| WRIAWW | Terrifying Existence | 21
Late at night, the survivor forum exploded once again.
Following the previous posts about the super-talented newcomer and the unfortunate top-ranking post about the Watchtower Guild’s young master, another hot thread emerged today.
【The first batch of big shots who went to the ultimate dungeon for an S-level mission have returned!】
OP: The information is absolutely true! Today, my partner and I returned from the ultimate dungeon after completing a C-level mission. We were a bit injured, so we didn’t linger in the Guanghai and directly teleported to the Temple. While waiting in line for treatment, we saw the guild master and vice-guild leader of the Watchtower Guild. I remember a few days ago someone on the forum mentioned that after the ultimate dungeon opened, the 2nd big shot immediately organized a team for an S-level mission? Does this mean they’ve already completed the mission and returned?
[First row, saving a spot. Looking forward to it!]
[Since OP saw the 2nd, it must mean the mission is complete.]
[Everyone, don’t worry. The top survivors on the leaderboard are very generous and won’t hoard information. Moreover, it’s rare for the two major guilds to collaborate this time. Once the guilds’ secretaries finish compiling the details of this mission, they’ll likely hold a collective online meeting for all survivors. Just like the previous analyses of each dungeon’s final boss, we can definitely look forward to it.]
[I have a feeling that this mission record will be an epic breakthrough. The ultimate dungeon has been open for almost a week, and we’re still completely in the dark. I hope the top survivor’s completion of this mission will provide us with some solid insights.]
[Don’t worry, brother, there will be. With so many top survivors diving into the dungeon, their gains are bound to be much greater than us small fries.]
[Uh, am I the only one curious about why the 2nd is in the Temple? Could the S-level mission in the ultimate dungeon really be so difficult that even the second-ranked survivor got injured???]
[Upstairs, it’s clear you haven’t been keeping up with the gossip. You don’t even know about Qin Man’s incident. The 2nd is obviously cleaning up his mess.]
[Speaking of hot forum posts, what happened to that talented newcomer who was hyped up as the best disappear to? There’s been no news about them. I wonder which guild recruited them—their confidentiality is on another level.]
With this teaser post, the forum was buzzing with anticipation, everyone eagerly waiting.
Sure enough, at 8:50 AM the next morning, a golden post quietly appeared on the forum’s homepage.
【(Collective Online Meeting) Thoughts and Discussions on the Ultimate Dungeon】
The main post had just one line: The meeting starts at 9 AM.
The poster’s ID was their real name, followed by the shining “1st” in gold.
Within minutes of being posted, it had already accumulated thousands of replies.
The replies were a mix of excitement—some taking front-row selfies, others shouting that Joshua was a god, and even a wave of the Temple Army checking in. It was impossible not to marvel at Joshua’s popularity.
The survivors spread the word, informing each other, and gathered with their little stools ready.
At exactly 9 AM, the post transformed into a live-stream format.
What greeted them was a temple built on a cliff by the sea.
The temple was supported by towering white pillars, with rugged rocks below and the shimmering sea stretching out. The dome was adorned with an ancient celestial map, the twelve zodiac signs slowly rotating in the void, emitting a mysterious golden light.
The sharp-eyed survivors immediately recognized it and commented: [It’s the Temple!]
[Wow, this must be some part of the Temple. It looks so high-end. How come I’ve never been here before?]
[Upstairs, of course you haven’t. Fun fact: only 30% of the Temple is open to the public. The remaining 70% is off-limits to us.]
[But the 30% that’s open is the most useful core area. Unlike the headquarters of other guilds—Eternal Night Castle, Imaginary Fortress, and Moonlit Bamboo Palace—those three A-level dungeons are only open to guild members. We can’t even visit them.]
[What can we do? The usage rights for those dungeons are in the hands of the guild masters.]
Amidst the buzz of discussion, the camera slowly panned downward, revealing a stone table below.
Seated around the stone table were numerous individuals, with 1st Joshua at the head. To his left and right sat 2nd Qin Ye, while the absent 3rd was replaced by 4th Santa Claus. The rest were arranged strictly according to the rankings.
Except for the 3rd Black Witch, who had fallen into a deep slumber due to backlash, the top ten were all present. Additionally, several high-ranking S-level survivors had arrived uninvited, though they had no seats and could only sit on cushions on the floor under the guidance of the priests.
Notably, the strategists from the three major guilds, recognized as the brain power elite, were granted seats at the stone table.
[This is the first time I’ve seen the top ten all gathered. It seems this matter is truly significant.]
[Of course it is. It concerns whether all survivors can successfully return to the real world. How could it not be a big deal?]
[Looking around, it’s all S-level survivors. There are only a hundred in the entire space, like a limited edition cabbage—]
[There are also A-levels. Look at how few there are.]
[Can the A-levels among the brain elite be considered ordinary A-levels? They are fewer in number that I can count them on both hands with my fingers in the entire infinite space, they are rarer than S-levels.]
[Speaking of the brain elite, isn’t Yu Anlian one of them?]
[She hasn’t made any outstanding contributions yet, so she hasn’t received an invitation for now.]
"Good morning, everyone."
Seeing that most had arrived, Joshua, who had been writing at the table, set down his quill and spoke up at the right moment.
"I assume everyone is already aware that high-ranking survivors formed a team a few days ago and undertook a mission in the ultimate dungeon. The main purpose of today’s meeting is to combine the information we’ve gathered from this mission with the intelligence of everyone's recent missions, and to conduct a multi-dimensional exploration and analysis of the difficulty level, core mechanics, and mission modules of this ultimate dungeon. For this purpose, the Temple has specially collaborated with the top ten survivors on the leaderboard and invited knowledgeable individuals for a brainstorming session."
After the brief opening remarks, everyone applauded.
As the applause gradually subsided, the white-robed priest waiting at the front stepped forward and activated the holographic projection.
Due to the characteristics of the prayer room's domain, which enforces a "no lying" rule, Joshua, who had revealed his true face during the mission, naturally couldn't release the entire mission footage. Therefore, he only captured the important fragments.
The first image was the tapestry captured by the survivors in Madam Xue's study on the day they entered the mission.
The tapestry was extraordinarily luxurious, woven from expensive golden wool, and embroidered with the entire map of Guiyi City using different handcrafted threads.
The appearance of the map undoubtedly caused a stir.
"How did they find the map so quickly?"
Even the 6th Madame Spider, seated by the stone table, raised her eyebrows in surprise and set down her ever-present long-stemmed pipe.
The organization she managed was called the Merchant Guild. It served as both the central hub for mercenary registrations and a black market for intelligence transactions.
Unlike traditional guilds, the Merchant Guild operated in a closed manner, neither recruiting members nor accepting registrations, thus being regarded as a neutral organization outside the three major guild systems.
The Merchant Guild's core business was solely intelligence sales and mercenary intermediation, and the three major guilds frequently collaborated with it. In a sense, it maintained the balance within the triangle.
As the head of the intelligence brokers, Madame Spider was always a step ahead in being well-informed.
For a new dungeon awaiting exploration, the importance of the map was self-evident. As soon as the ultimate dungeon opened, The Merchant Guild issued a high bounty for the map, but it was still too late.
From the image, the rough map of Guiyi City depicted the main city landmarks, buildings, and streets. Although not as detailed as traditional maps, with many locations not fully marked, it still contained a wealth of information.
In front of each person at the stone table floated a small golden projection, and the survivors outside the forum also fixed their cameras on the map, trying to find some clues from it.
Soon, Ning He, the strategist of the Spiritual Guild, discovered the first blind spot: "Wait."
"Up until now, have all the mission locations we've received... been in the eastern district of Guiyi City?"
Upon hearing this, everyone began to scrutinize.
Without saying it, they wouldn't have noticed, but upon closer inspection, a problem indeed emerged.
[Oh my god! It's true!]
[The other areas are all black, with no missions at all]
This was truly a shocking discovery.
"It can't be a coincidence that no survivors have received missions in other areas for an entire week."
"Is there some unknown judgment mechanism that requires achieving a hidden condition to unlock them?"
"It's not clear."
With Ning He's discovery as the starting point, the discussion smoothly commenced and grew increasingly heated.
They focused on topics such as "the city model of the ultimate dungeon," "possible locations for ?-level final missions," "specific mission execution modes," and "the connection between Guiyi City's power distribution and missions."
For a while, the conference room was filled only with the sound of scribbling, and even the survivors following the live stream on the forum reduced their frequency of posting.
With the main topics of discussion nearly concluded, the next segment was an open discussion.
The question raised in this segment served as a valuable supplement to the previous discussions and topics. After brainstorming and resolving several issues, an S-level survivor raised their hand below.
"Surely everyone has noticed the recent two instances of B-level missions encountering weird domains on the forum. I’d like to ask the veterans who have completed S-level missions: Is the difficulty of the ultimate S-level mission significantly higher? If so, could the appearance of weird domains in B-level missions become the norm in the ultimate dungeon?"
As soon as the question was posed, many survivors on the forum nodded in agreement.
Undoubtedly, compared to the more macro-level questions raised earlier, this one was more directly relevant to the current situation of the survivors. In the infinite space, the number of survivors is vast, but the majority are still low-level.
Everyone wants to go home, but the premise for going home is to survive. Everyone has dreams, but they must remain grounded.
"This question is very well written."
Surprisingly, Joshua, seated at the top, took the floor.
After delivering a brief opening statement, the silver-haired Patriarch had remained silent, not uttering a word.
Now, as he spoke, he immediately captured the attention of the entire room. The questioner, visibly excited, turned red in the face and breathed rapidly, they were clearly one of Joshua's many admirers.
"For a better comparison, let’s use the S-level Temple mission as a reference," Joshua said with a smile, speaking calmly and deliberately. "The documentary of the attack on the Temple has been preserved on the forum, so I’m sure you all have some understanding of its difficulty."
Mentioning this name still sent shivers down the spines of many survivors.
The Temple could be considered the most challenging mission ever undertaken in the infinite space. Back then, without Joshua’s healing abilities, countless lives were lost, turning it into a bloodbath.
It also solidified the survivors' perception of the difficulty of S-level missions.
"Before the Temple dungeon, I’m sure many of you are pessimistic about the difficulty of the ultimate dungeon, believing it to be far more challenging than the Temple. But today, those of us who participated in the first S-level mission can comfortably tell you that the difficulty of this mission is not as high as you might think. If I had to make a comparison, I’d say it’s roughly on par with the Temple dungeon, if not slightly easier. As for the appearance of weird domains in B-level missions... those are rare exceptions and it's not something you will encounter normally."
When Joshua casually delivered these words, it was like a bombshell blew among the crowd.
The survivors were overjoyed and excited.
[Oh my God, this is the best news I’ve heard since the meeting started!]
[Yes, this time we’re really closer to going home, really!]
[Hahahaha, I’m so happy! I thought we’d have to face a total wipeout to get home!]
Seeing their heightened emotions, Qin Ye tapped the stone table. "Don’t let your guard down or start celebrating too early. Other regions haven’t been opened yet, and the difficulty might vary across different areas."
As his words poured cold water on everyone, his eyes were deeply shadowed with concern.
The veteran survivors all know that the main system's rating of a dungeon is never without reason. If Guiyi City has become the ultimate dungeon surpassing the Temple, there must be a reason behind it.
Qin Ye still remembers a sentence Su Xingwen mentioned unintentionally some time ago.
‘I don’t know why, but whenever I use my medium abilities in Guiyi City, I always feel suppressed.’
From this sentence alone, Qin Ye couldn’t help but entertain the most inconceivable possibility.
Could it be that some unknown terrifying entity is lurking within the ultimate dungeon, and artificially suppressing the original difficulty level?
However, this was merely his speculation, he lacked any concrete evidence to support it.
Yet, he sincerely hoped that his conjecture would not turn out to be true.
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