Newbie's Quest: Awaiting Challenge

Ethan Walker pressed pause and enlarged the screen, keen to discern the number of players entering the instance. Alongside Captain Tess Johnson, there were Vice Captain Alex Johnson, two male team members, and one female team member, making a total of five.

Similar to Ethan's simulation, upon entering Hamilton Middle School, the first NPC they encountered was Mr. Johnson, the security guard. After Mr. Johnson recounted three bizarre cases of death, Tess suggested they take turns on duty for the night. Mr. Johnson, pleased with being relieved of duty, happily left with his enamel jar.

Tess then led the team into the teaching building. The first NPC they met inside was a girl named Jane, who served as a guide, much like Mr. Johnson, briefing them on the story background. Being an A-level instance, the monsters weren't too challenging. After dealing with two headless wraiths, the team smoothly reached the first scene of the mystery - Class 5B, where the first incident occurred according to Mr. Johnson.

The boss of the 5B classroom scene was Mr. Davis, the teacher who had jumped to his death. As the first boss, he wasn't very strong and was swiftly defeated by one of the male team members.

The second scene was a storage room at the end of a corridor, guarded by the boss Frank, the security guard. Frank's terrifying appearance scared the female team member, which seemed to enrage the monster. However, it was eventually subdued by the combined efforts of Alex and Tess.

The third scene was on the school's rooftop. All five had survived until the final challenge, and if they overcame it, they could leave with their rewards. After a brief interaction with Jane, she revealed that the student Parker had jumped to her death from there. Tess deduced that Parker was likely the final boss and they just had to wait for the triggering moment.

However, something went wrong, and the world turned upside down, sending them plummeting from the rooftop to a hidden corridor. This corridor was like a bizarre maze, with purple and red hues and black patterns on the walls resembling living eyes. Apart from Tess and Alex, who were barely holding up, the other three members knelt in agony.

A hidden boss suddenly appeared and decapitated one team member, quickly claiming the lives of the other two before they could react. Losing three members in an instant left Tess and Alex unprepared. This boss was not only incredibly fast but could also hide within the eyes of the walls, rendering them powerless.

The video ended there, with the progress bar reaching its conclusion. Ethan sought to view more but found it was the end of the footage.

"What happened next?" he asked Alex.

Alex, with a cup of coffee in hand, sat opposite Ethan, his expression grim. Recalling the incident, even the typically composed Alex showed signs of distress.

"The camera was destroyed, so what happened next wasn't recorded. Although I was there, I couldn't differentiate between reality and illusion. I can only tell you what I remember."

Alex recounted how he and Tess had exhausted all their equipment trying to combat the elusive hidden boss. Both experienced players harbored no illusions and realized the corridor was a high-difficulty side quest. The boss was far beyond their level, making it impossible to confront.

Both were prepared for the likelihood of not surviving, yet each hoped the other would make it. Alex threw all his stamina potions to Tess, and Tess took a more drastic measure. She used a teleportation card, forcibly sending Alex out of the instance.

The Transfer Card, a rare purple card, holds the power to forcibly extract a critically injured player from an instance. The Minque Guild possesses two such cards, kept with the leaders of their first and second teams, reserved for life-and-death moments to at least save the team leader's life.

Yet, Captain Tess Johnson made a selfless choice to rescue her teammate, bequeathing her chance of survival to Alex Johnson. When Alex was transported out, he was in a state of unconsciousness. After being rushed to the hospital, it took 48 hours of continuous emergency treatment and several more days before he regained consciousness.

Surviving such a close brush with death, Alex began assembling a new team for another attempt at the Hamilton instance. It was at this juncture that Ethan Walker made a dramatic entrance, immediately catching Alex's attention as the ideal candidate.

"Ethan," Alex said, showing a hint of weariness away from the media glare, "let me be frank. The Hamilton instance has cast a huge psychological shadow over our guild. We need to rescue Tess, but also, we need to break this shadow, or our guild will disintegrate."

Susan Harper and Emily Johnson, standing beside him, remained silent, their expressions equally grave.

"Reorganizing a team for instance is incredibly challenging," Alex continued. "During the Hamilton live broadcast, everyone witnessed the demise of our teammates. I'm determined to re-enter the instance, and Emily will join me. Susan will stay outside to assist the guild leader with maintaining the guild's operations."

"Vice Captain," Susan suddenly stood upright, disbelief written across her face, "you never mentioned this plan to me. Weren't we set to enter together, finding one or two more members for the team?"

Alex pondered for a moment. "I've discussed it with the guild leader, and we can't risk all our key members."

"Then let Emily assist the guild leader, and I'll enter the instance," Susan suggested.

"That's out of the question!" Emily immediately objected. "Susan, you know I'm only good at fighting!"

Before Susan could respond, Ethan nodded in agreement. "I concur with Emily."

"Your agreement is not needed here!" Emily snapped, irritated.

Sensing the tension, Ethan, always the merciless instance machine, scratched his cheek and turned to the others. "How about we stop the emotional talk for a moment? Let me say something." Alex calmed down. "Go ahead."

"First, can we re-enter an instance that failed?" Ethan asked.

Alex explained that in the White Tower, all instances disappear automatically only after successful completion. If a team fails, the instance closes and awaits the next group of players.

"Doesn't the instance refresh after a failure? I mean, even if you want to retrieve the bodies..."

"The refresh rate for hidden branches is much slower," Alex replied.

"Is there evidence for that?"

"We've found experience posts on forums and even contacted the author. He said he entered the same hidden branch of an instance twice and found a ring he accidentally dropped during his first attempt." "Alright, but assuming we find the bodies, how do we take them out of the instance? From my experience, only surviving players can leave."

"Don't worry, we've prepared the necessary tools for that," Alex reassured him.

Having asked all his questions, Ethan closed his eyes and wrapped himself in a blanket. "Then I have no issues."

"If there's anything you need..."

"What I need," Ethan's face half-covered by the blanket, "is to sleep for a very long time."

After saying this, he fell silent. He slept for a full day and night, unaware of how he arrived at the Minque Guild. When he awoke, the clock showed four in the morning. Emily was asleep in a bed a few steps away. Ethan got out of bed, took a few steps, and mercilessly pulled off Emily's blanket. "Get up, get up! Call everyone, we're going down to the instance!"