Newbie's Quest: Awaiting Challenge
Chapter 32: Not Increasing the Difficulty

Emily Johnson expertly fueled the flames, careful to draw attention. She specifically tagged the main and deputy captains of the Emerald Tempest Guild in her post.

Half a minute passed without a reply from either, emboldening the others to gradually start chiming in.

The sound of a knock on the door interrupted them, and Emily invited them in with a simple "Enter." The door creaked open, revealing Emma Anderson's head peeking around it. "Is Emily up yet? Alex asked me to show you the revised training schedule for the second team. I've made the adjustments," Emma Anderson said.

"Sure, let's have a look."

They stepped out into the hallway and sat down on a couch. Emily Johnson inquired if Tess had seen Ethan Walker's live stream.

"I did... I caught it early this morning," Emma Anderson hesitated, "He was using Emerald Tempest's markers, right? Should we... talk to Ethan about it?"

While flipping through the training schedule, Emily's tone was mysterious. "Your Ethan knows what he's doing."

"Huh?" Tess, quick-witted as she was, instantly understood the underlying scheme. It was clear that Ethan Walker and Emily had conspired to cause trouble.

"So... will Emerald Tempest retaliate against Ethan?" she asked, concerned.

Emily scoffed disdainfully. "Ethan, that thorn in the side? He's more likely to be the one stirring trouble than being targeted."

Besides, his provocation was intentional.

"Don't worry, Emerald Tempest won't make a move this time. 'Ignorance is bliss,' after all."

Meanwhile, dissatisfaction among the Emerald Tempest Guild members was growing. They were ready to descend upon Area 179 at Henrik Jensen's command. But Jensen didn't react as they expected. "Quiet, all of you!"

With his considerable prestige within the team and guild, a stern command from Henrik was enough to silence everyone.

"Nobody acts without orders."

Emily was right. Despite being provoked by Ethan, Emerald Tempest didn't dare act recklessly. The markers were a sensitive topic, an unspoken rule between guilds and players, but that didn't make it justifiable.

No one, no guild could claim dungeons as their private property. Even if someone told Ethan that it was Emerald Tempest's marker, he had a valid argument. Who decreed that only Emerald Tempest members could open it? If it were a dispute between guilds, it would be manageable. But with Ethan acting alone, Emerald Tempest sending a group to confront him would clearly seem like bullying.

Prestigious guilds needed to seek victory honorably, taking their public image into account. A dip in fan support or a tarnished reputation could significantly impact guild operations. The higher-ups would have questions. Henrik, considering the bigger picture, was reluctant to act. But his team members couldn't swallow their pride.

"Captain, are we just going to let him run wild on our turf?"

"Yeah, Captain, it makes our guild look weak."

"That's right, that's right."

The murmurs among the team members rose again, but Isabella Martínez inhaled deeply.

"Calm down! Ethan opened a live stream just waiting for you to lose your temper and confront him. There are almost a million viewers in his stream. Do you want them to tear our guild apart?"

With the deputy captain's explanation, the team members understood and fell silent.

"This Ethan Walker is too sly..." someone muttered under their breath.

James Mitchell, standing at the outskirts of the group, was among the few who understood why Ethan was behaving this way. No wonder Ethan had warned him to brace for criticism...

Whether Ethan's actions were a ploy to hire people or simply to trouble Henrik Jensen, James found a bit of solace. But could Ethan really get away with it unscathed?

At this moment, Ethan had already entered the first floor of the White Tower, preparing to start his dungeon run. Many star players enjoyed interacting with their live stream audience before diving into dungeons, but Ethan was not fond of such practices. If not for the purpose of irking the Emerald Tempest members, he wouldn't have uttered a word.

Now that his goal was achieved, Ethan remained silent, sparing with his words as if they were gold. He had already rehearsed today's dungeon in his mind. After coordinating with Emily Johnson, it was already past one in the morning. Ethan quickly went to sleep, entering the dungeon in his dreams, and simulated it dozens of times.

This dungeon was an S-tier, with particularly challenging puzzle elements that drained a lot of energy. Frustrated with the final password lock, Ethan threw the wooden chest to the ground in defeat, the inflatable hammer in his hand dropping in frustration.

Click.

The lock opened.

Sitting on the ground, Ethan was dumbfounded. Could this really work? It was as if he had unlocked the door to a new world, and his thought process suddenly became clear. After simulating it four or five more times and ensuring everything was perfect, he set out.

Now, with his hand hovering over the "Enter" button, his wristband vibrated twice, signaling a message. He switched the live stream screen to the message interface.

It was from Emily Johnson.

"Hey Ethan, the Emerald Tempest folks are all watching your stream. Don't just focus on slaying the boss, throw in a few taunts, give them a taste of their own medicine!"

Ethan thought it made sense. He pressed the button decisively, and the surrounding virtual cubes began to glow faintly. His consciousness dipped, and the scene abruptly changed.

He found himself in a massive labyrinth named "Alice's Horrifying Corridor." It appeared to be a series of long, art-filled corridors, with walls displaying abstract paintings at intervals. Each painting was bold and intense in color, featuring distorted human figures, deformed animals, mysterious symbols, and words written in blood.

A casual glance at these paintings could induce discomfort, and a prolonged gaze seemed to possess a peculiar magic, pulling the viewer into the world within the painting.

As the dungeon began, the live stream audience got a clear view of the scene.

"What is this? An art exhibition?"

"Looks like a maze. Didn't you see the three paths at the entrance?"

"What are those artistic masterpieces? They look disgusting."

"Which path should he take? Is only one correct?"

"Where's the NPC?"

"Maybe he should check the difficulty of the dungeon first."

Ethan walked towards a long table to his right, covered in blue velvet cloth. Underneath was a lottery machine.

"Welcome, welcome! Welcome, welcome!"

This time, Ethan couldn't be bothered to dismantle the wires, letting the bizarre, sharp mechanical voice finish its spiel. The sound echoed through the empty corridors, making the surroundings feel even more vast and chilling. The lottery machine slowly came to a stop, and an orange ball rolled out from the exit, marked with the letter 'S'.

"A single one?"

"Just one."

"Only S-tier?"

"Didn't see three balls rolling out, kind of unaccustomed to it."

"Don't get misled by Ethan Walker, folks! S-tier dungeons aren't something you can breeze through lying down!" "Yeah, didn't Area 685 launch an S-tier dungeon yesterday, and only two people survived?"

"The Association should ban newcomers from watching Ethan's dungeon runs; they're getting the wrong idea."

"Seriously, I saw a newbie on the forum the other day asking if they could tackle a 35 dungeon with just two attempts under their belt, thinking they're Ethan Walker or something."

"Ethan's diving straight into the Emerald Tempest's marked dungeon, despite its S-tier difficulty. Can he really handle it?"

"I doubt it. There are three forks at the entrance; it looks like a dungeon designed for three people."

As the chat was ablaze with discussion, Ethan had also completed his preparations.

"Ahem," he announced, holding a graffiti camera he had commandeered, "Today's dungeon is S-tier, as you've all seen. It's not going to be easy."

Members of the Emerald Tempest Guild were also watching Ethan's stream, scrutinizing his every move.

"Knows it's tough but still doesn't back out," sneered one of the team members, "Even if we sent our top team to this dungeon, it would take at least three hours!"

No sooner had the team member spoken than Ethan's voice came through the speaker.

"This time we agreed not to push too hard. How about this, I'll wrap it up in 30 minutes."