Chapter 2: Newbie difficulty?

[Hardcore Gamer Chat Group (Online: 10)]

Family Shared Godfather: Why hasn't Godfather returned yet? Could he be so immersed in the plot of "Huluwa saving their grandfather" that he can't pull himself out?

Poor Enough to Eat Dirt (Admin): Maybe he’s reporting to the police, trying to recover the 20-yuan fortune stolen from his bank account. The streaming fees won't be settled until the day after tomorrow; this is Brother Li’s meal money for tomorrow. (Funny.jpg)

Fun Without P2W: Godfather has fallen in battle. Please, next Godfather, step up.

Killing Intent Moved: Stop talking. First, kick Welfare Worker out. Which admin added him? Give the brothers in the group a red envelope to apologize.

Just as the group members were having a heated discussion about "Game Grinder" not returning, the man himself came back.

Game Grinder: Brothers, download the game quickly. Welfare Worker is really giving out welfare! I downloaded the cracked version of "Dark Lands" from the link he sent. It’s so awesome! The modeling has 100% realism. Although I haven't experienced the game plot yet, the realism is definitely not exaggerated. It’s too awesome.

Poor Enough to Eat Dirt replies to Game Grinder: Are you trying to add +1 to the list of victims?

Family Shared Godfather replies to Game Grinder: Brother Li, I trusted you so much, yet you want to trick me into downloading Huluwa (Wiping tears.jpg).

Fun Without P2W replies to Game Grinder: Brother Li, you usually care about your brothers so much. How did you learn to be bad from Eat Dirt and start scamming cute group members? I’m not watching this Huluwa.

Facing the group members' skepticism, Li Zheng, sitting at his computer desk, typed a line of text on his keyboard with a clatter:

Game Grinder: We’ve been playing games together for so many years; don’t you know my character? I guarantee with my character that there is absolutely no fraud. Download it quickly and experience the game content together. I’ll say it again: this link really lets you download the official "Dark Lands."

Poor Enough to Eat Dirt (Admin): I suspect it’s not Brother Li online right now, but Welfare Worker who stole his account via the link... Let’s use a code: What do you do if there’s a bug in the game?

Game Grinder: There are no bugs, only features.

Poor Enough to Eat Dirt (Admin): Verification complete. This is really Brother Li. Brothers, I’m going in. I accept being scammed.

Killing Intent Moved: Unbelievable, but the code matched. I believe this is Brother Li. Brothers, I’m going in too.

Family Shared Godfather: Godfather, I will continue to follow in your footsteps.

Game Grinder: Everyone, don't rush. Let’s discuss the initial class selection first and put together a suitable team for opening up the map.

[Challenger "Night Flowing Cloud" enters the game. Creating initial monster body consumes 1000 Sacrifice Power. Remaining Sacrifice Power: 139,278.]

[Challenger "Wang Xuan" enters the game. Creating initial monster body consumes 1000 Sacrifice Power. Remaining Sacrifice Power: 138,278...]

The prompts of players entering the game sounded one after another in Qi Sheng's mind.

Looking at the now-silent chat interface, Qi Sheng clicked "Exit Chat Group," and a prompt appeared on the screen:

[User: Welfare Worker, confirm exit from Hardcore Gamer Chat Group?]

Qi Sheng reached out and clicked "Yes," and the chat interface on the computer desktop disappeared.

The recruitment of the first batch of players was complete.

To recruit this group of players, he had specifically created a fake link.

The players thought they were playing the real "Dark Lands," but in fact, there was no game behind the link at all. It was an extradition space formation that could extract the players' consciousness and send them to the Monster World, where they would complete life reshaping and possess a perfectly adapted monster body.

But the players in the group clearly didn't notice this problem, thinking they had downloaded a free cracked version of "Dark Lands."

It was certain that once they experienced the game content, they would be grateful to him in the chat group.

They might even worship him as their new Godfather.

But Qi Sheng's goal had been achieved; he couldn't be bothered to read the subsequent flattery. He cared more about the revenue the players created for him.

Di Zhong Village was still being continuously damaged by the energy of the terrifying black tide, and a large amount of Sacrifice Power was needed every day to maintain the village's defensive barrier. If the players couldn't generate revenue for him, the remaining Sacrifice Power would soon be exhausted.

Just then, a pale blue water ball suddenly popped up beside him.

[Boss, are the people recruited this time from your former hometown?]

"Before I crossed over to the Monster World, I was one of them. But this world underwent some changes during the time I was away, and many alien forces appeared." Qi Sheng nodded in response.

The water ball floating beside him was named Guide. Its ability was very special; it could turn scanned objects into digitized information.

The newbie guides following the players were all its clones.

In the hundreds of years he had spent traversing to the monster world, he had inherited the origin power of Di Zhao, and the guidance he once followed had also become one of his four great retainers.

The Challenger System (Player Recruitment System) he established had all its data information processing completed by the Guide.

[They have already entered the Monster World. Do you want to go take a look?]

Qi Sheng nodded, and with a wave of his hand, a light screen appeared in front of him, showing the players who had just entered the game.

"What’s the difference between this game and reality? Even the modeling of the pebbles on the ground is perfect."

"After watching Huluwa for years, I finally downloaded the official game. Welfare Worker in the group will be my new Godfather from now on."

"Too realistic. As expected of the super virtual reality game that the Moon-Eclipse Race spent ten years crafting. It’s simply perfect."

A white light flashed, and ten figures appeared in the central square of Di Zhong Village.

Among the ten players, 2 had Owl-Headed Demon phantoms floating behind them, 2 had Gargoyle phantoms, and the remaining 6 chose the initial Black-Armored Snake form.

"Brothers, let’s leave the newbie village. Let’s level up quickly while the server just opened. We’ll rely on this game to get rich in the future. This is the game with the most pay-to-win players right now. We must cherish the development time in the early stage." Li Zheng said at this time.

"Brother Li, why are there only a few of us in the newbie village? Where are the other players? Didn't it sell 1 million copies in ten minutes? Logically, the game should be packed."

The player speaking looked very young, with the game name "Poor Enough to Eat Dirt" floating above his head, and an Owl-Headed Demon phantom floating behind him.

Before Li Zheng could answer, he heard a young man with "Killing Intent Moved" floating above his head say calmly:

"Nonsense, we must have entered a separate channel. Otherwise, with millions of players pouring in at the same time, this newbie village would be crushed."

"That’s true."

"Let’s leave the village first. Leveling up in the early stage is the most important."

"Listen to Brother Li. You’re the most professional at gaming."

Along the bluestone-paved road, the ten-person team passed through the energy barrier and entered the black fog.

Suddenly, an indescribable sense of fear welled up in their hearts. They could vaguely hear the sound of bones breaking, wailing... all sorts of complex sounds intertwined in their minds, even causing a strong sense of dizziness.

Just as the consciousness of Li Zheng and the others was about to be lost, the black fog in front of them dissipated, and their vision suddenly widened.

[Di Zhong Mountain Range]

A line of golden text appeared before their eyes and quickly faded.

What appeared before them was a crimson world. Under the vast firmament, a dark red crescent moon tilted at the edge of the sky, and the clouds were dyed red by the afterglow. As they surged, lightning flashed within them.

At the end of the horizon, they could see volcanoes still spewing flames. The air was filled with the scent of sulfur and scorched earth, and rolling heat waves swept over from afar.

The near-collapsed world scene before them shocked everyone in the team.

"Hiss, so shocking. I feel like the erupting volcano will drown us in the next second." Eat Dirt sighed at this time.

"Calm down. The scene outside the newbie village looks scary, but there definitely won't be any powerful monsters. It will give us a process to adapt and grow." While shocked, Li Zheng gave an analysis he considered reasonable.

As soon as his voice fell, a clap of thunder tore through the firmament, and pitch-black cracks instantly crawled across the entire sky.

A crimson giant beast tore through the clouds, revealing its ferocious form.

Its massive, incomparable body was covered in crimson scales, like burning flames, each containing immense power and endless majesty. Its opened eyes were like two rubies, deep and sharp.

A deafening beast roar echoed through the sky, shaking the air itself.

The monster’s wide, strong wings were inlaid with golden patterns at the edges. When they flapped, they whipped up a hurricane, blowing the trees below until they swayed, and dust flew everywhere.

Even from a distance, Li Zheng and the others were affected, forced to retreat repeatedly by the gale.

The giant beast’s flight speed suddenly increased, like a crimson lightning bolt tearing through the sky, carrying the momentum to destroy everything, as it plummeted toward an unknown target below.

At this moment, time seemed to freeze, and all things were still. Only that crimson figure was the only focus in the world.

When its body was about to touch the ground, a massive heat wave accompanied by a deafening roar swept out.

Boom!

The earth shook violently, and a mushroom cloud rose in the distant sky.

A moment later, everything returned to silence, but Li Zheng and the others were stunned on the spot, their inner shock beyond words.

After a long time, Eat Dirt turned to look at the dazed Li Zheng:

"Is this the newbie scene you said had no danger?"

Li Zheng swallowed his saliva and continued to analyze:

"Is it possible that this is just the scene display for the game opening, similar to a CG screen, and won't cause us actual harm? After all, we are newbies, and there should be a process of adapting to the difficulty..."

Before he could finish, a beast roar accompanied by a gale hit them, and the terrifying sound wave made everyone's eardrums ache.

"Don't panic. It’s just an intensity experience for the opening. It won't affect the low-difficulty newbie mode that follows."

Li Zheng reached out to wipe the nosebleed and analyzed stubbornly.

[I like this guy’s personality. He’s all about self-deception.]

The water ball following Li Zheng gave a thumbs up at this time.

Li Zheng: ...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 4 =====