would never forget what he had seen in the dungeon.

Like animals in a zoo, humans were being watched for amusement by certain beings.

No matter how he looked at the eyeballs floating through the dungeon, he couldn't see their annotations.

Those eyeballs very likely weren't products of the game at all!

If he wanted to drag out the beings hiding behind those eyeballs, he needed strength!

The Ladder Tower.

It was a white metal tower that rose straight up like a steel pipe.

It was also the tallest building in all of Safe Zone 7, so tall that anyone standing on the ground couldn't see its top at all.

It perfectly lived up to its name, "Ladder Tower."

To ordinary players, it might be nothing more than an ordinary metal tower occupying a vast area.

But in Zuo Cheng'an's eyes, even the Ladder Tower had an annotation.

[Ladder Tower: The path to godhood. Can you seize the opportunity? - left by ##]

This annotation differed from those Zuo Cheng'an had seen before. Most importantly, there were actually garbled characters at the end.

Even the lettering was a distinctive gold!!

What kind of being had a name he couldn't even look at? And could even have a custom skin?

The moment that thought arose, a chill ran down Zuo Cheng'an's spine.

In an instant, cold sweat soaked his innermost layer of clothing, and boundless terror engulfed him.

What a petty bastard.

This time, Zuo Cheng'an cursed inwardly.

Of course, he had no desire to court death. While cursing, he hadn't thought about the garbled characters "##."

Sure enough, as long as he didn't think about them, he wouldn't feel anything unpleasant.

Putting the unpleasant experience behind him, Zuo Cheng'an approached the Ladder Tower.

It had already been impressive enough from a distance.

Up close, that sense of awe only grew.