Newbie's Quest: Awaiting Challenge
Chapter 63: One Supporter Outweighs Ten Critics

[Ethan Walker is going to tackle the Seventh Hospital dungeon!!!]

[The Seventh Hospital reopens after a year! The player entering is the recently famous newcomer Ethan Walker!]

[Ethan, once again, opens an S-rank dungeon!]

[Wasn't the Seventh Hospital dungeon sealed? Can Emerald Tempest Guild allow Ethan Walker to enter? Anyone in the know, please join the discussion]

Unlike previous times when Ethan Walker would start his live stream only after arriving at the White Tower, this time, on his way to Area 079, he opened the stream to meet his audience.

Compared to his sudden live streams in the past, this one had a bit of a warm-up.

And this brief warm-up was enough to ignite over a dozen hot threads on the forums.

Other platforms were also abuzz with trending topics.

In the era of the White Tower, anything related to it naturally drew massive attention, and Ethan Walker was now a top trending figure.

There have been other newcomers who made waves upon their debut, but none maintained such a high level of discussion as Ethan Walker.

Ethan never played dungeons casually. The dungeons he tackled were of high quality and difficulty, and they were incredibly popular among players. From his first server life-and-death battle to the recent "highly entertaining" cinema dungeon, each of his dungeons was a sight to behold.

Of course, this was not Ethan's intention; he wasn't deliberately seeking out sensational dungeons. Rather, it was often the case that people brought these challenging dungeons to him.

He naturally didn't refuse any challenge.

The Seventh Hospital dungeon was not one Ethan had discovered himself, but he approached it with much more caution.

Because this time, he was going to take James Mitchell into the dungeon.

He intended to uncover a truth.

It wasn't just to repay James Mitchell for the ores he had generously given him, but more importantly, Ethan had a deal with Henrik Jensen, and he was looking forward to reaping benefits from Emerald Tempest Guild. After all, there's no waking up early without a motive.

Ethan appeared utterly relaxed, without a hint of tension or anxiety. It was as if he was going for a sightseeing tour rather than entering an S-rank dungeon that had once crippled a powerful guild.

He even had the leisure to chat with his viewers in the comments.

Ethan: Ethan Walker!

Viewer: Is Ethan really going to tackle the Seventh Hospital dungeon?

Viewer: Whoa, the Seventh Hospital! Ethan, that dungeon was sealed by Emerald Tempest Guild, don't be reckless!

Viewer: What's up, folks? Since when is Ethan afraid of Emerald Tempest Guild? Do you even know what sealing a dungeon implies, talking about Ethan like that?

Viewer: So what does sealing a dungeon actually mean?

Ethan responded to some trivial topics, like what to eat for lunch.

He didn't answer questions about his relationships with Emerald Tempest Guild, Avalon Guild, or whether he had personal grudges with Henrik Jensen, nor did he respond to the conditions he agreed upon with Alex Johnson. Amusingly, someone even asked if he had any shady dealings with Emily Johnson.

"What kind of shady 'dealings' could there be? You can say Emily Johnson is 'shady,' but not our interactions."

Emily Johnson, who was resting and browsing Ethan's live stream, heard this and couldn't help but laugh. Angrily, she sent a message in the comment section.

Emily Johnson: Haven't seen you in two hours, and now I'm 'shady'?

Ethan pretended not to notice.

Emily sent him a virtual yacht, topping her comment in his live stream.

After chatting idly with fans and friends for a while, Ethan was almost at Area 079.

In half an hour, he would reach the White Tower.

Seeing that the atmosphere was sufficiently hyped, with hot topics on forums and trending keywords making the rounds, Ethan decided to drop a bombshell.

"Today, joining me in the Area 079 dungeon is a friend, who I guess some of you remember.

James Mitchell, he'll also be tackling the Seventh Hospital dungeon."

James Mitchell of Emerald Tempest Guild!

The comments exploded with reactions.

Viewer: Holy smokes, James Mitchell? The guy who messed up everything at his debut?

Viewer: I remember now! Ethan and Isabella Martínez were trending recently, and his name came up.

Viewer: Quick fact: James Mitchell was a rising star a year ago, recruited by Emerald Tempest Guild with a copper token. But during his first major event with the guild, he fled, leaving his deputy alone, resulting in serious injuries for Isabella Martínez. Fact-check over.

Viewer: Now it all makes sense.

Viewer: But why does Ethan insist on bringing him? The Seventh Hospital is where he had his mishap; won't he be traumatized for life?

Viewer: I'm more worried that Ethan is being threatened. Why bring along

dead weight? Ethan is powerful even solo!

Viewer: Can members of Emerald Tempest Guild freely choose their dungeons? I thought James Mitchell was in the second team.

Viewer: That's ancient history. Now James Mitchell is hung out to dry with a lease contract. Emerald Tempest Guild would be glad to get rid of him early.

Viewer: I get it, Ethan probably wants to rent James cheaply, use him as a laborer or a henchman.

Viewer: After reading around, you seem the most plausible. Knowing Ethan's freeloading nature, that's probably his cunning plan.

The comments were a mixed bag, but eventually, they all agreed that Ethan was planning to freeload.

Ethan weakly defended himself.

"Are you even my fans? Can't you say something nice about me? And stop spreading this 'Ethan likes to freeload' thing. One supporter outweighs ten critics, right?"

The fans in the live stream were chuckling and joking, teasing that Ethan was getting flustered. They even joked about promoting his 'poor spirit' next time.

Perhaps it was Ethan Walker's formidable strength that bolstered his fans' confidence. Ethan's supporters in the chat were not particularly worried, whereas it was the casual viewers who stumbled into the stream that seemed more anxious for him.

The Seventh Hospital, such a daunting dungeon.

And he was still in the mood for jokes?

Half an hour later, Ethan arrived at Tower 8 in Area 079.

The several White Towers in Area 079 were clustered quite closely, with Towers 7 and 8 facing each other across the street.

James Mitchell was standing near Tower 7, waving at Ethan.

"Ethan Walker!"

Ethan realized he was at the wrong spot and beckoned James to come over.

Initially surprised, then hesitant, James finally made up his mind and crossed the street to Ethan.

"Are we... going into the dungeon at Tower 8 today?"

"Yes."

Ethan appeared totally relaxed and at ease.

"Ethan, you might not know... but previously at Tower 8, I..."

"I know." Ethan tightened his sleeves and casually replied before starting to walk towards Tower 8.

Halfway through, he turned around with a smile.

"James, my style of tackling dungeons is a bit rough, so make sure you protect yourself. Don't worry about me."

James was still hesitant.

"Ethan, in this dungeon before, because of a mistake, I caused..."

"Scared?" Ethan cut him off, not allowing him to be consumed by past shadows. "I've said it, just fight freely. To injure me, you'll need the skills. If you manage that, the leader of Walker's Return will let you take the role."