MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

"…That's quite surprising."

Located at a part of the labyrinth inaccessible to any of the eight groups, Alpha watched the movement of the three groups moving about with great interest.

Having noticed that all of the groups that appeared in the labyrinth averaged at around Rank 2 to peak Rank 2 in terms of combat power, the puppet adjusted the difficulty of the labyrinth accordingly, limiting the number of rooms that were available for them to claim.

After all, with the labyrinth spanning the entire continent, it only made sense that the number of rooms that made up the labyrinth weren't just limited to 512.

However, with a long time having passed without any groups warranting the need for all rooms to be open, even Alpha was unsure as to how many rooms its master had made to form the Great Veldanyr Labyrinth.

"Within the first 20 minutes, the two groups that split off from the main powers were able to claim 6 and 7 rooms respectively," muttered the puppet to itself, faintly nodding as it briefly glanced at the two screens on its side.

On them were the two auxiliary groups Valyr had formed, both of which were giving their utmost to claim as many rooms as possible.

Though their combat power was undoubtedly lacking in comparison to what was available in Valyr's group, the two groups still had above average combat power, especially if the members that participated in the world raid were taken into consideration.

With those members being split evenly amongst the two groups, they were able to showcase solid progress in clearing the rooms surrounding them, prompting Alpha to think that their teamwork was enough for them to be considered a guild of their own.

However, such thoughts quickly disappeared the moment it shifted its attention to the screen that showed Valyr's group.

"Since the other groups I enticed hovered around the peak of Rank 2 in terms of combat power, I thought the first group that entered wouldn't have much of an advantage over them, even if the leader looks to be at the peak of Rank 3."

"…I've been sorely mistaken this time," said Alpha to itself, shaking its head as it continued to watch.

Though the other members of Valyr's group more or less showed a similar level of combat power to the two auxiliary groups, the fact that Valyr was a part of it was more than enough to push their efficiency at clearing rooms to more than double of what it was before.

To be more exact, in the same time it took the other groups to claim less than 10 rooms, Valyr's group was able to claim 19 rooms, causing their overall territory to already cover 1/16th of the rooms made available to them.

Aside from the young man's commands aiding in the heightened efficacy of the members making up the group, it was Valyr's attacks themselves that contributed the most to the speed at which they cleared the room.

After all, what better way to clear a room filled with monsters in one go if not a massive fiery sun?

"A peak Rank 3 showcasing the strength of an elite peak Rank 4 class holder…" Watching Valyr clear the rooms they entered with relative ease, Alpha could not help but scratch the back of its head, wondering how it would give the other groups a fair opportunity at claiming the rewards of the labyrinth.

"Ah, whatever." In the end, the puppet did not dwell on the thought any further. "If Master were here, he probably would've told me to focus all my attention on him anyway."

"Aside from that, this was an opportunity his group had originally obtained for themselves."

"Since they look like they have the strength to claim all of the rooms I've opened up…"

"Then so be it."

…

"…Phew."

Returning to the room where they spawned, Valyr had his group convene with the two other groups to discuss the number of rooms they cleared within the past half hour.

Although he still found it a shame that the opportunity had to be shared with eight other groups, the young man had more or less accepted it, considering that the being presiding it had already given them a great head start.

Not only that, but even if the puppet didn't give them any advantage, Valyr was confident that their guild would still be able to walk out of the labyrinth as the greatest victor among the 8 groups.

After all, with Greater Beyond still in its early exploratory stages, the general strength of the player base hovered around early to middle Rank 2.

On the other hand, his stats were high enough to give a peak Rank 4 class holder a run for their money, perhaps even a peak Rank 5 class holder if he were to make use of [Soul Fusion].

If he wasn't going to take advantage of being the strongest player of Greater Beyond thus far, was there even any point in entering the labyrinth in the first place?

"If we add the room we spawned in, we've claimed a total of 43 rooms within these past 30 minutes," said Alisa, briefly glancing at the timer ticking down.

"That's a big enough lead to put our group ahead of the others." Valyr nodded in satisfaction, noticing that there were only less than 10 seconds left before their head start was finally over.

"For the meantime, take the opportunity to rest and return yourselves back to peak condition."

"Depending on how many Labyrinth Points the 43 rooms give us, we either adopt a passive approach to the labyrinth… or go all-out on the offensive."

Ring…!!!

Just as those words left his mouth, the timer above one of the paths finally ran out, prompting Alpha to make its presence known to the eight groups once more.

"Now that the 30 minutes are up, the seven other groups are now free to make their move and claim the rooms surrounding them."

"However, to ignite your sense of motivation, how about I tell you the amount of progress the first group was able to achieve in the past half hour?"

Although none responded to the puppet's question in return, Alpha still shared the information with everyone.

"In the past half hour, the first group was able to claim 42 rooms in 30 minutes, expanding their total territory to 43 rooms."

"Because of that, even if they don't move, they're now able to obtain…"

"Roughly 4,700 Labyrinth Points per minute."