Fantasy Game: Infinite City

The players in various instances of Infinite City were indeed unaware of the dramatic change that led the Ferdinand family to 'conquer' Infinite Corporation. While the family was busy dealing with various matters, this did not mean that this major event had no impact on them at all.

Although the Infinite City instances are currently being handled independently by the various equipment nodes of the Infinite Corporation, and the major changes at the Infinite Corporation headquarters haven't actually affected the personnel in Infinite City, even if they had, it wouldn't have disrupted the normal operation of the instances. But this time is different.

Most of the dungeons in Infinite City have settings that the device nodes are already familiar with. Therefore, as long as the system on which the device nodes reside remains intact, the dungeons, the game pods connected to them, and the players will not notice any changes. For some dungeons that are more prone to problems, the Ferdinand family immediately dispatched specialized technical personnel to handle the emergency after taking control of Infinite City. Many of these personnel were elites from Infinite Corporation recruited by the family beforehand, or even defectors, so these issues were resolved before they arose.

Even so, since the Infinite City is not the most important part of the family, some mistakes are bound to happen. But in fact, these mistakes cannot be blamed on the Ferdinand family. The main problem lies in a dungeon that has not yet been opened and used.

This instance is actually a new instance that Infinite Company is preparing to launch after flight skills have become widespread. Simply put, it's a test version instance that has completed most of the testing and adjustments. All preparations are basically complete, except for one thing: the conditions for clearing the instance haven't been set. Furthermore, despite their frantic efforts, the staff of Infinite City haven't yet temporarily adjusted it to a free instance where players can leave at will. This means that anyone who enters this instance can only leave in two ways. The first is if someone else uses a special item like a 'World Tree Leaf,' which can forcibly bring another player into a designated instance. These items have high priority and are very safe. However, the problem is that because these items are either class-specific or limited-time items from past events, their numbers are not very large.

This copy, which hasn't been officially put into use yet, was generated by the official design department of Infinite Corporation using new equipment and algorithms for the first time. More computing power and more advanced equipment meant that designers had more time, which allowed them to add more creativity and thought. All of this resulted in many of the designers' ideas being used as temporary materials and stuffed into this copy, which was not yet fully polished.

Despite the designers' numerous ideas, new equipment and algorithms found a way to fit them all in without making it feel out of place. The result was an exceptionally large instance, capable of accommodating almost a quarter of all players using the Infinite City, with plenty to spare.

This instance was not originally available in the Infinite City's playable options. However, because the Ferdinand family's intelligence personnel did not carefully read the incomplete instructions on the instance nodes, in order to do so as quickly as possible and to avoid alerting the players in the Infinite City to anything unusual, they swiftly and quietly added this enormous instance, which had no way to complete it, to the Infinite City's playable options during the instance rotation period.

As mentioned before, if that cataclysmic event hadn't occurred, this instance would have been a short-term hot event in Infinite City. Infinite City, and even Infinite Corporation, would have invested a lot of energy and resources in it. Naturally, this resulted in a semi-finished product that was practically undetectable. The result of the collision of ideas from many designers was meticulous work, and this huge instance was sculpted very well. This led to the possibility that players might use a second method to leave this unplayable instance, namely, death.

Dying in dungeons is not uncommon. Since the first dungeon in Infinite City was released, a massive number of players have accumulated a similar amount of resurrection items. Some may simply have resurrection coins, while others may possess special items only hardcore players can obtain. Although the new dungeon is large, even if a quarter of the Infinite City's players flood into it, there's a high probability that familiar teams won't be able to meet. Since there's no way to exchange clues with other teams, it means that even if someone discovers something wrong with the dungeon, it will likely be a very long time before they do. During this period, the number of players killed while exploring and farming materials will quickly rise. Crucially, this new dungeon uses a new algorithm and equipment, meaning there's effectively no resurrection function. As other players remaining in the dungeon gradually realize that their companions and teammates haven't discovered any forbidden knowledge or secrets, the speculation will quickly spread. Similarly, soon others will also discover they are still trapped in the dungeon, unable to leave. When too many similar issues accumulate, the more people around will become suspicious. The more people suspect, the more passive the family will become. The more passive the family is, the more likely their plan to quickly subdue Infinite Corporation will be exposed, which is something the family doesn't want to see. After all, with so many players, there are more eyes watching. And this is just speculation before things even happen. If the problems in this instance aren't resolved quickly, and things develop in the previously anticipated direction, the resulting public opinion consequences will be something no one can handle.

However, the most important issue right now isn't the subsequent public opinion consequences or anything else, but rather that neither the players inside the instance nor the Ferdinand family's technical staff outside know what's happening. The players are still immersed in the novelty and joy of this suddenly 'launched' mega-instance. They have no idea what kind of trouble they're about to cause.

Somewhere within this instance, on a plaza, thousands of players were curiously observing the surrounding buildings and scenery. Unaware of the situation, they mistook this clean and empty plaza for a player assembly hall. Because the Infinite City has numerous assembly halls, each with a distinct style, this empty one went unnoticed. However, there were at least several hundred such plazas within this instance.

"Is there no notification to enter the instance?"

"We may have already entered a dungeon, which might be a free-to-play dungeon, since there are no quest prompts yet, but all our panels are ready and usable."

"It might be an exploration-type dungeon. After all, there are so many players gathered here, and none of them have their abilities restricted. There are also no prompts to start attacking other players, which means that this might be an exploration-type dungeon that does not require PVP."

"I think this place is a temporary safe zone, and the instance type is a trigger-based, choice-driven instance. Perhaps we'll receive a quest notification after we leave the plaza?"

In the bustling plaza, players were discussing their opinions with friends and acquaintances. Someone suggested, "Perhaps we should leave the plaza," and the suggestion quickly spread. Players split into small groups, either friends or acquaintances, and within an hour, they had rapidly left the plaza in all directions. Most seemed to appreciate the freedom offered by the instance, especially since they could even summon their own vehicles to leave the plaza.

About an hour and a half later, most of the people in the square had dispersed. A small number remained, these players being more cautious, partly because they didn't have many friends and didn't want to team up with strangers. They decided to take this opportunity to carefully investigate the square for any clues that others hadn't discovered. They weren't entirely empty-handed; some teams did find trigger-based quests in the square that required them to leave and explore. After another hour, only a handful of players remained in the square.

Another half hour passed, and perhaps unable to bear the loneliness, another group of players left the plaza. Now, the number of players remaining in the plaza had dwindled to single digits, but some still believed that those weren't the real quests. As the number continued to decrease, when only three remained, they actually found a phone with a slightly damaged screen. According to the information displayed on the phone, it seemed that everyone in the surrounding urban area had vanished overnight. After the remaining three read through the entire message, a quest finally appeared on their UI.

"Looking for a place to stay; it will be very cold and dark here at night."

The three players quickly deduced the meaning of the quest: they needed to build or find a hidden and safe haven or secret base. Based on their experience with previous dungeons in Infinite City, they immediately realized this might be the real first hidden quest. In this situation, seizing the initiative was crucial, so the three like-minded players temporarily formed an alliance. They then began searching for a suitable safe haven, following the quest's instructions. Little did they know how much trouble they were saving themselves.

In another square, a similar situation was unfolding. The last few remaining players discovered the 'mission' description, but compared to the relatively abstract 'finding a place to stay' task described by the previous three players, they received more information.

"Find a high place to take shelter from the flood. The flood may occur in a few hours."

Compared to the first three-person team, these players from another region had a clearer understanding of what they were supposed to do, and even received some hints about the new dungeon.

"Looking for higher ground to escape the flood? This place is indeed near the sea, and judging from the humidity, it does seem like a flood is imminent."

"What are you guys dawdling about? The higher-ups said the flood might occur in a few hours, isn't that giving us a warning?"

"That's right! We need to set off quickly to avoid being left without a place to stay and being wiped out by natural disasters."

Similar things happen everywhere in the plazas of the instance, and even the process is almost the same. The only difference is that the teams of players who stay until the end of the plaza receive different tasks, or the details are changed.

However, among these groups, there were some more unique ones. For example, the last player team remaining in a plaza at the very edge hadn't found any clues, but they were indeed the first team to trigger the dungeon's quest. Just as one of the players finished reading the quest requirements, a description automatically marked a location on their map. The description was very detailed. Adopting the attitude that they could skip the quest but needed to know what it was about, the other players in the team also gathered around. At that moment, the giant fountain in the plaza suddenly stopped operating and began to roar. Then, the water level inside the fountain suddenly dropped rapidly. Those in the know would understand that this was likely the sound of a dam releasing water. But this team didn't think so, since they were right next to a huge dam. And the dam's floodgates were properly closed; something that was so massive couldn't possibly not make any noise. Therefore, the only possibility was that the space at the bottom of the giant fountain was much larger than they had imagined after seeing it.

Soon, as the giant fountain completed its rotation, a simple wooden staircase appeared where the fountain pool should have been.

"What do you think?"

"I will definitely go down; this is the only mission we have so far that is truly meaningful."

"I'll say it again: since we're already here..."

"Actually, I'd really like to go down and take a look myself."

"And what about you?"

"I'll definitely go down too, but I have a problem to solve now: should we load it all in or only partially?"

"Let's equip ourselves fully. In case there are enemies underground, we can still protect ourselves."

"But I have an even more important question."

"What?"

"Should we leave two people here to guard this place? After all, we have no way of knowing what will happen once this thing goes inside."

"Should we continue playing?"

"...Okay! The atmosphere has been built up to this point!"