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For players entering No Escape, the initial goal was simple: relax on the ship, enjoy the food, and survive for two weeks.
At most, they'd have to fend off a few zombie passengers here and there. If they felt ambitious, they could pursue the hidden quest to trace the source of the zombie virus.
The latter wasn't mandatory—only necessary for those chasing high scores. Without that objective, the challenge was virtually nonexistent.
But mere moments into the game, the ascension boss, Red-Eye, made its grand entrance.
And as every seasoned player knew, the appearance of an ascension boss automatically raised the dungeon's difficulty by at least one level.
Red-Eye's arrival escalated everything.
The zombies became significantly stronger. Many 2nd Heavenly Ascension players were overwhelmed almost instantly, leading to heavy casualties.
Gan Ran, the Dawnmoon Guild's team leader, had had no choice but to abandon plans for a perfect run and focus on finding a side-route completion node.
In level-three or higher dungeons, triggering an ascension boss was always a risk. But these dungeons also offered alternate completion methods.
Perhaps the developers didn't want advanced players to be wiped out en masse while exploring, so they left behind "escape routes."
These paths allowed players to escape impossible situations, ensuring that the intel they gathered in their doomed attempt could benefit future players.
The concept was simple: If things became unbearable, players had a lifeline. This distinction gave rise to two terms—perfect clearance and side-route clearance.
In Level 1 instances, these options didn't exist. In Level 2 ones, only a select few had them. But from Level 3 onward, every instance offered alternatives.
Perfect clearance required completing the dungeon's initial tasks as presented on the starting panel, following standard procedures, and earning the corresponding rewards.
Side-route clearance, on the other hand, came in countless forms.
Perhaps fulfilling a particular NPC's request could trigger it. Or maybe it involved finding a hidden pathway or defeating a minor boss.
Regardless, side clears never rewarded players with anything except the chance to spend credits to heal injuries—no other prizes.
After all, letting players leave alive was reward enough.
Through successive groups' explorations, a few early side-route clearance nodes were identified in No Escape.
The first escape node appeared on the first evening: a private helicopter would land on the cruise ship.
If players boarded the chopper and successfully piloted it away, they'd be given the option to exit the instance.
However, the helicopter could only carry four people—a pitiful option in a dungeon with over 100 participants.
The second node was more forgiving. It had no limit on participants, no strict timing, and could be accessed anytime within the first ten days.
Beyond that? No one knew. No group had lasted that long and lived to tell the tale.
Normally, on the third day after the cruise set sail, a minor zombie wave would occur.
Under standard conditions, this wouldn't be a significant hurdle—just a dozen or so zombies.
But with Red-Eye in the mix? That number ballooned to several hundred.
Even worse, all critical crew members, including engineers and maintenance staff, were among the infected NPCs, plunging the ship into immediate chaos.
The virus had evolved—its incubation period was longer, its infection rate higher, and it granted its hosts greater strength.
It even affected nearby plant life and marine creatures, transforming them into zombie-like monstrosities.
By this point, the dungeon's difficulty had skyrocketed past Level 3, encroaching on Level 4 or even 5.
Faced with such overwhelming odds, Gan Ran had decisively abandoned the perfect clearance route and opted for the second side-route clearance: the lifeboats.
But even for side-route clearance, the game wasn't about to make things easy.
Otherwise, this wouldn't be a survival game—it'd be a luxury cruise.
To escape using the lifeboats, players had to:
1. Discover the location of the lifeboats.
2. Find the key to the storage room housing the lifeboats.
3. Fight through waves of zombies to reach the storage room.
4. Inflate the lifeboats and launch them onto the ocean.
5. Paddle the lifeboats 1,000 meters away from the ship while fending off mutated sea creatures.
Fortunately, earlier groups had pinpointed the lifeboat locations and the key's whereabouts, sparing Gan Ran's team the hassle of investigating.
All they had to do then was focus on the latter tasks.
But of course, nothing ever went smoothly.
Right on cue, Red-Eye made its entrance, flanked by a massive horde of zombies, blocking the lifeboat room with a vengeance as if determined to guard the passageway until the end of time.
Meanwhile, many players in the team had already been infected with the enhanced virus, which their current items couldn't counteract.
They needed to retreat to a safe zone for treatment immediately—every second counted.
With no other choice, the players launched an all-out assault on Red-Eye, initiating a boss battle.
The result? A pyrrhic victory.
Though Red-Eye had fled, the team had suffered devastating losses.
Of the original 100, barely 20 survived, several of whom lay unconscious, their fate uncertain.
Still, it was better than total annihilation—especially in a dungeon featuring an ascension boss.
Given the circumstances, Gan Ran had done a commendable job leading the team.
The pride was evident in the words of the player recounting the tale.
As a Dawnmoon member, they radiated pride in their association with such a capable leader.
Indeed, there was cause for pride—they had driven Red-Eye into retreat, forcing it to vent its frustration on weaker players.
Had they not been in such a rush to extract their wounded, Red-Eye might not have escaped at all.
Its half-dead retreat was a sight to behold.
Zuo Chengan had seen it firsthand, stumbling out of the dungeon battered and humiliated.
Red-Eye had clearly bitten off more than it could chew—almost getting itself eliminated in the process.
…
Blending into the crowd, Zuo Chengan gathered all the information he could.
Satisfied, he headed toward the marketplace as planned.
From a distance, the bustling scene was already visible—guides eagerly promoting their services to new players.
Many newcomers, still reeling from their initial task completion, were caught off guard by the enthusiastic beauties and dashing figures swarming to offer special services.
When asked what those services entailed, the answer was always the same: "Guidance."
Zuo Chengan scanned the marketplace entrance and quickly spotted Yu Le among a group of kids.
Yu Le noticed him too and waved energetically.
As the first customer Yu Le had served since starting his independent life, Zuo Chengan had clearly left an impression.
Zuo Chengan returned the wave with a faint smile.