Beating Instances through Words Left by the Dead

Chapter 131: Chapter 123: Erosion from the Abyss

A wish regained should have been a pleasant surprise, but when this wish was burdened with a 24-hour time limit, it became a burden for Wu Chang instead.

As someone with choice paralysis, having more than three options was an ordeal for him, and such an open-ended choice was even more perplexing.

Compared to a wish, he would rather receive one of the three choices of rewards after clearing an S-Level dungeon.

The reward didn’t even define a range, and the difficulty of the wish was also vague.

What does ”the difficulty level cannot exceed the upper limit of a B-Level dungeon in the Desolate Realm” mean? Is it an ordinary person’s B-Level dungeon in the Desolate Realm, or Wu Chang’s B-Level dungeon in the Desolate Realm?

He had once gotten an S-Level item from Moonlight Sanatorium, and if he wished according to that upper limit, even if a great miracle resurrected, it might have to die again.

Wu Chang had one good trait: he didn’t struggle with himself. Since it was hard to choose, he decided not to choose for now.

Besides the Stone of Miracles, there were other rewards waiting for him.

That was the Blood-Colored Will of the Holy Knight.

The Blood-Colored Will of the Holy Knight gave him a 1-point increase in Life, 1 point in Will, and a 2-point increase in Inspiration. Besides, he also unearthed the weapon of the Holy Knight—a two-handed long-handled warhammer.

「Item Name: Light of Steadfastness」

「Artifact Level: B」

「Item Skills: Fearless」

「Skill Description: When equipped with the Light of Steadfastness, Will Attribute increases by 30%, and resistance to Spiritual System abilities increases by 25%. When your Will exceeds 50 points, you’ll feel no weight when using the Light of Steadfastness.」

「Item Skills: Determined Charge」

「Skill Description: Swing the warhammer to charge at the target, causing a brief stun and massive Holy Light Attribute damage. After the charge is initiated, all obstacles along the way are destroyed. The charging distance and damage are influenced by the Will Attribute.」

「Note: Cunning villain, I can let you run 39 meters first!」

The Light of Steadfastness is a rare Will-specialized weapon, and to unleash its full strength, a high amount of Will must be accumulated.

However, in the Abyss First Layer dungeon, Will rarely translates into combat strength in most situations.

To avoid Inspiration Runaway, players often add one point to Will every other level, and very few players are willing to invest too much in this attribute.

Many attribute point guides recommend that the optimal allocation is to have the Will Attribute in the 20 to 25 range when the character reaches Level 30.

Attribute Points are extremely precious and hard to redistribute, meaning that once this weapon is used, there’s no turning back, and one can only keep going down the path of accumulating Will.

What’s more absurd is that this Light of Steadfastness is nearly two meters long, with a hammerhead as large as an 18L water barrel, made of solid metal.

If one doesn’t meet its Will requirement, even with the strength of a thousand pounds in both arms, the most it could do is smash walls; using it as a weapon to charge is just a dream.

For others, this Light of Steadfastness would be a useless burdensome item that can’t sell well either.

But for Wu Chang, it’s like receiving a pillow when you’re sleepy.

Erin specializes in Energy and Will and happens to lack a weapon, so the Light of Steadfastness is tailored for her.

Unfortunately, in Wu Chang’s original plan, he intended to find a banner or a longsword to serve as Erin’s weapon. After all, as a Saintess who had been burned by fire, using these two types of weapons might have given extra bonuses.

After accepting the rewards, Wu Chang followed Sword Star and others to deal with the after-effects the Erosion Dungeon had on Yifu City.

As Wu Chang and others responded promptly and resolved the situation swiftly, the casualties from the Erosion Dungeon were not severe, and the Management Bureau quickly completed the tally.

A total of 875 people died in this Erosion Dungeon.

This number was so small that when reported to the Management Bureau’s higher-ups, they thought a zero was missing.

Each time a B-Level dungeon loses control, it can be deemed a major disaster. Even with a swift response, the casualty count is rarely below three thousand, and this is with some precautions.

The sudden Erosion Dungeons that Wanghai City experienced often resulted in casualties exceeding ten thousand.

Not to mention not long ago, the uncontrolled B-Level dungeon in Sakura Island resulted in over thirty thousand deaths and disappearances, which is the number reported publicly; the reality is much worse.

Even considering some human negligence, it underscores the destructive potential of unchecked dungeons.

Upon confirming no errors in the report, the Management Bureau awarded a B-Level feat to the main team members, Shi Ning, Sword Star, and Wu Chang, and a C-Level feat to the other participating Management Bureau members.

The value of a feat can approximately be converted into items of the same level, including internal specialties of the Management Bureau that are not exchanged externally.

The real value of a B-Level feat is half a tier higher than a regular B-Level item.

Wu Chang originally thought that after the Erosion Dungeon was over, the tallying of casualties, dealing with ordinary people whose Will had collapsed, and maintaining city order were the entirety of the impact of the Erosion Dungeon.

But actually walking in the eroded Wanghai City, he realized that what he previously imagined was just the beginning.

The harm the Erosion Dungeon inflicted on reality was far greater than he imagined.

The essence of uncontrolled dungeon erosion is the fusion of space fragments where the dungeon is located with Blue Star.

Solving the boss in an Erosion Dungeon only harmlessly removes that extra space fragment, but the additional space will not just disappear.

For instance, at the west gate of Wanghai University, the Orange Hotel’s lobby had an extra area after the dungeon, retaining its previous setup as a restaurant.

Yet the citizens of Wanghai City passing by showed no confusion about it. Two Wanghai University students passing by Wu Chang were even discussing whether to try dining at this newly opened restaurant for dinner.

The impact brought by the Orange Hotel was minor; the Dream Plaza, visited by Wu Chang and Sword Star, was intact, forcefully inserted into the center of Peace District’s commercial walking street.

The entire street had its length inexplicably doubled; a previously compact commercial street suddenly became circular, but the citizens likewise found nothing unusual.

While walking through Dream Plaza, some people would subconsciously shout out their wishes, causing laughter among pedestrians.

This change affected not only citizens of the Peace District under the Erosion Dungeon’s coverage but also those who were not encircled by it.

Seeing everything back to normal in Wanghai City, Wu Chang knew the city would never return to its former state.

Not just Wanghai City, but the entire Blue Star.

He felt a touch of fear, a fear for Blue Star’s future.

Every Erosion Dungeon is not just a fusion of two spaces; it’s a fusion of two planes’ rules.

This fusion will directly modify the cognition of humanity on Blue Star, making sudden changes seem entirely reasonable.

From the current situation, the players of the Abyssal Game do not seem affected by this cognitive modification.

But what if the uncontrolled dungeon comes from the Abyss Second Layer, the Third Layer, or even the Fourth Layer?

Will the players of the Desolate Realm remain unaffected?

What’s more frightening is the thought that, before entering the Abyssal Game, the common knowledge and understanding of the world for everyone might have already been tampered with countless times?

He suddenly remembered that before he awakened his Exorcism Ability, he would occasionally see on social media claims that someone had awakened a special ability somewhere.

Are special abilities supposed to appear on Blue Star?

What should Blue Star have originally looked like, and what will it become?

Wu Chang felt somewhat lost.

Blue Star is the reality he acknowledges, where his understanding of the world, the way he perceives things, and his self-awareness were formed step by step through his experiences on Blue Star and the knowledge he acquired.

But now he’s being told that perhaps the things he remembers are not his own insights but rather frequently altered, and the things he firmly believes in might not exist.

This self-doubt is hard for him to accept.

Just when he thought he had peered into the true nature of the Erosion Dungeon, a mumbled sentence from Shi Ning brought a cold sweat to his back.

”Fortunately, the citizens of Yifu City have already been devoured by the great miracle, becoming empty shells. Otherwise, resettling these people would have taken a considerable effort.”