Instance Preparation, Black Marsh Blood Country
Tuesday, noon.
Lin Yu leisurely ate the fried noodles that Lin Zhao had left for him at home, feeling very calm.
Although summer vacation hasn't officially started on the calendar yet, the final exams are over, so Lin Yu is already enjoying a de facto summer vacation.
University students don't need to go to the school to pick up their exam papers.
"The timing is just right. All the exams were finished just before the Tier Advancement. Otherwise, being busy with both reality and the Game would have been really overwhelming."
"So... although some reasons are unclear, this 'Rank Advancement Trial' that was extended once more seems to be beneficial to me."
"Was this specially adjusted for me?"
Thinking of this, Lin Yu couldn't help but shake his head.
How could that be!
"Less than 24 hours remain until the latest start time of the next Game!"
"Please ensure you are injured and bleeding at least 200 ml before midnight tonight, and then enter the Game."
Seeing the blood-red words appear before him, Lin Yu let out a breath.
"This entry condition is relatively easy to meet."
Those who threatened to jump off buildings or crawl into freezers before, it's all so troublesome just thinking about it.
With the information about "Black Marsh" and "Blood Country" provided by Shen Bingmiao, Lin Yu already had a preliminary strategy, even though he didn't know the specifics of the Instance yet.
As one of the Ten Realms, the "Black Marsh" is arguably the world with the largest number of Wisdom life forms and the most complex power dynamics.
This world is inhabited by various races, including the Blood Luo, Barbarians, Demon Race, Spirit Race, Humans, Half-Demon, and Monsters. They generally live in small-scale settlements such as villages and tribes, making it seem like the world described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
In this world, miasma and plague are everywhere, and all kinds of life are generally warlike and savage, advocating fighting and individual bravery.
Although there is no large centralized power, the Native of the Black Marsh have formed three roughly "nation-like" regions through tribal alliances and other forms.
The Blood Country, dominated by the Blood Luo and the Barbarians.
The Sanqiu Country is dominated by pure-blooded Demon Race, Spirit Race, and monsters.
The Xiajin Country, dominated by humans and Half-Demon.
While the tribes and various factions within these three groups constantly fight amongst themselves, they also frequently unite suddenly to wage war against each other.
However, because the world consisted of vast, continuous marshes and plains, with no defensible terrain and only wide buffer zones, although there were daily battles, there were very few full-scale wars that could wipe out entire tribes or nations.
This world, due to its "savagery," has resulted not only in belligerence but also in each race's intense passion for reproduction and their strong reproductive capabilities.
"Whether it's humans, demons, spirits, barbarians, or Bloodlust... these races reproduce like they're dropping seeds, either giving birth to more than three at a time or more than three times a year. I can't help but wonder if frequent wars in this world are actually a benign mechanism for effectively controlling the total population." -- This is from an anonymous note posted by someone in the "Player Mutual Aid Society".
"They can even intermarry between different races while fighting tooth and nail! It's unbelievable!" -- This was a comment from "Seagull," Night Watcher."Lin Yu had just met him; the man was probably in jail by the city's Administrator.
Therefore, the entire Black Marsh world can be simply described as a huge world of "combat thrills".
Most of the creatures here are straightforward people who dare to love, hate, and die; their daily pursuits are eating, fighting, and reproducing.
The "Blood Country" is an extreme example of this.
In the Black Marsh World, the Human Race is a clever, cunning, and magical warrior race; the Demon Race is a clever, cunning, and magical warrior race; and the Spirit Race is a magical warrior race.
The Bloodlust and the Barbarians are purely warrior races.
The Blood Rakshasa Clan is savage and impulsive, and the Barbarian Clan is impulsive and savage.
In most tribes and villages of the Blood Country, the way to elect a leader is often through a one-on-one Duel —anytime, anywhere, as long as you feel you are more qualified to lead the people than the current leader, you can simply challenge the other party.
If you defeat and kill your opponent in a direct Duel, you will become the new leader.
The "Glory Festival" is the grandest event in the entire Blood Country —equivalent to the Olympics in the Real World.
The "Glory Festival" is jointly organized by the Ten Great Tribes of the Blood Country and lasts for ten days.
After the Festival begins, the Ten Great Tribes will designate a location in the Blood Country, which could be the ruins of a Village, a dense forest, or a swamp.
All the tribes and villages in the Blood Country selected their most elite and valiant warriors to enter and hunt the wild beasts released there, while also hunting each other!
The survivor who survives to the end and acquires at least five "trophies" will receive the "Medal of Valor"!
The ranking of Medal of Valor reflects their status in the Blood Country —and can also elevate the status of their tribe and village.
Each faction may send a maximum of three participants.
There are over a hundred tribes and villages in the entire Blood Country, so at least three hundred people will participate in the entire "Glory Festival".
The Blood Country welcomes all who come to join the fun, including "free spirits" without tribes or villages, or even people from other countries and races.
So...
"This is probably going to be a pretty chaotic battle royale event where everyone is killing each other, but considering the level of enthusiasm among the participants, there shouldn't be much of an 'escape' part."
With nearly four hundred participants each year, after ten days, fewer than one hundred often survive, demonstrating the Festival's extreme brutality.
However, Lin Yu also felt that it wasn't without its benefits.
Good news: Most participants sounded easy to fool.
The bad news: getting them to stop and listen to your ramblings is a huge challenge.
Therefore, the core of all of Lin Yu's current plans and preparations is...
"If we encounter a battle, how do we withstand the first wave of attacks and get those brainless bastards to stop?"
This was a real headache for Lin Yu.
"It's fortunate that the 'soldier' ability is now permanently active; otherwise, without five times the physical strength, it would be really difficult to survive in this crazy Festival."
Even without catching the "Glory Festival," if Lin Yu had entered the Black Marsh and landed in the Blood Country two Instance earlier, he felt he would have been easily killed.
Especially since he had seen the Rakshasa clan member Biten from the Black Marsh Blood Country in the God of Banquets Instance —the thought of himself swinging Torch and shooting at that three-meter-tall, four-armed red-skinned strongman with a pistol made Lin Yu want to laugh.