Lin Chen's original plan was simple: find monsters, kill them, eat them, level up.
But after searching for a long time, he hadn't seen a single monster.
Not even a tail. Not even a footprint.
"…Is this because of that mutated monster?"
It didn't feel normal.
Monsters were usually solitary. They didn't travel in large packs, and they definitely didn't all vanish from an entire zone at once.
"ROAR!"
Suddenly, a furious beast roar echoed from deep within the Level 3 area.
Lin Chen turned toward the sound — then glanced up at the sky.
He noticed that several of the Warrior Association drones had abruptly changed direction and were now speeding toward the source of the roar.
He immediately pulled out his phone, opened the Warrior Forum, and jumped back into the livestream section.
In one of the feeds, he saw it.
Deep in the Level 3 zone, an enormous number of monsters were gathered.
Hundreds. No — thousands.
They weren't fighting.
They were kneeling.
All of them were crouched low, facing a massive creature nearly ten meters tall, as if bowing to their king.
That had to be the mutated monster.
Its body was bull-like, but it stood upright like a human. Its muscles were swollen to the point of looking deformed, thick cords of veins bulging under its skin.
In its hands, it held a gigantic stone pillar like a club.
It slammed its chest with one huge hand and bellowed, radiating pure rage.
The livestream chat exploded.
"Oh my god, what is that? Why are so many monsters in one place?!"
"Don't you get it? They're all submitting to that thing. It's their leader — that wild blood bull!"
"Why is it so mad?"
"Territory. The stronger the monster, the stronger the territorial instinct. Guess who just walked into its turf?"
"Wang Shihao's squad. And that Lin Chen guy."
"There are thousands of monsters in the entire Level 3 zone, and they're all stampeding toward them!"
"It's over. If they don't run right now, they're going to be buried under a beast tide."
No one watching had expected this.
The mutated monster — the wild blood bull — wasn't just strong on its own.
It had triggered a full beast tide.
In the live feed, waves of monsters were now charging across the terrain.
The ground shook. Dirt and leaves blasted into the air. Trees shuddered.
The scene carried the kind of crushing, unstoppable pressure that made even the spectators break out in a cold sweat.
On the ground in the Level 3 area, Wang Shihao and his three teammates felt it too.
The earth was rumbling under their boots.
One of the team members, who had been watching the drone feed on his phone, went pale.
"Boss, we should pull back."
"This mutated monster isn't going anywhere. We can regroup and come back later."
"There are thousands of beasts in that wave. We can't handle that!"
The other three were already retreating mentally.
Yes, they had been paid to come help Wang Shihao.
No, they were not planning to die for him.
"Come back later?" Wang Shihao snapped. "By the time we come back, someone else will have killed it!"
"I'll pay you double," he said through clenched teeth. "We're doing this today. I have to kill it and break through to Fourth-Class."
The three looked at each other.
Double or not, four people against a literal beast tide was suicide.
"…Sorry."
They turned and ran — full sprint, straight toward the portal that led out of the zone.
They weren't about to throw their lives away just because the Wang family's young master wanted to level up.
"You cowards! You worthless trash!"
Wang Shihao watched them flee and ground his teeth in fury.
He wanted to chase them down and drag them back.
But the truth was, even he knew it was insane to take on thousands of monsters alone.
He was stuck between greed and survival.
"Tch… fine. Let me just check if Lin Chen already ran."
If Lin Chen had fled, he'd retreat too. That way, no one else would take credit for the kill in his absence.
Then he could come back when things cooled down.
He pulled up the livestream.
And what he saw made his stomach twist.
Lin Chen wasn't running.
Lin Chen was walking toward the incoming beast tide.
"Is this guy not afraid of death?!"
Wang Shihao was stunned.
The livestream chat went into chaos.
"No, what is he doing?! He's actually walking into it?"
"Does he seriously think he can take on thousands of monsters by himself?"
"I don't get it. What's his plan?"
"I went to school with him," someone in chat typed. "He's been using illegal enhancers. He's only got a month to live. He could snap at any time."
"Ohhh. So he's basically suicidal."
"Yeah. He's not brave. He just doesn't care if he dies."
"WAIT. Look, Wang Shihao is running toward the beast tide too!"
"Idiot! You're the Wang family's heir, why are you racing a lunatic to die?!"
"This is bad. The beast tide is closing in. There's no way they're getting out in time!"
The stream showed it clearly:
Two humans.
One beast tide.
Distance: under 100 meters.
Lin Chen could now see them directly with his own eyes.
A wall of monsters — dense, layered, foaming at the mouth, bloodthirst surging in their eyes.
He could feel their killing intent from where he stood.
It was obvious they'd been given an order by the wild blood bull.
Tear apart the humans.
Crush them into the dirt.
On a different part of the field, Wang Shihao saw the same thing.
He drew his long sword, but his right arm was trembling uncontrollably.
"Why are you shaking? You're going to be a Fourth-Class Warrior," he hissed to himself.
He tried to steady his arm with his left hand.
But then he felt his legs start to shake.
"Stand. Still."
He smacked his thighs with the flat of his hand until the trembling lessened.
Then he noticed his jaw.
His teeth were chattering hard enough to click.
"Damn it—!"
"That's it. Whoever wants to kill that thing can kill it. I'm— I'm done. I'm out!"
With that, panic finally won.
He spun around and bolted.
Right now, he had only one thought left: escape alive.
Forget breaking through to Fourth-Class today.
There would be other chances — as long as he lived to see them.
Lin Chen could die if he wanted. He refused to die here.
Wang Shihao yanked a speed-boost potion from his belt, drank it in one gulp, and took off in a blur.
His running speed shot up instantly, and in seconds he'd outrun even the fastest monsters behind him.
When he saw the portal ahead, his panic finally started to ease.
He dove in and vanished from the Level 3 zone.
Back at the entrance to the Qixing Mountains, he reappeared — alive.
Meanwhile, in the Level 3 zone, Lin Chen stood facing the incoming beast tide.
He felt no fear at all.
Because what he saw rushing toward him wasn't a thousand monsters.
It was a thousand servings of Qi and Blood.
It was a mountain of Attribute Points.