Bang!
Accompanied by a dull, deafening impact, [Passing Pure Love God of War], who had charged at the very front while wielding half of a solid wooden door, looked as though he had been hit head-on by a speeding truck.
The three-meter-tall [Aberrant Corrupted Corpse] merely swung its bucket-thick arm casually.
It hadn’t even used a skill.
[Lu Ziye] was sent flying backward together with the door plank.
Crack!
His body bent into a bizarre “C” shape in midair before smashing heavily into the wall.
If he had been an ordinary person, that single blow would probably have shattered all his internal organs.
However, under the system’s rules, [Lu Ziye]’s body didn’t explode into a bloody mess.
Instead, the instant he hit the ground, his entire body transformed into a pile of grayish-white ash.
Immediately afterward, the ash seemed to be guided by an invisible force, slowly drifting back toward the feet of [Lynn]’s divine statue.
“Damn, that’s some terrifying attack power!”
“Can it really kill us in one punch?”
The player named [Ji Li] shouted.
She was a veteran high-level player.
Seeing [Lu Ziye] get one-shotted didn’t frighten her in the slightest.
Instead, she immediately drew upon her extensive gaming experience and began analyzing the boss mechanics.
“The backswing of that attack is about two seconds!”
“We can greed for one hit!”
The moment she finished speaking, [Kindergarten Boss], that honest and straightforward fellow, had already pried a brick from the ground and hurled it toward the [Aberrant Corrupted Corpse]’s feet.
“Roar!”
The monster felt the impact and stomped down with one foot.
Squish.
[Kindergarten Boss] gloriously sacrificed himself.
At the same time, [Malou Also Has Dignity] had crawled into the visual blind spot beneath the monster’s feet.
With a wretched expression, he was studying the pustules covering the creature’s legs.
“Family members, look at this!”
“This monster’s pustules actually have dynamic physical effects!”
“If I poke one with my finger, I wonder if it’ll lose HP…”
Unfortunately, the [Aberrant Corrupted Corpse] clearly had no intention of cooperating with his scientific research.
It lifted one leg and unleashed a War Stomp, sending [Malou] back to his hometown.
In less than ten seconds, three of the five players had been sent away.
The very next second, a white light flashed across the magic array before the divine platform.
Three shiny, bald heads appeared once again.
[Kindergarten Boss] touched his smooth forehead.
Instead of feeling frustrated about being beaten to death, he was as excited as a two-hundred-catty child.
“Damn!”
“That death animation is actually pretty cool!”
“Turn into ash, then get reconstructed immediately after death?”
“Brothers, keep charging!”
“As long as we exhaust its stamina, even if we scrape away one HP at a time, we can eventually kill it!”
The three players howled and charged forward once again.
While this group of idiots was having the time of their lives, [Lynn], sitting upright on the divine platform, was completely panicking.
The system panel in front of him was flashing frantically.
[Warning!
Faith Value -10!]
[Warning!
Faith Value -10!]
[Warning!
Faith Value -10!]
Lynn’s heart nearly stopped.
“System!”
“Get out here and explain!”
“Why is my Faith Value dropping?!”
“Are these players swiping my card?!”
The system’s cold, mechanical voice sounded at exactly the right moment, pouring an entire bucket of ice water over him.
[Reporting to Host: Please check your initial account balance.]
[As an endangered deity, your initial Faith Value is 600 points.]
[Earlier, five player bodies were forcibly condensed for you, consuming 100 Faith Value per body, for a total expenditure of 500 points.]
[Current remaining Faith Value: 70 points.]
Lynn froze.
“Then what were those 30 points just now?”
The system patiently explained:
[The host’s current divine title is [Lord of Ashes].
The physical bodies of the players are essentially reconstructed from your divine ash.]
[After death, their bodies transform back into ash and return to your divine throne.
However, every time a physical body is reforged, 10 Faith Value must be paid to the system.]
[Warm Reminder: Your current balance is only 70 Faith Value.
This means that if the players die seven more times, your Faith Value will be completely depleted.
Your divine status will collapse immediately, and the game will come to an end.]
After hearing the explanation, Lynn felt as though his stone forehead was about to explode from anger.
All things considered…
He only had seven resurrection charges left!
And this group of street-punk players had already burned through three of them in less than a minute!
Judging by their strategy of “face-tank every skill,” Lynn estimated that in five minutes at most, he would have to say goodbye to this world forever.
On the battlefield, the newly resurrected players were already preparing to throw their lives away again.
But the fifth bald player, who had barely done anything since entering the church, finally made his move.
His ID was [I Am Not Jiahao].
Among the five bald men, his temperament was exceptionally unique.
Everyone else was screaming and shouting.
Only he, despite wearing nothing except an oversized pair of boxer shorts, had somehow managed to force himself into a melancholic, aloof posture with both hands in his pockets.
Of course, there were no actual pockets.
His hands were simply shoved into the waistband of his shorts.
Looking at the pathetic state of the other four players, [I Am Not Jiahao] sneered.
“People my age only know how to charge brainlessly when playing games.”
“Meanwhile, I study the stock market every day.”
“My macro perspective is already operating on an entirely different dimension.”
“It’s just…”
“You guys understand, right?”
He mentally rehearsed a flawless, professional-grade evasive maneuver.
Then he slightly raised his head and spat out four disdainful words:
“Too busy to die.”
Having finished speaking, he suddenly performed a tactical slide, intending to slip between the [Aberrant Corrupted Corpse]’s legs and deliver a stylish backstab.
Unfortunately…
He wasn’t wearing shoes.
His foot slipped on the moss-covered church floor.
His entire body slid forward in an extremely comical split.
And stopped directly between the monster’s two feet.
The Aberrant Corrupted Corpse lowered its head.
It stared curiously at the bald head that had slid underneath its crotch.
After a moment, the monster scratched the pustule on its own head.
Then it casually sat down.
Squish.
[I Am Not Jiahao] was instantly crushed into a pile of ash.
[Warning!
Faith Value -10!]
Watching his balance drop to 60 points, Lynn completely lost his temper.
They can’t keep playing like this!
“System!”
“Send out a global announcement immediately!”
“Apply a hotfix!”
“Quick!”
Ding!
The five players, who had been running wild throughout the church, suddenly saw a blood-red translucent warning window appear directly in the center of their vision.
[Emergency Hotfix Announcement!]
[Because the game is currently in the closed-beta stage, each player has only 2 free resurrection opportunities!]
[If a third death occurs, the account will be forcibly reclaimed and the player’s closed-beta qualification will be permanently revoked!]
The moment the blood-red text appeared…
The entire church fell silent.
Even the air seemed to stop moving.
“Closed-beta qualification revoked?”
[I Am Not Jiahao] froze.
He awkwardly glanced at the monster less than half a meter away.
“Uh…”
“Well…”
He gave an awkward laugh and tried to negotiate in an extremely polite tone.
“Big brother…”
“The system just issued an announcement.”
“How about we call a timeout first?”
“You know what I mean, right?”
The only response was the [Aberrant Corrupted Corpse] opening and closing its enormous bloody mouth.
Its foul breath blasted directly into his face.
“Roar!”
The monster slapped down like it was swatting a fly.
[I Am Not Jiahao] instantly transformed into another pile of weathered ash.
[Warning!
Faith Value -10!]
A white light flashed across the magic array.
[I Am Not Jiahao] respawned once again.
But this time, the moment he opened his eyes, he saw the blood-red warning in front of him.
[Current Resurrection Opportunities Remaining: 0]
“Damn…”
“DAMN IT!!!”
[Jiahao] completely broke down.
The aloof male-god persona he had carefully maintained shattered instantly.
“I only have one life left?!”
“I hadn’t even started playing properly!”
“I was just lagging!”
“This game is targeting me!”
“I’m going to the forum and writing a ten-thousand-word complaint!”
The game’s level of immersion completely crushed every major game on the market.
If he lost his qualification now…
That would hurt even more than being killed!
“Everyone, stop fooling around!”
As a veteran high-level player, [Ji Li] immediately displayed the authority of a team leader.
“This monster obviously isn’t something we’re supposed to brute-force!”
“We have to follow the mechanics!”
“[Jiahao], you only have one life left.
Stay in the back and throw stones to pull aggro!”
“[Pure Love War God], [Malou], you two go move those rotten logs over there!”
“The terrain in this game is destructible.
Let’s find a way to block its movement!”
“[Bigshot], come with me and pin this thing down!”
“As soon as it falls, we’ll target its joints and eyes!”