Not Deaf and the Shield, Dark Boundary

Brother Mangzi was so surprised that he thought he had misheard.

But just as he was about to leave, he saw the burly player being savagely bitten by Fishmen.

Brother Mangzi decided to give him a hand before leaving.

As an experienced player, Brother Mangzi's strength was nothing to scoff at. He might capsize at sea, but dealing with two ordinary Mudflat Mermen was effortless.

With two thudding swings, he smashed the Fishmen into ash, then turned to look at the player whose ID was "Broun is Truly Not Deaf."

He was tall and powerfully built, with rugged features that carried a hint of simple honesty. Just looking at him gave people a strong sense of security.

"Thanks, bro."

From Not Deaf's mouth, framed by tangled steel-like whiskers, came the voice of an adorable elementary school kid.

"Who said that?!"

Brother Mangzi jolted in shock, staring at Not Deaf in disbelief.

"Brother, you..."

"Uh... I was born with this voice. Sorry about that." Not Deaf chuckled, apparently used to it.

Only then did Brother Mangzi confirm that the voice so utterly mismatched with his appearance had really come from him.

"...Are you an adult?"

Brother Mangzi still could not quite believe it and asked cautiously.

Maybe he was a minor who had created the appearance of a burly man, which was why it felt so strange.

"Of course I'm an adult. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to buy a helmet."

"...The contrast is way too strong..."

Brother Mangzi finally accepted it. After making a snide remark, he reminded him, "Don't brawl with these monsters. Even if you have enough strength, you might not be able to kill them after fighting for ages. Dodge their key attacks and look for an opening..."

As a battle fanatic, Brother Mangzi had once stubbornly tried brawling with these Fishmen too. But after fighting for a long time, he found weapons far more convenient.

As for dodging... although he hated avoiding attacks, these monsters dealt absurd damage. One pounce would nearly empty his health bar. He had no choice but to dodge!

As he spoke, Brother Mangzi suddenly caught sight of the small wooden shield in Not Deaf's hand and fell silent for a moment.

"Why did you pick a small wooden shield as your starting weapon?"

"A shield can block damage. Isn't that great?"

"Shields in this game can't parry. They can only take hits. Didn't you read the guides?"

"I did."

"Then why did you still pick it? How are you supposed to kill monsters with a wooden shield?"

"I can use my fists."

Not Deaf did not seem to care. Smiling, he replied, "Besides, my talent can reflect damage. It goes well with a shield."

Brother Mangzi had thought this newbie was hopeless, but the moment he heard that, his interest was piqued.

"Reflect damage?"

Brother Mangzi looked at him in surprise.

"Yep." As he spoke, Not Deaf told him the details of his talent.

[Tremor Rebound: When hit by a physical attack, reflects part of the damage back to the enemy. Constitution +1.]

"Whoa? They both add Constitution, but yours looks stronger than Li Miao's."

Brother Mangzi clicked his tongue in wonder.

However, judging from the battle just now, this talent had not yet shown any real power.

"Find a chance to replace your weapon first. Otherwise, killing monsters early on will be way too hard."

Brother Mangzi kindly reminded him.

Not Deaf nodded in agreement at the veteran player's advice.

His talent did have potential, but he needed to develop first.

Near the waters of Candlewood Island.

Li Miao, Yuanfang, Guagua, and Brother Yu formed a temporary party and gradually pushed forward as they explored the nearby waters.

Li Miao and Guagua were responsible for killing monsters and tallying the drops, while Yuanfang provided long-range support and recorded the monsters' traits.

"Foul Ink Squid. Its leader is the Great Foul Ink Squid. Individually weak, but extremely troublesome in groups. Can drop Foul Ink Sacs, use unknown..."

"Rotten Head Shark. Elite monster, no leader. Individually quite strong. Can drop Rotten Shark Fins. Restores a large amount of health when consumed, but causes the Poisoned status..."

"These monsters all seem to possess some degree of horror..."

Yuanfang silently committed all the monsters' information to memory.

There were many more types of monsters in the nearby waters, and unlike the monsters on Candlewood Island, almost none of them had leader-level monsters.

They also dropped wax oil and respawned at fixed locations, but rarely dropped completed equipment.

The three of them were busy, and naturally, Brother Yu was not idle either.

Though that might not have been entirely accurate.

He was helping while keeping an eye on his fishing rod, and he seemed quite busy...

Besides Li Miao's group, Niuniu and Mushroom were also riding a Spirit Fire Raft slowly through the nearby waters.

However, their main purpose was not to explore the nearby waters.

"Niuniu, I think you should stop wasting your effort. What's so interesting about exploring the game boundary?"

"If you're lucky, it might send you back. If you're unlucky, what if you crash the whole game?"

Mushroom tried to dissuade him.

That was right. Niuniu wanted to explore the Dark Boundary beyond the nearby waters.

That bleak, pitch-black expanse seemed to hold some strange attraction for him.

"No fear. It's just a game, so what's there to be scared of?"

Niuniu did not care in the slightest.

He had long wanted to see what the game boundary beyond these nearby waters was like.

So after making some preparations, he brought Mushroom along to investigate.

They bypassed several already-charted monster locations and headed straight for the boundary of the nearby waters.

The pitch-black boundary was not empty. Some inexplicable force seemed to churn within it, while indistinct scenes constantly intertwined, chaotic and terrifying.

Even the border between the sea and the darkness was blurred.

"We're almost there!"

Niuniu was thrilled.

Mushroom suddenly jumped and looked around in alarm. "What was that sound?"

"Huh?" Niuniu looked at him in confusion.

"Didn't you hear it? It sounded like something weird..." Mushroom suddenly felt a chill down his back. Something within the Dark Boundary seemed to make his soul instinctively recoil.

"What weird sound..." Niuniu muttered. He listened carefully but heard nothing. He soon stopped thinking about it and looked ahead. "We're here!"

After controlling the Spirit Fire Raft to stop.

Niuniu raised his head and saw chaotic darkness stretching across nearly his entire field of vision, joining with the sky.

His heart suddenly sank, as though some force were affecting his emotions and disrupting his once-firm resolve.

"Huh? This is pretty creepy..."

Niuniu exhaled, shook his head, and forcibly suppressed those feelings. Then he reached out, intending to touch the darkness.

But he suddenly paused, turned around, and took everything from his inventory, handing it all to Mushroom.

Then he took a deep breath.

No matter what kind of creepy thing it was, he had to give it a try!

"Leap of Faith! Hah!"

Determination flashed in Niuniu's eyes as he shouted, then leaped toward the boundary!

In an instant.

His body plunged straight into the dark boundary, as though a giant beast had swallowed him whole!

In an instant, countless cries of pain and wails rose up, seeming to crush his thoughts completely and brutally grind them to pieces!

Endless blood arrived alongside despair, madly squeezing away his sanity...

Meanwhile, Rogue, who was busy organizing information on the nearby-water monsters, suddenly frowned.

"Hm?"

After sensing what had happened and learning the full story, Rogue's face darkened.

It was this guy again. He had some nerve, jumping straight into the boundary.

"This kid really knows how to stir things up!"

Rogue had a headache.

Still, despite the headache, he now understood just how terrifying the power of the Dark Boundary truly was.

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