With a steaming bowl of instant noodles in one hand and his eyes fixed on the in-game forums, Dawei skimmed through the latest headlines.
The biggest story? No surprise there—"Random Star" had officially triggered the King's Campaign, recruiting the Valkyrie princess as a mercenary companion. It was the highest-end human quest available right now.
Behind it all was the Dragon War Guild, an elite organization supported by Longteng, one of the oldest and most professional game development companies in China. Unlike most guilds tied to esports teams, Longteng wasn't just in it for competition—they'd developed and published hit games before. They had pedigree.
In terms of influence and structure, Dragon War was a monster.
Within two hours, they'd recruited over 10,000 officially signed players, and more than 100,000 trial players. The forums were ablaze with guild applications, alliance charts, and war prep discussions.
Dawei slurped his noodles and smirked.
Perfect.
The more crowded the human side got, the easier it would be for him to hide in plain sight and monitor the kingdom's task progress. The bureaucracy alone—organizing players, assigning units, coordinating supply lines—would buy him the time he needed to get established inside the Dragon Clan.
After finishing his meal (and a brief visit to the bathroom), he sat back down and reflected on the mechanics.
The reason I even got the beauty president's attention was because of the bounty badge. That badge didn't just unlock favorability—it unlocked identity.
He now understood that high-end gameplay wasn't just about stats. It was about connections—titles, relics, legacies. Just like the real world: make friends with one rich guy, and suddenly you're in the VIP lounge with a dozen of them.
Use one god-tier quest to unlock another. Layered entry. Hidden legacy paths. Yeah… this is the stuff I signed up for.
Dawei logged back in and stood before the towering structure known as the Infinity Tower—a massive black spire that pierced the clouds.
[System Prompt: You are entering the Infinity Tower – Remaining Attempts: 1/3. Begin Trial? Yes / No]
He selected Yes.
[Trial Started – Layer 1: Endless Corridors][Next Layer: Dark Dungeon][Condition to Advance: Complete 30 challenges and eliminate all elite creatures.]
He spawned in a narrow corridor with bland stone textures. Torch-lit and generic. The kind of level design you'd see in a budget mobile RPG.
Dawei rolled his eyes. "Who designed this, a mobile app dev intern?"
A Level 1 Sneak shambled into view.
Dawei flicked his wrist. His artifact dagger—[Dark Edge]—flashed once.
Damage: 12 base (Level 4 x3) → +30% bonus = 16Sneak HP: 15
One hit kill.
[System Prompt: Monster killed x1. Progress: 1/20]
He noticed a new buff on his UI and opened the tooltip.
[Killing Value]: Earn 1 point per kill inside the Infinity Tower.100 points = 1 temporary equipment piece or 1 temporary attribute point.Note: All rewards are lost upon leaving the tower.Temporary equipment lasts 20 minutes.]
Fair enough. A reward loop with clear progression—grind for short-term power.
Layer 1 was a joke. The mobs were sluggish, and with his 4 hits per second attack speed, Dawei didn't even need to pay attention.
After slicing through 20 mobs, he advanced to Layer 2.
Here, the mobs were Level 2, and had 22 HP—but they still fell in one hit. Occasionally, it took two. But with his speed and AoE crits, Dawei cleaved through the corridors like a lawnmower.
So far, so good. Classic small-dev tower scaling: linear HP and damage increases per floor. No weird gimmicks. Just kill, collect, climb.
By the 57th floor, Dawei's kill count was well over 200. His kill value was climbing rapidly.
Then the floor opened into a massive chamber.
A green-named boss awaited him: Shankos? Mundo, a B-Class elite monster.
Shankos Stats:HP: 300Attack/Defense: 20+
Dawei squinted. "First boss. Here we go."
He checked the boss log. "White mobs until now… this guy's the real test."
But for Dawei, even the boss's 300 HP was child's play. A flurry of slashes—crit, break, crit, bloodsuck—and the creature burst into green particles.
[System Prompt: You have defeated Shankos? Mundo.][Leaderboard unlocked – Infinity Tower][You have obtained: Broken Old Sword (B-Class Weapon)]
[Broken Old Sword]Attack Speed +7%Identification: One-Star WeaponUsable inside tower or can be redeemed for 100 kill points.Lost upon leaving tower.
Dawei grinned.
Now we're talking.
Each boss layer added to the pressure, but also brought real rewards. Temporary as they were, they meant he could snowball his run if he played right.
But what really caught his attention—
[System Prompt: Infinity Tower Leaderboard Unlocked]
He opened the new panel.
Top 10 Players – Infinity Tower (Trial Path: Dragon)
??? – 128 Floors
??? – 109 Floors
Dawei – 58 Floors (New Entry)
"Oh-ho? Already ranked?" He chuckled. "Let's see how high I can go before the rest of the world catches up."