Chapter 20: The World Focuses on You

Inside the Red Temple, an eerie silence prevailed.

With Old Gao's past experience as a warning, no one dared utter more than a word. All held their breath, eyes fixed intently on the altar’s shifting scene.

The situation was grim. The dungeon’s pollution value was rapidly rising, already reaching the brink of uncontrollability.

The displayed pollution value represented only the dungeon monitoring system’s limit, not that of the Moonlight Sanatorium itself.

Now, Old Gao, Lei Huo, and the others no longer prayed for the novice players inside the dungeon to clear it; their hope was simply that the dungeon would not lose control while still active and invade the real world.

If it came to that, the incident would be named the “Moonlight Sanatorium Dungeon Breakdown.”

At that point, no one could predict what would happen.

As the person in charge of Wanghai City, Old Gao felt his blood pressure spiraling out of control, his heart rate soaring toward 200.

He turned his head away, unable to bear looking at the monitoring screen, gasping heavily as he tried to calm himself.

As a seasoned player and city leader, Old Gao had undergone rigorous training. No matter how dire the situation, he never panicked.

Unless he simply couldn’t help it.

He swallowed a pill to force calm, closed his eyes, and in just half a minute had his heart rate back below one hundred.

Turning his gaze back to the dungeon monitor, he was stunned.

The information on the screen had vanished.

In the half-minute he had looked away, it seemed as if an entire century had passed.

Looking around, everyone wore the same bewildered expression.

“What just happened?” he couldn’t help but ask.

Lei Huo shook his head in confusion, pointing to the screen. “I don’t know. The data suddenly cleared out. Mr. Leng Shan, do you have any idea?”

Leng Shan hesitated, double-checking several times before uncertainly saying, “He must have cleared it.”

“Ah?”

Old Gao found it hard to accept. Was the theme of the Moonlight Sanatorium dungeon stock trading?

One moment, the pollution value plunged from near clearance to maximum overload; the next, it jumped from max overload straight to completion without any buffer.

He contacted the outside briefly to confirm there was no abnormal energy in Wanghai City, finally convinced the dungeon hadn’t lost control.

Staring at the altar’s now darkened portal, he asked, “So, what’s the dungeon’s status now...?”

Leng Shan replied, “Obviously, he broke the dungeon.”

Everyone present shared the suspicion, but hearing Leng Shan say it aloud still drew a sharp breath from them, the hall’s temperature seeming to drop several degrees.

To break a dungeon meant achieving at least 70% completion and earning an A-minus rating.

For a rookie who hadn’t even completed the trial tasks to break the notoriously difficult Moonlight Sanatorium on their first dungeon run was almost equivalent to an A-level feat.

Their mood could no longer be described with a mere expletive; it required a string of them.

Suddenly, Old Gao realized something. “Wait, how long did it take him to clear it?”

Lei Huo glanced at the record. “Two hours, thirty-five minutes.”

Old Gao asked, “Do you remember the fastest break for a B-level dungeon before?”

Leng Shan replied slowly, “The fastest B-level break was four hours and fifty-two minutes; the fastest A-level break was ten hours and three minutes.”

“In other words, our rookie player—no, rookie powerhouse—not only set a new record for lowest-level dungeon break but also the fastest break ever.”

Silence fell instantly. It was obvious even without words: the rookie who broke the Moonlight Sanatorium was no ordinary person. Most likely, a monster carefully cultivated by some organization or individual.

He must have obtained immense power even before entering the Abyss game, probably entering the dungeon already equipped with formidable gear.

Lei Huo scratched his head. “The trial dungeon appearing here suggests his real-world location is likely within our territory. If we can recruit this monster, wouldn’t the current world dungeon be secure?”

Leng Shan’s expression shifted. “You’re right. We must inform higher-ups immediately and accelerate the search. No matter the price, we must get him to join!”

If he were part of an organization, he wouldn’t have entered the trial dungeon unnoticed at such a critical moment.

Most likely, some small private group found a treasure. Such luck would require the ancestral tomb to be built on a volcano’s mouth—elsewhere the smoke wouldn’t billow so high.

Old Gao’s reaction differed. While sending a message to lift the alert, he murmured, “The world is about to become unstable.”

After today, it wouldn’t be just them; other nations and major organizations would frantically hunt for whoever broke the Moonlight Sanatorium.

Securing this monster meant not only controlling the soon-to-arrive world dungeon of the Wild Realm but possibly dominating the entire Wild Realm in the coming years.

On a grander scale, as long as the Moonlight Sanatorium’s breaker survived, the entire Abyss game’s landscape might shift because of him.

This was enough to drive all powers mad, breaking any agreement to send agents into the Summer Nation to snatch him away.

Leng Shan was unfazed by Old Gao’s worries, coldly stating, “Any hand that dares cross the line will be chopped off.”

Watching Leng Shan leave in a hurry, Old Gao prepared to exit and check Wanghai City’s status himself.

Just as he stood, Lei Huo jabbed him with his elbow.

“What’s up?”

Lei Huo cleared his throat, lowering his voice. “Remember the bet we made earlier?”

Old Gao’s heart skipped a beat; sweat appeared on his brow.

He forced a stiff smile. “What bet? Things were too tense earlier—I forgot.”

Lei Huo pulled out his phone and played a video.

“I like Wanghai City, but if a rookie clears the Moonlight Sanatorium, I swear I’ll run naked around Baishui Bay!”

Old Gao’s face changed. “Name your price—how do I get that video deleted?”

Lei Huo shrugged. “Not my recording. Someone anonymously sent it to the organization’s main group. The chat about your livestream has already hit triple digits.”

Old Gao: …

Inside the Moonlight Sanatorium dungeon, Wu Chang had no idea his performance tonight had captivated the entire world’s attention.

He had just awakened from the dreamscape, surveying his surroundings.

The flames engulfing Landy on the ground had died out, his body still intact—meaning Leyman’s soul inside him was gone.

This time, he had truly cleared the dungeon.

Escaping the nightmare woven by Leyman and returning to reality, his perception of the world sharpened. Many details he hadn’t noticed before now stood out vividly.

Player Name: No Beef Eaten.

Player Level: 1 (0/100)

Health: 9

Strength: 9

Agility: 9

Endurance: 8

Energy: 0

Inspiration: 94 (84 + 10)

Willpower: 60 (62 - 2)

Skills: Mamba Iron Elbow, Firearms (proficient).

Items: Silver Dawn, Favor of the Goddess of Luck, Echo of the Whisperer ×1, King’s Badge, Arcane Badge, Eye of the Dark God.

Talent: Exorcism.

The harrowing experience of seeing Leyman’s true form in the dreamscape, almost crushed by despair and fear, was not without reward.

Seeing and understanding Leyman’s existence had actually boosted his Inspiration and Willpower by 30 points!

By this measure, the consumption of the Echo of the Whisperer was more than worthwhile.

If every encounter could bring such a massive boost, next time he faced another dark god, he’d definitely find a way to strip it and see its true face.

A wisp of rising red mist drifted before his eyes, drawing his attention back to the present.

The dissipating crimson vapor came from the bloodstained grudges on the Demon-Slaying Crossbow’s arrow.

He rubbed his hands excitedly, eager to see what treasures Old Anderson’s centuries-old resentment might yield.