“Old Ji…”
[Passing Pure Love God of War] stiffly turned his head toward Ji Luo, who had already begun stealthily backing away, his hands trembling as they gripped the wooden table leg.
“Who did you just say had the advantage again?”
[Ji Luo]’s eye twitched violently as he desperately tried to maintain the dignity of a master strategist.
“The advantage…
is with it!”
“Holy crap, run!
Is this the kind of monster that’s supposed to spawn in a beginner village?
Devs, do you even have a heart?!”
Accompanied by a shrill screech that tore through the air, the over-two-meter-tall Crypt Lurker leaped down from the ruins!
Its six razor-sharp limbs scraped across the ground with an ear-piercing screech.
Moving like a mud truck tearing along at full speed, it charged straight toward the remaining four players.
“Scatter!
Run in different directions!
This thing’s armor is way too thick—the wooden sticks in our hands aren’t even worthy of giving it a bath!”
[Ji Luo] roared as he executed a clean tactical roll, diving behind a half-collapsed stone wall nearby.
[Passing Pure Love God of War] shouted wildly, his flashy white hair fluttering as he sprinted toward the village entrance.
Although Bigshot looked honest and simple, his legs were surprisingly fast.
He shot forward like a gust of wind, following closely behind Lu Ziye.
Only [I Am Not Jiahao] was the exception.
Whether he hadn’t adapted to the game’s controls yet or was simply too committed to his pretentious persona was anyone’s guess.
Facing the terrifying beast charging straight at him, he actually didn’t run.
Instead, he stood perfectly still, brushed aside the thick bangs covering his left eye with one hand, narrowed his right eye slightly, and attempted to intimidate the monster with an aloof gaze that seemed to say, I have already seen through life and death.
“Just a few lines of low-level code and some textures, and you think you can shake my broken soul?
It’s just so…
you know what I mean!”
The Crypt Lurker clearly didn’t.
It didn’t even slow down.
Its two razor-sharp forelimbs came crashing down like a pair of enormous guillotines.
Splat!
Before Jiahao could even finish his full quote, his upper and lower body were sliced apart, transforming into a beautiful cloud of ash in midair.
[System Notification: Player [I Am Not Jiahao] has died.]
“President Jia died so peacefully!”
Looking back, Passing Pure Love God of War sucked in a breath of cold air.
This monster’s instant-kill mechanic was way too unreasonable!
One slice, one kid dead!
Just as Passing Pure Love God of War and Bigshot were running for their lives, they happened to pass the dried-up well at the village entrance.
As luck would have it, the three [Tier 0 Corrupted Villagers] were still squatting beside the dry well, staring blankly into space.
These cannon-fodder mobs weren’t particularly intelligent to begin with.
With the Crypt Lurker going berserk nearby, they were so terrified that they simply huddled in place, trembling and completely forgetting to run.
As [Passing Pure Love God of War] ran past them, a flash of inspiration struck him.
“Wait!
Even if we’re being chased by an elite mob, we can’t go home empty-handed!”
As members of the Fourth Calamity, even if they were going to die, they had to take a bite out of the monsters first!
“Bigshot!
Stop!
Grab your weapon!”
[Passing Pure Love God of War] slammed on the brakes, his feet carving two furrows through the muddy ground.
He raised the broken wooden stick in his hand and, without the slightest hesitation, swung it viciously at the back of the nearest Corrupted Villager’s head.
Bam!
Thud!
That poor Tier 0 mob was fragile to begin with.
Lu Ziye’s heavy blow shattered its skull instantly, sending it twitching to the ground before its body dissolved into a pool of foul black water.
Immediately afterward, a crisp system notification rang out in Lu Ziye’s mind:
[Killed Tier 0 Corrupted Villager: EXP +10, Ash Coin +2.]
“Holy shit!
It actually dropped coins!”
The moment they heard that pleasant notification, Ji Luo, who had been hiding behind the stone wall, and Bigshot, who had been preparing to flee, both immediately saw red.
For online gamers, the scariest thing in the world wasn’t facing a boss.
It was realizing that right before getting killed by a boss, you hadn’t even earned back the cost of your revival!
“Brothers!
Money over life!
Kill the remaining two mobs before we die!”
[Ji Luo] stopped hiding.
He ripped a broken brick roughly the size of a human head from the ground and charged out, green light practically flashing in his eyes.
Bigshot also pulled two cobblestones from his pocket.
The honest look on his face vanished completely, replaced by the aura of a desperate criminal.
Now it was the Crypt Lurker’s turn to be utterly baffled.
Its walnut-sized brain spun furiously, completely unable to understand the scene unfolding before it.
Why had the prey that was running away in terror a moment ago suddenly stopped?
And not only had these lunatics stopped running, but right in front of its very eyes, they had started frantically gang-beating its minions!
Thump!
Thump!
Crack!
The three players surrounded the two remaining Corrupted Villagers, delivering an inhuman physical exorcism.
Bricks, wooden sticks, and cobblestones rained down relentlessly.
Before their Bigshot could come to the rescue, the two poor Tier 0 mobs had already been beaten into oblivion by this group of money-crazed players.
[Killed Tier 0 Corrupted Villager: EXP +10, Ash Coin +2.]
[Killed Tier 0 Corrupted Villager: EXP +10, Ash Coin +2.]
“Awesome!
Divide the loot and retreat!” [Passing Pure Love God of War] shouted.
“ROAR!”
The Crypt Lurker flew into a rage.
Its dignity as the local lord had been thoroughly provoked!
It let out a piercing screech as its massive body sprang forward, one of its sharp limbs skewering Bigshot through the chest—the closest target.
“Old Lu, Little Ji, I’m heading off first!”
Bigshot didn’t even cry out in pain.
Before turning into ash, he tightly wrapped his arms around the monster’s leg, desperately trying to buy time for his teammates to escape.
Unfortunately, the gap in speed was simply too great.
The monster shook off Bigshot’s ashes and charged forward, its forelimbs sweeping through the air like blades harvesting wheat.
[Passing Pure Love God of War] and [Ji Luo] didn’t even have time to say their last words before their screens turned black and white.
Total party wipe.
…
At the same time.
Inside the dilapidated church on the edge of the Black Forest, the resurrection magic array at the center of the shrine suddenly began flashing wildly.
White light flickered again and again, like a malfunctioning neon sign.
Shua!
Shua!
Shua!
Shua!
Shua!
Five figures standing in a neat line gradually took shape within the magic array.
The moment they opened their eyes, the temperature in the church seemed to drop below freezing.
[Passing Pure Love God of War], sporting his mop of white hair, pounced without a word.
He pinned Maluo to the ground, grabbed him by the neck, and shook him violently.
“You itchy-handed bastard!”
“I told you not to touch it!
Why the hell did you have to pluck that mushroom?!”
“Was that even a mushroom?!
That was a death sentence!”
“Cough, cough…
Bro, stop choking me!
I’m going to pass out!”
Maluo flailed his arms wildly.
“The pain sensation in this game is way too damn intense!
Go easy!
How was I supposed to know the ecosystem in this game was so freaking bizarre?
What kind of mushroom grows eyes?!”
[Ji Luo] sat on the ground looking utterly defeated, rubbing his temples.
“Three minutes after entering the game, and all five of us were sent straight back to town.”
“If someone records this and posts it on the forums, our reputation as a high-level alpha-test group is going to be ruined.
We might as well use our faces to prop up table legs.”