Chapter 3: Newbie Difficulty? | Monsters Are Coming
[Grind Kings Player Chat Group (Online: 10 Members)]
Family-Sharing Stepdad: Why isn't Stepdad back yet? Don't tell me he's gotten lost in the Calabash Brothers Rescue Grandpa plot and can't pull himself out?
Dirt Poor (admin): Maybe he's calling the police, trying to recover the huge 20-yuan theft from his bank account. Streaming income won't settle until the day after tomorrow, that's Brother Li's food budget for tomorrow. (funny.jpg)
Paying for Games? LMAO: Stepdad's down. Next Stepdad, please step up.
Murderous Intent Rising: Enough talk. Just kick the Welfare Officer out already. Who even added him? Whoever did, send a red envelope to the group as an apology.
—
As the group debated Game Gold-Farmer's vanishing act, the man himself returned.
Game Gold-Farmer: Guys, download the game now! The Welfare Officer really hooked us up! The link he posted actually downloaded a cracked version of Dark Land! It's insane, 100% realistic modeling. I haven't even gotten to the storyline yet, but the realism alone is off the charts. It's incredible.
Dirt Poor replies to Game Gold-Farmer: You sound like someone trying to drag us into the scam too.
Family-Sharing Stepdad replies to Game Gold-Farmer: Brother Li, I trusted you. And now you're trying to make me download Calabash Brothers? (crying.jpg)
Paying for Games? LMAO replies to Game Gold-Farmer: Brother Li, you've always looked out for us. How did you end up following Dirt Poor down the dark path and start trolling your own bros? I'm not watching Calabash Brothers, period.
Facing the growing skepticism, Li Zheng, seated at his computer, clattered on the keyboard and typed.
Game Gold-Farmer: We've gamed together for years. Don't you know my character by now? I swear on my name, this is no scam. Download it and experience it for yourselves. Once again, this link really gets you the official Dark Land.
Dirt Poor (admin): I suspect this isn't Brother Li anymore, it's Welfare Officer who used the link to hijack his account… Alright, let's test the code phrase. What do you do if the game has a bug?
Game Gold-Farmer: There are no bugs. Only hidden features.
Dirt Poor (admin): Verification complete. That's definitely Brother Li. I'm going in. If it's a scam, so be it.
Murderous Intent Rising: Hard to believe, but he passed the code check. I'm in too.
Family-Sharing Stepdad: Stepdad, I shall follow your lead once more.
Game Gold-Farmer: Hold on, guys. Let's first talk starter form choices. We should coordinate a solid beginner team build.
—
[Challenger Ye Liuyun has entered the game. Creating initial monster form consumed 1,000 Sacrificial Power. Remaining: 139,278.]
[Challenger Wang Xuan has entered the game. Creating initial monster form consumed 1,000 Sacrificial Power. Remaining: 138,278…]
System prompts announcing new player entries rang one after another in Qi Sheng's mind.
Staring at the now-quiet group chat, Qi Sheng clicked 'Leave Group.'
A prompt popped up.
[User: Welfare Officer. Confirm exit from Grind Kings Player Chat Group?]
Qi Sheng tapped 'Yes,' and the chat window disappeared from his desktop.
The first wave of player recruitment was complete.
To recruit this batch, he had deliberately created a fake download link.
The players thought they had installed a cracked version of Dark Land, but in reality, the link led to a dimensional transfer array that extracted their consciousness and delivered it into the Monster World, where their lives would be remade with perfectly matched monster forms.
But the players clearly hadn't realized that, and believed they had simply snagged a free cracked copy of Dark Land.
He was confident that once they experienced the game, they'd be singing his praises in the chat.
Maybe they'd even call him their new Stepdad.
But Qi Sheng didn't care for their future flattery. What mattered was the revenue they would generate.
The village of Emperor's Mound was still suffering constant destruction from the terrifying energy of the Black Tide. Enormous amounts of Sacrificial Power were needed daily to maintain its protective barriers. If the players couldn't help him earn more, his remaining reserves would be quickly depleted.
At that moment, a pale blue water sphere floated into view beside him.
[Boss, the ones you recruited this time, are they from your old homeland?]
"I used to be one of them, before I crossed into the Monster World. But during my absence, the world changed. Many foreign races have appeared," Qi Sheng nodded in response.
The water sphere beside him was called Guide. Its ability was unique, it could scan and convert anything into data.
The beginner Guides that followed each player were all its avatars.
In the centuries since Qi Sheng arrived in the Monster World, he had inherited the Primordial Power of the Emperor's Sign. The once-loyal Guide, who had followed the original Emperor's Sign, had now become one of his four loyal retainers.
He had devised the Challenger System, the player recruitment system, and Guide handled all the data processing.
[They've entered the Monster World. Want to take a look?]
Qi Sheng nodded. With a wave of his hand, a light screen floated before him, displaying the players as they first entered the game.
—
"This game feels exactly like reality. Even the broken stones on the ground are modeled perfectly."
"I've watched Calabash Brothers for years. Finally got the official game. Welfare Officer is my new stepdad from now on."
"It's so real. No wonder the Lunar Eclipse Race spent ten years making this super VR game. It's flawless."
A flash of white light, ten figures appeared in the central plaza of Emperor's Mound Village.
Among the ten players, two had Owl-Headed Fiend forms hovering behind them, two had Gargoyle forms, and the remaining six chose the Black-Scaled Serpent.
"Let's head out of the starter village, level up quick while the server's still fresh. This game is flooded with whales. We need to make the most of the early phase to grow," Li Zheng said.
"Brother Li, why is it just us in this village? Didn't they sell a million copies in ten minutes? The game should be packed."
The speaker was a young player with the name 'Dirt Poor' floating above his head, and an Owl-Headed Fiend behind him.
Before Li Zheng could respond, another youth named 'Murderous Intent Rising' spoke calmly.
"Duh, we're obviously in a separate channel. If hundreds of thousands flooded in at once, this village would explode."
"True."
"Let's move out. Leveling early is key."
"Follow Brother Li's lead. He's the gaming expert."
Following a path paved with blue stones, the ten-player team passed through the energy barrier and stepped into the black mist.
An indescribable fear gripped their hearts. Faint bone-crushing sounds, howls of agony… eerie noises tangled in their minds, triggering dizziness.
Just as Li Zheng and the others were about to lose their senses, the black mist cleared ahead, revealing a vast scene.
[Emperor's Mound Mountain Range]
Golden text floated briefly before fading.
Before their eyes stretched a crimson world. Beneath a vast sky hung a slanted, dark-red crescent moon. The clouds, dyed blood-red by the dusk light, roiled with flashes of lightning.
On the distant horizon, volcanoes still spewed fire. The air was thick with sulfur and scorched earth, and waves of intense heat rolled in.
The near-apocalyptic landscape left everyone in shock.
"Damn… this is intense. Feels like the next volcano blast could roast us alive," Dirt Poor said in awe.
"Relax. The scene outside the starter village might look scary, but there's no way they'd throw strong monsters at us right away. There should be a gradual learning curve," Li Zheng said, trying to rationalize things despite being just as stunned.
The moment he finished speaking, a bolt of thunder tore through the sky, black lightning veining across the heavens.
A massive crimson beast tore through the clouds, its monstrous form revealed.
Its colossal body was covered in fiery red scales, each one exuding immense power and majesty. Its ruby eyes were deep and sharp.
A deafening roar echoed across the sky, making the very air tremble.
The creature's massive wings were lined with golden patterns. With each flap, it stirred up hurricanes, uprooting trees and sending dirt flying.
Even from afar, Li Zheng and the others were affected, blasted backward by the fierce wind.
The beast suddenly dropped like a crimson lightning bolt, diving toward some unknown target with annihilating force.
In that instant, time seemed to freeze. All else was still. Only the red figure dominated the world.
Just before it hit the ground, a surge of scorching heat swept out along with a deafening boom.
Boom!
The ground shook violently. A mushroom cloud rose in the distance.
Silence returned.
Li Zheng and his teammates stood rooted in place, too stunned for words.
After a long pause, Dirt Poor slowly turned to look at the dazed Li Zheng.
"This is your so-called safe newbie zone?"
Li Zheng swallowed hard, continuing to analyze.
"Maybe this is just a cinematic intro… like a CG sequence. It's not really going to hurt us. We're new players, it should have a proper learning curve…"
Before he could finish, another bestial roar came with a blast of wind, the sound wave so fierce it made their eardrums ache.
"Don't panic! This is just the intro difficulty spike. Doesn't affect the easier newbie mode after this."
Li Zheng wiped the blood from his nose and forced the words out stubbornly.
[I like this guy. He's a master of self-delusion.]
The water sphere following Li Zheng floated up a thumbs-up.
Li Zheng: "…"