Pike was among the top tier of Demon Players, the apex of the pyramid.
He was a bona fide mercenary who came from Country C solely for the purpose of eliminating his target. Pike agreed to test this game just for a taste of something new and for some fun, never expecting to end up in Tahe.
As a game enthusiast, he quite liked this place. There were no annoying legal regulations, and one didn't die in combat. Simply by making a few kills, one could have all the weapons, gear, and money one needed.
More importantly, on Earth, the joy of hunting one's own kind was quite limited, as he had to spend more time on the aftermath. In Tahe, he only needed to focus on the "hunt" itself.
When he received the mission, Pike was hunting large monsters on the outskirts of the Black Forest. He was among the first batch of Demon Players to arrive on the scene.
"Mr. Pike." A few Players who recognized him greeted him with due respect.
Pike ignored them, his attention fully on the tower before him.
The Lost Tower stood quietly—its base surrounded by numerous deep red monster tentacles. They clung to the ground, trembling occasionally, as if bound tightly in place by invisible restraints.
The black tower pierced the night sky, and at the top of the eerie stairway formed by tentacles, was a massive stone door. The air around the entire tower was cold and sticky, filled with ominousness.
Beside the stone door, a person wearing a hood held up a lantern in his left hand, waiting silently.
"Who are you?" Pike leapt through the air to the front of the stone door.
"May everything be eternal. I am the guide for you all, and the witness to this challenge," the person, wearing a mask and appearing to be a high-ranking member of the Eternal Church, said.
The person extended his right hand, and the internal magic of the Eternal Church activated instantly. A dark orb of light moved through the air, sketching the divine emblem of the Eternal Church.
Sounding like a middle-aged man, Pike grunted in acknowledgment and nodded nonchalantly.
"May everything be eternal," he said.
This person was probably here to "witness the quest" or "provide hints", a friendly NPC type that Pike had seen plenty of. Killing such NPCs was pointless but befriending them might unlock some hidden rewards.
"Tell me what's going on? Isn't this the Tower of Paradise? I remember they got along well with Players. Why would they suddenly issue a quest?"
Glancing at the increasing number of Demon Players, Pike casually inquired.
Many Demon Players had tried to form deep connections with Paradise, all to no avail. Paradise was very selective in choosing collaborators—if those monsters had malicious intentions from the start, there was no need to be so picky.
"I came here guided by God, and now all I know is that this tower is extremely dangerous, filled only with enemies," the cloaked figure said, the lantern in his hand casting a dim yellow light. "Perhaps the administrators of Paradise have sided with the Demon King, or perhaps Paradise has been attacked by a new Demon King… Do you need more details?"
"No need," Pike responded, placing one hand on the stone door of the Lost Tower.
Background of the quest? Story setting? Pike never cared for those. He knew only one thing—there were enemies inside the tower. The stronger the enemy, the greater the reward.
The massive stone door slowly opened, and a cold wind blew out from the tower, like the caress of the undead. Inside was pitch black. The moonlight halted two steps beyond the doorway, leaving only an impenetrable darkness.
The cloaked NPC turned his body, making a "please" gesture.
Pike glanced back at the Players behind him. Those familiar had already formed teams, nearly all eyes on him, waiting for him to be the first to brave the unknown.
Cowards. Pike readied his battle ax and forcefully threw a detection orb into the tower.
It was supposed to hit the ground, activate upon impact, and quickly detect magical reactions nearby, initially determining the number and strength of enemies. But the orb disappeared into the darkness as if it had fallen into an abyss, without a sound returning.
Pike frowned and pulled out another detection orb. This time, he changed the angle and used about seventy to eighty percent of his strength. The orb shot into the darkness like a cannonball, once again vanishing without a trace.
Pike's pupils contracted, his grip on the battle-ax tightening.
Beside him, the cloaked figure silently observed.
Inside the Tower, in the main hall's command center.
"That person seems nice. He hasn't even entered, and he already sent us two balls, huh?" Knight Saint Bernard whispered, eyeing the two orbs intercepted by the first-level guards with envy.
"Don't talk." Village Chief Border Collie sighed heavily.
Officer Luo and Dr. Zhu were responsible for dividing the combatants into groups, while Uncle Ma went to manage the succubi, dog-headed beastmen, and other foreign races. Lynn and Mentor stood at the forefront, ready with communication crystals in hand.
All the neighbors watched the footage from the first floor. Lynn, on the surveillance camera, no, on the surveillance puppet, had added the ability to see through darkness, allowing everyone to clearly see the situation in the dark.
At the moment, the defense on the first floor was a team of eight… a quirky squad of eight, strictly divided into 2 tanks, 2 healers, and 4 damage dealers. The damage dealers were further divided into physical damage, magical damage, and support damage, and everyone was equipped with high-end items produced by the instance.
According to Anakin, even the best combat teams in the Saints Guild couldn't match the equipment of these.
And these items were all personally farmed by the neighbors in the Black Forest; everyone was an old teammate, and their coordination was seamless.
In the darkness, eight giant monsters with nearly a hundred eyes of various sizes focused on the doorway.
"Why haven't they come in yet?" the Spider Girl whispered. She evolved into the "Venom Queen" and was responsible for magical output. Her eight legs were adorned with rare bracelets with buffs and immunities.
"They're probably discussing tactics," the Iron Bear Chief, a tank, responded quietly. "Don't be nervous. Our level seems higher."
"I'm not nervous." Another giant tank—the Golden Armored Dragon Lizard—shivered. "Wait a moment for Lao Cai to give me a buff."
"Every time you can't break through, you think about eating buffs!" scoffed the senior Water Sprite, responsible for healing.
"Shh… Keep it down. What if the people outside hear us?"
"They probably don't understand our language, so just say whatever," Lynn said confidently as she activated the communication crystal.
Their connection with the outside of the Tower was being interfered with, and it was certain that internal communications would be tampered with as well.
Even though their opponents were the unscrupulous Demon Players, Star Stealer Sol wouldn't want them to be able to communicate with the residents of Paradise, to minimize uncertainties.
That was to say—
Outside the Tower, Pike heard strange sounds from the darkness. The low growls and hisses of monsters came from the darkness, filled with malice.
Normally, a magic team should be sent up now to dispel this troublesome darkness. But for the lone wolf Mr. Pike, such an action would be tantamount to publicly declaring his weakness.
He simply crushed a black crystal, an expensive item that would grant him 12 hours of vision in the darkness.
Pike smoothly infiltrated the darkness and immediately saw the huge silhouette in the center of the hall.
An Iron Bear Chief.
A superior monster of the Iron Bear type. This monster was massive and immensely strong; its fur as tough as the finest armor, providing it with extremely high physical defense. Such monsters usually appeared as bosses in difficult dungeons and were very challenging to defeat.
At that moment, the Iron Bear's pair of ember-like red eyes stared straight at him, emitting a low growl from its throat.
Pike felt a headache coming on—dealing with an Iron Bear Chief typically required a proper team of mages, and he was, unfortunately, a physical class.
However, since the Iron Bear Chief appeared, there must be regular Iron Bears around. If he couldn't handle the big boss, surely he could take on the smaller ones?
Pike vanished into the darkness, looking around but found no trace of any regular Iron Bears.
Strange. Could this be one of those tower-climbing games where defeating an elite boss allows you to ascend a floor?
This would make things easier. He could take the information out and bring a few mages in to deal damage.
While Pike was pondering, the neighbors weren't idle.
"Should we attack? It's just one person on the other side. It seems too much for all eight of us to move." Iron Bear Chief Lao Wang couldn't help but speak up.
"It does seem a bit much. Why hasn't he left yet?"
"Lynn said it, the slower our pace, the better. It's important to maintain an absolute advantage."
"That's true… ah!" The Spider Girl suddenly let out a small gasp.
"What happened?"
"That person just suddenly jumped over. I reflexively… uh, I didn't control my strength well…" The Spider Girl's tone gradually became embarrassed as she waved her blood-stained leg.
What happened?
Pike didn't even realize when his head hit the ground.
He had planned to strike the Iron Bear first to secure the first hit bonus, seeing if there were any special rewards. Facing such a terrifying monster, he prepared to circle around and attack the Iron Bear's neck from above.
Unfortunately, just as he was halfway through his maneuver, he came face-to-face with eight glowing green eyes. In an instant, something scythe-like slashed down, and alerts for poison and physical damage flooded in. In less than a second, his HP was emptied.
Before Pike could react, something hooked onto the back of his armor and threw him out of the door.
"Let's just throw him out first," the Spider Girl whispered. "Otherwise, him constantly respawning here will disrupt our team's rhythm."
"Yeah, it's quite annoying."
"These people don't seem as strong as we thought?"
In the command room of Paradise, the neighbors murmured about similar issues. Lynn remained silent, staring at the screen without a relieved expression.
The Player just now was definitely not weak.
Normally, an Iron Bear Chief's territorial instinct was incredibly strong, making it impossible to coexist with other formidable monsters. The man saw the Iron Bear Chief and prematurely misjudged the situation, allocating his skills entirely to physical attack and defense.
Facing the Venom Queen's magic and poison head-on like that, it was hard not to die.
But such an advantage would soon vanish—
The neighbors didn't know yet that this battle was a "quest". Normally, the quest wouldn't end until all the monsters in the Tower were killed. Either the Players win, or they remain in a deadlock.
And among them was a tricky individual capable of time reversal.
"Haven't you made plans for that guy's reversion?"
Perradat was sitting ungracefully on the steps and munching on peanut candy. "Just keep dragging it out with that, until Nol comes up with a solution."
After being sent drifting by that cursed Teest, this God of Fate became increasingly reckless.
"I've said a thousand times, he's not our God, just our neighbor. You might really struggle to understand." Lynn glanced at her. "Facing Star Stealer Sol, what he needs are comrades in arms, not fragile beings that need protection distracting him."
"Even if Star Stealer Sol suppresses his power, he's not easy to deal with. Without Nol intervening, you'll be trapped here forever."
Perradat finished one piece of peanut candy and picked up another. "If your pride doesn't allow it, think of it as joining forces with him."
"If we must, I'll seek help." Lynn pursed her lips. "But before that, we will do everything in our power to find a solution—a perfect solution."
"Overconfidence isn't a good thing."
"We have the capital to be confident, don't we? Aren't you here?"
Perradat paused in licking her fingers. Lynn spun her index finger, and the dish of peanut candy flew towards the younger neighbors.
After distributing the candy, Lynn smiled slightly. "You cherish life immensely and possess a perception of the future of all things. Someone like you wouldn't be trapped here just because 'suddenly wanting to eat peanut candy'."
"That means, victory in the Lost Tower is certain. And…"
"And?" Perradat turned her head in confusion, only to see Lynn's face rapidly approaching.
"…And you might be useful," Lynn announced in a tone that was unclear whether it was respectful or mocking.
Perradat swallowed. "I've been wanting to say, you really are blasphemous."
Lynn: "Unfortunately, people here don't really believe in gods." Even if they did, they wouldn't believe in the gods of Tahe.
"Beep beep beep!"
"Beep beep beep!"
Just then, Mentor's pocket watch suddenly rang. With a snap of his fingers, a beautiful astrolabe-like magical device floated up in front of him.
It emitted a warm golden light, spinning rapidly, then freezing at a certain moment.
"Thirty minutes up. Time to switch the attacking team."
With a light flick of his finger, lines of golden characters appeared in front of Officer Luo. Without hesitation, Officer Luo immediately began organizing teams according to the golden list.
"First floor transmission begins!" Dr. Zhu commanded.
At that moment, in the first-floor hall.
Underneath his cloak, Enbillick watched the situation inside the hall.
After that fool named Pike was thrown out, the Demon Players became much more cautious. They quickly organized their teams and figured out the opponents on the first floor.
Iron Bear Chief, Golden Armored Dragon Lizard, Advanced Water Elemental, Millennium Wood Elf, Venom Queen, Thousand-Blade Feathered Serpent, Dark Requiem Harpy, and the Cursed Hero Armor.
Eight top-tier bosses, which, under normal circumstances, should each guard a high-level dungeon on their own. Now, these monsters had obviously teamed up, equipped with various items not meant for monsters, with a dreadfully reasonable job distribution.
The Demon Players were attempting to attack, but the two tank bosses in front kept sending them flying around the room. They barely received a scratch before being healed back to full health by the two healing bosses.
Considering the monstrous health bars of these monsters, the scene was utterly hopeless.
At the edge of the battlefield, Enbillick lowered his hood.
The Players at this moment were no match for them, and even inflicting damage was problematic.
But this was just the "first" battle.
Players nearby were continuously arriving, and he had more and more pieces in his hand. Enbillick ignored the screams and deaths around him, inspecting each Player's skills and attributes.
After all, a little leveling down after reversion wasn't a problem.
No matter how fierce these monsters were, they couldn't compare to the two False Gods, Teest and Nol. As long as he used reversion wisely, he could create the perfect strategy.
The Lost Tower would definitely try to delay time, waiting for the Creator to come and save the world. How foolish. What awaits them is only… huh?
Just as he got a grip on the situation on the battlefield, he saw a flash of light, and the eight monsters disappeared from their spots.
In their place appeared eight new monsters—still with a perfect job distribution, but completely different races and skills.
Enbillick's smile froze on his face.
In the command room.
"Random team dispatch completed." Officer Luo coughed twice with an air of importance. "Those who've returned, take a good rest."
"Got it!"
Mentor retracted the complex magical device in front of him, smiling as he watched the screen.
"It seems we have ample time to consider a breakthrough. What do you think, Miss Lynn?"
The author has something to say:
Monster hunters, indeed (×
You want to memorize strategies? Let's add a billion little bits of randomness.