Zhou Li was fighting hard inside the instance, engaging in a battle of wits and courage with the boss, while the outside world completely exploded.
The National Awakening was like an online game that became globally popular right after launch, with countless people swarming in, matching into instances, yet the vast majority had no correct understanding of the instance's difficulty.
There were many people like the blonde youth and the male and female college students in Zhou Li's team; most people entered the instances with a playful attitude.
Then they were instantly wiped out.
The difficulty of Zero Order instances was similar; some went directly to the boss, while others were mobbed by numerous monsters and NPCs as soon as they entered.
High difficulty right in their face.
The longest anyone lasted was no more than a minute.
Globally, there were cries of lamentation everywhere; if ratings were possible, it would definitely be given an unprecedentedly low score.
"What the hell, what the hell, is this a difficulty level a human can clear?"
The Spectacled Youth, who was beheaded by the villain with a single sword strike, could no longer maintain his elite persona after exiting the instance and couldn't help but curse loudly.
He believed his strategy wasn't the problem, but the boss's strength was too outrageous.
Checking online, it was indeed full of curses; seeing that everyone was miserable, the Spectacled Youth immediately felt much more balanced.
"Hmm, the official side has established a Transcendent Forum?" A message arrived on his phone, the Spectacled Youth's heart stirred, and he quickly entered the website address and logged into the forum.
He quickly discovered that this Transcendent Forum was global in nature.
Currently, its main purpose was for Awakeners to communicate with each other, and later sections like a Trading Center and Quest Center would be added.
Clicking into the communication section, the most popular instance area, he casually scanned other instances, and the Spectacled Youth unhesitatingly chose Blood Battle Lin Family Fortress.
As soon as he entered, he saw a bolded, red-highlighted sticky post.
"Don't enter the instance, don't enter the instance, don't enter the instance!"
The content inside wasn't much, just one sentence.
"Given the excessive difficulty of the instances, we hope everyone refrains from entering for now, patiently wait for guides, and don't waste your precious instance resurrection chances here."
Not just the forum section, everyone's phone also received a message telling them not to enter instances.
Although it was impossible to stop everyone, it at least prevented the worst situation from happening.
The Spectacled Youth continued reading.
"Oh my god, what kind of bizarre teammates are these? I'm done."
This post was also very popular, full of complaints about teammates.
Thinking of his own teammates, the Spectacled Youth clicked into the post with empathy and was immediately enlightened, making him deeply realize the meaning of "one kind of rice feeds a hundred kinds of people," the disparity of the world.
The matching mode was simply a chaotic dance of demons; all kinds of people were there, truly a Hell mode.
"Shocking Xia Country's billion people, it turns out you can easily clear instances just by learning this little trick."
"Heh heh, who still uses clickbait titles these days?" The Spectacled Youth sneered.
He knew without looking that it must be a scam.
"What haven't I seen... Holy crap, it can be done like this?"
The Spectacled Youth was shocked.
This person forgot they were holding a kitchen knife when entering the instance, and what they didn't expect was that when they entered the instance, the kitchen knife was also brought in with them, and it was destroyed in the instance when they were instantly killed by the boss.
There were many replies below.
"Learned it, learned it."
"You can actually bring real-world items in? If I brought a handgun in..."
"Don't dream, upstairs. The weakest firearms are First Order, they can't be brought into Zero Order instances at all."
Everyone's minds were opened, thinking of various possibilities, and they actually went and tried them, eventually summarizing two rules: the grade of the real-world item cannot exceed the instance's grade, and the item must be something you can carry.
So fantasizing about bringing in a submachine gun to rampage was impossible.
Although there were restrictions, it indirectly lowered the instance difficulty.
After all, modern society has developed industry; items like bows and arrows, shields, and swords are all Zero Order and can be brought into instances, and their quality won't be poor.
The enthusiasm that had been extinguished by the instance difficulty also became active again.
"Forming group, forming group, four short one, need an A-grade and A-grade Talent or above, bring your own equipment."
"S-grade Defense Talent leading the team, reliable ones come."
"A-grade Talent or below, do not disturb."
Seeing these team-forming messages, the Spectacled Youth's face darkened; he was a B-grade Talent, and even with a Defense Talent, nobody wanted him.
After all, in the pioneering stage, reliable teammates were needed, and the stronger, the better.
For the rest of the time, the Spectacled Youth was immersed in the forum.
Ordinary people stopped entering instances, but powerful teams didn't stop, especially the Fenglei Team, which was extremely popular on the forum.
The weakest in the Fenglei Team was an S-grade Talent, and the captain was even SS-grade, their strength far surpassing Ordinary people. After gathering a lot of information and preparing equipment, they entered the instance.
Their progress was reported synchronously on the forum.
Half an hour later, they updated their post on the forum.
Their first attempt at Blood Battle Lin Family Fortress ended in failure. They barely blocked the villain's attack but were severely injured themselves. Afterwards, focusing on gathering information, the five dispersed and went deep into various parts of Lin Family Fortress. Except for one person killed by the boss, the others successfully exited the instance.
Trial Instances could be exited at any time. After confirming the exit, as long as you survived for one minute, you could leave the instance.
At the same time, no matter how severely injured you were inside the instance, you would fully recover after exiting.
Awakeners had various Talents, plus various equipment. As long as they weren't trapped and instantly killed at the entrance, there was room for maneuver.
Although their first attempt failed, the Fenglei Team wasn't discouraged. They admitted that their first exploration wasn't originally aimed at clearing the instance.
Because there was too little information about Blood Battle Lin Family Fortress, everyone fell at the first stage.
Therefore, the team they formed was primarily conservative, just to gather as much information as possible. For the next attempt, they were confident they could clear it.
To this end, the Fenglei Team publicly recruited other S-grade Talent Awakeners to jointly achieve this feat.
Information about the boss was also disclosed.
The villain's attributes were around 70, his demonic cultivation was complete, his swordsmanship was exquisite, and his strength was extremely powerful.
Two hours later, the Fenglei Team, having adjusted team members and updated equipment, entered the instance again.
The Spectacled Youth, along with others, closely followed their progress.
Many people were frequently refreshing the instance records.
Every instance had instance records, with the first clear at the top, and subsequent clears arranged by time.
Currently, the instance records for all ten Zero Order instances were empty, with no one having cleared them.
What everyone didn't expect was that the Fenglei Team's confident attempt this time still ended in failure. They blocked the villain's attack without sustaining heavy injuries and then stayed together, not giving the villain a chance to defeat them one by one.
Then, they fell under the sword of the villain who had recovered his full strength.
Except for two people who successfully exited the instance, the other three all died.
The forum was in an uproar.
This instance's difficulty was indeed too high; even the Fenglei Team couldn't do it. Did they need a team of five SS-grade Talent Awakeners, or an SSS-grade Talent Awakener, to clear it?
Some powerful teams also attempting this instance switched to other instances.
Facing the widespread pessimism on the forum, the Fenglei Team didn't despair. The captain stepped forward, believing the second failure was due to insufficient understanding of the boss's strength, but now they had gathered enough crucial information and were confident they could clear it in the next attempt.
The Fenglei Team wasn't in a hurry to enter the instance to prove themselves; they needed more time to adjust their team and prepare equipment.
Not just Blood Battle Lin Family Fortress, other instances were also more or less stuck.
High instance difficulty was one aspect, and lack of information was another, especially the latter, which was more fatal.
It's not to say that Blue Star's Awakeners were all weak.
If it were a team of five SSS-grade Talent Awakeners, even without any information, they might be able to brute force their way through. Even with a slightly lower configuration, adding a few SS-grades, there was still hope, but such a top-tier team would be difficult to assemble quickly.
However, as more and more information was disclosed, everyone believed that the time for instances to be cleared was approaching.
On the Transcendent Forum, the Fenglei Team published a passionate declaration of their expedition.
This time, they had absolute confidence in clearing the instance.
It was at this moment that a system notification sounded in everyone's ears.
【 World Announcement: Congratulations to Zhou Li, Xu Cheng, Zhang Tie, Yu Cheng, and Lin Jiayan for successfully clearing the Trial Instance: Blood Battle Lin Family Fortress. 】
Fenglei Team: "Huh?"
Everyone: "???"
"Someone finally cleared it, and there's even someone with the same name as me." The Spectacled Youth, who was watching the drama unfold with others, clicked his tongue and felt pity for the Fenglei Team.
They created such a big stir, worked so hard for so long, and the results benefited others?
"I think this team should thank the Fenglei Team. Without their hard work in gathering information and selflessly sharing it, could they have cleared it so smoothly?"
"The medal of honor belongs half to the Fenglei Team; they are glorious even in defeat."
"So I think it's not too much for everyone on this team to kneel once to the Fenglei Team."
Click, send.
Just as he was about to refresh the post, two system notifications sounded in his ears.
【 Congratulations on clearing the Trial Instance: Blood Battle Lin Family Fortress, evaluated as F, receiving the following rewards: Growth Value 10, strength crystal * 1 】
【 As this clear was the first clear, your contribution was negligible, receiving additional rewards: strength crystal * 1, agility crystal * 1, constitution crystal * 1, spirit crystal * 1 】
Spectacled Youth: "Huh?"