Chapter 42: Epic Difficulty

Xia Yuwei and the others looked at Blazing Wine and Clear Breeze with curiosity. They had no idea who this person was or how he could speak to Lu Yang in such a manner.

"May I ask who you are?" Zhang Zibo stepped forward to ask on behalf of Xia Yuwei.

Blazing Wine and Clear Breeze replied, "A friend of Lu Yang."

This answer was as good as nothing, yet it also indicated that Blazing Wine and Clear Breeze had no intention of revealing his identity.

Zhang Zibo wanted to ask more, but Lu Yang did not give him the chance.

"Everyone, do a final check on your equipment. If there are no issues, follow me," Lu Yang said.

Blazing Wine and Clear Breeze asked, "Do I need to bring anything else?"

Lu Yang answered, "You don't need to. Your defense is already over 100. With you and Black Armor, clearing this dungeon should not be a problem."

"Of course it won't be a problem. Clearing it was hardly difficult even when my defense was at 80, let alone now with over 100 defense," Blazing Wine and Clear Breeze said with absolute confidence.

Lu Yang smiled without saying anything, waved to everyone, and said, "Let's go."

Xia Yuwei, Zhang Zibo, and the others nodded, following Lu Yang out of Saint Gall City. After walking for about twenty minutes, the group arrived at a dense patch of woodland—the Level 3 wild monster area, the Kobold Camp.

Right at the center of the camp stood a tall mountain, and nestled in a cave on the side of the mountain was the most renowned 20-man dungeon map: the Cave of Death.

At this moment, hundreds of players had already gathered at the entrance of the Cave of Death, mostly in groups of twenty, who had also come to run the dungeon.

"There weren't this many people yesterday. Who would have thought there'd be so many players here today?"

"Naturally. In three days, many top players must have reached Level 3. If they want to get equipment, coming to the dungeon is their only option."

Although most bosses in the normal-difficulty Cave of Death only dropped white baseline equipment and were notoriously difficult to clear, players facing the predicament of having no gear after leveling up had no choice but to try their luck in the dungeons.

Currently, there were a total of eight Level 3 dungeons open around Saint Gall City. According to online guides, the Cave of Death was the easiest to clear and had the lowest requirements for players. However, with four bosses per dungeon and each boss dropping only a single piece of equipment, one could easily imagine the difficulty of obtaining gear for a twenty-person raid group.

"Mage with 25 spell damage, looking for a group!"

"Archer with 29 damage, knows mechanics and follows orders, any party taking me?"

Seeing Lu Yang's group approach, many solo players stepped forward to inquire.

"Boss, invite me!"

"Bro, do you still need people in your party?"

Blazing Wine and Clear Breeze stepped forward to handle them, saying, "Sorry, the group is full. Everyone, please disperse."

The surrounding players could only leave in disappointment.

"Wait for me here; I'll open the dungeon," Lu Yang said.

He walked up to a glowing, person-height cylindrical pillar near the entrance of the Cave of Death and reached out to touch it.

System Prompt: You have discovered a strange cave in this forest, emanating an aura of death. It is rumored that bizarre noises often echo from within. Do you wish to enter and investigate?

Lu Yang: "Yes."

System Prompt: You have chosen to enter the dungeon Cave of Death. Please select the difficulty: Normal, Hard, Expert, Epic.

Lu Yang: "Epic."

System Prompt: Do you confirm Epic difficulty?

"Yes."

Selecting Epic difficulty once more, Lu Yang led Xia Yuwei and the others into the dungeon. A flash of white light later, Lu Yang appeared inside a gloomy cave. The flickering torchlight on the walls on either side sent shivers through anyone's heart.

System Prompt: You have entered the Cave of Death. Dungeon difficulty: Epic!

Xia Yuwei and the others also saw this notification and looked at each other in shock.

"How could it be Epic?"

"Dungeon Leader Lu Yang, you must have chosen the wrong one. How could it be Epic difficulty?"

"That's right, we couldn't even clear Normal difficulty." Xia Yuwei's subordinates grew anxious.

Xia Yuwei looked at Lu Yang, only to find his expression completely calm. How could an expert like Lu Yang make such a low-level mistake? Could it be that Lu Yang intentionally chose Epic difficulty? But on what grounds?

The primary dungeons in *Second World* featured four tiers. Across these four tiers, from Normal to Epic, the difficulty of the NPCs increased by 30% per tier. This meant an Epic dungeon was 2.2 times harder than a Normal dungeon.

"Everyone, calm down. I didn't choose the wrong one," Lu Yang said. "It's just Epic difficulty; I have my own ways to lead you through it."

"Who do you think you are? Even giants like Xiong Ba and Cumu don't dare challenge this dungeon. What gives you the right to say you can lead us through? Do you really think being first on the level leaderboard makes you invincible?" Zheng远 sneered mockingly.

"Is he a friend of yours?" Seeing Zheng Yuan repeatedly provoke Lu Yang, Blazing Wine and Clear Breeze could not help but speak up.

"Of course not," Lu Yang replied.

"If anyone in our guild dared to question the raid leader like that, they'd have been kicked out long ago instead of being allowed to spout so much nonsense. You really have a soft temper," Blazing Wine and Clear Breeze remarked.

Blazing Wine was no fool. The fact that Lu Yang could claim the top spot on the leaderboard and acquire so much top-tier gear on the very first day already proved his extraordinary capability. Since he dared to choose Epic difficulty, he undoubtedly had the confidence to clear it.

He never expected that what was supposed to be an ordinary dungeon run would yield such significant side benefits.

"Who the hell are you? What business is this of yours? Where did you crawl out from to act all high and mighty here?" Furious, Zheng Yuan pointed at Blazing Wine and Clear Breeze with a distorted expression.

Blazing Wine and Clear Breeze replied calmly, "I happen to be the Vice President of the Purple Gold Dynasty Guild, and Cumu's premier Defense Warrior, Blazing Wine and Clear Breeze. Any problem with that?"

"You're the Vice President of Purple Gold Dynasty..." Zheng Yuan was dumbstruck.

Zhang Zibo was dumbstruck.

Xia Yuwei was even more dumbstruck.

Purple Gold Dynasty—a super guild officially recorded as having sixty thousand members. The vice president of such a massive guild stood beneath one person and above sixty thousand. A single word from him could crush Xia Yuwei's tiny twenty-plus-person Glacier Studio into dust.

Xia Yuwei hurried over to Blazing Wine and Clear Breeze and said, "I'm so sorry, I had no idea you were the Vice President of Purple Gold Dynasty. My subordinate doesn't know any better; please don't take offense."

Blazing Wine and Clear Breeze smiled faintly and said, "It's fine. I'm only here today to act as Lu Yang's hired muscle upon Guild Master Cumu's instructions. Cumu also stated that he fully supports Lu Yang throughout this dungeon. If you lot don't want to run it, I can immediately summon the elite division of Purple Gold Dynasty to take your place."

Xia Yuwei, Blue Feather, and the others stared at Lu Yang in astonishment. They could never have imagined that Cumu's relationship with Lu Yang was this close.

Lu Yang said to Blazing Wine and Clear Breeze, "Thank you."

Thinking that Lu Yang was genuinely about to replace them, Xia Yuwei panicked. The dungeon was opened by Lu Yang, and he was the raid leader; if he wanted to swap them out, Xia Yuwei and her people had zero leverage to resist.

Xia Yuwei quickly spoke up, "Rest assured, Lu Yang, I guarantee Zheng Yuan won't step out of line again. We are more than willing to run the Epic-difficulty dungeon with you."

The gear dropped by Epic dungeons was at worst Bronze and at best Silver. Lu Yang only wanted Mage equipment while all other gear would go to Xia Yuwei and her team—how could Xia Yuwei possibly let this opportunity slip away?

Lu Yang said, "Very well, then let's begin. But I hope this is the last time."

He believed Xia Yuwei wasn't a fool; with him elevating her this much, she ought to understand.

Xia Yuwei felt somewhat humiliated, but she knew she had brought this upon herself by constantly looking down on Lu Yang. Suppressing her temper, she nodded, turned to Zheng Yuan, and warned, "This is the last time, Zheng Yuan. If you dare utter another word, I guarantee there will no longer be a spot for you in this group."

Rebellious and unsatisfied in his heart, Zheng Yuan knew better than to speak further and lowered his head in silence.

Acting as the peacemaker, Zhang Zibo said, "Expert, let's begin. I promise we'll follow your commands to the letter."

Having a fairly decent impression of Zhang Zibo, Lu Yang nodded and said, "Alright, everyone follow me. The initial stretch of this path is completely free of monsters."