Chapter 16-Nightmare Difficulty, Activated！

Qin Yue ran up to him.

Her big eyes blinked as she looked Li Yao up and down, studying him carefully.

Li Yao knew who she was, but since they attended different schools and had never interacted, they weren't acquainted.

"Miss!"

Seeing Qin Yue suddenly run off, several professionals hurried after her, standing protectively by her side.

However, Qin Yue ignored them, keeping her gaze fixed on Li Yao.

"I heard that you awakened a talent. Is that true?"

Her eyes shone with curiosity, as if she had discovered something new and fascinating.

Li Yao knew that his father had already made his talent public—otherwise, he wouldn't have received the S-rank resource package.

"Yes."

He didn't hide it, nodding in confirmation.

"Miss Qin Yue, do you need something?"

Instead of answering, Qin Yue's curiosity only grew.

"Then can you tell me what your talent does? I've never seen anyone awaken a talent before!"

The moment she said that—

Li Yao raised an eyebrow.

Meanwhile, the professionals behind Qin Yue turned pale, their faces instantly changing.

One of them hurriedly spoke up.

"Young Master Li, Miss Qin didn't mean anything by that—she's just genuinely curious!"

At the same time, the man tugged on Qin Yue's sleeve, whispering urgently.

"Miss, apologize to Young Master Li immediately."

Qin Yue finally realized her mistake and looked at Li Yao with an apologetic expression.

"Li Yao, I'm sorry! I won't ask anymore…"

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going."

Li Yao spoke calmly.

It didn't matter whether she was being careless or had ulterior motives—

He didn't care.

Since the Qin Clan had a good relationship with Silver Wolf Guild, he wouldn't be offended over such a minor issue.

As long as they didn't push him further.

"Oh, right! You're here to run the dungeon, right?"

"We couldn't beat Master Difficulty, so we're going for Hard Mode next. Do you want to join us?"

"The dungeon is really difficult—there's no way you can beat it alone."

Feeling guilty, Qin Yue offered an invitation.

Li Yao didn't respond immediately.

He glanced at Qin Yue, then at her "guardians."

The middle-aged professional quickly spoke up.

"If Young Master Li wants to join us, we can still handle Hard Mode. Please don't take Miss Qin's earlier words to heart."

They clearly misunderstood his intentions.

"You just attempted Master Difficulty, right? Can you tell me about the boss's stats?"

Li Yao wanted to challenge a higher difficulty.

But Escape Scrolls cost 1 million Dragon Coins each.

If he failed, it would be a huge waste—

Not to mention, dungeons had entry cooldowns, so losing an attempt meant missing out on experience gains.

By understanding Master Difficulty, he could estimate the challenges of the next difficulty.

The middle-aged professional was briefly stunned, then chuckled.

"Of course! Master Difficulty isn't classified information—you could look it up on StarNet anyway."

He thoroughly explained the boss's stats and abilities, including detailed skill values.

Li Yao quickly formed a plan.

"You're planning to have the guild carry you, right? Be careful of the boss's Cross Slash Attack."

The middle-aged man pulled out his broken shield, which had been split in two, and let out a bitter laugh.

"That skill is what took us down."

Li Yao nodded, then walked toward the vortex.

As he approached, a system notification popped up.

[Current Dungeon: Goblin Nest (Level 12)]

[Dungeon Restrictions: Level 7 – Level 17; 1 – 5 Players]

[Select Difficulty: Normal, Hard, Master, Nightmare, Hell (Locked)]

[Hell Mode unlocks after clearing Nightmare Mode with an S-rank rating.]

"Nightmare."

Li Yao's figure vanished into the vortex.

At the same time—

The massive dungeon vortex turned black and red in an instant.

Several nearby professionals jumped back in shock.

"Black and red?! What's going on? Does Goblin Nest even have that difficulty?"

Nearly everyone in the area noticed the vortex's sudden transformation.

They stood there, frowning, at a loss for words.

Black and red…

How many years had it been since Jiangzhou last saw a black-red dungeon vortex?

It meant that someone had chosen Nightmare Difficulty.

For nearly 20 years, countless challengers had attempted Nightmare Mode in Goblin Nest—

Not a single one had succeeded.

"Is it another big-city team coming to challenge it?"

"Uh… I don't think so. If I'm not mistaken, only one person just entered."

"One person?!"

Everyone gasped in shock, then quickly lost interest.

A solo Nightmare run?

What else could it be but a publicity stunt?

Silver Wolf Guild

"Wasn't that the Young Master who just entered?"

"Probably. Do you think he went in by mistake?"

"Sigh… Another wasted Escape Scroll. The Young Master wasted so many resources when he was obsessed with women. Now that he's finally awakened a talent, he should be leveling up properly—but here he is, wasting more resources again."

"Well, he's the president's son. What can you do?"

"Aren't we standing here just to farm General's Heart for him?"

"Man… the difference between people is just insane."

"Dammit."

Yu Wen Clan Hunting Team

A young man, surrounded by several beautiful female professionals, stared coldly at the vortex where Li Yao had disappeared.

"That's the summoner who stole my S-rank resource package?"

A level 17, fully geared female professional nodded.

"Yes."

Hearing this, the young man's expression darkened.

"Then why is he still alive?"

"N-No—"

"Slap!"

The young man struck the woman across the face.

"Useless! Get more people! If I don't hit level 18 today, none of you are sleeping tonight!"

Qin Yue's Party

"Miss, should we go for the Hard Mode dungeon now?"

A middle-aged professional, standing behind Qin Yue, asked cautiously.

"Uncle Wu, why don't we wait a bit?"

Qin Yue's eyes sparkled with curiosity as she stared at the vortex.

She might be clumsy with words, but she wasn't stupid.

Before entering the dungeon, Li Yao had asked about Master Difficulty.

Now he had gone straight into Nightmare Mode?

Unless he was completely brainless, he must have some level of confidence.

"Li Yao doesn't seem like an idiot…"

Seeing her expression, Uncle Wu sighed.

Even for the top geniuses from Imperial Capital, soloing Nightmare Mode was impossible.

But if Miss Qin Yue was curious, even her father couldn't stop her.

"Miss, our goal today is to hit level 8, right? We still need one more Hard Mode run to level up."

"Why don't we clear that first—we can check on Young Master Li when we come back?"

"Fine, fine…"

Qin Yue reluctantly agreed, nodding before following her party into the dungeon.

Inside the Dungeon

Li Yao landed on a hilltop.

Below him lay a dense forest, home to countless goblin tribes.

At the center of the dungeon stood a pyramid-like structure, decorated with battle flags and heavily patrolled by goblin soldiers.

A rough estimate—

At least 300 goblins were patrolling the area, not to mention the several large tribes surrounding the pyramid.

"No wonder people need teams for this. Trying to clear the entire dungeon solo would be near impossible."

Thankfully, the Void Mantis had learned an area-of-effect skill.

Otherwise, killing these goblins one by one would take forever.

Thinking of this, Li Yao smirked.

To him, these ugly goblins weren't just monsters—

They were gold.

The funding for his next summon skill book.