Treasure Chest Monsters Are An Important Part Players Must Experience

If Cheng Tian and his group of newbie rookies had any advantage upon entering Demon World Village, it was undoubtedly the spawn point, which was about 5 meters higher than the ground level.

Since it was a standalone elevated mountain-like graveyard, there were only about ten tombstones. Zombies emerged from these tombstones, yes, but they left behind empty dirt pits, and no more zombies appeared out of thin air.

It was clear that the resurrection of zombies required reasonable conditions, and the common situation of only one corpse per grave became a sensible rule limiting the number of zombie spawns.

Demon World Village was indeed a high-difficulty dungeon for beginners, but Chosen Space had a core rule that the newbies were not yet aware of.

That was, the space would not design a certain-death dungeon or mission for players. No matter how dangerous and difficult it seemed, there would always be a way for players to utilize to pass.

Cheng Tian had already noticed that empty graves wouldn't spawn monsters. His idea of breaking through while other unlucky players were being eaten was immediately withdrawn.

Clearly, the current situation was a show of force from the dungeon to the players. In more game-like terms, this was a "monster tide," meaning monsters would surge towards players like a tide, surrounding and annihilating them.

People who had played games like Survival, Plague Inc., or Dark Tide would understand the meaning more clearly.

However, a tide has its ebb and flow, which meant that as long as they could survive this first wave of the surging monster tide, there would likely be some breathing room afterward.

Therefore, the easily defensible elevated mountain was actually a more advantageous choice in the current situation.

Currently, among the newbie players, only Cheng Tian and One-Ear, who had been alerted, had combat capabilities. The others were either injured or dead.

Even the group who had fled into the graveyard below in a panic failed to even serve as "bait." After their screams disappeared into the horde, all the zombies triggered by them turned around and began to surge towards Cheng Tian's location, who was thinking, "Kill one and I break even! Kill two and I profit!"

There was no helping it. The intense combat made Cheng Tian and One-Ear's Blood Essence flare up, making them as conspicuous as torches to the zombies, who were filled with dark magic. They were drawn by the scent.

At this moment, the advantage of the elevated terrain of the mountain became apparent.

The zombies of Demon World Village indeed had an advantage in straight-line pursuit, but their stiff, unbending decayed joints inevitably caused them to falter when facing obstacles, slopes, or steep inclines.

They clearly couldn't replicate the corpse piles of World War Z. Even if they managed to climb up by stepping on each other's bodies, all that awaited them was Cheng Tian, maintaining a safe distance, with a whip.

With just one whip, the zombies would be killed and purified by holy power.

Although the Demon-Breaking Whip was a melee weapon, its attack range far exceeded ordinary swords, spears, or axes, allowing it to hit melee enemies while maintaining a safe distance.

Then there was the hidden enhancement from the Simon Template, which made his whip almost unfailingly accurate.

However, there was a counter-intuitive key point: the reason Cheng Tian could kill a zombie with every whip was entirely because he wasn't equipped with a regular weapon, only using the whip that came with the template.

The weapons that came with the template were, in a sense, like fashion items in online games, providing extra attributes outside of regular equipment. This was why the Vampire Killer's extra holy damage was the main focus, with the weapon's 1-1 damage being negligible.

If Cheng Tian equipped One-Ear's single-handed axe, the Vampire Killer's "extra holy damage per hit" would also be added to the axe. However, due to the vast difference in weapon types, the original 10 points of extra holy damage would likely be reduced to a pitiful one or two points. If the axe's minimum weapon damage was triggered, it might take two or even three swings to kill a zombie.

Instead, because Cheng Tian only used the fashion whip, the 10 points of holy damage were not reduced. It was just enough to kill a full-health zombie with a slight damage overflow, requiring no follow-up attacks. This greatly saved stamina consumption while also avoiding the danger of being counter-attacked during continuous attacks.

Zombies that struggled to climb the slope, high-efficiency low-consumption single-target kills, One-Ear's intermittent support, and appropriate maneuvering—this wave, representing the initial challenge and a crude filtering mechanism, saw its numbers visibly decrease, replaced by empty graves.

However, this situation did not last until the end of the zombie tide; an accident eventually occurred.

Cheng Tian, sweating profusely, swung his whip again, and the zombie's head exploded without a doubt. But then, a metal box with a faint glow and a black iron color actually popped out of the headless corpse and rolled down the slope.

A treasure chest dropped!?

A game that could kill people naturally also had rules about monsters dropping items. As the weakest and most fragile monsters at the bottom of Demon World Village, the zombie horde had finally dropped its first treasure chest. This was one of the basic manifestations of Chosen Space's item drop rules.

However, this lowest-level black iron treasure chest did not have any rules like "drop loot protection."

This was actually one of the ways Chosen Space openly instigated conflict among players.

The "Novice Trial" explicitly prohibited players from killing each other, but in reality, killing someone would only reduce rewards, not truly strip them of the right to kill.

And as strength increased and evolution accelerated, when would players get the idea of "I don't eat beef"... that truly varied from person to person.

Cheng Tian was patient. He glanced at the rolling treasure chest and paid it no further attention. Safety was clearly a higher priority for him. Even if he were to open a treasure chest, he would do so only after clearing all the monsters.

Furthermore, with a certain setting of Demon World Village in mind, Cheng Tian had a vigilant thought.

One-Ear also saw the treasure chest rolling to a spot just outside the remaining zombie horde, where it could be picked up with a little effort. However, he had no intention of doing so. His thought process was simple and direct. With a clear understanding of game drops, he believed that since Cheng Tian had made the kill, the treasure chest rightfully belonged to him and had nothing to do with himself.

But at this critical juncture, someone actually slid down the dirt slope!

It was One-Ear's roommate, Phone Bro. Although he had no weapon, he had made the right choice and survived by staying close to Cheng Tian and One-Ear.

With fear of zombies, resentment for being a burden, and envy towards Cheng Tian and One-Ear, coupled with the fact that neither of them had any desire to pick up the treasure chest, the kid hesitated for about 5 seconds before taking action.

Phone Bro also wanted to be a powerful fighter like Cheng Tian!

At this time, the attention of most of the zombie horde was still focused on Cheng Tian and the others. The crows had also been temporarily driven away by the whip, so when Phone Bro landed, no zombies swarmed him. He successfully touched the black iron treasure chest directly, however...

With a "bang," the black iron treasure chest, which had already been touched by the Bro, automatically sprang open, and a cloud of gray-black smoke rose.

When the smoke quickly dissipated, a humanoid creature wearing a blue tailcoat, a blue top hat, a red-eyed cape, and holding a gentleman's cane, with a face resembling a stereotypical hook-nosed vampire, appeared. Phone Bro was so startled that he froze on the spot, trembling all over.

But the figure in the tailcoat showed no hesitation. It opened its cape, waved its cane, and a magic missile formed by a hexagram was shot out.

Phone Bro couldn't make any dodging move and took the full hit.

Instantly, smoke enveloped the Bro's entire body.

But when the smoke cleared, the Bro's figure was gone. In its place was a white duck with a very anthropomorphic face.

"Quack!?"

Phone Duck was ruffled.