By the calculation of time, this was Shen Mo’s tenth day inside the Livestream World.

The newcomer rankings in the competitive district stretched far longer than those in the residential district. They still had a full twenty days to break dungeon records.

Any dungeon would do.

As long as they broke even one record, all they would need to do from that point forward was methodically work through each of the remaining uncleared dungeons, and the team would earn a spot to ascend to the world above.

…

The next day, Ada finished breakfast and headed out to gather information.

Natasha was in her room hitting a punching bag — muffled thuds drifted out at irregular intervals.

Yuri spread a sheet of paper on the living room floor and was slowly sketching out a map of Devil’s Island from memory.

Shen Mo and Bai Youwei were also in the living room. Through Yuri’s map, they gained a rough understanding of Devil’s Island.

“Most people value their lives highly — unless absolutely necessary, no one is willing to enter high-difficulty dungeons.” Yuri set down his pen and said to Shen Mo and Bai Youwei, “Natasha and I have been there twice, but the first time was extremely rushed, and we didn’t fully explore the map. The second time, the captain had an accident, and everyone was in a daze through to the end — the score we managed was on the low side. So honestly… we don’t have a very thorough understanding of Devil’s Island as a whole.”

Yuri stared at his own map in silence for a moment, then spoke again: “Perhaps we really shouldn’t go back.”

Bai Youwei asked, “Would breaking the record on another dungeon be more likely than on Devil’s Island?”

Yuri slowly shook his head. “Hard to say… There are too many dungeons — we can’t try them all one by one. Our limited energy can only go toward a limited number of dungeons. You build experience through repeated runs, and use that experience to push your score higher.”

Like a seasoned worker who knows where every trap is, where every enemy lurks, and what the final boss’s weak points are — run it that way from start to finish, and the score will naturally be high.

Bai Youwei thought for a moment, then asked, “The first time you went to Devil’s Island, were there any casualties?”

Yuri was momentarily taken aback, then shook his head again: “No… that run was lucky, all things considered.”

Bai Youwei thought to herself that casualties must be one of the scoring criteria — if anyone on the team got injured or died, it would lead to a severe deduction.

What she didn’t know was what the bonus criteria were…

Bang!

The outer courtyard gate was suddenly shoved open.

Everyone was mildly startled and turned to look — and there was Ada, sprinting back with a flushed and excited look on his face!

“Weren’t you off gathering intel?” Bai Youwei asked, caught off guard.

Ada said urgently, “A new dungeon just dropped!”

“A new dungeon?” Yuri shot to his feet.

“Queen’s Nest!” Ada said, catching his breath, drenched in sweat. “Loads of people are already heading to the subway station — probably trying to set a record score!”

Yuri stood frozen for a moment, then slowly lowered himself back into his seat. “…No need to rush. Record scores aren’t that easy to claim. A score only counts as the highest on record if no one surpasses it for at least a month.”

“But at least it’s easier than the existing dungeons!” Natasha appeared at the top of the stairs, seemingly out of nowhere, her gaze fixed steadily on Yuri. “Challenging an existing dungeon’s record means competing against the strongest teams of every era. But challenging a new dungeon’s record means we only need to beat whoever’s running it right now!”

Ada looked at Natasha, then at Yuri. “…I’m also leaning toward the new dungeon. I don’t know how strong the past greats were, but I know the teams currently on the leaderboard — and the ones that can genuinely compete with us number fewer than ten.”

Yuri said nothing, his brow furrowed. He still felt uneasy about it.

Shen Mo looked around at everyone and spoke. “Let’s wait a bit. Since those other teams have already gone in, their scores should come out soon. A high score means the dungeon difficulty is high; a low score means it’s low. Either way though… we’re going to have to run it eventually — after all, clearing every dungeon is what earns us a spot to go to the world above.”

Bai Youwei watched them all, weighing the options in her own mind: go to Devil’s Island, where high scores are easier to earn? Or venture into the completely unknown Queen’s Nest?

—