"Humiliation!"
Outside the screen, Sato Taishi cursed furiously.
Hell was one thing. It was understandable that they didn't know the new area.
But now that they were back in Hell, Yamamoto Rokuko was still being beaten so badly he could only run for his life?
He'd even hidden underground, burying himself just to stay alive!
Getting beaten like this in his own home!
What humiliation!
"Who is it? Why are there so many new types of zombies?!"
Something was clearly wrong, and Sato Taishi couldn't help but grow suspicious.
The Large Civilization should've been harder, but it shouldn't have been this hard!
Just look at those monsters! There were more of them than in the first night's trial, and they were so much stronger!
"Could it be Gu Yu? That bastard—whoever did this is going to die!"
All the contestants acted according to some kind of logic. Their actions could be understood, except for Gu Yu's.
He always did the unexpected, so now that something had happened, it was hard not to suspect him.
The expert beside him shook his head, unconvinced.
"From our perspective, Gu Yu couldn't have been responsible."
Rescuing Zombie Villagers, building Iron Golems and Snow Golems, going to Hell.
It was all a bit outrageous, but if you thought about it deeply, it could still be understood. It wasn't enough to cause such a huge commotion.
Even if one of his innovations had triggered something, logically, there should've been a notification letting everyone know.
Unless this hadn't been Gu Yu's doing in the first place!
"Then why are there so many monsters?"
When you thought about it, even the strongest player was still just a player, and he didn't even know where they were.
How could he possibly cross two dimensions just to target their two contestants?
As for the specific cause, the view shifted to Gangcun Kuzi.
Forced to build upward with blocks to escape the zombies, he had managed to stay alive for the time being by hiding in a giant tree in the Twilight Forest.
From this angle, the zombies' appearance was clearly visible.
"The writing on their clothes feels familiar. I think I've seen it somewhere before."
"I remember now. It was after Yamamoto-kun first encountered the Wither effect!"
The expert pulled up the footage and watched it repeatedly. Then he suddenly understood—and fell silent.
"You figured something out, so spit it out!"
Unable to stand it any longer, Sato Taishi kicked him. Faced with Sato Taishi's question, the expert stammered out his conclusion.
"Yamamoto-kun pressed a few buttons before. The words engraved on them were similar to the ones on the zombies' clothes..."
Sato Taishi wasn't stupid. He understood what the expert meant.
"So Yamamoto Rokuko activated the zombies and nearly got himself and Gangcun killed?!"
His vision went dark.
Sato Taishi couldn't catch his breath. His legs gave way, and he collapsed.
He couldn't understand how anyone could be so stupid!
As more details about the zombies came to light, some viewers remembered, too.
"I remember now! The zombies appeared after Yamamoto Rokuko pressed those buttons!"
"So you were the culprit all along?"
"Then what was all that scolding I got earlier? Was that a joke?"
"You nearly wiped out the Samurai Nation, Yamamoto. What a guy!"
"Bakayaro! Go commit seppuku!"
Who could've imagined that the person responsible for humiliating Yamamoto Rokuko so badly that he had to crawl through a dog hole and bury himself in the dirt after returning home—
was Yamamoto Rokuko himself!
And the Samurai Nation wasn't the only one affected.
In the India Nation, Kapil galloped through the resource area on horseback.
Taking advantage of his speed, he was searching for the entrance to the new world, the Twilight Forest.
The good news was that he'd found it. The Block Civilization hadn't gone so far as to leave them with no options.
Although diamonds were scarce, several entrances to the Twilight Forest had still been opened at random in the resource area, waiting for players to discover them.
And this one was far from the block, making it accessible only on horseback. In other words, it was Kapil's exclusive point of entry.
The bad news was that night had fallen.
When he entered the Twilight Forest, all he saw were zombies!
"A Zombie Horde? What's going on?!"
His horse hadn't come in with him. Without his greatest advantage, Kapil panicked.
He had an Iron Sword and wasn't afraid of ordinary zombies. The problem was, these enemies weren't ordinary zombies—and there was a whole bunch of them!
He wasn't as quick-thinking as Gangcun Kuzi and didn't think to build a pillar of blocks to escape them.
He took off running, looking for somewhere to hide. But zombies surrounded him on all sides, so he blindly picked a direction.
In the end, he reached the outside of a gray wall.
[Entering hostile Micro Block, Naga Courtyard!]
Naga?
Seeing the name, Kapil didn't panic. Instead, he felt a sense of familiarity.
The Naga was a serpent deity from his nation's mythology. It looked like a giant snake and could control water and summon wind and rain.
In his moment of crisis, he'd actually encountered a legendary deity!
Without a second thought, Kapil rushed into the courtyard. A giant green serpent came into view.
"That's right! It's the serpent deity! Bless me, serpent deity! I'm willing to serve you!"
Kapil dropped to his knees, utterly devout.
That was the serpent deity, a mythical being from the India Nation. It was only reasonable for him to bow down!
The Naga stared at the man before it for a long moment, equally surprised.
As the weakest boss in the Twilight Forest, it was used to people attacking it. Now someone was actually kneeling before it, willing to serve?
A minion for free!
The Naga lowered its guard and nodded, clearly pleased.
[You have chosen to submit to the Naga. You have become the Lord of the Micro Block in the Twilight Forest, and the Naga's servant.]
At the prompt in his ear, Kapil hurriedly kowtowed.
The Naga glanced at the zombies outside, disdain in its eyes, then charged through them a few times, wiping out the entire Zombie Horde.
Only the loot and experience points scattered across the ground remained.
Returning to the center of the courtyard, it motioned for Kapil to repair the damaged sections, then closed its eyes and went back to resting.
"Our contestant from the India Nation made the boss his big brother?"
"He lost his block and became its servant?"
"Ah, he had no choice if he wanted to survive!"
"It's not so bad. That's the legendary serpent deity! Lord Naga, we bow before you!"
"Accept my submission! I'd also be willing to serve you with all my heart!"
"Damn it, if not for Yamamoto Rokuko, how could this have happened?"
"How is Yamamoto Rokuko still alive?!"
Apart from a few believers, the Indian viewers were furious.
If that inexplicable Zombie Horde hadn't appeared, they would've been able to make further progress in the Twilight Forest and advance to a Small Block!
Now it was all ruined because Kapil had to become a boss's servant just to survive!
The only thing worth being glad about was that the boss was a mythical being from their own nation. Since Kapil was one of their own, perhaps it would treat him a little better.
Maybe he'd even have a chance to return to his block and advance!
At the Research Institute, Fries couldn't help laughing.
"This is too ridiculous!"
One contestant had nearly gotten himself and his teammate killed, while another had made a boss his big brother and become its servant!
The jokes were coming too fast. He couldn't stop laughing!
"Who could've imagined that a tiny button back then would lead to so many things happening afterward!"
He stopped laughing and switched to another viewpoint.
To deal with this horde of zombies, contestants from every nation were pulling out all the stops and showing off their best tricks.
Even the Free Nation's two contestants, whose teamwork was flawless, had tried to fight before choosing to avoid the zombies and hide in a room until dawn.
The lucky ones managed to hide. The unlucky ones were surrounded and killed on the spot!
Notifications kept ringing out.
[Grass Ash Nation contestant has died. Monsters have descended!] [ B amboo Nation contestant has died. Monsters have descended!] [White Light Nation contestant has died. Monsters have descended!]
Out of more than a hundred contestants, only thirty remained after just a few days!
And they were all carefully selected veteran players who had taken part in a civilization once before!
"The Zombie Horde is terrifying. If it was Gu Yu..."
After returning from Hell, everyone's equipment had been upgraded.
For some reason, Fries found himself looking forward to it.
Before you continue