Zombies, or rather, the walking dead, are the first type of Monster Enemies that everyone entering Demon World Village must face.
The Graveyard where Cheng Tian and his group are currently located is the Respawn Point for these resurrected beings; every grave mound has the potential to yield a Zombie devoid of reason, instinctively attacking only living creatures.
As soon as Green Skin finished his guidance and left, the Players officially commenced their journey into Demon World Village, and the Main Quest Countdown began, so naturally, they had to start grinding Monsters as well.
Looking across all action-adventure Yugi titles on the Famicom platform, Demon World Village is one of those games with an extremely high volume of Monster grinding, and it offers Players no respite whatsoever; Monsters spawn every second, an unrelenting, fiercest grinding method imaginable.
Just as Green Skin said, the danger level in Demon World Village is so high that it shouldn't be configured for novices.
From one hand breaking through the soil to the entire body completely emerging from the grave, these Zombies only took less than 10 seconds, and the small hill that initially held only about ten trembling Players suddenly gained an equal number of Zombie Monsters.
These Zombies' bodies were severely decayed and rotten; their joints could only be described as 'barely connected,' and one could even clearly see maggots crawling around their ears, mouths, eyes, and sockets. Yet, these corpses, which clearly should not be able to move normally, gained the ability to move again, driven by Evil power, and directed immense resentment and hostility toward all living things.
In response, some swung their blades, some stood frozen, and some fled in panic without regard for direction.
That unlucky college student, who Green Skin used as a prime example to establish authority and thus became One-Ear, now had his head wrapped in a cloth strip stained with blood, torn from his own clothes.
But surprisingly, this guy not only failed to create distance from Green Skin, but instead, the moment Green Skin promised him a loan, he immediately covered his ears, put on a stern face, and shuffled closer.
The young man couldn't hide much emotion on his face; one could see that fear and Aggro were intertwined regarding Green Skin, yet this didn't stop him from trading his Talent information for a very plain Axe.
At the time, Green Skin felt a bit surprised, but he still exchanged the Axe for One-Ear, even harboring a slight expectation that the young man might show some spirit and immediately strike him with the Weapon upon receiving it.
Unfortunately, the veins on the back of One-Ear's hand bulged as he gripped the Axe handle, but in the end, he suppressed his anger and obediently retreated from the crowd, whispering quietly shoulder-to-shoulder with his dorm mates.
"Die for me!!!"
One-Ear raised the One-handed Axe in his hand high and brought it down heavily onto the Zombie that had only half its body crawled out of the grave, his posture clearly venting the rage and hatred he dared not direct at Green Skin.
And at this moment, one could see a faint shimmer emanating from the surface of the One-handed Axe raised by One-Ear.
【Wood Chopping: E-Rank Talent/Lv1, Talent Skill, Active Skill. Having immersed yourself in this craft for ten years, you possess quite a decent Talent in chopping and cleaving.
When wielding a Cleaver or Axe-type Weapon, you can consume 3 MP to unleash a Fatal Chop on the target, increasing Weapon Damage by 10%, with a medium chance to inflict "Bleeding" or "Maim" effects; there is a 100% full effect bonus against Withered Tree, Treant, and Tree Spirit-type units. The Skill Cooldown Time is 15 seconds.】
Before this Zombie, whose HP was already low, could even squeeze out a hoarse roar from its throat, it was split perfectly in two from the crown of its head to its hip joint by the Axe.
Sufficiently sharp Axe + sufficiently Fragile body + sufficiently skillful application of force = a sufficiently perfect Kill.
As a child from the mountains, if nothing else, One-Ear was quite experienced in chopping things with an Axe, and this Axe, which was clearly heavier than a standard Cleaver, felt even more natural in his hand than expected.
It must be said, Green Skin was quite genuine; the Cold Weapons he used for predatory loans were not ordinary industrial products, but legitimate Equipment Items sourced from other Instances.
The Axe in One-Ear's hand was a Blank Slate Weapon from Diablo II, one of the major Equipment-dropping Instances in PC Yugi.《
【Hand Axe: White Normal/Lv1, One-handed Axe. Equipment Requirement: None. Weapon Damage 3-6. Durability 28/28.】
This Wood Chopping strike not only triggered the maximum value of the Weapon Damage but also triggered the "Maim" Special Effect, instantly killing the Zombie whose body was already not very sturdy.
However, just as he secured the first Kill among the Monsters, his left ankle was suddenly grabbed by a Zombie hand missing a finger.
In an instant, every hair on One-Ear's body stood on end.
But what One-Ear could accomplish did not mean everyone else could do the same.
A large number of rookie Players meant the Zombies' targets would be dispersed, and more importantly, not everyone possessed the courage to face moving, rotting corpses like this One-Ear, who was holding back his anger.
The previous calm was merely due to Green Skin's Deterrence; now, without external interference to Suppress them and without a leader emerging to integrate everyone, a scattered mess was inevitable.
The half-drunk Old Brother was the first to fall under the Zombies' biting attack.
Just as he muttered to himself initially, he had consumed at least a full jin of strong liquor and two cases of beer before being selected; even though the sound of gunfire briefly restored some clarity, the connection between his speech and his brain inevitably suffered some Delay.
The Old Brother’s alcohol tolerance was indeed good, but his cerebellum, already paralyzed by alcohol, didn't care about any of that.
And that seemingly frail Zombie contained within its body the Evil Dark Magic Power sufficient to animate a rotting corpse; it could shatter even Arthur's Magic Knight Armor in one blow, let alone an ordinary person with no protection?
Facing the Zombie's claw strike, the half-drunk Old Brother, who hadn't managed to acquire a Weapon, instinctively raised his arm to defend.
The claw strike was blocked, but the Old Brother's arm, whose muscle size was hidden by his long sleeve, instantly twisted in the opposite direction at the joint—this clearly meant it had been broken!
This pain was clearly something alcohol could no longer suppress.
And then, there was no 'then,' as the Zombie's teeth sank into the neck of the screaming Old Brother.
The Old Brother's Talent was actually quite good; it was named 『Heavy Drinking』, a D-Rank Passive Skill that allowed him to reduce his pain sensation after drinking, increase his Physical Critical Hit probability and Spirit attack resistance, and even heal a small amount, making it quite useful in early-game Instances lacking recovery means.
Especially the resistance attribute against Spirit attacks, which was rare among D-Rank Talents and Skill pools; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it promising for the future.
It was just a pity that long-term Heavy Drinking had caused his physical condition to decline year by year, and judging by the way the Zombies swarmed him to bite, the Old Brother would likely soon resemble the deceased Arthur.
The girl holding a Blank Slate Baseball Bat sourced from the Sega MD platform's Streets of Rage III, while screaming high-pitched, continuous screams at the approaching Zombies, wildly swung the bat around.《
For Zombies, the impact effect of a light Blunt Weapon was completely inferior to a proper piercing Weapon, so the outcome was self-evident.
The moment she was bitten, the girl let out a high-pitched scream, followed by a weakening "Help me, help me," but now, absolutely no one could spare her.
The two mentioned above at least attempted defensive or resistant actions, but a significant portion of people made even worse decisions in their panic.
A total of six people took advantage of the opportunity when the half-drunk Old Brother and the Baseball Bat Girl were being bitten and Bleeding everywhere, clumsily sliding down the dirt slope—which had a height difference of about 5 meters but a shallow angle—attempting to find a way out in the more open Graveyard, only to be met by a chain reaction of grave Monster spawns.
And it wasn't just Zombies breaking through the soil; several Red-eyed Crow Monsters perched on Tombstones and Withered Trees also joined the ranks attacking the Players after letting out hoarse cries.
Zombies weren't entirely without a weakness; their limbs were stiff, making it difficult for them to turn corners. By using Tombstones as Cover and frequently changing routes, there might be a sliver of hope.
...But the Red-eyed Crows, whose beaks were as sharp as knives, were much harder to evade.
The hoarse cries of the Red-eyed Crows, the guttural roars of the Zombies, and the shrill screams of Humans began to interweave and Circling above the Graveyard.
Total wipeout, in an instant.
However, just at this moment, a very urgent and abrupt sharp air explosion suddenly rang out.
Snap!
That Zombie, half of its body still in the grave, which had unexpectedly dragged One-Ear down to the ground and was already half-crouched over him, about to bite One-Ear's terrified face with its rotten, empty teeth, suddenly froze, and then its head completely separated from its body, rolling 360 degrees onto One-Ear's face.
And just not far from One-Ear's side, Cheng Tian, Cheng Mouren, once again raised a long whip he had acquired from somewhere and snapped it forcefully.
Snap!
This time, it was the Red-eyed Crow, whose beak was like a knife and was attempting a dive attack, that exploded!
At this moment, Cheng Tian, who had taken down two Monsters in two strikes, had eyes that shone terrifyingly bright.
In the personal information log viewable only by Cheng Tian, a block of text scrolled across the screen.
【Detected your first entry into the Demon World Village related Instance—】
【S-Rank Talent Game Master is activating—】
【You have successfully loaded the Native Protagonist Template from the Castlevania blueprint—"Vampire Hunter/Simon Belmont."】