“Did you guys kill any green-furred monsters? I noticed they move really slowly. Since we’re all in vehicles, as long as we steer around them and keep moving forward, they can’t catch up at all.”
“I didn’t kill a single one. I figured getting to the finish line early would work out the same and still give a high score.”
Despite saying that, the speaker was already feeling smug inside. First to arrive, plus six green-furred monsters killed for 220 points—first place was almost certainly theirs.
Everyone remained on guard against one another and didn’t speak as recklessly as they did in the chat lobby, so the atmosphere looked peaceful enough on the surface.
They all chimed in to claim they’d barely killed any monsters and were worried about their rankings, then offered each other a few words of comfort—looking just like students fishing for information right after an exam.
Qi Xu killed fourteen in a row before deciding to leave. Counting the six she’d run over earlier, that made an even twenty. As long as she wasn’t in the same group as War Wolf 009, that score should easily secure first place.
So she fought as she fell back, steadily edging closer to her tricycle.
Just as she cut down another green-furred monster, a system announcement suddenly rang out.
“Congratulations, player, on obtaining the new title 〖Green Menace〗! You’re so fierce and so violent, but I really like it!”
Qi Xu tapped the attributes for the 〖Green Menace〗 title, and her eyes lit up at once. She immediately swapped to the new title, dropped the idea of leaving just yet, and decided to farm another wave.
〖Green Menace〗: “When this title is equipped, all three basic attributes increase by 10 points when facing green monsters!”
Qi Xu’s arms had already started aching, but once she equipped the new title, she felt as if she could go another 300 rounds.
More importantly, the green-furred monsters weren’t spawning one at a time anymore!
Now two were appearing at once. Qi Xu didn’t dare let them close in. Healing medicine was practically nonexistent right now, and taking even one punch would break a bone, so she had to kite them and pick them off one by one.
Fortunately, the green-furred monsters were slow-witted and clumsy. With even a bit of footwork, they were easy to kill.
Wanting to test her limits as well, Qi Xu kept holding off on retreating. Meanwhile, 17 people had already gathered at the finish line…
“Is anyone else coming back or what? Doesn’t this game have a time limit? If someone never shows up, are we all stuck here?”
“Seriously, I’m so done. I haven’t even finished my 60 kilometers for today, and it’s almost one o’clock!”
“Which three are dragging their feet like this? I’m speechless. If you don’t have what it takes, why sign up for an instance!”
“Is there an administrator here?! Come out, come out!”
The words had barely faded when a minotaur in a black-and-white checkered outfit suddenly burrowed up out of the ground.
“Who—who called for me?! Who disturbed my sleep?” You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Instantly, everyone fell dead silent.
The minotaur looked around. “Is there a problem with my game? Do you have complaints about the administrator?”
“No, no…”
“Then shut up! Get lost, you annoying players!”
After roaring to vent its temper, the minotaur was about to sink back underground to sleep when it realized something was wrong.
It should have been off work already—so why hadn’t this instance ended yet?
Only after checking did it realize: crap, it had forgotten to set a time limit! A player had found the bug and was farming monsters on repeat!
The minotaur scrambled through its controls. Not far away, Qi Xu, who was still killing monsters, suddenly saw a five-minute countdown pop up on her light screen.
“Failure to reach the finish line within the allotted time will be judged as a challenge failure.”
Unflustered, Qi Xu killed the last green-furred monster within reach, pulled out a bottle of utility water she had saved up, rinsed off the right tire, and even wiped it down with a dry rag.
Only then did she hurry back onto her tricycle, twist the throttle hard, and speed forward!
Five hundred meters in five minutes was an easy run.
“Damn, someone’s finally coming back.”
“Hurry up, girl! All of us are waiting on you.”
“Quick, quick, miss! Time’s almost up.”
With a minute and a half left on the countdown, Qi Xu finally arrived.
As she crossed the finish line, the display beside her showed that she was the eighteenth player to make it across.
Which meant… aside from that guy on the motorcycle, one other person wasn’t coming back at all.
“What took you so long? It’s almost 2 p.m.!”
Qi Xu lowered her head and said sheepishly, “My vehicle broke down. I tried to fix it, but the green-furred monsters kept getting in the way… Changing the tire ate up a lot of time.”
Everyone bought it, since her right wheel was noticeably cleaner than the other two.
The girl on the electric scooter chimed in, “There are still two people who haven’t made it back, so it’s not just her. Besides, there’s only a minute left on the countdown anyway.”
She gave Qi Xu a reassuring nod, then leaned in and whispered, “You’re probably in the bottom five. If you have any food, eat it fast—otherwise, if it gets taken when they deduct supplies later, you’ll lose out big.”
Looking as if it had just dawned on her, Qi Xu pulled a caterpillar-shaped bread roll from her inventory backpack and started biting into it, polishing it off in a few mouthfuls.
Then she took out a bottle of mineral water, tipped her head back, and kept gulping it down.
Seeing that, the others who weren’t confident in their scores started moving too.
Some ate, some smoked, and others looked for ways to use up their supplies on the spot…
When the countdown finally ended, a huge colorful light screen appeared right in front of everyone.
The names of the top three were displayed in the largest font, with Qi Xu’s handle sitting squarely in first place.
“1st Place: Invincible Black Whirlwind — 1380 points”
“Holy crap, the Invincible big shot is right here among us!!!”
“Is that even human? 1380 points! How many green-furred monsters would you have to kill for that, or did they trigger some kind of hidden bonus mechanic?!”
“Which one of you is the Invincible big shot? Big shot, spare me a friend slot!”
The sharper players kept quiet and covertly sized everyone up instead. Qi Xu was frowning as she rummaged through her supplies, looking every bit like a bottom-five rookie worried about the upcoming penalty.
Before long, however, everyone was unceremoniously booted out of the instance at the same time.
Qi Xu landed flat on her butt.
She sat there looking completely dumbfounded.
Were even one-star instances this ill-tempered? Even five- and six-star instances didn’t act like that.
Qi Xu was left utterly speechless, and the fall really hurt. Fortunately, the instance settlement rewards popped up right then, instantly grabbing her attention.
“Congratulations to player Invincible Black Whirlwind for winning first place in your group! You have been awarded the following special rewards: Plastic ×10, Iron Block ×10, Leather ×10, Rubber ×10, Screws ×10, Pocket Orange Tree ×1, Mini Flowerpot ×1, Plant Nutrient Solution ×10.”
Qi Xu pumped her fist hard. Nice—once she grew the oranges, she’d have a steady way to get vitamin C every day!
The payout of basic materials was generous too. Once she got her hands on a Vehicle Upgrade Card, she might be able to upgrade her ride right away!