Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The City of Despair, in the Ninth District.
Next to a puddle with an area of around 700 to 800 square meters in the city, the weeds were growing lushfully, akin to a jungle.
Three figures carrying a basket on their backs quietly appeared on the grassy lake’s edge, continually bowing their heads and leaning over. They seemed to be digging for something.
From the looks of the buildings around the backwater lake, which were overgrown with weeds, one could probably tell that this place was a wasteland. However, because of the low terrain and the fact that it had been left unattended for a long time, various particularly vigorous vegetation and plants had formed a sizable dense weed jungle around it.
Li Yuncheng had noticed that there were still a few pieces of such land around the survivors’ camp. They were a source of food for the survivors, but they had merely scattered a few seeds around the place without proper cultivation and care.
On this matter, the world outside the camp was full of crises, so there were probably not many survivors anyway. Basically, doing this was enough to keep them alive.
Zhuang Dafa got rid of a slightly dry and firm piece of mud with his hands, dug out fist-sized potatoes from them, and threw them into a basket he carried with him. He sighed and said, “Am I here to play games or do work? F*ck, I’ve never dug out any sort of potatoes my whole life. Old Li, are you bad at picking missions or what? Why’d you pick a harvesting task? This is not challenging in the slightest.”
Li Yuncheng stood up straight, looked at Zhuang Dafa, who was full of discontent, and smiled. “Safety first. We’ve yet to awaken our Extraordinary Seed, so going out to explore is just asking for trouble. The best way to gain prestige is this. They’re simple tasks and are quick and easy.”
“Hahaha, Dafa, one look, and I’m able to tell you’ve never played any traditional online games.” Xu Zhe, who was busy on the other side, channeled Zhuang Dafa’s complaints and laughed out loud. “This is the most classic quest in all online games. Without these tasks, would it even be considered a game?”
“Why did you assume that? I know about collecting carrots and such. It’s just that, look at the realism in this game, what’s the difference between doing this and actual farm work?”
Zhuang Dafa shook his head in dissatisfaction. He used to bounce around in other online games to collect all sorts of things. That was not bad, but this holographic game experience’s current experience was not much different from doing the real thing. It felt like he was being cheated into happily helping out a black-hearted host do his dirty work.
“Old Xu, didn’t you go and learn about the awakening earlier? Why’d you come back?” Zhuang Dafa asked again.
Xu Zhe shook his head helplessly, “Don’t mention it anymore. Other than that psycho Liu Chuanfeng, no one else stayed there any longer. It was too difficult. Think about it, you’re just here to play a game, yet you’re asked to exercise every day. Who in their right mind would stand it?”
“Damn, we need to exercise for it?” Zhuang Da shuddered at the thought, causing waves to ripple across his belly. His expression was uneasy, “If I had that kind of vigor, I would’ve recovered my handsomeness from once upon a time.”
“Yeah. Other than the potion, the other methods were too realistically excessive. This includes the awakening of the Extraordinary Seed too— it was probably a small probability event in and of itse;f.” Xu Zhe sighed softly. “Oh, by the way, Brother Handsome’s not with you guys?”
“He was with us earlier but I don’t know where he went after.” Zhuang Dafa responded, panting heavily, before sitting down on the scattered grass. Then, he looked at Li Yuncheng, who was eagerly doing his task in front of him. “Hey, Old Li, you have quite a lot of experience in this game now. Why didn’t you go with Liu Chuanfeng? I remember you were in the same team with him before.”
Li Yuncheng turned his head as he glanced over Zhuang Dafa inadvertently. Then, he said with a somewhat inexplicable smile on his face. “I think you guys experienced an extra closed beta session, so you’ll be able to carry me.”
“Hehe, you have good eyes,” Zhuang Dafa suddenly smiled and slapped his thigh when he heard Li Yuncheng’s words. “I’m not bragging about my techniques to you, but before this, I was able to reach diamond and platinum just by playing support. I’m absolutely reliable.”
“Is that so? That’s awesome.” Li Yuncheng smiled noncommittally, then looked at the muddy fields around him. Suddenly, he saw a slight vibration in the weeds in the distance.
“What’s that?” Xu Zhe got up and noticed the movement in front of him as he asked.
“They did mention that there would be bugs.” Li Yuncheng remembered this because of his favourability with the little girl Angie. At the time, he was given the opportunity to take the mission from the NPC boy named Rian, during which the other party had explained to him that there were various bugs living in this piece of grassy land.
“Let’s move.”
“Bug? What bug?!”
Zhuang Dafa’s eyes suddenly lit up and narrowed into small slits. He felt so bored with this kind of task that was similar to real-life work. He picked up a stone casually, raised his hand, and threw it toward the rattling grass.
“Don’t!”
“Wait!”
Xu Zhe and Li Yuncheng saw Zhuang Dafa’s action and hurriedly tried to stop him.
The two of them had done the mission [Energy Crisis] before, and until now, the memory of the plate-sized sharp beetle was still fresh in their minds. The scene of the overwhelming flood of critters was just too creepy.
However, the two of them were a step too late. The stone in Zhuang Dafa’s hand had already been thrown, and in the next moment, a strange creaking sound was instantly heard.
A shiny black scorpion with a body similar to the size of a car tire slowly emerged from the grass; it had two large claws and a thick tail needle that was more than one to two meters long. Almost as soon as it appeared, the trio instinctively backed off.
The visual impact of suddenly encountering these giant insects was many times more exciting than watching 3DIMAX.
However, after the giant scorpion appeared, it did not attack them. Instead, it made a creaking sound in its mouth and walked in the opposite direction. It seemed that it had no desire to attack the three people it suddenly encountered.
“Phew, thank the heavens it’s not a Red Named monster.”
Li Yuncheng breathed a sigh of relief. Although the monster did not have a red name above its head, it seemed like it would attack if approached, so he still referred to it in this way out of habit.
He usually played games with high efficiency to complete missions. If they were there to farm for prestige, then that was what he would do. He would definitely not do meaningless things if it was not necessary. Since the giant scorpion did not attack them, he was ready to go around it.
“Are scorpions vegetarian?” Xu Zhe asked with some doubt as he watched the giant scorpion leave.
“I think they’re carnivores. They eat insects and things…” Li Yuncheng thought for a while before answering. However, before he finished his sentence, his expression changed as he exclaimed, “F*ck, Dafa. What are you doing?”
Zhuang Dafa drew an iron sword from behind him and suddenly slashed at the giant scorpion’s tail.
The force was so great that it happened to cut the giant scorpion joints. A cracking sound was heard, and the giant scorpion’s tail fell directly onto the ground alongside its stinger.
The giant scorpion turned abruptly, letting out a grotesque sound akin to a shrill creaking before advancing with its two giant claws aimed at Zhuang Dafa, seemingly intent on grabbing him.
Zhuang Dafa jumped backward like a fat frightened rabbit.
However, the creaking sound of this giant scorpion became louder and louder. Suddenly, they noticed that the surrounding grass was also starting to move.
The dense grass was pushed to the side, and then a second scorpion appeared before them. It seemed to be larger than the first one, and it dashed toward them while waving its two pincers.
“Run!”
Li Yuncheng pulled Zhuang Dafa abruptly, causing him to regain his senses. He instantly leapt back like a fat rabbit.
“Mommy, what a broken game. I was so scared that I was about to get a heart attack!”
The creaking sounds continued to sound out one after another. The grass that was about half the height of a person shifted continuously before the third and fourth giant scorpions emerged. The three of them merely glanced behind them before rushing away in a panic.
Suddenly, one giant scorpion appeared one after another from everywhere around them. They proceeded to chase the three people frantically.
Fortunately, although there were many these giant scorpions of terrifying size, they were not too fast. They ran hundreds of meters away from the lush grass area until they arrived at a building complex in an abandoned street. Then, they finally stopped and collapsed into labored panting.
“Thank… Thank god that guy Sun Shuai is not with us. Otherwise, he’d definitely be at the resurrection point by now.”
Xu Zhe wiped the sweat from his head and let out a long sigh, remembering the scene where Sun Shuai had been so scared of the sharp beetles that he did not even dare to move. He suddenly could not help but laugh.
“We’ll call more people next time to clear up those big scorpions.”
Zhuang Dafa supported himself with a broken wall and almost slumped to the ground. After the initial horror of a sudden encounter subsided, the game was actually not so terrifying. Even so, he still felt somewhat indignant.
“We’d need quite a lot of them. We don’t have a map or any monster data. This is really like a wild survival adventure.” He quickly looked up and scanned the surrounding environment. “We’re just noobs in battle.”
“If we play the way you are currently playing, we’re definitely noobs.” Li Yuncheng glanced at Zhuang Dafa with a bit of resentment and sighed helplessly.
Zhuang Dafa laughed awkwardly. “Thus, it’s better to brush up on your prestige, and it’s important to improve your strength.”
“Even a collecting mission is this difficult; I really have no idea what happened to those who dared to go out and explore…”
Li Yuncheng felt his scalp turning numb. It was his second time seeing such a giant bug. Perhaps it was because there were only three people around this time, but it was evident that he lacked confidence.
In the middle of their short break, they suddenly a rustling sound again.
“Motherf*cker, their desire for vengeance is quite high!”
The expressions of the three people changed abruptly, and they ran off again.
At the same time, on the edge of the Ninth District of the City of Despair, an exploratory team consisting of Hua Yu, Guan Xiong, Huang Da, and Mao Ming, who had awakened their Extraordinary Seeds, were hiding in a rundown building. They were looking at a silhouette akin to a hill not far away.
It was almost seven or eight kilometers away from the camp and was in a completely unfamiliar area filled with broken streets and ruined cities. Despite this, the apocalyptic background was already a familiar sight to everyone present.
They had also encountered some mobs on the way here, which had sent a few people running away. Meanwhile, others were scrapped and killed off. Even so, in general, the current combat effectiveness of these four should not be underestimated.
They were at the edge of the Ninth City, where it looked like a trading market. They saw a behemoth lying on the ground, seemingly asleep.
The monster was massive, and it was curled up slightly such that they could not see the head. Only the palm-sized scales on its back were exposed. If not for its loud breathing, one would almost subconsciously think that it was a huge rock.
“This should be a crawling creature, right?” Hua Yu exclaimed while looking at the scales covering the monster.
This world was really full of monsters; They could encounter one even on a casual stroll.
“It might be, but it could also be something else entirely.”
“Judging by its huge body, I think it should be an Extraordinary Species.” Huang Da rolled his small eyes and whispered to a few people around him, “Shall we?”
Extraordinary Species were desirable targets to the players now. These Extraordinary Species possessed many materials that could be used to synthesize potions. As long as what they collected was returned to the camp, their prestige could be increased.
Now, only a handful of them had awakened the Extraordinary Seed. Huang Da felt that the potion he bought from Liu Chuanfeng for two hundred yuan was definitely worth it. Compared with the majority of players, he was already one step ahead, and since there was no deletion of files, he estimated that once the game became public, he should be able to become a relatively powerful player.
The reason why he went along this exploration mission with a few players who had awakened the Extraordinary Seed was because, on the one hand, he was interested in the map of the game, and on the other hand, he was also interested in opening trade unions in the future. He intended to recruit troops and expand his network.
Huang Da knew how to spend money to buy potions from the first moment he entered the game. The most important reason for this was that he had read many online articles about this kind of virtual game before and remembered that many of them became the nation’s unofficial online games. In the later stage, many of the big-shot guild leaders were recruited by financial groups. Just thinking about it made him feel excited.
“Let’s not!” Mao Ming, who was somewhat introverted by nature, scratched his hair, looked at several other players, and said, “I think we may not be able to beat such a monstrous figure.”
“What are you afraid of? We should just do it. If I’m here to tank, you’ll definitely not die.” Hua Yu took a wooden buckler and patted it lightly. He spent 20 prestige points on this buckler, and the corners were still a bit damaged. Since he had awakened the Extraordinary Seed, his excess points would be useless if he did not trade it in for some equipment.
Of course, he did not know that to stock the mall’s exchangeable equipment section; Meng Yang had basically cleaned up the entire camp. He had placed all sorts of broken swords and iron spears inside. The shield was the only buckler inside. According to Phoenix, a soldier named Buff used it in the past, but he never came back after venturing out one day.
“I have no strong opinions,” Guan Xiong nodded lightly when he saw a few people looking at him. He still had Liu Chuanfeng’s bone cleaver in his hand. Well, it was his now since it cost him two hundred yuan.
Other than Guan Xiong and Huang Da, no one else knew about these things. It has not even been two full days since the players first entered the game, and most of them are still in the stage of exploration and ignorance. Meanwhile, others were already making money.
“If we can’t beat it, we’ll just run away. Anyway, since we’ve already stumbled upon it, let’s just test the monster’s strength. Sigh, I miss games that have health bars.”
“Alright, come one. We’ll test it out!”
Hua Yu emerged from the dilapidated building and suddenly let out a soft huff. A faint red light appeared all around his body. A second later, his muscles seemed to swell as he held onto the round shield and thumped on it a few times. Then, he rushed toward the hulking beast.
“Charge!” Guan Xiong, who stood beside him, shouted as he gripped his bone knife. His eyes gleamed as they rushed toward the behemoth figure. This was the most satisfying part of the game; the rush it gave was utterly addictive.
“That two brats!”
Huang Da and Mao Ming glanced at each other, feeling slightly helpless. These two brothers were really a perfect match; they dashed out as soon as they shouted out a single word.
A muffled sound was soon heard. Hua Yu, who had rushed to the front with his shield, returned at lightning speed, almost as fast as when he had charged ahead earlier.
He felt like he had run into a mountainside as he was instantly thrown upside down. He sailed through the air before finally landing on his bottom with hard thump.
Guan Xiong immediately rushed up behind him whilst holding a bone knife. He leaped high, then slashed fiercely. A cracking sound was immediately heard—the bone knife seemed to have sliced into a tough piece of rock. In the next moment, it appeared that he could no longer hold onto the bone cleaver in his hand as he was about to get catapult. The web between his thumb and fingers was beginning to bleed as well.
“Bam!”
At the same time, there was a sound akin to thunder, and the whole ground seemed to shake violently.
The four of them stared at the monster that was slowly waking up and were absolutely stunned.