Players Used Until They Died

Then Zheng Dong and the others went to the other side and did the same thing, throwing in smoke bombs and hunting the foxes.

The Xu Corporation players glanced at them but said nothing.

Unlike the Xu Clan players, Zheng Dong's group used wire mesh. They first cut the foxes until they were nearly dead, then trapped them in the nets.

That made it much safer for Gao Linzhi to kill them.

So Zheng Dong hadn't made him wear armor. That way, he could stay nimble and, if anything happened, make a quick escape.

From this small detail, Gao Linzhi could tell that the village really needed highly reliable players.

And Gao Linzhi's Basic Lightness Skill, which had already reached level 3, was proving useful.

Whenever a fox slipped past and tried to attack him, he easily dodged it, then killed it with a single slash.

He immediately gained experience and some related materials.

Before long, the monster hunting settled into a steady rhythm.

The two teams didn't interfere with each other, each methodically hunting foxes.

But after who knew how long, an accident finally happened.

"Ah!" someone screamed.

Gao Linzhi turned to look and saw a player from Xu Clan Team Two who had charged too far ahead. He stepped onto a patch of loose ground, and the weight of his steel armor sent him crashing straight through it.

He pitched forward into the hole.

As he lost his balance, the vulnerable part of his neck was exposed, leaving a fatal gap in his armor.

A Grey Fox leaped out and seized its chance, swiping viciously at his neck.

Luckily, someone nearby was ready to help. They killed the fox with a single slash and dragged him out.

"Good thing we came as a team. If you try to grind these monsters alone, you're asking to die," a player muttered.

"Damn it, if I didn't owe the company money, I'd never come here to grind these monsters."

"Rogue Players can work in the village, earn money, and buy monsters to kill. It's so much safer." The unlucky player was still shaken and couldn't help complaining.

He'd nearly died just now!

"Damn it, this is awful. How long do we have to keep doing this?" someone else grumbled.

Playing games was fun, but when the game became a job and someone else took all the rewards, it stopped being fun!

"They said they'd terminate our real-world contracts once we'd collected materials worth 648 gold."

"Why are you still talking? Do you want to die?" The team's leading player hurriedly cut them off.

Gao Linzhi found it amusing.

Didn't these people know that the Game Poster only dropped when someone died?

And they still expected to win their freedom?

Impossible. A player was worth far too much.

The company would keep using them until they died. Then the Game Poster would drop, and the next contract player would use it.

These cannon fodder players would only be told to level up quickly and be used until they died. Then they'd be replaced by another batch of newcomers.

One convenient thing about this game was that leveling up was relatively easy: you just had to fight monsters of the corresponding level.

But that was actually a hidden pitfall. Leveling up this way only left you with no room to grow later.

Players with real potential used their low-level days, when experience was easy to gain, to learn and upgrade lots of skills. They relied on skills and materials to bolster their attributes.

That was exactly what Gao Linzhi had done.

"Looks like it's still a little dangerous. Do you need to wear the same steel armor as those people?" After seeing the Xu Corporation players' accident, Zheng Dong asked with concern.

Gao Linzhi shook his head. "No need. Without armor, I can practice my Lightness Skill and my combat reflexes at the same time."

If he had high-grade armor that protected him without restricting his movements, he'd gladly wear it.

He had the treatment of a real player. Improving his agility and dodging was what mattered most.

"Fair enough. Just be careful. Once your Basic Lightness Skill reaches the entry level, you'll be able to make the most of your advantage as a Descender," Zheng Dong said enviously.

And so Gao Linzhi spent the rest of the afternoon hunting with the Patrol Team.

Dusk approached, and the sun sank toward the west.

He gained a full 1,250 experience points.

He immediately put all of them into Basic Lightness Skill, raising it to level 13 (90/100).

[ Ding! Congratulations, Host! Your Basic Lightness Skill has successfully broken through level 10. Constitution increased by 1. ]

[ Constitution: 5+1 (Basic Lightness Skill increases Constitution by 1 every 10 levels) ]

[ Spirit: 7 ]

[ HP: 60 (Constitution × 10) ]

[ MP: 70 (Spirit × 10) ]

After all, this wasn't like a real game.

Monsters didn't respawn instantly, and their numbers were limited.

Besides, the foxes were cunning.

Eventually, they'd rather suffocate in their burrows than come out and get killed.

There were also lots of burrow entrances. Whenever everyone let their guard down, the foxes would dart out and vanish in an instant.

It wasn't easy to block them all.

Gao Linzhi then glanced at Xu Clan Team Two and saw them regrouping as well.

"Old Zhang, what level are you now?" someone asked.

"I'm level 9 now. I get one attribute point per level, so I have eight attribute points," one player said excitedly.

"My Constitution was 6 to begin with. Add them all, and that makes 14. I've broken through the limit—One-Ton Strength and Five-Second Hundred Meters are no problem. I'm a superhuman now!"

"Get real. You still think you can be a superhuman? We have contracts. When we return to the real world, we still have to keep our heads down and hide what we can do." Someone immediately doused him with a bucket of cold water.

"Damn it, if I could just go out and run the hundred meters, I could easily make hundreds of millions. My old debts would be nothing!"

"Stop complaining. If you want to stay alive, watch what you say. Don't forget, we only have one life, online and off!" A man who looked like a Captain scolded them.

Hearing this, Gao Linzhi suddenly understood.

Why hadn't any superhuman athletes appeared in the real world, even though this game had been around for a long time and people entered it in their real bodies?

Now he saw there was only one reason: some reckless Rogue Players had indeed tried to use their superhuman physiques to make a fortune and become famous.

But as soon as they revealed themselves, the security departments of the various companies caught them, turning them into player tools.

The Company Executive Players, who didn't have to worry about getting caught, didn't care about money or fame.

It was like the big investors in movies. They made one star after another famous, while never putting themselves in the spotlight.

Of course, some Company Executives must have wanted to make a name for themselves and show off, but their peers would suppress them.

They wanted to monopolize the game before it spread, build an advantage early, and maintain their current status and position.

Any individuals who betrayed this goal would be ruthlessly suppressed, or even eliminated.

That was why Gao Linzhi had never heard of this game before Brother Li died.