The noise outside the dungeon—forum debates, world chat explosions, endless arguments—never reached the five players standing inside the trial instance. For them, the only thing that mattered was the chime of the system prompt that cut through the air like divine judgment.
[Congratulations! You have cleared Trial Dungeon: Shogunate Rebellion. Rating: SSS. Reward: Spirit Crystal x1.]
[First Clear Bonus Achieved: Your contribution far exceeds all others. Additional rewards granted: Strength Crystal x10, Agility Crystal x10, Constitution Crystal x10, Spirit Crystal x10, Skill - Cross Slash, Item - Command Token (Shogunate Guard Captain).]
Tony's eyes narrowed slightly as he read the notifications.
An SSS rank, the highest possible rating, yet the base reward was just a single Spirit Crystal. Normally, an SSS is guaranteed far more than this. The answer was obvious: his growth value had already hit the cap, dramatically cutting the base rewards.
At least the first-clear bonuses weren't affected.
With a thought, Tony crushed each attribute crystal in his palm, letting their power flow into his body like molten fire, numbers surging in his stats window. Then his gaze drifted to the last two rewards.
One was the skill scroll.
[Cross Slash] – an ordinary offensive ability. Tony glanced at it and immediately dismissed it. At zero-tier, a player could only learn three skills. He already had two, and wasting the last slot on something so bland would be foolish.
The other prize was more interesting.
[Command Token (Shogunate Guard Captain)]
Quality: Common
Type: Summon Item
Effect: Summons a Shogunate Guard Captain to fight for you. Vanishes upon death.
Tony's eyes brightened a fraction. A summoned captain would have power on par with an elite dungeon mini-boss, close to the level of a low-tier S-ranked Awakener. While useless to him personally, in the hands of an ordinary player, it was a formidable trump card.
Behind him, HighQiang groaned aloud. "Wait… why did I only get ten growth points from a normal clear? Wasn't it supposed to be more?"
"Same here," Yu Bowen chimed in. "I thought maybe I just had bad RNG."
"What happened to the guaranteed attribute crystal?"
The four players quickly compared notes and realized they'd all gotten shafted—except for Yuqing, who'd lucked out with a single Spirit Crystal. Everything else was just growth value, no extra items, no bonus crystals.
Tony sighed and decided not to sugarcoat it. "That's on me," he admitted, his tone even. "When my growth value maxed out, it caused diminishing returns on the dungeon rewards. Turns out it doesn't just affect me—it drags down everyone in the same party."
He hadn't expected that either. It was a clear mechanic meant to discourage carrying weaker players once you were capped.
"If you guys feel cheated, you're free to leave the team," he added flatly. His words weren't a threat, just a matter-of-fact option. Tony knew that with two first clears already under his belt, posting on the forums to find replacements would take all of thirty seconds.
But HighQiang waved both hands frantically. "Whoa, no way, man. Unless you kick me yourself, I'm glued to this party."
"Yeah, one first clear pays for everything," Yu Bowen said with a grin. "A couple lost crystals won't make me cry."
Yuqing and Yan Wu didn't even bother speaking up. Only an idiot would walk away from Tony's team now.
Tony gave a small nod of approval. "Good. Then let's move to the next dungeon."
He was just about to queue them when a double system chime cut him off.
[World Announcement: Congratulations to Lin Tianyu, Qi Hai… for clearing Trial Dungeon: Blackwind Stronghold.]
[World Announcement: Congratulations to Elizabeth, Arthur… for clearing Trial Dungeon: Sunset Encirclement.]
HighQiang groaned, slapping his forehead. "Damn it. Two more first clears gone."
"Not surprising," Yuqing said with a sigh. "Tony's clear woke up every top Awakener on the planet. The SSS-talent players aren't holding back anymore. Thinking we'd snatch all five first clears was a pipe dream."
Tony agreed silently. There were nearly ten billion Awakeners across Blue Star. Dozens of SSS-talent elites had been sitting idle, waiting for intel and safer runs. Now, with the benefits of first clears exposed, they were finally flooding in.
"In half an hour, every last trial dungeon will have its first clear claimed," Yuqing predicted grimly. "That's only because two of them have tricky mechanics. If not, they'd all be gone in ten minutes."
The group wasted no more time. The moment they exited the Shogunate instance, Tony immediately locked in their next target. Only the first two clear remained unclaimed: Goblin Forest and Blood-Tainted Graveyard.
Yuqing briefed him on the basics as they waited for entry.
"Goblin Forest's boss is stronger than the Shogunate Rebellion's but weaker than Lin Fortress's Butcher," she explained quickly. "You won't have trouble killing it, but finding it is the real challenge. There's no fixed camp; it roams the woods constantly, and the map is massive. Bigger than Shogunate and Lin Fortress combined."
She continued, words tumbling out in urgency. "Goblins here come in packs. Ordinary goblins are cannon fodder, same level as Shogunate grunts, but Goblin Warriors—their elites—are way more common than human elites. A ten-goblin squad will almost always have one Warrior, and the bigger the pack, the more Warriors there are."
Tony cut in. "Any shortcut to spawn the boss?"
"Not confirmed. The Holy Temple team from White Eagle Nation's been leading this dungeon, but they've kept key details quiet. Some other teams shared bits and pieces. One said they massacred every goblin they saw out of pure spite—and after killing enough, they suddenly found another pack… then another… then the boss appeared."
"I get it," Tony said simply, a glint of understanding in his eyes.
The countdown hit zero, and the world shifted.
They stood in a dense forest of towering trees, sunlight piercing the thick canopy in golden shafts. Birds scattered at their arrival, startled by the sudden intrusion.
"Big Bro Tony," Yuqing said quickly, "this boss might take time to find, but you can handle it solo. We'll just hide and stay out of your way."
"Fine," Tony said. In a blink, his figure blurred and vanished between the trees.
Yuqing turned to the others, jerking her thumb upward. "Climb."
HighQiang didn't need telling twice. The four scrambled up trees like their lives depended on it, recalling every rumor about goblin ambushes and gruesome deaths. Soon they were perched high among the branches, holding their breath, waiting.
At first, there were distant howls, screams, and the unmistakable clash of steel and flesh. But then… silence. A silence that stretched too long, thick with tension.
Suddenly, the system announcement blared across their vision.
[World Announcement: Congratulations to Tony, Yuqing, HighQiang, Yu Bowen, and Yan Wu for clearing Trial Dungeon: Goblin Forest.]
"Hell yeah!" HighQiang cheered, pumping a fist. "I got an Agility Crystal this time!"
"Strength for me!" Yu Bowen added, grinning. Only Yan Wu pouted, empty-handed once again.
"Five minutes," HighQiang muttered in awe, staring at the timer. "That's all it took. Five damn minutes…"
They barely had time to celebrate before another chime cut through.
[World Announcement: Blood-Tainted Graveyard first cleared achieved.]
And ten minutes later, the last unclaimed dungeon was gone too.
In less than an hour since Tony's first conquest, every single trial dungeon in the world had been blitzed and conquered—and his name was carved permanently into history as the one who started the frenzy.