Chapter 57: Dark Land, Activate!

"I'm so furious! The monsters outside are way too strong, leaving no room for newcomers to survive. Luckily, I'm agile and managed to escape from a Blood Corpse, and on my way into Emperor Tomb Village, I even turned around and spat out a Blood Corpse that had been chasing me for ten streets."

"Looking for a party! Is there any high-level big brother who can open a team and take me exploring outside? It's too scary out there."

"This game is insanely powerful! The haptic feedback when touching a girlfriend is so realistic; I don't even feel any difference from reality. No wonder I bought this game for 128,888; the money was well spent."

"Looking for veteran players to lead a party! I'm a newbie and understand nothing. Is there any big brother who can teach me how to match Star Veins?"

"Haha, I've turned into a little fire chicken! This Star Vein switching is interesting. The Golden-Winged Great Peng Bird training plan is launched!"

New players kept pouring in, and the respawn point in Emperor Tomb Village quickly became overcrowded.

For this groundbreaking new game, the behavior of all new players after entering was very similar: they used various methods to test the game's realistic feedback, trying to find any possible feedback bugs.

Some players even rolled on the ground in pain because they tested too hard.

Other players, while testing the realism feedback against each other, got into conflicts that gradually escalated into violent brawls, wrestling each other to the ground.

Veteran players passing by generally looked at the new players' series of bizarre behaviors after entering the game with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot, yet they forgot that when they first entered the game, they were exactly the same, having performed a series of flashy moves to test the game's realism.

Unlike the previous batch of players, this recruited batch arrived at the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range in the Waning Moon scenario.

There were no low-level evil spirits like Cursed Soldiers wandering outside; the hunting intensity was far higher than in the Waning Crescent scenario, with no gradual growth process.

Even the weakest Blood Corpses had a minimum hunting level of 10, causing many hardships for the newbie players who stepped out of the starting village.

Thus, a large number of players returned to Emperor Tomb Village to start recruiting teammates, hoping to continue hunting by forming groups.

Some newbie players also followed the advice given by veteran players in the regional voice channel, heading to the entrance of the Dim Cave on the south side of Emperor Tomb Village to mine and accumulate starting funds.

During this time, major guilds also took the opportunity to start recruiting newbies; they would provide pickaxes purchasable with 1 point of Shou Shou Jili, or even lead newbies out of Emperor Tomb Village to begin hunting, using this method to win over newbies and thereby strengthen the guild's power and influence.

The addition of these 2,000 new players made Emperor Tomb Village exceptionally lively.

Qi Sheng, who had been watching from behind the scenes, also began to anticipate the revenue growth brought by the new players.

Although the monster levels at this stage were still too high for newbie players to hunt alone, requiring them to form teams or be carried by veteran players to explore outside.

The generated revenue was even negative, because death would deduct 10 points of Shou Shou Jili.

He believed that as long as these players were given enough time to grow, they could quickly adapt to the difficulty of the Waning Moon scenario.

His daily Shou Shou Jili revenue would also bring new growth points for Shou Shou Jili as this batch of new players grew.

As for the Shou Shou Jili loss caused by the deaths of newbie players in the early stage, Qi Sheng didn't care at all.

This Shou Shou Jili consumed by death and resurrection was essentially still charged to the players.

Once the players had sufficient Shou Shou Jili on their bodies later on, it would be deducted; the real cost was only the initial investment of 1,000 points of Shou Shou Jili.

Just as Qi Sheng was monitoring the new players' movements.

In the real world, Night Lament City.

Waking from a dream, Hearing Tong Xin felt his head splitting with pain and his whole body weak and sore.

The night outside the window was hazy; looking up at the time and date in the bottom right corner of the computer desktop, he was surprised to find he had actually slept slumped on the desk for 28 hours.

Huh?!

Just then, Hearing Tong Xin noticed the pop-up display in the top right corner:

【Download Complete - 100%】

"Holy crap, the download succeeded?!"

The surprise came too suddenly; Hearing Tong Xin, who had originally been half-asleep, instantly became alert, staring wide-eyed at the download completion prompt box.

The grievances, envy, and resentment in his heart... all sorts of emotions vanished, and he shed tears of excitement.

After a brief surge of emotions, he transferred the file to the game pod, then walked to the game pod, pressed the file adaptation button, and returned to sit at the computer desk.

Opening the Kindergarten chat group, he excitedly typed on the keyboard:

Kindergarten Principal: @Everyone, brothers!!! Your Principal is about to enter the battlefield; gather quickly and help me level up.

Kindergarten Principal: @Everyone, say it again: gather quickly and help me level up; include me when making money.

After posting, Hearing Tong Xin began waiting anxiously, and during this time, he changed his clothes into his game outfit in advance.

After a long while, the game pod lit up with a green light indicating adaptation was complete; he decisively walked to the game pod and pressed the start button.

One minute later, Hearing Tong Xin, lying inside the game pod, entered the virtual desktop.

The desktop setup was simple; besides serious games, there were a few improper games hidden in folders.

But Hearing Tong Xin's focus was not on those games that had once given him joy; his gaze precisely locked onto the monster icon surrounded by burning flames.

"Dark Land, activate!"

As his consciousness touched the game icon, Hearing Tong Xin had already begun to imagine the happy gaming times in his mind.

Just then, a pop-up prompt suddenly appeared:

【Due to not entering the game within 24 hours, game qualification has been revoked, game files have been shredded; you must re-download to enter!】

Staring at the prompt box, Hearing Tong Xin's gaze gradually became dull.

After a long while, the game pod lid slowly opened, but Hearing Tong Xin curled up inside the game pod, tears flowing uncontrollably:

"Waaah~ This is truly damn; how can you bully me like this."

"Don't bully people like this... waaah~."

Half an hour later, the silent Kindergarten group became active again; members entering the respawn cooldown began constantly @'ing the group owner:

Small Class - Drunk Milk: The Principal actually managed to grab the qualification; congratulations! We'll go online in an hour to help you level up.

Small Class - Iron Hammer: Hahaha, the Principal has finally returned; our team is just waiting for your return to preside over the situation. We'll hand over the Guild Master position to you then; congratulations. The gods of the Kindergarten group have all returned to their positions; it is time to rise.

Small Class - Black Ball: (Confetti) (Confetti), Principal, go mine in the mine cave for a while; once our respawn cooldown ends, we'll come in to help you level up.

Learning that the Principal had secured the qualification, the group members all expressed their congratulations.

Noticing that the Principal never replied, they subconsciously assumed the Principal had already entered the game and started experiencing the game content.

Meanwhile, a certain player whose qualification had been revoked was still curled up sobbing, and finally, exhausted from crying, fainted inside the game pod.

Four hours ago.

Di Zha Village, Meng Yuan Chu Altar.

【Boss, among the challenger qualifications issued this time, one qualification has never been activated.】

Hearing the Guide's prompt, Qi Sheng frowned slightly.

He issued qualifications to players for the purpose of having players create benefits for him in the Monster World; he naturally would not allow behavior that occupied a post without working.

Turning to look at the Guide floating beside him:

"From now on, if any issued qualification is not activated and used within 24 hours, it will be retracted. This unused qualification will also be retracted and issued to other players."

【Understood.】

(End of this chapter)