Chapter 214: The Reality of Opening a Path
It was the natural instinct of players—trade the useless for the useful.
But to William?
None of it mattered.
These low-level items were worthless to him.
His team had already looted enough high-level gear from past ruins to arm an entire squad of Sequence 9 extraordinaries.
Compared to that, the forum trades were pocket change.
But this was just the beginning.
Sooner or later, players would stumble upon rare treasures, and some of those might actually catch William's eye.
William and Forum Master had already set the rules in the forum.
If anyone found rare items, they had the option to hand them over and in return, they'd be rewarded generously.
Why?
Because high-level artifacts only reached their full potential in the hands of top players.
Their promise was simple:
> Give us the rare loot, and we'll make sure you don't regret it.
And since they controlled the majority of the player faction's resources, most players didn't even hesitate to follow their lead.
After all, what's better?
A single rare item… or a full set of top-tier gear and skills?
Most players knew the answer.
And if someone rose to prominence, becoming one of the top players, William and his group welcomed them.
There was no conflict of interest.
Unless, of course…
Someone tried to challenge them.
What Happens to Challengers?
If someone became a threat, William and his crew wouldn't hesitate.
Rogue players? Eliminated.
Potential traitors? Dealt with before they became a problem.
Hidden dangers? Cut off at the root.
Disagree?
Well, tough luck.
If you weren't strong enough to back up your claims, then your opinion didn't matter.
William Reconnects with the Team
As William scanned the forum, he noticed the strategy group's icon flashing.
Clicking on it, he saw that the avatars of Forum Master, Metatron, and the others were lit up, a clear sign that they had returned to the real world.
Which also meant they had calmed down from whatever ordeal they had just faced.
Breeze Over the Hills: "You all back from the dead?"
Forum Master: "What happened?"
Metatron: "I remember dying."
William gave them a quick rundown of what had happened.
Yes, their real bodies had died, but since they were already inside the dream world, their souls didn't disperse upon death.
This was something William had suspected all along.
As a superhuman, his Demon Wolf intuition had been honed to detect hidden possibilities. That same sixth sense had told him they could still be saved.
Now, they were back.
William: "Where are you now?"
Though they were logged into the forum, their true bodies were still inside the dream world, this was merely their descended avatars communicating.
Metatron: "We seem to be in a new dream bubble."
The Gambler: "Something's happening to me. I can feel my power surging, out of control. It's like a transformation is about to happen. This must be what matatron mentioned... the precursor to unlocking a path."
William narrowed his eyes.
William: "I've recorded the future paths you're opening. Get back as soon as possible."
They had been absent from the forum for a full day, and while no immediate trouble had surfaced, extended absence would weaken their hold over the player base.
Leadership required presence.
And William?
He had zero interest in micromanaging.
That was Forum Master's and Metatron's expertise. If they didn't return soon, things could start falling apart and William had no intention of sorting out 1,800 different player relationships by himself.
The strategy team went silent for a moment.
Then, Forum Master's message appeared:
Forum Master: "Thank you… for everything."
William: "We live and die together."
The Anchoring Pen: A Tool of Destiny
The Anchoring Pen was no ordinary artifact, it was legendary.
A relic capable of forcing reality toward a predetermined future.
According to historical accounts, this pen had sealed the fate of countless legendary beings, snuffing them out as if they had never existed.
William and his team had every reason to treat the dream world as a parallel reality—after all, their own existence proved it was more than just an illusion.
But unlike the real world, the dream world was purely idealistic, a domain ruled absolutely by the God of Dreams.
The Dream God had the power to reshape this world on a whim.
And that meant the Anchoring Pen's influence was amplified to absurd levels.
Wishes becoming reality
Resurrection after death
Time reversal
World destruction
In the dream world, these weren't just possibilities, they were simple actions.
Back in the real world, things weren't so easy.
Even if the gods didn't actively interfere, their mere presence was a disruption.
For example, if someone declared, "I will be resurrected after death," did that really mean they would return?
Had they asked the God of Death and Destruction for permission?
William suspected that his effortless resurrection of Forum Master and the others was only possible because of the Dream God's silent approval.
By writing the resurrection into existence right beside the deity, he had essentially gained divine endorsement for the act.
And when the Dream God consents, even a low-level Sequence 9 Playwright can unleash reality-altering magic, capable of destroying legendary beings with a single stroke.
To use this power for something as simple as paving the way for a few low-level characters was child's play.
Even with the Anchoring Pen, transformation wasn't instant.
Metatron estimated that the path-opening process would take several days.
Best case scenario? They'd leave the dream world in two days.
Worst case? It could take five to eight days.
Until then, they were effectively in seclusion, unable to return.
That meant all player-related affairs were temporarily left in William's hands.
Fortunately, the direction of the player faction's development had been settled a few days prior.
As long as no major deviations occurred, things would stay on track.
With that, Forum Master and the others logged off, their avatars fading from the chat.
Checking in on the Other Teams
William sighed and opened another discussion group, this time, with Mao Che and Yaoyao's team.
With new players leveling up rapidly, his one-day absence meant he had no idea where they stood.
Breeze Over the Hills: "How's your progress?"
Yaoyao: "Ah! Big Brother! You guys made it back from the dream world?"
The two teams often exchanged information, so William briefly explained their experiences.
He framed it casually, saying they had just been exploring in different directions, reinforcing the importance of communication between groups.
Then he got his first major update—
All six members of the Cat Car team had reached level 10 yesterday.
Yaoyao had been the last to hit level 10, making a massive leap from level 4 to 10 in just a few days.
It was the kind of progress most players could only dream of.
But she was smart enough not to flaunt it on the forum.
She knew that drawing too much attention could bring trouble.
Though no one dared to interfere with William's decisions yet, she still had the feeling she had taken a shortcut, so she kept a low profile to avoid causing problems.
In reality, she was still behind the team's top players.
Their progress was slower than Forum Master's group, but it made sense.
After all, they didn't have a protector like William guiding them.
A New Opportunity
William kept things simple.
William: "Yeah, I'm back—and I found a way to open up a path."
That sentence immediately grabbed their attention.
William: "I'll take you to the ruined town when I get the chance. Whether you enter the dream world or not… that depends on your luck."
The illusions of the dream world were crumbling.
Every fantasy bubble was a stage created by the God of Dreams, a temporary, fragile construct.
Now, they were disappearing one by one, like distant stars fading from the night sky.
With the stage of Changhu Town destroyed, Forum Master, Alice, and the others could only appear on whatever stages remained, but even those were vanishing by the second.
Watching this unravel, William felt as if he were staring at a vast universe being reduced to emptiness.
Now, the Anchoring Pen had fallen into the hands of the future God of Dreams.
And that meant, eventually, that god would write their own final ending.
William didn't know when that moment would come, but he did know one thing—
> If the players hoping to forge a path wanted a chance, they had to move fast.
Delays meant changes.
The future he had written into the God of Dreams' domain wasn't just for the Forum Master and his team, it was for all players.
Whoever could find a way in would secure their path forward.
But entering the God of Dreams' domain required more than just willpower, it needed an opportunity.
Metatron was able to enter because his gift was adjacent to the Dream Path.
Alice entered because the Witch of the Waste had used the incomplete Anchoring Pen.
The rest? They could only rely on luck.
William had long suspected something—
Changhu Town wasn't where the God of Dreams had truly fallen.
As a stage built by the God of Dreams, Changhu Town was likely linked to the deity's divine realm.
Even though the god had perished, this fallen land still carried remnants of his influence.
That's why they had been able to cross into the dream bubble of Changhu Town—because the ruins and the dream were connected.
But now?
The Changhu Town dream was shattered.
The dead God of Dreams could no longer create new dream bubbles.
Whether anyone could force their way inside was now an unknown variable.
A small possibility, but not impossible.
Mao Che was thrilled.