Chapter 6 Let's go! Let's have some fun!
Earth time, the next morning.
When Li Wei reopened the server channel (corresponding to the dawn in the Forsaken Land), 15 players logged in almost instantly.
A flash of light, and fifteen figures dressed in coarse cloth shorts and vests reappeared in the temple square.
"I'm back! Haha! I'm back again!"
"It still smells the same! Even the earthy smell in the air feels so comforting!"
After a night of real-world drama and tactical discussions in the group, these players are now in a state of ferocity, like wolves and tigers.
If yesterday they were just a group of clueless laborers, today they are an organized, disciplined, and goal-oriented "fourth natural disaster."
"Assemble! Assemble!"
As the group admin, I said that although I'm the one in charge in the group, when I'm on-site, the one with the iron bar and the loudest voice isn't a husky, but more like a team leader.
I am not a husky standing on a rock, waving a rusty iron bar in my hand.
"Brothers, we discussed this in the group chat yesterday," I'm Not a Husky said loudly. "According to Canned Food Bro's strategy, we have two goals today: First, continue grinding and accumulate enough contribution points; second, form a vanguard team to explore the outer perimeter of the temple!"
"agree!"
"I've been wanting to go out and see the world for ages!"
"I can't stand this damn safe zone for even a second longer!"
The players were in high spirits. Although they only had broken iron bars and stones in their hands, the confidence they had as "players" made them fearless.
"Alright! Let's split up!" I'm Not a Husky waved his hand. "Lifestyle players, follow Chef Liu to find something to eat nearby. Combat players, come with me! Let's go and meet the monsters of this other world!"
Apart from a few casual players who hadn't had enough of playing in the mud or wanted to study architectural structures, most people chose to follow "I'm Not a Husky".
A group of ten people walked out of the invisible protective barrier of the temple in a grand procession.
Outside the temple stretched a desolate, black plain, dotted with withered, twisted trees and jagged, rocky slopes. A hazy mist drifted across the ground, reducing visibility to less than fifty meters. The wind howled, as if countless wronged souls were weeping.
"This atmosphere... is a bit creepy." A player walking in the middle of the group shrank back.
"What's there to be afraid of! We are immortals! If we die, we can just be resurrected!" Dangdangdangxin was walking at the front, holding a sharpened stone slab as a shield, and said while patting his chest.
Even so, the real chill and oppressive feeling still made everyone huddle together and slow their pace considerably.
After walking about 500 meters, the surrounding scenery became increasingly desolate.
Shh! There's movement ahead!
Suddenly, I, who was in charge of scouting the way, stopped, lowered my voice, and made a gesture.
Everyone immediately crouched down and looked in the direction he was pointing.
Behind a huge weathered rock, there lay a large dog, covered in pustules and with green saliva dripping from its mouth...?
No, it was a corrupted hyena. It was larger than an ordinary wolf, with several bone spurs on its back and its eyes glowing with an eerie red light, clearly having undergone some kind of malignant mutation.
Upon seeing the disgusting monster, the players were not afraid at all; instead, their eyes lit up and their breathing became rapid.
"It's strange! There really is something strange!"
"His health bar is showing! He can be killed!"
"This is the first kill on the entire server! First Blood!"
"Don't be impulsive!" the commander said. "Judging by its size, this thing is not easy to deal with. We need a tank to hold the line, DPS to deal damage, and a healer... oh, we don't have a healer."
"Who cares! I'm the tank! I'll pull the mobs!"
Dangdangdang's heart was already bursting with anticipation. In reality, he had built up a muscular physique but had nowhere to use it, which was incredibly frustrating. Now that he had this opportunity, he only wanted to use it to prove himself!
"Grandson! Look here!"
With a loud shout, Ding Ding Ding Xin Zhi Gang picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it with all his might.
Bang!
The stone struck the hyena precisely on the forehead, tearing off a piece of skin.
The decaying hyena, which was gnawing on carrion, was stunned. It slowly turned its head, its bloodshot eyes fixed on the group of humans wearing only underwear, and let out a low growl.
"roar--!!!"
The next second, the hyena kicked off with its hind legs, like a black lightning bolt, carrying a nauseating stench, and rushed straight towards Dang Dang Dang's heart!
Battle is imminent!
Ding ding ding, just as Xin Zhigang felt a blur before his eyes, the gaping maw was already in front of him.
Holy crap! That was fast!
He instinctively raised the stone slab in his hand to block.
Click!
The seemingly hard stone slab shattered instantly like a biscuit under the hyena's sharp teeth. The enormous impact knocked Dangdang to the ground.
"ah--!!!"
A piercing scream echoed across the wasteland.
Although he had reduced his pain sensitivity to 10%, the sound and sensation of being pinned down by a wild beast, its sharp teeth cutting into his muscles, and his bones shattering still filled Dangdang with an unprecedented fear.
The hyena bit his shoulder and suddenly shook its head.
Tear!
Ding ding ding, Xin Zhigang's left arm was ripped off, and blood splattered all over the ground like a fountain, staining the surrounding withered grass red.
"Help me! Help me! This thing really bites!" Dangdangdang's face turned pale with pain as he desperately pushed the hyena's head with his remaining hand.
This bloody scene stunned the other players.
They've played many games, but none have ever made the experience of being "eaten by monsters" so... disgusting and realistic.
"What are you standing there for! Go!"
In the crucial moment, I, not being a husky, reacted the fastest. Although he was also afraid, the surge of adrenaline overcame his fear.
"It has a health bar that's visible! As long as the health bar is visible, we can kill it! For Gangzi!"
I'm not a husky. I grabbed a rusty iron bar, howled, and charged at the hyena, stabbing it wildly in the hindquarters.
"Pfft! Pfft!"
Although the iron bar was blunt, it still pierced the hyena's flesh with his frenzied brute force.
The hyena, in pain, had no choice but to release the nearly unconscious Dangdangdangxinzhigang and turn to bite the despicable human who had ambushed it.
"Now's the time! Let's all charge!"
"That's my monster!"
"Hit its leg! Don't let it get away!"
The other players were also aroused by the smell of blood. After the fear subsided, a more primal madness ensued.
Tactics and teamwork were completely forgotten at that moment. They were like a group of street thugs, picking up stones, sticks, and even their fists and teeth, and swarming around the poor hyena, beating it mercilessly.
"Woof! Awooo—!"
Although the Corrupted Hyena was a monster, it couldn't withstand a dozen or so reckless madmen. Iron bars were stuck in its back, its head was smashed open by a rock, and one of its hind legs was being held tightly by two players, impossible to shake off.
This isn't a hero fighting a dragon, it's a zombie apocalypse!
Three minutes later.
With one final, powerful thrust of the iron bar into the hyena's eye socket, the once arrogant monster finally let out a mournful cry, collapsed to the ground, twitched twice, and lay still.
"Dead...dead?"
The players collapsed to the ground, panting, still shaken as they stared at the mangled corpse.
"We won! We won!"
"First kill! Screenshot! Quick, take a screenshot!"
Just as everyone was cheering, a weak groan came from the side.
"Brothers...can you...save me first...?"
Dangdangdang Xin just lay in a pool of blood, his face as pale as paper, his left shoulder empty, still oozing blood.
Holy crap! Gangzi, you're still alive?
"This amount of bleeding... is there no hope?"
Before he finished speaking, Dangdangdang's body suddenly became transparent, turning into countless white specks of light that drifted in the air, leaving only the thing in his hand that had fallen to the ground.
Whoosh!
The "corpse" that was bleeding just moments ago vanished without a trace, leaving only a pool of real blood to prove that it had once existed.
The entire room fell silent.
A few seconds later, an even bigger uproar erupted.
"Holy crap! Gangzi's dead!"
"Even the corpses are respawning? This mechanism is amazing!"
"But this punishment is a bit harsh. Ten contribution points, that's two loaves of black bread!"
"The contribution points are alright, 10 contribution points won't be much in the future. The main problem is that we can't play games for an hour. That's too harsh."
The players were discussing it animatedly