Chapter 50: Causing a Sensation in the World

Korea, Domination Guild.

As the most powerful guild in the Korea region and the one with the furthest public dungeon progression to date, the Domination Guild held a status in Hope World that faintly suggested it might soon become the number one guild globally.

Their strength came from the high-level backing they enjoyed from the upper echelons of the Korea region—a ‘celebrity’ guild carefully crafted by Korea’s authorities on the surface.

At this moment, inside a secret conference room at the Domination Guild’s base, several high-ranking Korea officials were gathered around, watching footage of the Domination Guild elite team exploring the dungeon [Abyssal Sacrifice] via holographic projection.

The battle inside was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

Thanks to their prior experience, the Domination Guild team smoothly and quickly took down the first-floor boss.

Clear time: 59 minutes and 36 seconds.

Finishing within an hour was a major breakthrough—more than ten to twenty minutes faster than the clear times of other known global guilds.

“Excellent! Completed in under an hour!”

“Well done, Domination Guild.”

“These young people are outstanding—they’ll surely become generals in the future.”

“Indeed, all of them are exceptional. But… the news on the forums from the China region keeps making me uneasy.”

“Hahaha, Mr. Kim, there’s no need to worry. That so-called ‘90% dungeon exploration in 19 minutes’ thing is pure fantasy. Clearly, it’s the China region faking data.”

“Exactly. China’s behavior is a global joke. As for that so-called Lone Ranger player, he’s definitely just a cover for some secret operation they’re pulling off behind the scenes. Either way, as long as we finish our objective, we’re set. This dungeon’s first kill belongs to us!”

“Korea shall lead the world!”

“Long live Korea!”

Everyone burst into excited cheers.

But just then, the elite players of the Domination Guild were dumbfounded.

A grand global system announcement resounded, even echoing into the meeting room through the holographic projection:

“Ding! Global System Announcement (World): Congratulations to [Lone Ranger Squad] (China Region) for successfully defeating the boss Dark Elf and claiming the world-first kill of the dungeon [Abyssal Sacrifice]!”

“Ding! Global System Announcement (World): Congratulations to [Lone Ranger Squad] (China Region) for obtaining the dungeon first-kill reward: Guild Founding Token x1!”

“Ding!…”

“Ding!…”

“Ding!…”

The world-class announcements rang out three times in a row.

Everyone in the Domination Guild was instantly dumbfounded. They had just been celebrating a record-breaking run—and now someone had already cleared the whole dungeon?!

“Ah si ba*! How is this possible?!”

“Those damn China people! How could they possibly clear the dungeon so quickly?! I don’t believe it. I just don’t!!!”

The Korean official clutched his temples, his face as dark as water. He had sensed something was off earlier, but he hadn’t expected it to erupt into something this explosive.

“Investigate! Collect every bit of information on the Lone Ranger! The Chinese people have played a brilliant hand!”

…

In fact, it wasn’t just Korea.

At that moment, intelligence departments across all regional servers were scrambling to uncover any details about Lone Ranger.

In this post-apocalyptic world, someone as powerful as Lone Ranger wielded unimaginable influence—he could potentially determine the fate of a nation. At least, that was the prediction of the World Alliance Organization.

After all, the full extent of how Hope World could manifest human power was still unknown.

If it reached the level of a C7-grade thermal weapon, then all speculation would become reality.

The strongest weapon of the last century—nuclear weapons—had a standard classification of C7.

A self-aware C7-grade entity was even more terrifying than a nuclear bomb in terms of deterrence. Controlling the rise and fall of a nation wouldn’t just be empty talk.

…

However, all efforts came up empty.

Without direct access to Hope World, no one could obtain any personal information on this individual—including the China region, which was also at a complete loss.

At this moment, a certain hall in the China region had convened an emergency meeting.

“Based on the recent emergency event, and after extensive discussion, the following has been decided—”

“First: Immediately dispatch personnel to the dungeon administrator at Yunhuang (***/58) to establish contact with Lone Ranger before the end of the day.”

“Second: Lone Ranger’s personal file is to be classified as top-level national secret within China. All future information shall be sealed nationwide to ensure the individual’s safety.”

“Third: Enlist Lone Ranger into the China War God Reserve Program, position him as seed candidate No. 201 in the secondary lineup, and promote him as a Level-1 candidate warrior of the War God Temple, enjoying all the privileges associated with that title.”

“Fourth: Make every effort to ensure that the first [Guild Founding Token] in Hope World remains within China…”

…

In the various sub-main cities across the China region, most players were closely following news of Jiang Chen’s dungeon run. After all, he had already reached 90% exploration progress.

Though some still questioned its authenticity, it had nonetheless become the collective hope of China’s player base.

“I wonder how things are going in the dungeon now. It’s killing me not knowing.”

“Come on, Lone Ranger! Whether China can turn the tables today is all up to you!”

“It’s already been 28 minutes. That 7-minutes-per-stage rhythm is broken. Looks like Lone Ranger ran into trouble…”

“If he really helps China claim the first dungeon kill, that’s insane—might even alert the national authorities.”

“Don’t joke around, bro. You’re giving Lone Ranger too much credit. 90% in 19 minutes? Seriously? Don’t be so delusional. Look at Korea and Japan—not a whiff of faking data. Real skill, real fight. Faking stats is a joke.”

“Dude upstairs, have you been kneeling so long you forgot how to stand?”

“Son of a b*tch!”

“Tch. You keyboard warriors do nothing but yap. If you’ve got the skills, beat Korea’s dungeon record yourself. Lone Ranger? He’s trash—this faking crap is for suckers like you.”

A new round of forum flame wars erupted.

But just then, the global system announcement thundered again:

“Ding! Global System Announcement (World): Congratulations to [Lone Ranger Squad] (China Region) for successfully defeating the boss Dark Elf and claiming the world-first kill of the dungeon [Abyssal Sacrifice]!”

“Ding!…”

“Ding!…”

All of China’s players erupted in euphoria.

“Holy sh*t, they really cleared it?!”

“Did I hear that right? Lone Ranger actually got the first kill?!”

“Lone Ranger is a f*cking legend!”

“Dammit, who among those Korean trash dare to talk big now?!”

“I’m crying tears of joy…”

“Where’s that brain-dead idiot who was yapping earlier?”