Newbie's Quest: Awaiting Challenge
Chapter 45: A Special Place

In his dream, Ethan Walker arrived at the Seventh Hospital.

Unsurprisingly, this was his next instance. What puzzled Ethan, however, was that this place bore no resemblance to a typical instance.

The small white building before him radiated warmth and brightness. Vibrant ivy climbed its walls, brimming with life. Children frolicked in front of the hospital's grassy areas, and elderly patients in hospital gowns sat in wheelchairs, gently pushed along by young nurses.

This scene was far removed from anything eerie, horrific, or bizarre.

"How could this be an instance?" Ethan pondered, standing outside the front gate. A red ball bounced on the ground, rolling through the gate's gap and landing in his hands.

A little girl with pigtail braids hurried over, reaching her small hand through the fence.

"Sir, that's my ball, thank you," she said.

As Ethan grasped the ball, feeling the sun's warmth lingering on its rough surface, he handed it back to the girl.

The moment her tender fingers touched the ball, the scene abruptly shifted, like a film with editing errors, flickering twice.

The cozy afternoon vanished, replaced by a bleak, color-drained world. The ivy withered and died instantaneously, slicing through the walls like congealed blood vessels. Doctors and patients were nowhere to be seen, and the playing children had disappeared.

Only the girl remained, her hand now a withered claw gripping Ethan's wrist tightly.

Her facial features were grotesquely misplaced, growing where they shouldn't.

"Outsider," her mouth, oddly situated where her left eye should have been, uttered, "You shouldn't be here. Leave!"

The word "leave" reverberated through the space, ruffling Ethan's hair, yet he stood unflinching.

He faintly recalled hearing this phrase before.

"What's up," Ethan said, surprisingly calm, "do I need to buy a ticket to enter this place?"

As soon as he finished his question, the girl vanished, leaving only a purplish bruise on his wrist.

Ethan rubbed it with his other hand. The mark didn't fade, confirming its reality.

Unperturbed and undaunted, he continued with his intended task.

He was already here; it was time to begin the simulation.

...

The next morning, Emily Johnson rose early and went to knock on the transportation room's door.

Upon opening the door, she found Ethan already awake, packing his belongings.

"Where are you headed?" she asked.

"Into the instance. I'm ready," he replied.

"Forget it, Ethan," Emily pushed aside his belongings, "Even Iron Man can't train like this. It's not even been 24 hours, and you're heading into another instance?" "What's the issue? I once ran seventy loops for your Avalon Guild without any trouble."

"Then try walking a few steps."

"Fine." Ethan stood up, supporting himself with one hand. Just two steps in, he began to wobble, pausing to hold his forehead.

"Does your Avalon Guild's transportation room have a vibration mode? Fancy."

"What nonsense are you spouting? Look at your sleep hours these past few days. Keep this up, and instead of staying with Avalon Guild, you'll end up in a hospital." Ethan sat back down, irritably tousling his hair into a mess.

"I can't stand doing nothing; it makes me anxious."

"Looking for something to do? No problem, I'll take you out."

Emily's suggestion of "going out to play" initially led Ethan to believe he'd be roped into more unpaid labor for Avalon Guild.

To his surprise, she took him to a place he'd never been before.

"This is Blue Tower," they both donned sunglasses and hats, covering their faces thoroughly, as Emily excitedly explained, "Unlike White Tower, Blue Tower is funded by the major guilds and serves as an exclusive arena for players to compete."

Ethan stood on the second-floor balcony, the cheers and the vast ring below hardly seemed like a place for serious competition.

"What are the rules?" he asked.

"There are none. Knock your opponent off the platform, and you win."

A match was underway in the ring - a mismatched pair, a robust man and a slender woman. The crowd anticipated the man's victory.

Yet, the woman executed a chokehold that nearly snapped the man's neck, stopped only by the referee's intervention.

"After all, it's guild-sponsored," Emily noted, "We try to avoid fatalities, or it gets hard to manage."

"Oh, anyone can join?" Ethan inquired.

"Absolutely. The main attraction here is the freedom to step into the ring, regardless of age or gender, to spar a few moves."

As Emily spoke, her gaze shifted aside, nearly betraying their identities in surprise.

"What are you doing!"

Ethan Walker was already stepping onto the railing, ready to leap down, when Emily Johnson caught him, baffled by his actions. "Why not? Didn't you say anyone could join in?"

"You... you definitely can't," Emily quickly explained in a hushed voice, "I brought you here to relax, not to get even more exhausted!"

"Then you go down. Their fighting is so dull it's putting me to sleep."

"Of course I can't either! Team players are not allowed to compete in Blue Tower! It's against the rules."

Ethan grew discontent.

"Not allowed this, not allowed that, how boring. Let's go."

"Hey, wait," Emily suddenly held him back, "This guy has started an unlimited challenge!"

Ethan's ears perked up at this, and he returned to watch the spectacle.

He saw a lean, tall young man standing in the center of the ring, not very old, with a timid expression on his face, occasionally glancing towards a certain spot below the stage. Following Ethan's gaze, there stood a person in a duckbill cap, likely a team player like Emily, trying to conceal their identity.

The young man on the stage seemed to have some reputation, as murmurs began to rise around them.

"Isn't that Noah Williams from 'Eclipse Vanguard"?"

"The cast-off?"

"I heard his father was a high-ranking official in Eclipse Vanguard, but he passed away recently."

"Fallen from grace? No wonder he's here..."

"He's doing an unlimited challenge? Isn't that basically fighting to the death?"

An unlimited challenge, as the name suggests, meant a player had to face a succession of challengers, continuing until no one else stepped up.

Compared to regular matches, players who opted for this format could earn significant rewards, and even a chance to join a major guild.

However, the downside was clear. Once started, the player couldn't forfeit voluntarily or take a passive approach. They had to continue until they were defeated or literally collapsed from exhaustion. Emily also recognized the person on the stage.

"Holy smokes, Noah Williams? What's he doing here?"

"How so? Is he that good?" Ethan asked, clueless.

"Oh man, he used to be the prodigy of Eclipse Vanguard! Extremely strong in combat, almost unbeatable. Why would he come here? And to do an unlimited challenge? Literally fighting to the death..." That's what Emily said.

An unlimited challenge was one thing for those with weaker abilities, but the stronger ones suffered more.

Many powerful players, disbelieving in their potential defeat, had taken on unlimited challenges, only to meet with dire consequences without exception. "This is going to be tough..."

Soon, the first challenger stepped onto the stage, a man as massive as a small mountain.

The moment his feet hit the platform, it trembled, and Noah Williams involuntarily shrank his neck a little.

Ethan's brows furrowed.

"Can he really win?"