Chapter 2: This Is the Official Version! | Monsters Are Coming
In the sky, hurricanes howled, stirring the crimson clouds into a chaotic churn.
After a crack of thunder, black lightning webbed across the heavens like a spider's web, vanishing seconds later without a trace.
On the ground, a chain of volcanoes erupted violently. Rivers of molten lava slithered down like fiery serpents, devouring all life in their path. The air reeked of sulfur and scorched earth. The ridge of the tallest peak glowed blood-red under the pale light of the waning moon, like a flaming, jagged sword aimed at the heavens, threatening to pierce the thick sky above.
Monstrous creatures rampaged across the land.
There was the Xieqi, a mountain-sized hydra with eighteen heads; the Frostbeast, whose breath could freeze thousands of miles; and the Crimson-Winged Screecher, capable of soaring across entire continents. Besides these apex predators, there were countless other monsters, ones whose gaping maws could swallow mountains and rivers, whose stomps could reshape the land.
This was an ecosystem built entirely on terrifying beasts.
The perspective dropped swiftly, zooming toward the ground until it fixed on a ruined village, then was suddenly swallowed by surrounding darkness.
When the darkness faded, Li Zheng found himself suspended before a towering wall of blue crystalline panels. A prompt echoed in his mind.
[Welcome, Challenger, to the Monster World. Please begin creating your initial character.]
"Monster World? But Dark Land's starter village is supposed to be Dark City, isn't it?"
He didn't dwell on the question long, figuring the Lunar Eclipse Race must have updated the settings since the early leaks years ago.
The overhead cinematic just now, and this character creation interface, convinced him that he had, in fact, downloaded a cracked version of Dark Land.
The thrill in his chest was beyond words. While others had to shell out 128,888 just to play this game, he got it in one hour, for free.
Welfare Officer really came through!
He no longer doubted the game's authenticity.
What kind of scammer would invest this much to build a game with such insane realism?
If all that CG earlier was just a ruse, then the cost of this prank was ridiculously high.
He typed 'Game Gold-Farmer' into the name field using the virtual keyboard. Upon confirming, the massive crystalline wall zoomed toward him.
Most of the grid-like cells on the wall were empty. Only the starting cells, numbers 1 through 3, held grotesque, ferocious monsters.
Cell 1 contained a humanoid stone statue with bat-like ears, crouched atop a half-meter-tall stone pedestal. Its sculpted body was intricately detailed, and its massive pupils glowed with a faint red light. Its gaping mouth revealed rows of sharp white fangs.
Cell 2 held a creature with fiery red feathers and an owl-like form. Its razor-sharp talons were incessantly striking the crystal wall of its containment cell, emitting a screeching sound.
Cell 3 housed a massive serpent with black scale armor, coiled tightly within its cell, flicking its tongue.
[Please choose your initial form.]
Li Zheng's gaze fell on the first monster, and its stats appeared before him.
[Gargoyle]:
Initial Level: 1
Initial Attributes:
Physical Aptitude: 7 (Includes strength, stamina, endurance, explosive power)
Mental Strength: 5 (Affects mana recovery, casting speed, spell strength)
Elemental Resistance: 5 (Affects final calculation of elemental damage)
Primordial Ability: Petrification (Active)
Ability Description: Upon activation, enter a petrified state, becoming immobile but drastically reducing all forms of damage. Effectiveness scales with physical aptitude.
—
He shifted his gaze to the owl-headed creature and the black serpent.
[Owl-Headed Fiend]:
Initial Level: 1
Initial Attributes:
Physical Aptitude: 3
Mental Strength: 8
Elemental Resistance: 4
Primordial Ability: Dirge (Active)
Ability Description: Opens perception mode, allowing detection of nearby threats (killing intent, hostility, aura, fluctuations). Duration and detection radius scale with mental strength.
[Black-Scaled Serpent]:
Initial Level: 1
Initial Attributes:
Physical Aptitude: 12
Mental Strength: 1
Elemental Resistance: 2
Ability: Venomous (Passive)
Ability Description: All forms of physical damage apply a poison effect, dealing continuous damage to the target.
—
Faced with the decision, Li Zheng fell into contemplation.
Among the three starter abilities, both the Gargoyle and Owl-Headed Fiend required active activation and would consume mental strength over time. By contrast, the Black-Scaled Serpent's ability was passive and could trigger with any physical attack, clearly more beginner-friendly.
With a clear choice in mind, the monsters in Cells 1 and 2 vanished, and the serpent in Cell 3 expanded rapidly before him.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The sound of a pounding heart echoed in his ears.
Just then, the Black-Scaled Serpent in the display lunged forward, jaws wide, striking directly at him.
Startled, Li Zheng instinctively raised his hands to shield himself.
But there was no pain. When he opened his eyes, the scene had changed, and a set of black cloth garments, the standard game starter outfit, was now on him.
He looked around. The area matched the ruined village from the CG sequence.
Beyond the village lay a dense, black fog that seemed held back by some mysterious force, unable to seep inward. Yet from within that fog came a cacophony of unsettling sounds:
The cry of night hawks, the crunching of bone, hoarse whispering voices…
All sorts of eerie sounds echoed through the air above the village.
Turning his head, Li Zheng was startled.
Behind him floated the translucent silhouette of a Black-Scaled Serpent over a meter long. He took two steps to the right, and the serpent's shadow glided along with him.
When he focused his gaze, a surge of information flooded into his mind, along with an internal view of his body.
In the vision, he could clearly see his spine transformed into a radiant stream of light, glittering like a galaxy. At the top of the spine was his real-world appearance. Embedded in the first notch below it was a glowing black orb containing the image of the Black-Scaled Serpent.
[Challenger Name: Game Gold-Farmer]
Primary Form: Human
Body Tempering Level: 0 (Inherited Soul Attributes: 0)
(Note: Each time you increase your Body Tempering Level by 1, you can perfectly inherit one monster form's full attributes in human form.)
Star Vein Embedment (Level: 1):
Slot 1: Black-Scaled Serpent Soul Lv1 (Trait: Venomous)
(Note: You can freely switch between monster forms using the Star Vein system. In monster form, you receive 100% attribute bonuses. Raising Star Vein level increases the number of monster soul embeds.)
—
"Star Vein Switching?"
With curiosity, Li Zheng mentally tapped the first embed slot in his Star Vein.
A powerful tingling sensation surged from his spine to every part of his body, twisting and transforming him under the force.
His view dropped rapidly.
Looking down, he was shocked to discover that he had turned into the Black-Scaled Serpent that had been hovering behind him.
He could feel a clear increase in physical aptitude, and even his vision had sharpened.
This game… is kind of insane, but I love it!
Switching back to human form, and now having grasped the game's basic setup, Li Zheng glanced around.
Driven by curiosity, he began testing the game's realism.
Pinching his face, shaking his hands, pressing on his arm… Every sensation mirrored real life, the feedback utterly indistinguishable, and it left Li Zheng awestruck.
Then he squatted down, picked up a broken rock on the ground, and slowly crushed it between his fingers, feeling the powder slide through his fingertips.
"Holy crap, this game is amazing!"
A few simple tests revealed flawless realism, there was absolutely nothing to criticize.
But what puzzled Li Zheng was the absence of other players. The whole village seemed deserted.
Given that Dark Land was released worldwide and had massive sales numbers, the starter village should've been packed with players.
Could it be that players are separated into different game channels? Maybe I'm in a brand-new one that just opened?
As he pondered how to explore the game world, the space beside him distorted, and a pale blue water sphere appeared.
Ripples danced across the surface of the water sphere, and a serious-looking face emerged, addressing him in a solemn tone:
[Evil entities run rampant. Fear descends. Under the reign of the Emperor's Sign, the Monster World is being invaded by the terrifying Black Tide. You, granted power by the Emperor's Sign, must shoulder the burden of saving this world. Please proceed immediately to hunt for the lost Primordial Power of the Emperor's Sign and contribute to the reconstruction of the Emperor's true form.]
As it spoke, the pale blue water sphere extended a right arm toward him:
[I am your Newcomer Guide in the Monster World. You may call me Guide.]
Still a bit dazed, Li Zheng reached out and clasped the watery hand.
"Looks like we're bros now. If I don't understand anything, I'll just ask you."
Hearing this, Li Zheng grabbed the Guide in his hand and started squeezing, rubbing, and kneading, exclaiming.
"Wow, the texture feels amazing!"
[Your grandpa feels amazing! Keep that up and I'm going on strike!]
"A guide can go on strike? Aren't you just some AI slave meant to follow orders?"
[Your whole family's an AI slave! I can quit whenever I feel like it!]
Realizing he might lose a critical early-game support if he ticked off the guide, Li Zheng quickly let go, allowing the water sphere to drift off, and immediately admitted defeat.
"Sorry, my bad."
[Kneel and apologize.]
Looking at the cocky water sphere, Li Zheng sighed in resignation.
"Why did the Lunar Eclipse Race design such a human-like beginner guide?"
As he grumbled, he suddenly remembered the poor souls outside still waiting on his feedback.
He quickly turned to the water sphere and asked.
"Guide, how do I log out of the game?"
[Simple. Just call out 'function panel' in your mind. There you'll find a teleport option that will return you to the real world. The process takes 30 seconds, during which you cannot take damage, or the teleport will be interrupted.]
"Got it!"
Following the Guide's instructions, the screen before him darkened with a countdown timer for the teleport process.
As a wave of intense weightlessness swept over him, Li Zheng shouted joyfully in his heart.
"My brothers, we're eating real meat tonight!"