The word "Dungeon" suddenly became all the rage—seriously, it blew up. The Madman: Ghost Player, one of the oldest madmen in Steelbull City, had faded from public view for ages. While everyone was worshipping Reliable Cat, he, another madman, kept totally quiet. But a madman’s silence is never normal—when they move, they shake things up.
Steelbull Dungeon Treasure Hunt Adventure!
This news was broadcast 24/7 by Bloody Throat, with a promo campaign stronger than ever. They even shot a promo video: a guy in ancient knight armor leading a bunch of zombies in a perfectly synchronized Bollywood breakdance, set to goofy music. It’s creepy as hell yet somehow hilarious.
"Explore the mysterious, ancient Steelbull Dungeon... Overcome countless obstacles... Only true heroes can win it all!" Like a video game CG cutscene, the knight-armored dude climbs, jumps, dives, and pulls off wild stunts in a desolate wasteland. In the end, he’s hugging a pile of loot, laughing like a fool. The loot isn’t cash or gold, but mysterious gadgets, badass-looking weapons, heaps of white powder, and a VIP gold card from Chaos Den.
"Dungeon and heroes—waiting for you!" The knight guy points at the camera, totally nailing the hype. Then the screen flashes time, place, and other info below.
"You can't see his face, but..." Xiao Di pointed at the TV. "Doesn’t that armored idiot kinda look like Amoeba?"
"Now that you mention it, I see it. No wonder he’s got that vibe—trying way too hard to look cool and ending up a total clown." Jill Young quipped, then turned to her crew: "What do you guys think?"
Pierce shook his head. "Weird."
Xiao Di shook her head. "Bizarre."
Cake Dog shook her head. "Dangerous."
Four-Eyes shook his head. "That breakdancing was awful."
"Not asking about that. No matter how dangerous or weird, I have to go to that dungeon." In the promo video, Jill Young spotted a cartooned item that looked just like a bottle of sports drink, but she knew it was actually Original Liquid. "What I want to know is, what’s the situation inside the dungeon, what should I prepare, and at the very least, I need a map."
Her crew glanced at each other and shrugged. As the intel chief, Cake Dog explained, "Boss, Steelbull Dungeon has been around for ages. Even the city management bureau probably doesn’t have info on it." Pierce chimed in, "Lately, dungeon maps have been selling hot on the black market, but none look legit—they’re probably just made up."
"You guys..." Jill Young rubbed her temples, frustrated with her useless crew. But she had to admit, finding a dungeon map was like trying to get a map of a secret Beijing tomb built in 1900—pretty much impossible.
Probably only the classiest, most well-connected folks in the city know secrets like that.
"Oh, right!" Jill Young clapped her hands. When it comes to high-end connections, there’s only one choice. She made a call: "Hey, Loli, it’s me. Did you see the dungeon and hero promo on TV? Can you get a dungeon map?"
Three-No Little Black Cat is seriously high-end. She replied, short and sweet: "Sixth District, meet me at the bridge."
The Sixth District connects to the outside world with a long bridge. Jill Young met Night Doll at the bridge. Once in Night Doll’s car, Jill asked, "So what are we doing at this homestead? Someone here got clues?"
Night Doll kept it simple: "Internet."
Of course it’s for online research—some things never change, no matter what world you’re in. "But if it’s just internet stuff, why not do it at home? No need to trek all the way to the Sixth District." Night Doll’s family estate is in Wu Luan District, so this trip was pretty far.
"It’s different." Night Doll couldn’t be bothered to explain and just told the driver to keep going. The Sixth District is pretty big, and it took forty minutes to get there. From the outside, the four-story red-brick building looked ancient and run-down, nothing special at all. But the neon sign at the door—"Internet Café"—explained everything.
For otaku and homebodies, it doesn’t matter if the internet café is built in a condemned building.
Night Doll hopped out first, Jill Young followed, scoping out the Sixth District’s internet café and comparing it to the one outside her old high school. Inside, it was totally different—no noisy customers, no booze, no snacks, no gamers yelling about dungeons and raids. It was dead quiet, with rows of coffin-like pods lining the walls. At first glance, you’d think it was a vampire castle.
Night Doll marched deeper inside, passing through several doors—some even needed passwords and fingerprints. Clearly, this internet café had some Night Family exclusives. In the deepest room, two giant cocoon-like pods sat waiting. "Get in," Loli said, lifting a lid to reveal a bed. Jill Young, not wanting to look clueless, just lay down without a word.
Night Doll left her with a quick, "Don’t be scared," and closed the lid.
Don’t be scared? Of what? Jill Young was still wondering when a complex metal ring around her head lit up and started spinning, forming a dazzling halo. As the ring spun faster, there was a loud hum, and Jill felt her consciousness shoot forward like a roller coaster into a mysterious dimension.
It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling—last time, when her mind entered the Auric Relic, it was similar. Now, with her Insight Technique leveled up and her mental strength boosted, Jill could feel herself in control, able to snap back anytime. So she wasn’t scared; she just powered through, speeding toward the other end of the tunnel.
When Jill Young opened her eyes, she was totally floored.
She was standing on a circular platform covered in glowing circuit-board patterns. The designs ran down the sides, forming a giant pillar of light that soared skyward—at least a hundred stories tall. Peering over the edge, she saw the ground below was also covered in colorful glowing patterns. The whole world was dark and dim, making the light stripes look even brighter and cooler. (Think TRON style.)
In the distance, all kinds of bizarre buildings stabbed up into the sky, towering thousands of meters. Compared to those, this hundred-story pillar was like a watermelon next to Yao Ming’s foot.
"You made it." A voice suddenly came from behind. Jill Young turned to see Night Doll: "Welcome to the Quantum Network."
"This is what you call internet?!" Jill Young whipped out her phone and pointed at the browser, losing her mind: "Look, scrolling messages, reading news, streaming music—that’s what normal internet is, right? Everyone in Steelbull City surfs like this, don’t they? What’s with this high-tech fantasy world?!"
"Quantum Network isn’t your regular internet." Night Doll got a little chattier in this virtual world, but still skipped the complicated stuff. She drew a rectangle in the air, and a book appeared out of nowhere—its edges glowing, super sci-fi.
Jill Young skimmed the book and finally got it. Basically, Quantum Network is experimental tech, and the Sixth District is the only place in Steelbull City where it’s fully set up. It’s like a giant online game, and the Sixth District’s otaku crowd are the beta testers.
"Been in this city so long, I’m finally seeing some real high-tech!" The Quantum Network world was wild—the clouds, the wind, everything felt real. It didn’t seem artificial at all, more like a legit world that Steelbull City folks just stumbled into and figured out how to use.
"Physical strength doesn’t matter here—spirit and skill are everything. Watch this." Night Doll spun around, her black gothic loli outfit turning into a burst of light. She morphed—silver armor, a floaty skirt, wings, halo—the whole angel look. She flapped her wings and really flew, pointing at Jill’s phone: "Your phone’s the same. You expect it to be there, your mind’s strong enough, so it appears."
"That’s actually pretty handy. So, I can just—like this!" Boom! It was like a bomb went off, gold light flooding everywhere. The sky’s clouds churned, and Jill’s hair turned into steel spikes, standing on end. She wore a weird battle suit with a giant "Kame" character on the back.
"I’m a Super Saiyan! Kame...hame...HA!" With a shout, a massive energy wave blasted skyward, smashing through the clouds. Lightning exploded in the sky, furious at this wild rebel. "Thunder? You dare thunder at me? Begone!" Jill waved her hand, and the lightning vanished as if it never existed.
"Hahaha! This place rocks!" Jill snapped back to normal. "No wonder the otaku crowd are obsessed—this beats any game or novel."
"You..." Night Doll, who’d just been blasted away, flapped her wings and flew back, staring at Jill: "Sure, the stronger your mind, the stronger you are, but people’s spirit is limited. Yours is insane..."
"Haha, surprised?" Jill Young grinned. "I can even go Super Saiyan 2."
"No idea what you’re talking about, but don’t get cocky. Steelbull Cloud City—the Quantum Network world—has tons of freaks. If a madman comes here, they could become a god. And since this is a network, knowing code and systems matters too. The real rulers of Quantum Network are two: ‘Ao’ and ‘Zhao’. They’ve been here since the start, and rumor has it—they’re both madmen."
"Alright, alright, I’m not that arrogant." Jill Young waved it off. "Anyway, weren’t we supposed to look up dungeon info? Can I just imagine the Steelbull Dungeon files and get them?"
"Nope. You can get basic info anytime, but secret stuff is locked in special admin stations. The Quantum world is huge—we gotta move fast." Night Doll glanced around and pointed: "There’s a station over there. We’ll take the air express."
"Forget that—watch me." Jill Young went to the edge of the platform, cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted: "Flying Nimbus!"
Right away, a weird cloud zoomed in, trailing a long tail. It was way faster than any plane, screeching to a halt at the platform’s edge. Jill hopped on, sat cross-legged, and got comfy.
"You really know how to pull out weird stuff." Night Doll, who’d never seen Dragon Ball, was seriously stressed.
"It’s called Flying Nimbus," Jill patted the giant cotton candy cloud. "Only pure-hearted folks can ride it."
"Yeah, right!" Night Doll finally snapped: "You’re a gang boss and you’re sitting on it just fine!"