Chapter 320: Ascention Quest [1]

"What happened here?" Arthur asked in a deep voice as he stepped into the room.

Earlier, the President had sensed a faint trace of killing intent coming from Zich’s direction and immediately rushed over. His first reaction was that Zich had been attacked, and upon arriving at the corridor and finding it empty, his suspicion only grew stronger.

Seeing the three corpses lying on the ground, Arthur roughly guessed their identities.

"A bunch of trash. How dare they..."

"There’s a mole in the association." Zich raised his eyes and looked straight at Arthur. "They said someone let them in."

Hearing this, Arthur’s face twisted with anger. Part of him was unwilling to believe it because the Failure Network was a group of outlaws, and the two sides had been fighting each other for many years. He found it difficult to believe that someone within the association would betray them.

"Are these all of them?" Arthur suddenly asked. "What did you do to them?"

The primary goal of the Failures was to survive on the First Layer. They mainly made a living through extortion and other despicable deeds, while also accepting assassination jobs for money. They rarely provoked someone without a reason.

Piecing the clues together, Arthur easily deduced that there was a grudge between Zich and the Failure Network.

Zich sighed and began to recount his encounters with the Failure Network. From Natalia’s group to the mansion Executors still locked in the basement, to Marcus, and then to the three who had just attacked him in the resting room, he explained everything in detail.

"That makes sense." Arthur nodded. "So basically, you’re on their hit list now."

"It seems so."

"Although the Failures aren’t the strongest group, they’re the hardest to catch, which is also why they’ve managed to survive to this day." Arthur rubbed his temples, his tone carrying some regret. "I should have been more vigilant against them from the very beginning."

Just then, Zich suddenly spoke. "There’s one more thing."

Arthur turned his head to look at him.

"After I dealt with these three, I encountered another person. He called himself Silas Crow. Does that name sound familiar to you?"

"Not familiar." Arthur shook his head. "But I’ll have Sanchez look into it."

"No." Zich immediately refused.

"Hmm?" Arthur narrowed his eyes.

"Don’t forget there’s a mole in the association. Don’t involve anyone else for now," Zich said. "Until we find the mole, I think the two of us should investigate privately."

"That would indeed be wise." Arthur nodded, appreciating Zich’s cautious thinking.

"Also, I still have two of them locked in my basement. They revealed the location of a First Shelter hideout, but they haven’t led anyone there yet. They can take us there, so we won’t have to start from scratch."

After the plan was settled, Arthur called the staff to clean up the resting room. Within a few minutes, the room had been completely restored, as though nothing had happened.

Over the next few days, security around the resting room was doubled, and Arthur personally kept a close watch on all players and association staff. However, despite his vigilance, another attack never came.

Helen spent most of her time accompanying Zich and bringing him meals, while Nadia also visited occasionally. However, his relationship with Nadia was still somewhat unfamiliar. After all, the two hadn’t really developed any feelings for each other yet, and the only reason they met was because of the pending tomb exploration.

During these few days, Zich’s injuries also completely healed.

Once he had fully recovered, the first thing he did was check the Second Layer Ascension Quest that he had put on hold for several days.

Taking a deep breath, he brought up the system interface.

[Ding! Reopening Second Layer Ascension Quest...]

Thump! Thump!

His heart pounded like a war drum. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been this nervous. After all, this quest would determine whether he could ascend to the Second Layer.

A few seconds later, the familiar blue system panel finally appeared before his eyes.

[Ding!]

[Second Layer Ascension Quest reopened successfully!]

[Quest Name: Sevenfold Heavenly Thunder Trial]

[Quest Difficulty: SSS]

[Quest Description: The path to the Second Layer belongs only to those who possess the power and determination to surpass the limits of the First Layer.]

[Quest Objective: Travel to the Falling Thunder Abyss and endure seven strikes of heavenly thunder without dying.]

[Quest Requirements:]

[1. The challenger must personally endure all seven heavenly thunder strikes.]

[2. Contracted summoned beasts may accompany the challenger, but they must not intercept or absorb the heavenly thunder on the challenger’s behalf.]

[3. All seven heavenly thunder strikes must be endured within a single trial. Leaving the trial venue will be considered a failure.]

[4. The challenger must remain alive until the trial is completed.]

[Quest Time Limit: 30 days]

[Quest Reward: Obtain the qualification to ascend to the Second Layer.]

[Failure Penalty: Second Layer Ascension Quest reset. The challenger must wait 90 days before the quest can be reopened.]

Zich stared fixedly at the panel.

He remained silent for a few seconds before slowly reading the quest description again.

Seven heavenly thunder strikes.

He had to endure seven strikes of heavenly thunder directly.

And survive.

"What kind of joke is this..."

Zich felt his mouth go dry.

He had expected the Second Layer Ascension Quest to be difficult. Having experienced so much in the Heaven Reaching Trial Tower, he understood that reaching Level 30 was about far more than simply killing monsters and leveling up.

But what was this?

Did the system want to kill him?

Heavenly thunder was not ordinary lightning magic. Even without experiencing it personally, Zich had heard of its destructive power. This was absolutely not something an ordinary First Layer player would willingly challenge.

"Seven..." Zich muttered to himself.

He looked at his own hands.

Although his injuries from the tower had completely healed, he still remembered how badly the Soul Devourer had injured him. That battle had almost taken his life.

But he had a feeling that the monsters on the Thirtieth Floor were nothing compared to the trial awaiting him in the Falling Thunder Abyss.

His gaze returned to the quest requirements.

The second requirement was the most troublesome.

His summoned beasts couldn’t block the thunder for him which meant that he couldn’t summon Tiamant or the Myriad Beast Chimera and use their enormous bodies as shields. Even using Spirit Exchange wouldn’t work. The system required him to personally endure every strike.