As Zack rushed in, the crystal lizard roared and suddenly leapt up.
Seeing it coming down, Zack instinctively rolled.
But the timing was really awkward.
When rolling, there's a short "invincible frame" where you can avoid all damage from attacks.
But that invincibility only lasts for a very short moment.
If you roll too early or too late, you'll still take the hit.
Zack rolled too late — he didn't dodge during the invincible frame, and he didn't even get out of the monster's attack range.
With a loud crash, the crystal lizard landed, sending blue crystal spikes across the ground. At the same time, Zack's health bar dropped by almost half.
His character "123" was also sent flying by the impact.
"What the hell! What kind of damage is that?" Zack was stunned in front of the screen.
That was way too much damage.
One hit and almost half his health was gone?
Zack panicked instantly.
He rolled twice in a row to create distance, then switched to his Estus Flask and drank to recover his health.
But right then, the crystal lizard charged again.
This time, Zack didn't roll — he right-clicked to raise his small wooden shield to block.
But the stamina he had left after those rolls hadn't recovered yet, and with two heavy slaps from the charging lizard, his stamina bar was completely emptied.
In Dark Souls, you could say that sometimes the stamina bar is even more important than your health bar.
Health just looks nice on the screen, but if you run out of stamina, no matter how much health you have, it won't be enough to save you.
With his stamina bar completely emptied, Zack saw his in-game character "123" go into a stunned state, just standing there like a fool.
At the same time, the Crystal Lizard smacked him hard with its claws, sending "123" flying again.
"What?! Why is my health bar like it's made of paper?!" Zack finally felt something wasn't right.
If that earlier body slam was considered the monster's skill, then fine.
But how could just a normal slap take away a third of his health?
Sure, his character was a "blank slate" and only wearing shorts.
But wasn't this monster's damage way too crazy?
"Didn't the hint tell you to turn back? Clearly, this isn't something you can handle!" Hannah laughed happily next to him.
Because soon it would be her turn to play.
"Come on! Fight back! Why do you keep rolling away?"
"Oops, no stamina again!"
"Hit it already! Are you planning to wait until the monster dies of exhaustion?"
Normally Zack would have thrown back a few lines, but now he had no time at all.
If his feelings right now could be summed up in the title of a book, that book would be called "Oppression."
It was just too overwhelming!
The pressure was unbelievable!
The Crystal Lizard in front of him was attacking like crazy.
Charging, biting, leaping, even rolling at him like a wheel — and it attacked so fast.
He couldn't block it all no matter what.
"How am I supposed to fight this? It's not that tanky, but I can't even hit it!" Drinking his last bottle of orange juice, Zack watched as the rolling attack crushed his in-game character "123" again and again.
This was ridiculous to the extreme!
With "123" letting out a sharp, tragic scream, then falling to his knees, the Crystal Lizard turned away with disdain.
The bright red screen faded into dark red, then black and white, along with a sad death BGM.
In the center of the screen, a large line of text appeared: [You Died]
At the same time, an achievement notification popped up in the lower right corner.
[First Time]
In Dark Souls, Lucas had added many collectible achievements.
Just like in his past life on PlayStation, there were trophies in bronze, silver, and gold tiers, with a platinum trophy for unlocking them all.
For the game's platform, this was a good way to keep players hooked.
In his previous life, there were many players who collected trophies, and even whole "trophy games" were made — simple games designed to make getting platinum trophies easy, which some developers made a living from.
Seeing the trophy pop up, Zack thought it was a bit interesting, but mostly he was speechless.
How long had it been? And he'd already lost his first life?
With a sigh, Zack gave up his seat.
The seat had just gotten warm!
Hannah happily sat down, testing a few moves in the Cemetery of Ash.
But soon she shouted, "My money! Why is all my money gone after dying?!"
Looking at the soul counter in the lower right corner, it showed an empty 0.
Checking the rest of the game, it was clear this wasn't because the save had reverted — it was simply how the game worked.
"I think that's just the game's system. But if you go back to the Crystal Lizard, you should be able to pick it up," Zack guessed, even sounding a bit hopeful.
"I'm not going!" Hannah pouted.
She wasn't stupid!
Even if she went, she couldn't beat the Crystal Lizard. She might not even reach the dropped souls, and if she got them back only to die again, that would be like digging her own grave.
More importantly, if she died, it'd be someone else's turn to play!
"That monster clearly isn't meant for early game. The game even told you to turn back, but you just charged in like an idiot," Hannah said while happily taking another path toward the cliff.
Along the way, she only met some weak undead that went down in two hits.
She lit her first bonfire and kept going forward.
Following the system's hint, she even pulled off a drop attack, smashing an undead's head to bits.
Even though the moves in the game were very simple,
there was something about that plain chopping motion.
When it hit a monster, the feeling, along with the sound effect, was just so satisfying.
But soon, Hannah had her first hit in the game.
It happened when she was walking toward a big door. There was an archer zombie standing there, and she didn't notice it in time, so she got shot.
Her health bar dropped by about a quarter.
Looking at the health bar in the top left corner, Hannah suddenly had a bad feeling.
One arrow took almost a quarter of her health?
She couldn't stand seeing it like that, so she drank from her flask to fill it back up.
"Isn't that normal? I just got smacked by a crystal lizard and lost half my health. The useless guy we're playing as isn't wearing anything, so of course he's not tough," Zack said beside her.
"That… kind of makes sense," Hannah nodded.
Right, that's true!
A sword hitting armor is totally different from hitting bare skin.
Feeling a little better, Hannah walked through the ancient bronze door and into a courtyard.
In the distance stood the Iudex Gundyr, with a spiral sword stuck in his chest. The moment they saw him, both Hannah and Zack's eyes lit up.
They knew this boss!
It was the one getting wrecked in the trailer during the online showcase. No wonder it looked weak back then—it was just the beginner area boss!
Instead of rushing in to trigger the fight, Hannah first took a look around the courtyard.
But soon, she noticed something that shocked her.
"Oh my god… this courtyard…"
Her eyes went wide. Only she knew what she was seeing.
(End of The Chapter)
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