Hardcore Mode

Fortunately, Han Luo had already rushed behind the bandit, swinging his Wooden Stick with all his might at the back of the bandit's head.

Thud! Perhaps because it struck a vital spot, a red "-18" damage indicator actually popped up.

"Nice one!"

Xiao Jie shouted. His footsteps were nimble; he appeared to be parrying and retreating, but the moment the bandit turned to deal with Han Luo, he lunged forward and struck the bandit on the head with his stick.

The bandit roared and turned to fight back, but Xiao Jie immediately retreated, allowing Han Luo to land another strike while the opportunity presented itself.

The two coordinated perfectly, pulling the bandit back and forth for two rounds until more than half of his health was depleted.

Seeing that he was outmatched, the bandit roared and turned to run.

Xiao Jie thought to himself that the monsters in this game were quite intelligent; he hadn't expected them to know how to flee. He wasn't about to let this guy get away, so the two chased after him, raining blows down on the bandit like a dog in the water.

There were advantages to having no equipment; both of them were shirtless and clearly faster than the bandit. After taking several more hits and seeing he couldn't escape, the bandit suddenly stopped.

He leaned forward, pressing his blade down to charge up, and a scarlet glow instantly surged over his muscles.

Han Luo didn't care about the risks and moved in to finish him off.

Xiao Jie, however, sensed something wrong. "Bad move, get back!" He shouted, simultaneously leaping backward.

The next second, the bandit spun his body, his large blade unleashing a Whirlwind Slash.

Whirlwind Slash!

Swish, swish, swish!

The blade rotated in the air, unleashing Three Daos of blade light.

It was too late for Han Luo to dodge. The three strikes landed squarely on him: -19, -21, -27! Blood splattered everywhere. Han Luo took the full damage of the combo, his health bar instantly dropping by more than half. Even worse, he was struck with a heavy stagger effect.

"Damn it!" Han Luo tried to struggle, but the bandit stepped in close and brought his large blade down in a heavy slash.

-41 (Critical Hit)!

Splat. Han Luo's severed head flew into the air, rolling in an arc until it landed right in front of Xiao Jie, his eyes wide open in a look of eternal resentment.

The realistic decapitation made Xiao Jie's heart tremble. Were all games this bloody nowadays?

Watching Han Luo's headless corpse collapse, Xiao Jie was stunned. The damage from this minor mob was far too high; it had killed a player in two hits. Had they encountered a boss?

No, that wasn't right. The guy's health was only a little under two hundred; he definitely wasn't a boss. It could only be said that the monsters in this game were a bit ferocious—even more "Souls-like" than the Souls series itself.

Fortunately, the enemy didn't have much health left, and the recovery animation after his finishing move left him wide open.

Xiao Jie seized the moment and leaped into the air. Jump Attack!

Thud! Using the momentum of his charge, he slammed into the bandit, causing him to stumble.

-9!

Charge—Heavy Strike!

Just as the bandit regained his balance, the Wooden Stick struck him squarely on the head. Because it was a heavy strike, it triggered a major stagger effect on the bandit. -18!

Seeing the bandit drop to his knees, Xiao Jie swung horizontally at his head.

-12!

The bandit was knocked backward onto the ground. A perfect opportunity!

He stepped up and triggered an Execution Attack.

He smashed his stick into the bandit's head with all his strength. Bang! -22 (Execution Attack)!

The bandit's head burst open like a watermelon.

The headless corpse twitched twice and then went still.

Xiao Jie let out a long breath as he looked at the bandit's body. Who designed such a sadistic game? he wondered. The first mob you encounter is this difficult? It's a good thing I've got solid skills, or I would've given up the first blood.

Still, the impact feedback was incredibly satisfying; there were subtle differences in the sensation depending on which part of the body the stick struck, which felt truly immersive.

He checked the loot: twenty-six copper coins and a tattered book.

Oh, it actually dropped a skill book.

[Kite Flip (Movement Technique)

Learning Requirement: Agility 12.

Skill Description: A basic combat technique commonly used by martial artists. Involves rotating the body while performing a backflip, allowing the user to dodge attacks from specific directions.]

Xiao Jie checked his own stats and found he met the requirements.

He double-clicked to learn it immediately.

It was a pity no equipment dropped. He scrutinized the bandit's corpse; because the graphics were so realistic, every wound on the body was displayed with gruesome clarity. The head was smashed to a pulp by the stick, making the face unrecognizable.

Not far away, Han Luo's corpse looked just as tragic, with his internal organs spilling out, blood and bone fragments visible at his chest, and his head lying on the ground with those eyes still wide open in death.

He stopped focusing on the details of the corpse and concentrated on experimenting with his newly learned skill. The Kite Flip was a decent evasion and movement skill; it could cover two or three meters in a single leap, making it far more useful than a simple roll. Its main advantage was the somersault animation, which was perfect for dodging powerful frontal attacks or incoming projectiles.

After flipping twice, he realized the skill's stamina consumption seemed quite high, as his character was already panting heavily.

Well, it seemed his stamina was a bit low.

Furthermore, his health was down to just over a dozen points.

Xiao Jie was just considering whether to continue exploring or find a monster to give him a "free trip back to town" so he could familiarize himself with the game's respawn mechanics, when he heard Han Luo's annoyed voice from behind him.

"Damn it, what is going on!"

"What's wrong?"

"It seems like this game doesn't allow respawning."

Xiao Jie glanced at Han Luo's screen. Sure enough, the display was a blood-red mess with a large, conspicuous [Dead] character in the center. Below it was an option to exit the game, but nothing else could be interacted with.

Han Luo exited the game and logged back in, only to be met with the same blood-red death screen; there was still no option to respawn.

Xiao Jie couldn't help but be stunned. In terms of graphics and combat feedback, this game felt like it belonged to a different era than current titles—it was completely next-generation. It seemed unlikely that such a low-level design flaw, like the inability to respawn, would exist.

Could it be a so-called hardcore mode? He had encountered such games before, where players only had one life and had to start over upon death.

Expert mode, hardcore mode, honor mode—the names varied, but the Rules were generally the same: players had only one life, and if they died, they had to delete their character and start over.

If that were the case, it wouldn't be a big deal; he was only level one, so he could just create a new character.

"Then try creating a new character."

"Uh, it seems I can't create a new character either."

As Han Luo spoke, he logged out to the character selection screen, but the character slot was greyed out and unselectable. There was no option to delete the character either. This was truly bizarre.

Xiao Jie tried to fiddle with it for a moment but was also at a loss.

After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Don't panic. It might be a game bug. We can report it to the developers later; maybe we'll even get some beta tester rewards. Let's go out to eat first and chat about the potential for grinding in this game."

Han Luo had no choice but to agree helplessly. As a professional gamer of several years, he naturally recognized the game's astonishing quality. It was just a shame that he had run into this frustrating issue less than an hour into playing, which left him truly speechless.

However, finding a game suitable for grinding was, all things considered, still something to be happy about today.

Even his resentment toward Liu Qiang dissipated.

Xiao Jie, who had originally wanted to find a monster to send him back to town for free, now didn't dare to do so. He obediently ran all the way back to the village along the path he came from before exiting the game.

As the two headed downstairs, Han Luo couldn't help but say excitedly, "Since this game is so awesome but there isn't a whisper about it in the gaming community, it must still be in internal testing. Since we have beta testing experience, we're bound to make a fortune once this game takes off. We should definitely thank Liu Qiang later."