The First Batch of Players

Chapter 3: The First Players

According to Bei Li, these class templates were created based on how players absorbed soul power after killing underworld creatures, distributing it according to their chosen path.

For example, with the Berserker class, once a player selects it, the soul power extracted from killing monsters primarily enhances their strength when boosting their abilities.

Similarly, Wang Damang, who chose the Shadow Killer class, naturally focused on strength and agility during enhancement.

After selecting his class, a Coarse Cloth and a Novice Dagger formed from condensed yin energy appeared on Wang Damang's body.

These novice-tier equipment, though weak in power, didn't consume soul power, and Lu Wu relied on these players hunting underworld creatures to earn soul power for him.

Just then, Lu Wu's mind stirred, and a message appeared in Wang Damang's thoughts.

Novice Quest: Slay ten Wandering Souls, reward 5 Soul Coins.

Wang Damang, upon receiving the quest, was visibly excited—a game this well-crafted made him want to keep playing.

Following the prompts, he opened the map and saw his location marked as the Underworld of Beiqi, surrounded by a ring of the Ghost Mountains, with mist shrouding the outer areas. In the top right corner, it displayed Bei Qi Territory exploration at 0.01%.

Gripping his dagger, Wang Damang felt a surge of boldness, stood up, and headed toward the outskirts.

As he advanced according to the map coordinates, he observed his surroundings, repeatedly amazed by the game's realism—the attention to detail had reached an almost terrifying level of intricacy.

Walking along, Wang Damang suddenly heard a low, mournful wail in the distance. The sound was desolate, stirring a flicker of fear in him.

But remembering it was just a game, he steeled himself and moved toward the source of the noise.

Soon, a floating white figure appeared before him.

Wang Damang's presence startled the Wandering Soul as well. With a piercing shriek, it lunged at him.

Wang Damang's heart pounded at the lifelike scene, but as a professional player, his mental fortitude held up. He tightened his grip on the dagger and charged at the Wandering Soul.

"Slap!" The dagger clashed with the Wandering Soul, and a red -5 appeared above its head—the damage datafication Bei Li had set.

A black gash formed where the blade struck.

Since there was no health bar, Wang Damang couldn't tell how many hits it would take to kill the Wandering Soul. He sidestepped its lunge, then twisted and stabbed it again, this time triggering a -6.

"The impact feedback—whoever made this game is a damn genius!" Wang Damang exclaimed excitedly.

The wounded Wandering Soul's cry grew shriller, but Wang Damang had lost his fear. He even taunted it with a wave.

Relying on his agile footwork, Wang Damang gleefully carved openings into the Wandering Soul with each strike, while the creature grew increasingly translucent, as if it might dissipate at any moment.

"Time to make you my sacrifice!" Dodging another lunge, he raised his dagger and lunged forward, aiming a fierce stab at the Wandering Soul's back.

But then, Wang Damang's right foot caught on a stone. His body lurched downward, and he slammed hard onto the ground, a red -3 floating above his head.

"Holy crap, does it have to be this realistic?" Wang Damang was stunned.

Combat even factored in environmental conditions—it was so real he was left speechless.

He looked up, trying to get up, but the Wandering Soul pounced on him, its nearly transparent claws tearing at him wildly.

Crimson numbers flashed above his head, and then the screen began to fade.

You have been killed by a Wandering Soul!

Seeing this, Lu Wu and Bei Li instinctively covered their faces—that death was just too pathetic.

Pulling off the Virtual Helmet, Wang Damang slammed his fist on the desk. "Damn it! You dare kill me? Just wait, I'll get my revenge!"

Fuming, he put the helmet back on and directly selected Battle Online, clicking to start the game.

You have died in the game. Entering a 3-hour respawn timer.

Taking off the helmet again, Wang Damang's face was ashen.

There was a cooldown after dying in this game? How was he supposed to make money? Didn't the developers of this damn game need a salary?

Having experienced the game, Wang Damang was filled with anticipation. He glanced at the release time on the webpage and saw it was today. At that moment, he had a vague premonition that a game destined to take the world by storm was emerging.

He noticed a notification in the bottom right corner about the Atlantis update being complete, and suddenly, it all felt dull.

With his professional player's keen instincts, he made a decision on the spot: to invest in this game, betting it would explode in popularity.

Just then, the Penguin Group chat chimed. Wang Damang opened it and saw his team members calling him online to go take down a boss.

After a moment's thought, he typed a line in the group:

"Found an insanely fun game. I'm quitting Atlantis (laughing_crazy.jpg)"

Strike_Gold: "(confused_kitten.jpg) Bro, you kidding me? There's a game better than Atlantis?"

Young,Wild&Free: "Damang, stop messing around. Hurry up and come for the boss, or someone else will snatch it (dripping_cleaver.jpg)"

Kuang Zhan Shi Wu Di: "What game? Got you this hooked? Share it!"

Watching the chat come alive, Wang Damang thought for a moment and sent the Battle Online game link into the group.

"This game, Battle Online—you won't believe how fun it is until you try it."

Seeing Wang Damang's recommendation, many clicked the link. But when they saw the data pack size and the description, the group erupted again.

Strike_Gold: "Verdict reached: Damang is either crazy or drunk!"

"800MB??? I almost thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, that I'd read it as MB."

Berserker Invincible: "Da Mang has truly lost his mind. We've lost a powerful assassin teammate. Pay your respects!"

Seeing his teammates' messages, Wang Damang's eyes went wide. He tapped the keyboard and typed:

"Quit your yapping. Get in the game and try it out. If you're not satisfied, I'll give each of you 10,000 gold coins!"

One Blade to the Soul: "Screenshot taken."

"Screenshot taken."

Berserker Invincible: "Screenshot taken. Downloading now! We'll be back in five minutes to eat our words and wait for the cash. (Happy smiley.jpg)"

Urged on by Wang Damang, a wave of players started entering the game.

At that moment, Lu Wu was staring intently at Bei Li, making her shyly lower her head.

"Xiao Li, why did you set a death and respawn timer?" Lu Wu asked curiously.

"Of course I had to set it. Even though their bodies in the underworld are condensed from yin energy, when they're shattered, the soul snaps back to the main body at high speed, which still causes some mental strain. Of course, that minor damage can be repaired with just two hours of rest."

Bei Li's answer made Lu Wu suddenly understand. He smiled and patted her head. "You really are the best gift my ancestors left me!"

Hearing this, Bei Li's face flushed crimson. She shrank her head shyly.

"By the way, if a body formed from yin energy disperses, does that mean the player's level also drops?"

Lu Wu suddenly thought of a key issue. If someone worked hard to level up several times, only to lose it all from an accidental death, wouldn't that be too harsh?

"Of course not. What strengthens them is soul power. I set the divine artifact so that when a player dies, the soul power inside them doesn't dissipate. Instead, it's collected into the Conquest server. When the player respawns next time, it can be filled into a new body."

Lu Wu hadn't expected Bei Li to have thought of even this problem. Excited, he scooped her up and gave her a big kiss.

"Haha, you're really too smart!"

Kissed once, Bei Li looked dazed, as if she might collapse at any moment. Seeing this, Lu Wu burst into laughter again.

Just then, the divine artifact's prompts suddenly appeared one after another:

Ding! Player, Xueli has logged into the Conquest server!

Ding! Player, Sun Hongkun has logged into the Conquest server!

Ding! Player, Chen Ziyu has logged into the Conquest server!

A flood of over a dozen player login notifications appeared, leaving Lu Wu utterly astonished.