With this announcement the server froze for a second before the global chat erupted.
"A new first clear?"
"What is Emyel's Demise?"
"I've seen it before! It's a level 60 dungeon!"
"Someone cleared a level 60 dungeon already? Who is it? What's up with this provocative name?"
"Look at the ranking list! It's SpireX, Occulus, and the others. They have only appeared on the ranking list a while ago but now they suddenly jumped by two levels! It must be them!"
"Damn! Did someone find out who these people are? How can they be unknown?"
"I don't think so. What's going on?"
A sense of mystery engulfed the global chat, which increased everyone's curiosity towards this event. The name of 'The New Number One' spread like a wildfire. Everyone could tell that it this was a provocation towards the established guilds, and obviously also towards Hotpot.
"Daring to mess with Hotpot? Are they mad?"
"Yeah, this has never gone well for anyone in the past."
"Haha, we are about to see a great show!"
All the players were eager to see how the guilds would answer. Although Dream Avenue couldn't firmly cement themselves as the number one guild, there was no one who doubted Hotpot. Even the chaos faction had to begrudgingly accept Hotpot's superiority. They did win the federation tournament after all.
While all eyes were on Hotpot, the friends met in Greypine Tower, full of confusion.
"Who are these people? Why would they challenge us like that? How disrespectful!"
Cyclone was filled with righteous indignation. After the treasure hunt the party had received another boost in their power. Cyclone felt that even if they were outnumbered two to one she would fear no one.
"I'm actually quite excited about their challenge. It has been a bit dull recently!", said Silent Acacia with a grin, prompting Quickstep to nod as well.
"A new dungeon, huh? It's been a while."
"But what is that about meeting in hell mode? Is that a thing?", asked Liam with a frown. He had never heard about Hell Mode before. Was it a new addition by C? Did all dungeons have that? How difficult was it?
The more he thought about it, the more Liam felt his blood boil. Perhaps this Hell Mode could offer new challenges. He was looking forward to it.
While everyone was chatting in excitement, a few of the friends revealed thoughtful expressions, most notably Silver Blade. Liam glanced over at her, asking:
"Silver, you're so quiet, what are you thinking about?"
"I don't know. I feel like something is fishy about that."
"What exactly?", inquired Balm.
"Don't you think it's strange that these people could rise out of nowhere? That seems almost impossible without support."
"Perhaps they have an expert on Liam's level.", commented Cyclone solemnly, but her eyes betrayed some mirth.
"Who knows. These people must have focused solely on levelling, and they must have knowledge about prime locations. Furthermore, they probably didn't farm their equipment by themselves. This sounds like…"
Silver Blade hesitated slightly, prompting Quickstep to complete the sentence:
"...Players specially trained by some organization. Clubs, companies, etc."
Everyone fell silent as a faint pressure spread. Fortune couldn't help but ask:
"I can imagine that some families would be secretly training players. I'm sure yours does so as well, Silver. But why would they reveal themselves now?"
"Is there a need to ask? It must be for the upcoming tournament."
"Really? But does it matter? They can remain hidden and then dazzle everyone during the tournament. The effect might be even better."
"Guys, aren't you forgetting something? Those players are not the only ones fishy."
As Balm said this, everyone furrowed their brows. Radiant Shield turned towards her:
"Care to give us a hint?"
"Didn't C stop announcing the first clears for normal mode dungeons? The hype for dungeons has waned a lot. Why would this suddenly change? How did the hype erupt so fiercely? Isn't this strange?"
Balm's words once again silenced everyone as they pondered these changes. However, it was known that C wasn't some rigid system. It was a highly conscious AI, able to make changes as it saw due. Thus, the players figured that C must be striving to promote the dungeons. Once again, they could only think that the upcoming tournament might be the reason. Apparently, C put a lot of emphasis on it.
The friends felt that the government would soon have to announce the tournament. They couldn't keep the information to themselves or else those who had connections to the chosen ones would have too much of an unfair advantage.
After all, the friends assumed that Liam was a chosen one. Since he knew about the tournament, others would as well.
However, even as the news about the announcement spread through the virtual and the real world like a raging storm, the government remained silent. The discussion online erupted in full. The excitement rose by the second. It reached its peak when Star Energy made an announcement. They set up an astonishing reward of Thirty Million Credits for the group who got the first clear of a hell mode dungeon. On top of that they would invite the group onto a trip to their headquarters.
Star Energy was, as implied by the name, an energy producer active not only on Falva Star. Similar to Dream Avenue's sponsor Bellissio they operated not only on Falva Star and its neighbouring planets, but also in some of the surrounding Star Systems. Even their headquarters were in another star system. This made them a local behemoth. For them thirty million credits were but a dent in their marketing budget. But to the common people it was enough to last for a lifetime. Thus, news spread even faster. Even people who actively avoided reading news about the game couldn't escape.
Liam and his friends were still in the middle of their discussion. Everyone wore brooding expressions, pondering the implications of whatever was going on right now. Cyclone glanced at her friends and couldn't help but snort.
"Hmpf! Look at you. Why so serious? You are creating unnecessary pressure for yourselves. In my opinion it doesn't matter where those players come from. They still can't beat us! Calling themselves 'The New Number One' just because of one lousy achievement? They simply don't know how high the sky is!"
Cyclone raised her chin high. She sounded rather arrogant, but this was exactly what the friends needed right now. The clouds which had been occupying their minds were blowen away and faint smiles formed on their faces. Cyclone was right. It didn't matter where these people came from. What mattered was that they, Hotpot, were the real number one. Indisputable!
At this point it was not only Liam carrying his friends. Everyone was among the top players. They had their own pride. Some unknown upstarts wanted to come and challenge them? Wishful thinking!
As everyone's mood lifted, they had just started to discuss their plans for the upcoming days when the news about the thirty million credits reward hit the server. Instantly everyone became even more eager.
Liam and his friends talked for a while, but they realized that the most important point was to gather information about hell mode first. Thus, they sent available guild members to various dungeons to take a look. Soon, the information came back.
It turned out that hell mode was only available for dungeons above level 50. Contrary to hard mode, which could only be accessed after clearing normal mode, it was explicitly stated that one couldn't enter hell mode after clearing normal mode. For example, 'The New Number One' cleared the level 60 dungeon Emyel's Demise in normal mode and used the announcement to challenge everyone else. However, they couldn't enter the hell mode for Emyel's Demise now. They had to switch to another level 60 dungeon. On top of that, the minimal level for hell mode was increased by 5 levels. A dungeon which could be entered at level 60 for normal mode could only be entered at level 65 for hell mode.
Other than these changes hell mode was obviously more difficult than normal mode, but in what way exactly remained to be seen.
After learning about this the friends weren't intimidated. Instead their excitement rose even higher. It had been a while since they felt this eager to enter a dungeon. However, they were only level 61. There was still quite a gap before they could enter the dungeon.
"You know what this means… it's time for power levelling!"
Silver Blade said this and looked at the faces of her friends. She couldn't help but chuckle. Suddenly much of the excitement waned. Unfortunately, there was no helping it. Due to beating the dungeon, the team of 'The New Number One' had already reached level 62. If the friends wanted to catch up and overtake their new rivals, hard work was necessary.
"Fine, fine. Expert, do you have a plan for us?"
"Of course. Now that we have our flying mounts I know just the place for us to level quickly."