Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
[Congratulations, Adventurer, you have entered the Hell-level Dungeon (Magma Valley).]
[Adventurer, please kill the culprit behind the eruption of Astera Volcano, the Lava Lord (Leader Level), before the eruption.]
[Countdown to Astera Volcano’s next eruption—59:58]
After becoming able to move again, Liu Ming immediately killed the Fire Elemental monster that was closest to him.
…
Groups of players gathered to brag and chat outside the Dungeon Altar, making it extremely lively.
A group of players who had good equipment suddenly descended onto the altar at this very moment, shocking plenty of the surrounding players.
“The Sanguine Guild’s Bloodied Hands Team! Have they cleared the Dungeon so quickly!?!”
“How could it be! Apart from the Easy-level Dungeon, there will be area announcements when the other dungeon stages are cleared. Besides, the first ten teams to clear the dungeons will also be recorded on the stone tablet in front of the altar.”
“No way! The Bloodied Hands Team is the Sanguine Guild’s top elite team. If even they’ve been defeated, how difficult is this dungeon!?!”
“Who knows? The Bloodied Hands Team may be really impressive in other games, but that might not be the case in this game.”
“Exactly, God Domain is the first complete virtual reality game. Having rich experience in other games might not be of much use.”
…
The players were speaking rather loudly, thus making the Bloodied Hands Team members’ faces grow sullen. However, too many players were present. Hence, they dared not anger the public. They had no choice but to leave the Dungeon Altar sulkily.
With the departure of the Bloodied Hands Team members, many players began to realize that their guesses were right. It was not that the dungeon was too difficult, but rather, the Bloodied Hands Team members had become incapacitated after switching to a different game.
However, before the group of players finished expressing their amazement, rays of light came from the Dungeon Altar’s Teleportation Portal one after another. The groups of elites from the major guilds—who were the first batch to enter the dungeon—were teleported back.
Like the Bloodied Hands team members, no system announcements sounded when the major guilds’ elites were teleported over.
At this moment, the surrounding players reacted and realized that things did not seem to be that simple. A huge uproar instantly broke out in the entire Dungeon Altar’s vicinity.
“Damn it! Qingfeng Pavillion’s Qingfeng Crescent and Qingfeng Phantom… actually failed.”
“Qingfeng Pavilion’s elites are not the only ones. Including the Bloodied Hands Team members, it seems like seven of the game’s 12 major guilds have already failed to clear the dungeon and have been teleported back.”
“Damn it! Half of the 12 major guilds have failed. The damned planners of God Domain are really inhumane.”
…
If only one guild’s pioneer raiders had failed, the other players could say that it was because of their incompetence. However, elites from seven of the nation’s 12 top guilds—as well as the elites of quite a few second-tier guilds—had all returned. This proved that the difficulty of the game’s dungeons was truly inhumane.
All of a sudden, many normal players had already begun cursing the planners of God Domain.
After all, even the manor guilds’ elite players could not clear the dungeon, let alone players like them—who could not even become official members of the major guilds.
“Damned planners, please be more humane. Who can clear such a difficult dungeon!?!”
“Damn it, orphan planners! If I play God Domain again, I’ll be a dog!”
…
Just as a group of players discussed the game planners, a national announcement suddenly appeared.
[System Announcement (National Channel): Congratulations, Adventurer Floating Cloud, you have cleared Magma Valley (Hell Level) for the first time !]
[Adventurer Floating Cloud is the first to clear the Hell-level dungeon. Additionally rewarded 100 Gold Coins and one Guild Residence Token.]
The system announcement immediately made the Dungeon Altar—which was initially bustling and lively—silent. However, a greater commotion erupted in the entire area soon after.
“Damn it! He cleared the Hell-level dungeon on his own. Is he still human!?”
“Those elites from the major guilds are garbage compared to Great God Floating Cloud.”
“If those elites are garbage, won’t we be worse than garbage?”
…
Though the ordinary players previously treated Liu Ming as a lucky guy whom the elites of the major guilds would catch up with sooner or later, they now treated him like a godly existence.
After all, the major guilds’ elites had yet to clear even a Level 10 dungeon. Yet, Liu Ming managed to clear a Level 15 Hell-level dungeon on his own.
The difference was huge. If not for the fact that only a few players could make it to the Dungeon Altar, most of the guilds would be laughingstocks now.
…
While the ordinary players were all focused on how Liu Ming was so impressive that he could clear a Hell-level dungeon on his own, the larger guilds’ senior executives had already focused their attention on the Guild Residence Token.
It suddenly caused a huge uproar in the national channel again.
[Qingfeng Swordsman: Big Shot Floating Cloud, are you going to sell that Residence Token? If you are, Qingfeng Pavilion is willing to give you 1,000 Gold Coins.]
[World Invincible: You only have 1,000 Gold Coins to offer, yet you actually have the cheek to mention it. We, World Guild, are willing to offer 2,000 Gold Coins.]
[Phoenix Dance Nine-Days: Is 2,000 Gold Coins a lot? We, Phoenix Dance Guild, are willing to fork out 3,000 Gold Coins.]
[Royal Map Xiao Fang: You guys are increasing the price in 1,000 Gold Coin increments each time. We, Prosperous Royal Map, are not that affluent. We can only increase the offer by 500 Gold Coins. We’re offering 3,500 Gold Coins.]
…
Soon, the major guilds began bidding and vying with each other in the national channel.
When Liu Ming came out of the dungeon and saw the news on the national channel, the bids placed by the major guilds had risen to 7,000 Gold Coins.
Besides, the value was still slowly increasing as the major guilds increased their bids.
At such a rate, the Residence Token’s price might soar above 10,000 Gold Coins in the end.
At this moment, Liu Ming could sense the various major guilds’ insanity. In the beginning, Liu Ming already knew that the Guild Residence Token was valuable, but he did not expect it to be worth that much money.
Even in private transactions, each Gold Coin could be exchanged for 80-odd yuan. This meant that 10,000 Gold Coins were worth more than 800,000 yuan. However, the various guilds were willing to pay more than 800,000 yuan for a token that might not even fetch 10,000 yuan in the future. The way the minds of the rich worked was truly peculiar.
However, Liu Ming quickly reacted and realized that although spending over 800,000 yuan for a Guild Residence Token was extremely uneconomical to ordinary small guilds, spending over 800,000 yuan for a chance to get a headstart was definitely worth it to the guilds that looked to be tyrants in God Domain.
In God Domain, it was rather simple to establish a guild. One just had to head to the main city’s Guild Alliance Association and pay a 100 Gold Coin fee. However, the established guild would be a basic one that could forever only recruit 100 members with no bonuses. Instead of calling it guild establishment, it would be more appropriate to call it the formation of a large team consisting of 100 members.
As long as a guild had a Guild Residence Token, they would be able to increase their guild level. They would also be able to learn some Guild Skills that could provide certain bonuses to their members.
High-level guilds would also have access to exclusive facilities such as Guild Dungeons and Guild Mines.