Blood Moon Demon Wolf

"This is..."

Xiao Wen stared at the Light Pillar rising in the distance, and his heart suddenly clenched. Somewhere deep down, he felt as though something had its eyes on him.

It was a man's sixth sense—the instinctive perception of danger possessed by a top-tier player.

"Centipede Worm, return!"

He withdrew the card from the Duel Disk, and the Centipede Worm transformed into a streak of light before entering Xiao Wen's deck.

Summoning cooldown: 5 minutes.

After glancing at the number on the Duel Disk, Xiao Wen looked away and headed toward the Light Pillar.

As he continued forward, the confusion on Xiao Wen's face deepened.

Shadow Snake

Level: 10

Attack: 180

Defense: 120

HP: 1100

Attribute: Poison

Temperament: Savage

Description: A venomous snake assimilated by Nightmare Forest. Its pair of fangs is highly toxic; do not let it bite you.

Bewitching Fox

Level: 12

Attack: 250

Defense: 200

HP: 2000

Agility: 15

Temperament: Cautious

Skill: Bewitchment

Description: A fox tribe dwelling in Nightmare Forest. It possesses the Bewitchment skill and often lures passing travelers before devouring them.

Aside from these two types of monsters, Xiao Wen also spotted Level 15 Flowing Cloud Leopards, Level 12 Blackwater Pigs, Level 12 Corrosion Birds...

Without exception, all of these monsters were Level 10 or above.

At that moment, those creatures were fleeing madly, trying to escape Nightmare Forest. Not a single one attacked Xiao Wen.

Xiao Wen had never witnessed such a sight in any of his previous games.

At that moment, aside from being full of questions, Xiao Wen was also excited!

The more abnormal things were, the more likely it was that a valuable hidden quest had been triggered.

"I want to see exactly what's going on here!"

As soon as he spoke, a dark wave of light spread from the dim Light Pillar. When it swept across the monsters, the creatures that had been charging forward instantly froze in place.

Some had leaped into the air and solidified midair, some had one foot raised while the other had yet to touch the ground, and some had flung themselves forward like vicious dogs pouncing on food...

All of it froze like a painting.

Xiao Wen's expression changed instantly. He had no idea what was happening.

The next moment, that black wave spread toward him. An immensely tyrannical power lurked within it, pressing down on Xiao Wen until he could barely breathe.

Ding!

Just as the black wave was about to touch him, the Millennium Puzzle hanging from Xiao Wen's chest rang softly. The golden eye at its center suddenly burst forth with golden light, forming an Energy Sphere around him.

When the black wave spread over, it vanished before the golden Energy Sphere as though sinking into the sea.

After several breaths, the golden Energy Sphere faded. Xiao Wen looked at the strange scene before him, then lowered his head to look at the Millennium Puzzle on his chest. Frowning, he continued deeper inside.

The farther in he went, the higher the monsters' levels became. By the time he reached the depths, nearly all of them were Level 15 monsters, with quite a few elite monsters among them.

"Holy shit! Is Nightmare Forest really this terrifying?"

These monsters were only standing still because of that black wave. Once they all woke up...

Xiao Wen swallowed.

Even though he claimed to stand shoulder to shoulder with gods, with such a massive gap in both level and numbers, even he would have no chance of surviving.

Unless he could draw another card on the same level as the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!

"My luck's been insane lately. Nothing should go wrong, right?"

Xiao Wen muttered uneasily.

Roar!

Hiss! Hiss!

Meow!

As soon as he finished speaking, the immobilized monsters suddenly dropped to the ground. Their cries rose one after another, forming a tidal wave of sound through Nightmare Forest.

Xiao Wen's body abruptly stiffened, and system-simulated cold sweat seeped from his forehead.

For that instant, he thought he was about to be swarmed by hundreds of high-level monsters.

But he wasn't.

After a series of howls, the monsters fell silent. Their eyes opened, their black pupils turning pale and hollow. Like walking corpses, they converged on the Light Pillar from all directions.

Xiao Wen hesitated for several seconds, then mingled among the monsters and moved forward with them.

After advancing for another three thousand meters or so, more and more monsters gathered around him. Xiao Wen even spotted extremely rare Lord-class BOSSES among them.

Without exception, those Lord-class BOSSES had empty eyes just like the other monsters. They had clearly been controlled.

Ordinary monsters, elite monsters, Lord-class BOSSES. All these high-level monsters have been controlled. What are they trying to do? Could someone really have found a bug in "Phantom God"?

Xiao Wen silently thought to himself, slowly suppressing the shock in his heart as he continued onward.

Before long, he arrived at an open clearing.

The moment Xiao Wen stepped into it, the game system's notification sounded in his ears.

Ding! Congratulations to player Halfway Through the Mortal World for triggering the hidden quest—Horn of Disaster!

Horn of Disaster: A mysterious ritual appears to be taking place in Nightmare Forest. Discover the purpose of the ritual and report the news to the Novice Village chief to receive a large amount of reputation and a Guild Founding Token!

A Guild Founding Token?

The moment he heard those words, a gleam flashed through Xiao Wen's eyes.

As its name implied, a Guild Founding Token was a token used to establish a guild.

There were currently quite a few guilds in Novice Village, but they had all been organized privately and were not official guilds.

The establishment of a guild represented the formation of a power. If Xiao Wen remembered correctly, the first ten players on the server to establish guilds would receive a permanent guild site free of charge.

He still remembered that in the previous game, the first Guild Founding Token had been obtained by a lucky independent player. Soon afterward, guilds under the Four Emperors targeted it. Under pressure in both reality and the game, that player had no choice but to auction off the Guild Founding Token, unwilling to offend any faction.

Even with the various factions holding themselves back, it still sold for more than ten million.

That independent player became rich overnight, rose to the peak of life, and married a beautiful, wealthy woman.

As for reputation.

Reputation might not have been very useful in Novice Village, but it became extremely important after entering the main city.

A player's reputation affected their affinity with NPCs. Players with higher reputation were more likely to trigger hidden quests and could even obtain an official position in the main city. Becoming a city lord was not impossible either!

Overall, the rewards for this hidden quest were extremely tempting.

"The rewards are pretty good. I just don't know whether this thorny rose will be easy to pluck."

Xiao Wen muttered, hunching down and hiding among the monsters as he poked his head out to look toward the center.

There stood an altar piled from stones. In the first ring outside the altar were four Level 15 Lord-class BOSSES.

At the center of the altar, a human dressed in a long robe stood bent over, with an exquisitely patterned ancient book tucked beneath an arm.

"Egudulam, Xixilaku..."

As the chanting continued, streams of black air rose from the surrounding monsters and flowed into the person atop the altar.

A faint cracking sound rang out. Xiao Wen saw cracks emerge across the exposed arm. Then, the human body suddenly exploded, and a silver-furred, blood-eyed wolf crawled out from within.

Blood Moon Demon Wolf!

King-class BOSS!