At Wang Damang's urging, several friends from the team put on their helmets with the intention of tearing the game apart. They selected the Battle Online icon and clicked Enter.
What followed was the same shock Wang Damang had experienced earlier.
The nearly lifelike scenery completely stunned them. After choosing their preferred classes, they too received the beginner quest set by Lu Wu.
Gasp!
Gasp!
Gasp!
Terrifying indeed!
A string of exclamations rang out. Looking at the clothes on their bodies and then at the scenery around them, everyone fell into a brief daze.
"Holy crap, this game is insane! What company has been holding back such a trump card? Are they planning to sweep the entire gaming industry?"
"This is seriously incredible. I feel like that ten thousand gold is gone! I'm even getting the urge to quit my old game and play this one instead."
After some discussion, they eagerly began preparing to form a party and explore the game.
Meanwhile, Wang Damang was sitting before his computer, staring at the chat group as he typed a line:
"Weren't you supposed to tear it apart after five minutes? It's been almost ten. Where are you guys?"
"Twenty minutes already, you bastards. Are you seriously that engrossed?"
"Thirty minutes! Don't you know to wait for me before progressing the main quest? I was the one who recommended this game to you."
Thinking of the hour and a half remaining on his resurrection cooldown, Wang Damang was filled with resentment. He even wanted to stab the developer who had designed this feature.
Meanwhile, the dozen or so people in the game were excitedly surrounding two isolated Wandering Souls:
Chen Ziyu: "Brothers, let me have these two. I've already killed eight. Let me finish the quest first so I can strengthen the team."
Wang Chao: "Screw off. I've only got three. Do you know what balance is? You deserve to be drowned in a pig cage for this."
Xu Qiqi: "I'm the only girl on the team. Big brothers, why not let me have them?"
Everyone remained expressionless. Right now, all they wanted was to grow stronger. They were completely unmoved by feminine charm.
The team began arguing over the two Wandering Souls.
In the end, the two Wandering Souls still fell into the hands of the strongest member, Chen Ziyu. Two streams of black energy immediately emerged from the dead souls and entered his body.
His experience bar began to move as well.
Ding. Congratulations on leveling up. You gained 2 Strength. Ding. Congratulations on completing the quest. You gained 5 Soul Coins.
According to Bei Li's setup, every time a Player killed a monster, the soul power within the monster would be divided into three portions.
Sixty percent became experience that strengthened the Player, ten percent turned into Soul Coins and entered the Player's storage space, while the remaining thirty percent was extracted by the divine artifact and converted into Lu Wu's personal currency.
Over the past half hour, the Players had killed thirty Wandering Souls. At three points each, they had earned Lu Wu twenty-seven Soul Coins, five of which had been given to Chen Ziyu as a quest reward.
Naturally, Lu Wu did not feel any heartache over these expenses. As the Players grew stronger and killed increasingly powerful creatures, his earnings would rise accordingly.
"Holy crap, I can feel that my strength has really increased!" Chen Ziyu stared at his body in astonishment, looking somewhat unable to believe it.
Xu Qiqi: "Brother Yu? What do you mean? Isn't it normal to become stronger after leveling up?"
Chen Ziyu fell silent for a moment. "This game is truly terrifying. When we level up in other games, even if our character's attributes increase, we can't feel any changes ourselves. The increased damage only shows when fighting monsters. But in this game, when you level up, you can genuinely feel your body becoming stronger. It's unbelievable!"
Xueli: "No way, that's insane! Doesn't that mean we can experience what it feels like to be superheroes in the game?"
Chen Ziyu nodded. "I think it really might be possible. We can experience powers in the game that would be impossible in real life. It's truly unbelievable."
Gasp!
Gasp!
Gasp!
Terrifying indeed!
Wang Chao could not help saying, "Enough talking. I'm leveling up next."
"Get lost!" everyone shouted in unison.
While searching for monsters, Chen Ziyu opened the shop to see what he could buy.
Level 1 Shop
Level 2 Shop (unlocked at Level 20)
Level 3 Shop (unlocked at Level 40)
Several options appeared.
Chen Ziyu clicked on the Level 1 Shop, and a shop interface immediately appeared before him.
Healing Potion: Restores health after injury. Price: 1 Soul Coin
Mana Restoring Potion: Restores mana consumed after a mage casts spells. Price: 1 Soul Coin
Ogre's Wooden Club (Level 1 White Weapon): Increases Strength by 2. Cost: 8 Soul Coins
Beginner's Magic Wand (Level 1 White Weapon): Increases Spirit by 2. Cost: 9 Soul Coins
Looking at the several full pages of shop items, Chen Ziyu's eyes burned with excitement. He also noticed that the shop's mage items were clearly more expensive than those for other classes, making him glad that he had chosen Berserker.
Looking at the fourteen Soul Coins in his inventory, Chen Ziyu gritted his teeth and chose to buy the Ogre's Wooden Club.
Amid everyone's astonished stares, a large white wooden club formed in midair before Chen Ziyu gripped it tightly. A warm current immediately flowed from the club into his body, and he could clearly feel his strength increase once more.
Seeing the envy in everyone's eyes, Chen Ziyu burst into laughter.
Lu Wu and Bei Li, who had been secretly observing them, also laughed. Every item Players bought from the shop had been listed at thirty percent above the divine artifact's production cost.
In other words, Lu Wu could skim a portion of the profit from every purchase the Players made. The more they bought, the more Lu Wu earned.
Before you continue