Chapter 161: Official Site Goes Live, Worldwide Craze

Meng Yuan Chu Altar.

Before building the official website for Monster World on the Star Web, Qi Sheng decided to take down two more domain nodes.

This time, after the official site went live, he planned to release a batch of player slots to the public at the same time.

But the current Newbie Village space had already reached its carrying capacity, so an area expansion had to be carried out as soon as possible—that is, the containment of domain nodes.

He had chosen two domain nodes this time.

The first target was the resource node "Falling Leaves" in the Frost Snow Plain region.

This was a Level 2 resource domain, possessing a spirit-field area twice the size of Cloud Field, guarded only by a group of monsters with an average hunting level of 39.

For players at the current stage, taking it down was not difficult.

During this period, first came the great battle between Shu Yan and the Ascending Tribe, and then the war triggered by the Earth-Eating Tribe incident. The vast majority of players' energy was concentrated in the Colorful Mist Coast region, causing this node to remain uncaptured for far too long.

Meanwhile, newbie players in the Frost Snow Plain region generally had low levels and were also incapable of taking it down.

This time he planned to issue a quest, letting players contain this node as soon as possible and expand the carrying area of the Newbie Village space.

Next was the domain node "Thunder Lion" deep in the dense forest to the southwest of the Colorful Mist Coast region.

This was also a Level 2 resource node, producing spiritual energy resources. After containment, it could increase the spiritual energy content of the space and speed up the body-tempering experience gained by players within the space.

This node was occupied by a low-intelligence monster tribe, with an average hunting level of 52.

But with the players' current strength, taking it down was not difficult either—it would just take a bit more time.

In order to contain these two nodes as quickly as possible, Qi Sheng issued additional rewards for the containment quests.

【Challenger Notice (All Channels): Purification Quest triggered: Contain the domain node "Falling Leaves" in the Frost Snow Plain region. Rewards for this containment quest will be distributed according to contribution ranking. During the containment quest, gains from killing monsters in the node area are increased by +20%.】

【Challenger Notice (All Channels): Purification Quest triggered: Contain the domain node "Thunder Lion" in the Colorful Mist Coast region. Rewards for this containment quest will be distributed according to contribution. During the containment quest, gains from killing monsters in the node area are increased by +20%.】

The Purification Quest notice immediately drew the players' attention.

Especially the Falling Leaves domain node—this was a spirit-field type domain node, meaning the contribution reward distributed after containment was very likely to be a spirit field.

Veteran players had already proven that obtaining a spirit field was equivalent to owning a money-printing machine, able to harvest spirit plants at irregular intervals.

And spirit plants were one of the most popular trade commodities on the Trading House.

The Alchemist Alliance and Spirit Chef players were all customers for this type of commodity; as long as the price was right, a deal could be closed in a very short time.

Alternatively, one could consume them oneself to gain body-tempering experience.

The benefits of owning a spirit field were too many—it was one of the few channels in Monster World that could produce extra resources.

Players already short on Shou Shou Jili flocked to it.

Large numbers of players teleported to the Frost Snow Plain region via the teleportation array, teaming up through the regional voice channel or gathering with friends from fixed parties to head toward the Falling Leaves domain node.

This Purification Quest had no commander; the players adopted a free-warfare mode.

Before long, they organized a massive calamity-like flood and advanced toward the "Falling Leaves" domain node.

The specific location of the node was in the western district of the Frost Snow Plain.

Here the sky hung low, the cold wind whistled through the valley, sweeping up layers of snow mist like a silver-white veil dancing in the air.

The Shanfeng on both sides of the valley towered into the clouds, draped in thick snow coats. The steep rock faces appeared even more austere beneath the ice and snow, and the accumulated snow on the ridges had been sculpted by the sub-zero winds of the snow plain into all manner of strange shapes—some like sharp blades, some like massive beast spines.

At the bottom of the valley was a frozen river, its ice surface smooth as a mirror. Vegetation was sparse nearby; occasionally one could see a few tenacious snow trees, their branches bowed low under the weight of accumulated snow.

At the deepest point was the Falling Leaves domain node—a crimson crystal suspended above the earth, having created a patch of fertile spirit-field soil amid the harsh environment.

Growing on the spirit field were all sorts of wild spirit plants adapted to the snow plain environment.

The creatures inhabiting this area were a type of monster called Obsidian Bugs, which fed on the energy produced by the node and the wild spirit plants growing in the spirit field.

This was a low-level creature similar to the "Golden Claw Crab" of the Colorful Mist Coast, sitting at the very bottom of the food chain; in its normal form, the hunting level listed in its analysis was only Level 0.

But nourished by the abundant node energy, most had grown to around Level 39, and their life forms had undergone certain changes.

From their original finger-sized form, they had grown to the size of a seven- or eight-year-old child. Their bodies were divided into three parts—head, thorax, and abdomen. Their shells were composed of a mineral substance, smooth and hard, with a dark purple sheen on the surface, like the crystallization of cooled lava, covered in fine cracks through which a snow-white energy substance could faintly be seen flowing.

Its head was triangular, with two slender antennae at the top, their tips faintly glowing.

It could spew a freezing ray through its mouthparts.

A target struck by it would experience a rapid drop in body temperature, with frost spreading from the point of impact across the entire body.

After the player legion arrived, they engaged the Obsidian Bugs guarding the domain node.

During this period, the players discovered that the Obsidian Bugs were treasures from head to toe.

The shell fragments, antennae, and other materials dropped upon killing them were all materials that could be listed on the Trading House.

Compared to Hei Chao Xie Sui, a poor man's monster, the gains from killing material-dropping monsters like the Obsidian Bugs were several times that of Hei Chao Xie Sui of the same level.

The key point was that the Obsidian Bugs' combat methods involved no tactics or strategy whatsoever.

Players could easily and happily earn hunting gains and contribution gains without having to endure the dual torment of body and spirit inflicted by the Earth-Eating Overlord.

As the number of arriving players continued to grow, the war for the domain node was completed in a near-bulldozing fashion.

When the players touched the node crystal, a pitch-black spatial vortex expanded with the node crystal at its center.

It devoured the spirit field in the nearby area, along with all the attached land.

Accompanied by the announcement sounding across all channels, the three Newbie Village spaces trembled simultaneously, and their areas were expanded.

Qi Sheng did not disappoint the players either, distributing the spirit-field area according to contribution ranking.

But this time he cut the distributed spirit-field area into smaller pieces, ensuring that more players could receive spirit-field rewards and obtain extra Shou Shou Jili gains through their spirit fields. Roughly, each spirit field could plant three spirit plants, though the specifics depended on the variety of spirit plant.

Although the extra output from the spirit fields could not satisfy the players' demand for Shou Shou Jili, it indirectly increased their usual Shou Shou Jili gains.

The Glory Chronicle in the function panel also recorded this entire campaign, with many players' brilliant performances captured and archived through videos and screenshots.

With the battle concluded, the players moved on.

Except for newbie players still hunting monsters and searching for wild spirit plants in nearby areas.

Veteran players moved to the Colorful Mist Coast region, heading toward the Thunder Lion domain node.

This domain node was located in a relatively open scene within the dense forest.

The environment of the Colorful Mist Coast region was undoubtedly the most comfortable of the three scenes; the sky was a washed azure blue, a few wisps of thin clouds drifted lightly above the node scene, pushed slowly along by a warm breeze, and within the scene the grass grew thick, densely covering every inch of the scene's ground.

The breeze swept past, the grass waves rose and fell like the earth breathing, and the air was filled with the fragrance of grass and earth.

This node was discovered by an exploration-focused player, yet hardly any players ever came to contain it.

The reason was that the monsters inside the node averaged level 52, and the abilities they wielded made players feel extremely disgusted.

Occupying the node was a kind of monster called "Phantom Nightmare."

The Phantom Nightmare had no fixed physical form; it was composed of semi-transparent, ghostly-blue energy, like a constantly flowing mass of liquid energy. Its body's outline vaguely presented a human shape, but the edges were blurred and indistinct, sometimes twisting, sometimes stretching, as if it might dissipate into the air at any moment.

Its head had no facial features, only a patch of deep blue, like a vortex, capable of devouring the ability particles in the surrounding air.

The most conspicuous feature was the energy arms on its body—slender and soft, moving like floating ribbons, looking exactly like energy-formed tentacles.

What the Phantom Nightmare wielded was a type of psychic-impulse ability.

Players struck by it would first feel an intense headache, as if countless needles were stabbing inside their skull, then feel the world spin, lose their balance, and find it hard to stand.

When one's own spiritual strength was not high, receiving this kind of psychic impulse could even produce a state like being drunk—memory disorder, blurred consciousness, even forgetting what one was doing, and a brief loss of bearings.

During this period, a series of effects would also appear, such as accelerated heartbeat and rapid breathing.

The psychic interference effect attached to this kind of psychic-damage ability was outside the protection scope of the Purification System; its intensity was below the warning line and could not be isolated or defended against.

Even if the Purification System could be activated, the psychic damage was still borne by the player.

Only the negative status was isolated.

This kind of psychic ability truly gave players a headache, especially for melee players whose spiritual strength was on the weaker side—it was undoubtedly a painful torment.

At the current stage, there was no Painful Painful Minghun that could resist psychic damage available for embedding, so melee players were generally unwilling to engage this kind of monster.

Faxiliu Sect players had high spiritual strength and could still endure it after receiving a psychic impulse.

But without melee players tanking the damage up front, they were simply no match for a monster like the Phantom Nightmare, whose level was higher than their own.

So the players' choice was to temporarily give up containing the domain node, and wait until their strength was powerful enough to easily contain the node in an overwhelming posture.

But the appearance of this Purification Mission changed many players' minds.

While increasing gains by 20%, there was also an extra ranking-contribution reward—enough to make players endure the pain and pioneer the area.

Entering the green-shaded grassland where the node crystal sat, one could see large numbers of Phantom Nightmares suspended in the air, floating like jellyfish.

The players' brazen invasion quickly drew attention.

The Phantom Nightmares, with their extremely strong territorial awareness, rapidly gathered through psychic transmission and launched a psychic-storm assault against the invading players.

Swaths of players fell like grass being cut.

But at this point the players had not died—they had merely suffered severe psychic damage—and the Faxiliu Sect players in the rear seized the opportunity to unleash their output.

Facing the Phantom Nightmare, which possessed psychic-strike abilities, the players were not without countermeasures.

The tower-defense playstyle within the Faxiliu Sect could perfectly counter non-physical psychic impulses; once built, as long as a magic tower's stable structure was not destroyed, it could continuously deal elemental-damage output.

The most countered in battle were assassin-playstyle players.

The stealth state, which could nullify the vast majority of physical damage, was as good as nothing before the Phantom Nightmare.

A single psychic-impulse strike could directly instant-kill a squishy assassin-playstyle player; there was no way to defend through Dusk-Shadow form.

The great battle lasted half a day, and some players discovered that a niche Painful Painful Minghun had a certain resistance effect against psychic-type damage.

That was "Brain Overclock," considered one of the current version's trash-tier Painful Painful Minghun.

This Painful Painful Minghun had been swept into the trash tier by players the moment it appeared, because it could not provide any combat boost—its characteristic effect was enhancing thinking-logic ability and memory.

But during combat testing, some players were surprised to discover—

After activating Brain Overclock, thinking and logic became clearer, and at the same time it had a certain defensive effect against the psychic-impulse damage released by the Phantom Nightmare, weakening the specific damage value.

But this discovery did not spark heated discussion among players.

The reason was none other than that this Painful Painful Minghun was still too weak in players' eyes.

Psychic-type monsters were extremely rare; to take the Thunder Lion domain node, there was simply no need to spend Shou Shou Jili to change one's Painful Painful Minghun.

Rather than embed Brain Overclock, it was better to revive a few more times.

The advance on the Thunder Lion domain node was very slow, but the players' enthusiasm was very high.

Through killing them, they discovered that the Phantom Nightmare dropped a kind of crystal stone after death; the parsed information showed that weapons forged from this crystal could be used to amplify spiritual strength, and armor forged from it could resist psychic-impulse-type damage.

Although the game Monster World had not yet opened the weapon-forging function.

But in players' eyes this kind of crystal stone had considerable value—perhaps once the weapon-forging function opened in the future, it could appreciate greatly in value.

The players' discussion in the chat channel was watched by Qi Sheng.

He was indeed considering whether to introduce the weapon-forging function.

After all, those who played the Weapon-Spirit playstyle were generally melee, but Faxiliu Sect players did not have any weapons that could amplify ability effects.

But as for whether to actually introduce such a function, Qi Sheng was still considering.

Current players were very short on Shou Shou Jili for boosting their strength; opening yet another function that consumed Shou Shou Jili, the Eclipse Clan would probably get roasted again.

It was fine for the Eclipse Clan to get roasted, but once the weapon-forging function was introduced it would also affect the players' own strength-growth speed.

Unless the forged weapons could be strengthened in step with the players' growth.

If it was a weapon mode that required constant updating and replacement, it might seem to add more fun, but it would not be conducive to the development of the player legions.

This kind of update would instead slow down the players' growth and waste large amounts of Shou Shou Jili resources.

He planned to consult Super Dimension on the related issue, asking in detail whether weapons made by the forging function could be set to continuously amplify through strengthening, or whether weapons could be melted down and reshaped for a refund, so as not to waste a single bit of Shou Shou Jili.

If that could be done, then the weapon-forging function would have meaning to exist.

Weapons that grew alongside the players could also be regarded as part of the players' strength.

But at the current stage Super Dimension and Nine Yin were busy; they wanted to use the Qi-Devouring Painful Painful Minghun as the core cornerstone to create a cultivation system, and he had no plans to invest resources in the weapon-forging function's settings for now.

Without thinking further, Qi Sheng's focus remained on the war in the Thunder Lion domain.

This battle let Qi Sheng see yet another shortcoming in the players.

That is, when facing mental-type attack abilities, there are absolutely no effective countermeasures.

Melee players primarily grow through physical strength, yet mental-type attacks can ignore defense and directly destroy a player's mental consciousness.

How to solve this problem? The only two solutions Qi Sheng could think of were these.

Launch a forging function to craft mental-type defense items using special resources.

Or wait for players to contain a Painful Painful Minghun capable of resisting mental-type damage.

Such mental-defense-type Painful Painful Minghun would also be the inevitable choice for future tank-style players to embed.

He planned to wait a bit longer.

If players still could not contain such a Painful Painful Minghun, he would make up for the weakness by adding new functions.

Just like the vehicle function; precisely because players had not yet reached the ability to fly through the sky and traverse a region quickly, the vehicle function was launched to make up for the weakness.

Two days later, after several grueling rounds of resurrection battles, the Thunder Lion Domain node was successfully contained through the players' efforts.

Once the space area was expanded, Qi Sheng decided to officially launch the "Monster World" website.

And release ten thousand player qualifications on the website.

That day, 5 PM.

On the homepage of the Star Net platform, a direct link to the "Monster World" website appeared.

Many netizens who usually enjoyed browsing the latest technological information of the Moon Eclipse Clan discovered it and immediately thought of the briefing meeting held by the Moon Eclipse Clan a few days ago.

Feeling surprised, they all clicked to enter.

The official announcement from Monster World spread rapidly online; netizens from all over the world accessed it via website links reposted through various channels.

Netizens of all races, already full of curiosity about Monster World, were eager to learn the details of this game, which the Moon Eclipse Clan called perfect, through the Monster World website.

6 PM.

Night Lame City.

Hearing Tong Xin sat in the computer chair, staring blankly at the desolate group chat interface on the screen.

The sky outside the window gradually darkened; only the faint glow of the screen remained in the room, reflecting his dazed face.

His chest felt as if something were blocking it; his breathing was abnormally heavy, and a sourness rose in his throat.

"If only... if only I had been more decisive back then..." he murmured to himself, his voice so low it was barely audible.

But reality has no "if only."

Every time he opened the group chat and saw his teammates' messages, he dared not look too long, fearing that envy and regret would flood over him like a tide.

He turned off the screen, and the room plunged into darkness.

In the darkness, he closed his eyes, and memories flickered.

He saw missed opportunities swaying before his eyes, like an unattainable dream.

Endless regret, like countless threads, wrapped around his heart, tightening more and more, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

What hurt wasn't the lack of opportunity, but that he originally had two chances to possess it.

But now, he could only sit in the darkness, letting sorrow and powerlessness swallow him bit by bit.

Just four days ago, he had thought he had found redemption, that bitterness had ended and sweetness begun, and that he was about to reach the peak of his life.

He still clearly remembered holding his waist with one hand, full of spirit, pointing at the screen and saying, "It's in the bag."

But just as happy as he was when he first snatched the game qualification, he was now just as miserable.

Only then did he realize that his brothers were actually eating better than he had imagined; they weren't playing the Dark Lands at all, but the Moon Eclipse Clan's next-generation game: Monster World.

What they received was a beta qualification that even Moon Eclipse Clan players could not obtain through normal channels, distributed randomly by the Star Net AI.

Thinking of the painful part, tears unconsciously slid down from the corners of his eyes.

Once, a rare game qualification lay before him; he did not cherish it, and only regretted it after missing it. If heaven gave him another chance, he would say three words to that qualification: "I want to play." If a deadline must be added, he hopes it is right now, immediately!

An opportunity that was once within his grasp was discarded by his own hands; he felt immense regret.

At this moment, how he wished time could flow backward, returning to his first encounter with the Monster World beta qualification.

He would definitely cherish that hard-won gift, then firmly click "Download," and shout "Father" to the benefits officer.

But time does not flow backward, and qualifications are not reissued.

He watched the Moon Eclipse Clan's briefing meeting.

Administrator Number One explicitly stated that when the Monster World qualifications would be fully distributed was completely unknown.

Judging by the number of qualifications distributed, it would be far lower than that of the Dark Lands.

Now the link is spreading everywhere online; the entire internet knows that Monster World can be downloaded via the link.

The difficulty for him to obtain the game qualification was harder than winning the lottery; it was simply not something that staying up late and grinding could yield a chance at.

"Twice... I once had two chances to get the game qualification, wuwuwu."

Sobbing until his eyes were red and swollen, yet still unable to dispel the sorrow in his heart.

Just then, the computer screen lit up automatically, and a news notification popped out from the bottom right corner of the computer.

Hearing Tong Xin wiped away his tears and looked, discovering it was a notification sent by the largest news media outlet of the Human Federation.

He clicked open the news, scrolled down to read, and his heart pounded.

The Monster World website is online!

At the end of the news was a link address to enter the website.

Hearing Tong Xin clicked the link without hesitation, and the page immediately jumped.

When first entering the Monster World website, the scene suddenly darkened; then, a deep galaxy background spread out across the screen like a night curtain.

In the center of the page was a vortex; in its center, the four large characters "Monster World" faintly appeared. The font was angular, as if carved by a blade, with edges glowing a scarlet red, like burning flames flickering. Around the vortex, fine runes flickered in and out of view.

In Hearing Tong Xin's eyes, the production of the Monster World website was nothing short of a work of art; every detail exuded unparalleled exquisiteness.

Opening the webpage, the deep dark-toned background instantly pulled him into a mysterious and dangerous realm.

A massive vortex at the center of the page rotated slowly, as if capable of devouring everything; the logo at the vortex's core appeared in scarlet flame font, bringing an intense sense of oppression.

The official website's background music was low, with organ melodies interwoven with faint chanting, creating an otherworldly mysterious atmosphere; the sound design was the finishing touch—wind sounds, whispers, and the clashing of metal, every sound perfectly placed, bringing a powerful sense of immersion, as if he were in another world.

Clicking the four large characters "Monster World" in the center, the screen jumped to the Monster World official website homepage against a scarlet background.

A line of text was printed at the top of the page: Dance with death, accompany fear, your legend begins with facing the Black Tide.

When the mouse hovered over the navigation bar, the text would glow with a blood-red halo.

There were eight options listed:

World Map (Explored), Monster Compendium, Painful Painful Minghun Compendium (Contained), Spirit Plant Compendium, Spirit Ore Compendium, Domain Nodes, Chronicle of Glory, Player Forum.

With curiosity, Hearing Tong Xin's gaze focused on the first option, the World Map.

Controlling the mouse, he clicked the "World Map" option on the webpage, and the screen was instantly swallowed by a deep darkness.

The scene shifted, and a tattered parchment scroll unfolded before his eyes; this was a dynamic map.

The map's main background was a vast dark continent, shrouded in heavy mist; broken mountain ranges, deep forests, and winding rivers were vaguely visible. Four large characters "Pale Continent" were printed on it, and the map's edges were outlined by a faint blood-red light, as if this land was being eroded by some invisible force.

Three regions were clearly visible on the map.

They were, respectively, the Di Zhao Mountain Range at the very bottom of the map, the Colorful Mist Coast located at the continent's edge to the west, and the Winter Snowfield region to the east of the Di Zhao Mountain Range.

The displayed map was not static within the scene.

When he moved the mouse over the three explored regions, the mist would slowly disperse, revealing hidden details.

For example, when he zoomed in on the Colorful Mist Coast region and the cursor passed over a forest, the tree branches would sway slightly, as if wind were blowing through; when the cursor stopped over a lake, ripples would appear on the water's surface.

Large areas on the map were marked with flashing light points of various colors; clicking a light point would pop up detailed information about that area, such as monster distribution, monster types, resource types, and so on.

Hearing Tong Xin found the map design very thoughtful, allowing one to intuitively see the progress of players exploring and developing the world.

In the bottom right corner of the map was a zoom toolbar, designed in the shape of an ancient stone slab with mysterious runes carved upon it; when the mouse hovered over a rune, it would glow faintly accompanied by a low sound effect, and inside was a search box.

By entering the name of a small region or coordinates, one could automatically locate a specific position.

"What an awesome map design!"

After a preliminary look at the map, Hearing Tong Xin was immediately awed by the detailed design.

Exiting the map function, he clicked the Monster Compendium function.

The page switched, and the screen was swallowed by scarlet flames; monster cards were neatly arranged on the page, with each card's background being the monster's habitat, such as dark caves, bone battlefields, coastal forests, and so on.

When the mouse hovered over a card, the card slowly enlarged, and the monster's 3D model emerged, with details so lifelike; for instance, a monster named "Iron Shell Beetle" had a thick layer of carapace on its body, with clear cracks visible on it, its eyes like two burning coals, and when its mouth opened, it revealed sharp fangs, as if it would pounce out of the screen at any moment.

Below the card, short text introduced the monster's habits and weaknesses; the font was slender, the color was scarlet, and it looked very cool.

After flipping through introductions to several monsters, Hearing Tong Xin was filled with curiosity and anticipation for the game Monster World.

Closing the monster page, he opened the Painful Painful Minghun Compendium.

After the scene shifted, a containment wall appeared before his eyes, with a monster imprisoned in every containment cell.

When the mouse moved over a contained monster, ability introduction information would appear.

After checking, Hearing Tong Xin realized this was the Meng Yuan Chu Containment Wall the brothers in the group had mentioned; every monster represented a unique ability trait.

One could choose a single monster flow growth path, or combine different Meng Yuan Chu traits to form a Star Pulse school.

"You guys really deserve to die!"

Thinking that the brothers had already been enjoying themselves for several months, Hearing Tong Xin couldn't help but clench his fists.

Sorrow surged from the depths of his heart, but he forcibly suppressed it.

He planned to finish looking at the Monster World official website before continuing to be sad; right now, curiosity had taken the high ground, so sadness should retreat for now.

After viewing the Spirit Plant Compendium, Spirit Ore Compendium, and Domain Nodes in sequence, Hearing Tong Xin clicked the seventh category page: Chronicle of Glory.

After the page shifted, an ancient book bound by chains appeared before Hearing Tong Xin's eyes; the chains were forged from scarlet metal, covered in complex runes, and a pulsating Beneath Di Zhao fire burned in the center of the book.

Clicking the book with the mouse, the chains snapped, and the book automatically opened.

The background music changed at this moment, as if announcing that a sealed history was about to be unveiled.

The page unfolded, and a scarlet light spilled from the book pages; subsequently, text and images floated onto the pages in the form of projections.

Two lines of golden text that shimmered brilliantly were printed on the preface page:

In the long river of time, every player writes their own story in their own way, and some stories are worthy of being recorded in history, becoming legends.

This is to record the exciting milestone moments on the player legion's path of growth.

Opening the preface page, which was embossed with golden stripes along its edges, the screenshot on the first page of the photo album recorded exactly the high-octane moment when the player legion purified the dark cave after fighting with bloodied bodies.

Below it, the specific time of the battle was also printed.

However, the video could not be clicked to view; a prompt indicated that a game pod was required to view the specific video.

With curiosity, Hearing Tong Xin flipped through page by page.

Besides battle videos and screenshots, the details were divided into three parts.

They were: Battle Location, Exciting Moments, and Hero List (players with outstanding battle performance).

The design on the chronicle was full of interactivity; when the mouse glided over the text, the text would glow faintly and be accompanied by low sound effects, such as the beating of war drums, or the clashing of sword blades, or the roar of magic.

When clicking on a dynamic illustration, the scene would enlarge and play a short GIF, such as a player wielding a weapon to slay a monster.

The button for the view key was designed like a medal; clicking it would produce a crisp sound of metal clashing.

Every page of the Chronicle of Glory recorded a battle; the page background was a dynamic battlefield scene—burning forests, bone battlefields, snow-filled canyons... the display of every scene, just looking at the screenshots, made Hearing Tong Xin's blood boil.

He wished he could enter the game right now and charge into battle with them.

But such a good thing obviously did not fall to him.

Taking a deep breath, Hearing Tong Xin's eyes were full of envy:

"You guys really deserve to die, eating so well."

He exited the Glory Record function and clicked the last option: Player Forum.

This was the Monster World's built-in forum, now fully opened to the outside world, filled with strategy guides posted by qualified players or various other exchange threads.

Scrolling through player discussions, Hearing Tong Xin's envy and jealousy were written all over his face.

At this moment, he clicked the post function:

【You damned beta tester who got early access, you really deserve to die!】

But after clicking send, a prompt popped up:

【Prompt: Identity account is in Guest status, can only browse forum posts or post 2 reply threads daily, unable to post topic threads on the forum.】

Seeing the prompt message, Hearing Tong Xin couldn't help but feel sorrow rise from his heart.

If he had seized the opportunity back then, he would now be standing at the peak of the virtual gaming circle's chain of contempt, looking down on all the mountains, with countless envious players below looking up at him.

The wind at the summit was cold and aloof, blowing away the noise, leaving only the silence belonging to the king.

"You really deserve to die!"

Thinking of the toddler group brothers who once stood with him already reaching the peak, while he was still at the foot of the mountain looking up, his emotions could no longer be held back.

Scrolling through the forum information, watching the exchanges between the beta testers, sadness welled up in his heart.

After a long while, Hearing Tong Xin entered the virtual game pod.

He accessed the Monster World official website through the virtual game to check related content.

Especially those videos that could only be clicked and viewed through the virtual game pod.

He entered the official website and opened the video.

The scene before his eyes instantly pulled him into another dimension; the wind of Monster World whistled past his ears, carrying the dampness and rotting scent of soil, as if he were truly placed on that desolate land, the ground beneath his feet solid and rough, every step letting him feel the touch of gravel and grass blades, he could even hear the faint sound of players' shoes in the video stepping on the ground.

"No wonder it's a perfect virtual game; Dark Land is truly a pile of crap compared to you."

The sight before his eyes made Hearing Tong Xin unable to hold back his praise.

Looking up, a blood moon hung in the sky, moonlight spilling over the corrupted plants, casting long shadows; the view zoomed in on a forest shrouded in mist, where the God King was leading the player legion advancing toward the forest.

Gazing at the forest, the tree trunks were twisted and grotesque, thick black mist rising from the depths of the woods, countless grotesque evil spirits breeding in the darkness, making Tong Xin's skin crawl; this intense immersion made him feel as if he were placed in danger.

The subsequent battle scenes were even more spectacular than special effects movies.

The dazzling spells released by magic-type players, the domineering power of statue-flow players holding the line and pushing back evil spirits single-handedly, the exquisite coordination of support-flow players... like a magnificent visual feast, making Hearing Tong Xin's blood boil.

After watching the video, Hearing Tong Xin, still unsatisfied, continued scrolling through other battle videos.

During this, he discovered that the weather system in Monster World also completely crushed Dark Land.

Even in observation mode, he could feel the changes in the weather system.

When the rain poured down, the icy sensation of raindrops hitting his face.

When the wind howled, as an observer, the hem of his clothes fluttered loudly, and his body could even feel the resistance of the wind.

When thunder and lightning clashed, lightning tore through the sky, thunder deafening, as if the whole world was trembling.

Every change in weather had a gradual process; observing carefully, Hearing Tong Xin discovered that even the details of raindrops falling on soil and seeping into the ground were perfect to the extreme.

"This is truly a game!"

He knew the brothers who obtained Monster World access were feasting.

But he never expected they were eating this well.

The quality of this game was far superior to what was described at the Administrator No. 1 briefing.

It even gave him an illusion that the colors in the game were more vivid than reality; the intensity of flames, the cold of frost, the brilliance of lightning in the battle videos were all amplified to the extreme, as if the whole world had been infused with life.

Even the perception of sound was more three-dimensional; players' roars during combat, footsteps during movement, the booming of spells, all distinct layers, placing him in an epic war symphony.

The feeling after watching the video footage was: more real than reality, more brilliant than dreams.

After a long while, the game pod lid opened, and Hearing Tong Xin walked out of the game pod to change clothes.

A strong sense of disparity swirled in his heart.

Although he had returned to reality, his heart was still immersed in the scene images of Monster World, as if the experience just now was not a virtual observation, but a real transmigration.

"Sigh."

A thousand words and ten thousand sentences ultimately turned into a single sigh.

All of this originally had a share for him too.

Recalling that night's deep sleep, he wished he could slap himself.

This sleep caused him to lose a wonderful world.

"I really deserve to die!"

Sitting back down at the computer desk, Hearing Tong Xin's mindset changed completely.

He originally thought that if he really couldn't obtain Monster World game access, he would play Dark Land as a transition first.

But after observing and experiencing the Monster World scenes, he had only one thought.

Dark Land is what kind of trash.

If he had never experienced the extreme, he could have tolerated mediocrity.

But now, he could not endure it.

The quality of the two games was simply not on the same level; calling it dimensional crushing was not an exaggeration.

Even continuing to scroll through the Monster World official website and videos posted by forum players, he did not want to play Dark Land anymore.

Constantly scrolling through forum information, Hearing Tong Xin felt like a rat in a sewer.

He could only observe the prosperity of the upper world through the cracks in the manhole cover; the brilliance he saw seemed within reach, yet was also out of reach.

And he could only curl up in a dark corner, listening to the noise and joy coming from above his head, a wave of bitterness surging in his heart.

Because that prosperity did not belong to him.

But he also knew he could no longer be satisfied with the dark environment he was in.

Immersed in the forum environment, time slipped away unnoticed.

Just as Hearing Tong Xin clicked open a post published by an exploration-faction player, the forum page automatically redirected to the Monster World official website's homepage.

This left Hearing Tong Xin instantly puzzled.

The official page changed at that very moment.

The page background collapsed, a dark abyss emerged behind the cracked image, lava surged from the fissures, dyeing the page a sea of blood-red.

When the blood color completely saturated the official site, a massive circular countdown timer appeared at the center of the page; the burning numbers upon it seemed to be devoured by flames with every tick, and each change of the numbers was accompanied by a deep bell toll that struck the heart.

Below the timer, a line of large text abruptly emerged from the blood color:

【Qualification Contest, countdown remaining: 23 hours, 59 minutes, 52 seconds.】

"Holy crap!"

Seeing the text, Hearing Tong Xin suddenly realized something — the Star Net was about to distribute Monster World qualifications once the 24-hour countdown ended.

His low mood instantly turned to excitement.

Sharing the same feeling as Hearing Tong Xin were players of all races across the Earth Alliance, as well as the high-ranking members of each race.

Like Hearing Tong Xin, they had carefully examined Monster World's official site and were all stunned by the game's flawless quality.

The immersive sensation and emotional impact brought by the lifelike video experience scenes were overwhelmingly intense.

After exiting the game's video scenes, the shock in their hearts lingered long, refusing to fade.

Seeing now that Monster World's official site was actually going to distribute game qualifications to the public, the entire net erupted.

The number-one trending topic on every race's Star Net forum was occupied by the news of Monster World about to distribute qualifications.

Based on the statement of the Lunar Eclipse Race's Number One Administrator, netizens of every race were well aware that Monster World did not have the kind of possibility that Dark Lands had — distributing over a million qualifications in a single round; the number was extremely scarce, the probability slim.

But no player wanted to miss this chance.

As long as one could snatch a game qualification, one would possess a dazzling new world — an irresistible temptation for members of every race.

(End of this chapter)