A Pitfall Everywhere, Human Hearts Are Unfathomable

And on top of the stone wall stood a group of villagers clad in fine steel armor, gripping sharp steel spears.

Judging by their attire, they looked very much like people from ancient times.

They were staring down at the players working, their eyes carrying three parts disdain, three parts hostility, and four parts envy.

Following the stone wall further, every hundred meters or so, there was a tower jutting out above the wall.

Someone stood atop it, gazing into the distance around them.

In front of the iron-bound gate stood a stone tablet, inscribed clearly with the words "East Wolf Village."

Gao Linzhi was about to walk over when he saw the village gate swing open.

A team of five walked out, fully armed.

Wearing plate armor from head to toe, with only a narrow slit for breathing and seeing.

Each of them bore a name with the same prefix above their heads: "Xu's * A'da," "Xu's * A'er"...

Every one of them held a steel spear, had a steel longsword at their waist, and carried a bow.

But there was no quiver in sight.

Just then, a player who looked like a young high school student walked out again.

He stood behind the gate, speaking to the five with a tone full of impatience:

"This time when you go out, you're going to hunt the Frost Wolf King for me."

"This week, you will drop the Talent Fruit for me!"

"Otherwise, don't bother coming back!" the high schooler said, pointing and ordering around.

Gao Linzhi found the face unfamiliar, but the tone struck him as oddly familiar.

The manner and voice reminded him a bit of Xu Tianlang, the son of the Xu Corporation chairman.

Every time he came to the company, he'd scold the bottom-tier wage slaves just like that.

"Yes, young master," one of the plate-armored men said in a muffled voice.

"Go quickly and come back quickly!" the high schooler snapped, then turned and went back inside.

Gao Linzhi's heart stirred.

Talent Fruit? Frost Wolf King?

That sounded like a high-difficulty monster for the early stages.

These five were clearly Corporate Players too, but compared to the cavalry he'd seen earlier, their attitude was noticeably more cautious.

Just then, the players moving stones cast a pitiful glance at the five departing plate-armored warriors, but remained silent, saying nothing.

They only worked even harder.

Seeing this, combined with the information he'd gathered earlier, Gao Linzhi understood.

It seemed East Wolf Village did offer shelter to Rogue Players.

And those five plate-armored warriors just now were Corporate Players whose real identities had been controlled, their lives and deaths not their own.

The reason these brick-moving players didn't go outside was to avoid being caught alone and forced to reveal their real identities.

They relied on the village's protection to escape corporate control.

Thinking this, Gao Linzhi relaxed a little.

Finally, a place to develop steadily.

He then walked toward that group of players, hoping to ask some veteran players for tips.

Gao Linzhi approached the brick-moving players.

As soon as he came close, a delicate-looking girl named "Ou Xiaohuang" caught him in her peripheral vision and said flatly:

"If you're a newbie with game questions, go ask an NPC."

"Don't talk too much to others."

"Remember, this isn't a game! And you're not a player!"

"We've got a newcomer, Captain Zheng!" she called up to the wall.

The moment she finished, a dark-skinned man holding a gleaming steel longsword stepped out from one of the towers.

After calling out, "Ou Xiaohuang" couldn't help adding one more sentence: "Remember one thing: hide yourself well, and clean up thoroughly."

Gao Linzhi was momentarily stunned.

This was, of course, a meme he'd left behind as a copycat writer—he'd adapted The Three-Body Problem into a web novel format and brought it over.

It had naturally become a huge hit—because it was too close to this corporate world, and was adored by many at the bottom.

In short, the corporate world was a dark forest model.

If you had something good, you had to hide it.

Too bad it only lasted three months before the book was gone.

This female player was actually his fan.

He remained expressionless, planning to observe for now.

Then Captain Zheng executed a swift somersault, leaping straight down from the six-meter-high stone wall.

He landed steadily, right in front of Gao Linzhi.

Gao Linzhi looked at the dark-skinned man and asked directly, "Hello..."

"Hello, Descender. I'm Zheng Dong, patrol captain of the village's fourth squad." This Zheng Dong was quite warm toward Gao Linzhi, unlike the others' coldness.

"Oh, I'm Canxue. May I ask where this is..." Gao Linzhi's words were cut off before he could finish.

"I know you new players are all anxious, but don't rush yet," Zheng Dong said.

"This world is called the Skyfall Continent, and the island beneath our feet is Wolf Snake Island."

"It's very dangerous here—demons by day, monsters by night."

"You players are formally known here as 'Descenders.' You fall from the sky, and when you kill monsters, you receive feedback from heaven and earth. Not only can you grow stronger, but you can also loot items."

"But just like us, you only have one life. Die, and you're truly dead."

Gao Linzhi nodded after hearing this and said:

"Good. In reality, we also only have one life."

"Here, at least there's hope of breaking out of the cage."

Hearing this, Zheng Dong's eyes lit up.

He casually drew a blade from his waist and handed it over.

"You seem like a warrior. Prove it to me with this blade!"

[(White) Long Blade: Low sharpness, low durability.]

Gao Linzhi smiled. "Thanks."

He took the long blade and swung it a couple of times, clearly unskilled.

If he topped up another 2000 gold to reach Aristocrat 6 and unlocked the basic auto-mode, he believed he'd be proficient.

Just as he was thinking this, the minimap in his mind suddenly emitted a series of urgent warning sounds—"Woo woo"...

At the edge of the minimap, a cluster of red dots appeared.

Zooming in, he saw they were a group of giant crabs, frantically crawling toward the village wall.

"Clang! Clang!"

Almost simultaneously, an alarm bell rang from a tower on the stone wall.

"Five li out, Crab Demons, about twenty of them!" someone in the tower shouted.

Hearing this, Zheng Dong grabbed Gao Linzhi, pressed a hand against the wall, and together they leaped onto the stone wall.

"Newcomer, you're in luck. Stand on the stone wall and watch closely how we deal with demons."

"There are four ways to catch Crab Demons."

The villagers, meanwhile, were all bustling about.

Some stood guard, some relayed messages, some rushed to the tower to grab equipment and supplies.

Orderly and well-trained.

Standing on the tower, Gao Linzhi saw that the brick-laying players below behaved completely differently from the villagers.

They grabbed the protruding parts of the stone wall, parkoured a few steps, and "scrambled" up the six-meter-high wall.

Then they quickly descended the stone wall and hid inside the village.

About fifteen minutes later, a group of massive crabs appeared in the distance.

There were around twenty of them.

Each was as big as a washbasin, brandishing gleaming pincers.