Chapter 4: Monster World | Monsters Are Coming
Calling up the function panel, Li Zheng opened the game map.
A translucent, pale golden scroll unfurled before his eyes. In the center of the map, the characters Emperor's Mound Mountain Range were prominently marked, but most of the surrounding regions were shrouded in mist.
In the upper right corner, the map exploration rate was displayed as 0.001%, with a small line of text below: Crescent Moon (Low).
"Guide, are there no quests to accept in this game?"
Closing the map, Li Zheng turned to the floating water sphere beside him.
[This game uses randomly triggered quests. There are no specific NPCs for accepting tasks. As challengers, your most important mission is to explore the Monster World and hunt down and contain Primordial Monsters. Each successful containment will grant generous rewards.]
"Contain Primordial Monsters? What does that mean?"
[The game's background tells of the supreme deity of the Monster World, the Emperor, who, over ten thousand years ago, dismantled and scattered his own power across the Monster World in pursuit of the ultimate secret of life. These fragments evolved into various types of Primordial Monsters. Now, in the present, the world is being ravaged by the terrifying Black Tide and teeters on the brink of collapse. You, who have been granted power by the Emperor's Sign, must battle the evil entities brought by the Black Tide and hunt and contain Primordial Monsters to gradually restore the sleeping Emperor's strength until his complete awakening.]
[In simpler terms, the more Primordial Monsters you contain, the stronger the Emperor's Sign behind you becomes, and the more game functions you will unlock.]
[The blue crystalline wall you saw when creating your character is the Primordial Containment Wall located beneath Emperor's Mound Village. Each time a player slays a Primordial Monster, a new monster form becomes available for selection in the containment cells.]
Li Zheng frowned in thought.
"So we can change our initial monster form later on?"
The Guide water sphere nodded.
[Of course you can change it. Not only that, you can also acquire multiple monster forms and abilities. The Star Vein system lets you freely switch between them. Each form grants you a unique special ability and corresponding attribute boosts.]
[Additionally, your Body Tempering Level determines how many monster attributes you can inherit in your primary form, and lets you use the abilities of those monster forms without transforming.]
As it spoke, the Guide pointed forward. A massive light screen materialized in the air.
At the top of the screen were the characters: Ability Demonstration.
On the screen stood an ordinary-looking human male, with three monster shadows floating behind him.
The Guide pointed at the screen, and the man's stats appeared:
[Challenger Name: Test Subject No. 1]
Primary Form: Human
Body Tempering Level: 3 (Can inherit all attribute bonuses of three monster forms)
Star Vein Embedment Level: 3
Slot 1: Black-Scaled Serpent Soul Lv30 (Trait: Venomous)
Slot 2: Spiked Orb Soul Lv30 (Trait: Piercing Barrage)
Slot 3: Skyborn Soul Lv30 (Trait: Flight)
—
The Guide explained as it gestured to the screen.
[Test Subject No. 1 has reached Body Tempering Level 3. Even without transforming, he can inherit all the attributes of three monster forms and use all three of their trait abilities at once.]
As the Guide spoke, the man in the display began to move.
A swarm of worm-like monsters spawned in front of him. The character sprouted wings from his back and soared into the air. With a sweep of both hands, countless steel spikes rained down on the worms below.
Each worm struck by the spikes displayed a green 'Poisoned' indicator above its head.
"I get it now. Monster traits can be mixed and matched in the primary form. The Black-Scaled Serpent's trait causes poison with any physical attack. The Spiked Orb's trait is a ranged physical area attack. Combining the two allows you to poison all targets within the attack zone."
[Exactly.]
"How many monster forms can a player ultimately acquire?" Li Zheng continued asking.
[There's no limit. Star Vein and Body Tempering Levels can be upgraded indefinitely. In the late game, you could possess hundreds of monster traits, mixing and matching them into all kinds of interesting skill combinations in your primary form. But that depends on how many Primordial Monsters you've contained, more monster souls means more options for embedment.]
[Of course, in the early stages with Body Tempering Level at 0, your primary form won't inherit any monster attributes. It's recommended you fight in monster form for now.]
By now, Li Zheng and the others fully understood what the Guide was explaining.
Your initial monster form wasn't fixed. Every player could acquire multiple monster forms, each with its own unique ability.
"Very cool system," Murderous Intent Rising nodded.
"So if I understand correctly, containing Primordial Monsters is like a global main quest shared by all players. Whoever completes a containment gets exclusive rewards but also unlocks a new monster form choice for everyone."
[That's correct.]
"By the way, what does the 'Crescent Moon' indicator in the top right of the map mean?"
[The phases of the moon vary across different regions of the Monster World, and are categorized by intensity into five levels: Crescent Moon, Waning Moon, Waxing Moon, Full Moon, and Greater Evil Moon. The lower the intensity, the weaker the evil entities that appear. Conversely, the higher the intensity, the stronger the evil entities encountered. However, monster strength is unaffected by the moon phase, they can move freely across all regions regardless of lunar intensity. This means that low-level monsters may appear even in Greater Evil Moon zones, and high-level monsters can also exist in Crescent Moon areas…]
The Guide's detailed explanation gave Li Zheng and the others their first real understanding of the game's world.
This was a world on the brink of collapse, invaded by the terrifying Black Tide. Countless evil entities had descended with it, throwing the Monster World into chaos.
The world's main lifeforms fell into three categories: Primordial Monsters, Monsters, and Evil Entities.
Evil Entities were sinister beings brought into the Monster World by the Black Tide. Their activity range was affected by the moon phase, high-level evil entities only appeared during the stronger lunar phases.
Primordial Monsters and Monsters, on the other hand, were native lifeforms of the Monster World, and their movement was not restricted by moon phase.
Among the three, Primordial Monsters were the most important for players. Upon slaying one, it could be contained in the Containment Wall beneath Emperor's Mound Village, becoming a selectable form for all players.
"Let's go. Time to level up."
With a basic grasp of the world's lore, Li Zheng led the other nine players in his party toward the direction of the Emperor's Mound Mountain Range.
At the base of the mountain range lay an ancient battlefield.
Tattered banners, shattered armor, and broken weapons were piled like hills across the ground.
They had barely walked a hundred meters when they encountered their first Evil Entity.
A two-meter-tall Bone Soldier slowly rose from a heap of bones. The rusted armor on its body clattered to the ground. It turned its head toward the group, and deep within its pitch-black skull, jet-black flames ignited.
The hyper-realistic environment, combined with the sudden appearance of a monster, made the players flinch in fright.
As they focused on the creature, analysis data appeared in the minds of Li Zheng and the others:
[Cursed Soldier (Evil Entity)]
Hunt Level: 3
Description: A being corrupted by the power of the terrifying Black Tide. In life, it was a devout follower of the Emperor's Sign. In death, it was twisted into a Cursed Soldier by the tide's infection.
—
"It stinks!"
Dirt Poor pinched his nose, face contorted in disgust.
"Way too real. This stench is making me dizzy."
"Cut the chatter. Let's kill and level." Li Zheng made the first move. With a thought, his body instantly shifted into his Black-Scaled Serpent form, launching forward and lunging at the Cursed Soldier with bared fangs.
"Evil Serpent Unleashed!"
Seeing Li Zheng take action, Leopard-Headed F2P immediately followed, baring his fangs and switching into the monster form as he roared.
"Second Serpent Emerges!"
"Third Serpent Rises!"
"Fourth Serpent Strikes!"
"Fifth Serpent… whatever, rawr!"
The Grind Kings players all transformed into monster form, shouting as they pounced on the Cursed Soldier, surrounding it and launching a fierce assault.
After a brief clash, they realized their bites couldn't break through the Cursed Soldier's defenses. Li Zheng and the others quickly changed tactics and switched to a constricting strategy.
"Serpent Bind!"
"Second Serpent Bind too!"
"Third Serpent joins in!"
The tactic worked. Six Black-Scaled Serpents coiled tightly around the Cursed Soldier. As their bodies tightened, the sound of cracking bones echoed through the air, and the Cursed Soldier collapsed to the ground.
The other four players weren't idle either.
The two who had chosen Gargoyle forms used their sharp claws to pull at the monster's legs from opposite directions, preventing it from getting up. The two Owl-Headed Fiends used their sharp beaks to hammer at the black flames burning inside its skull.
Within moments, the Cursed Soldier was dismembered, reduced to a scattered pile of bones.
Just then, a cloud of black mist rose from the skull of the fallen Cursed Soldier. It floated toward one of the players and seeped into their body upon contact.
A notification popped up in the team chat:
[Challenger Notice: Player Family-Sharing Stepdad has slain Evil Entity: Cursed Soldier. Gained: +30 Life Evolution Points, +5 Sacrificial Power.]
Before the astonished eyes of the others, Family-Sharing Stepdad's body visibly grew larger, and a +1 Level flash appeared briefly above his head.
"Uh… I think I just leveled up. Seems like only the player who lands the kill gets the reward, can't be shared," Stepdad said awkwardly, seeing the gritted-teeth expressions of his comrades.
"You thief! You stole my growth luck! Take this bite!"
"You've let your father down. Prepare to taste family discipline!"
"Even if it wasn't intentional, hogging XP is a crime. We agreed to get stronger together, and you ditched us at Level 1? I'll peck you to death!"
Seeing his teammates approach with dangerous glares, Family-Sharing Stepdad surrendered on the spot.
But what awaited him… was a righteous beating from his brothers.