At this moment, Jiang Bai was in the thick of the fight, completely in the zone. After defeating the boss, the remaining 200 or so players stood no chance against him. Wherever he pointed, people fell. Wherever his arrows flew, someone died.
He looked like a war god incarnate—his roaring arrows were like the howls of death itself, and the crazed lifesteal made him appear as an immortal deity. It was a scene so intense, it shook the soul and chilled the bones!
While the brutal battle raged in Newbie Village 33856, more and more starter villages across the map saw the fall of the boss "Zarthas the Slayer." As the system's world announcements echoed continuously, the release of the second chapter of the game brought long-sealed teleportation arrays back to life, reconnecting each village to the secondary main cities.
This also meant players from other newbie villages could now travel through the secondary cities to reach other starting zones.
But Jiang Bai had no time to care about that.
In just five minutes, nearly 200 members of the Xiaoyao and Cloud City guilds had died at his hands.
Now, at Jiang Bai's feet lay a field of corpses and scattered gear.
He had blood in his eyes.
What Jiang Bai hadn't noticed… was the growing army of Xiaoyao and Cloud City players gathering just outside the gates of Village 33856.
Led by Cloud City's Emperor and Xiaoyao's Qingfeng, the square before the village was now packed with a dark, pressing crowd of thousands. The sheer presence of the guild army was suffocating, an aura so grim and intense that most solo players didn't even dare approach.
After all, no matter how badly they'd been beaten by Jiang Bai so far, these were still top-tier guilds—majorities of them pro players.
To the average player, they were untouchable.
"Jiang Bai! Die, you bastard!!!"
A hoarse roar shattered the moment and interrupted Jiang Bai's killing spree.
The few remaining survivors from earlier quickly retreated to their main force.
Jiang Bai, still exuding the might of a war god, slowly turned around. And when he saw nearly 10,000 players from Xiaoyao and Cloud City assembled, eyes burning with fury, fully geared and ready…
He let out a cold smile.
Standing tall, he faced the massive army without a trace of fear. The fading sunlight glinted off his armor, radiating a blinding brilliance.
1 vs 10,000!
That scene would be forever etched into every player's memory.
Everyone could tell—something huge was about to happen in 33856. Almost all the other players in the village had stopped whatever they were doing, watching from near or far, eyes glued to Jiang Bai.
"It's gonna blow up, bros! This is insane!"
One player's face was flushed, whether from excitement or terror was unclear.
Yi Jiang Chun Shui: "Looks like Xiaoyao and Cloud City are going all-in. They're dead set on pushing 'Old Dream of an Empty City' out of the server."
What's Between My Legs Rests on My Waist: "Of course! Chapter Two is live now. If they don't crush him now, they won't get another chance!"
20-Year Sewer Pro: "If 'Old Dream of an Empty City' really is a solo player, then yeah, he's probably finished today. How do you fight 1 vs 10,000?"
Little Star: "Waaaah… my idol…"
Your Mom Seriously: "What a waste! Damn it, these two guilds are trash. Poor 'Old Dream' just ran into bad luck dealing with them."
The discussion exploded. The hype surrounding the battle was growing by the second.
Some players had even started live-streaming the event. After all, a showdown of this scale was rare.
On the official Genesis live-streaming platform, hundreds of rooms were now broadcasting the war at Village 33856. The most popular one had a particularly eye-catching title:
"1 vs 10,000—Witness the Birth of a New God: Old Dream of an Empty City!!!"
Say no more—just the name "Old Dream of an Empty City" was enough to pull insane traffic. The viewer count was rising by the thousands every second.
Of course, not all the streams were random. Some were officially coordinated by Xiaoyao and Cloud City.
This was exactly the kind of publicity they wanted.
Meanwhile, in the chat channels of several major guilds across the server:
Newbie Zone 101, Dragonflame Guild.
Dragonflame #8: "Quick! Everyone go check the stream—'Old Dream' is about to PK both guilds at once!"
Dragonflame #11: "No way? Hell yeah, I love a good show!"
Dragonflame #1 didn't say anything but quietly opened the most popular stream room.
Newbie Zone 777, Death Omen Guild.
Death Omen—Dark Blade: "So that's the guy, huh? 'Old Dream of an Empty City'? Hah. Got some guts, I'll give him that."
Death Omen—Little Red: "Hehe, kinda manly. A 1v10,000 battle, oof!"
Death Omen—White Kong: "You guys know nothing. Don't you see he hasn't joined a guild yet? What are you doing watching when you should be recruiting the guy?!"
…
Back on the battlefield:
"How's the stream doing?" Cloud City Emperor asked one of his subordinates during the tense standoff.
"No worries, boss! It's on fire! We've got over 100,000 live viewers right now!" replied Cloud Cat.
"Good."
The Cloud City Emperor nodded in satisfaction. "Today, the whole world will witness how Cloud City rises to glory by stepping over 'Old Dream of an Empty City.' There's no better PR for the guild!"
He grinned smugly at the thought.
Naturally, Xiaoyao Qingfeng was no different.
Feeling the atmosphere was just right, the Cloud City Emperor raised his longbow, scanned the crowd, and shouted:
"Today, Cloud City and Xiaoyao unite to eliminate 'Old Dream of an Empty City.' I don't want anyone interfering. If I catch anyone trying to get involved—even just touching the loot—I swear I'll hunt you down to the ends of the earth and force you to quit!"
"I second that." Xiaoyao Qingfeng stepped up beside him. "If anyone makes a move, I've got a thousand ways to make you delete your character and never come back. Think carefully."
Though many despised the arrogance of these two guilds, under the weight of their dominance, the scattered solo players and small guilds quietly backed far away.
They had their own game lives to consider.
The Cloud City Emperor, seemingly pleased with his intimidation, turned back to Jiang Bai.
"Didn't you think you were all that? Come on then! We've got 10,000 men—let's see how long you last!"
"Give me your gear, and I promise we'll only kill you down to Level 5. I won't even have the boys camp your corpse. How about it?"
Xiaoyao Qingfeng still had his eyes on Jiang Bai's equipment.
"…Heh."
Jiang Bai licked his dry lips, a calm gaze hiding bloodlust within.
"Today, I'm going to fight to my heart's content!"
His eyes locked onto Cloud City Emperor and Xiaoyao Qingfeng. He wasn't invincible—against 10,000 focused players, he'd last maybe three seconds.
But he swore—every time he died, he'd take one of them with him.
Jiang Bai was ready to be knocked down to Level 5.
So what?
Even if he stood alone, surrounded by ten thousand enemies.
Even if this battle was destined for defeat.
Still—what's life without a good fight?
Jiang Bai gripped his longbow tightly.
"Sigh…"
Someone in the crowd sighed. "Damn, this is just… tragic and heroic as hell."
At that moment, the Cloud City Emperor raised his longbow high into the air.
"Brothers, let's—"
He didn't even finish his sentence before—something changed on the battlefield!