The players saw the updated quests on the mission panel and all grew excited.
"Haha, another battle!"
"Let's go, let's go!"
"My big stick is itching for a fight!"
The players eagerly headed for the coordinates listed in the quest.
This game was great in every way, except there were too few chances to fight!
In other games, monsters covered the wilderness as far as the eye could see. Kill one, and another would immediately spawn. You could never kill them all.
But according to the official website, to make this game more realistic, monsters didn't respawn right away.
If you wanted to kill monsters and level up, you had to find them yourself out in the wild.
If you were unlucky, you might not encounter more than a few all day.
The monsters' strength varied widely, too.
If you were unlucky, you'd run into nothing but pheasants and hares. Killing them barely earned any experience; you might as well stay in the valley chopping trees and gathering resources.
The players had even posted a complaint on the forum, demanding that more monsters be added to the wilderness.
The official website's response had been fairly satisfying.
The planner, A Feng, had personally promised that an illusion system would be added soon, giving players the chance to kill monsters and level up.
With that promise, the players were finally content. Their frustration over the scarcity of monsters turned into anticipation for the illusion system.
Outside the valley.
Da Qing's team had just killed a wild deer and was preparing to look for another target when they received a notification that the quest had been updated.
"Gather in the valley and prepare for battle? Are the Jackalmen back?"
Ranger glanced at the system quest and asked curiously.
They hunted outside the valley every day, so they had a pretty good idea of the strength of the beasts nearby.
There were indeed a few powerful beasts in the area, but a single team couldn't handle them.
Still, those beasts weren't strong enough to make the chief summon every player who was online.
He even thought that none of those fierce beasts could beat the chief one-on-one.
The most likely explanation for the chief taking this so seriously was that the nearby Jackalmen were attacking again!
"Probably."
Da Qing nodded, agreeing with Ranger's guess.
Unless the planner had added another hostile force nearby, it was most likely an invasion by the Jackalmen.
As they spoke, a group of figures suddenly appeared in the distance.
"Jackalmen!" Su Ziye cried.
They all turned to look. Out in the wilderness, a group of Jackalmen was heading their way.
At a glance, there were at least twenty or thirty!
"Run!"
Da Qing shouted. He abandoned the deer they'd just killed and turned to race back to the valley.
He had a lot of confidence in his team.
He had entered the game early and was already level four, second in the whole server, with only After Three Rounds of Drinks ahead of him thanks to getting lucky in the last battle and receiving the quest to lure the Jackalmen.
His other four teammates were all close to level four as well.
In terms of strength, their team was without a doubt the strongest among the thirty players currently in the game.
But no matter how confident he was in his team, he didn't think they could take on twenty or thirty Jackalmen.
The best way to handle this was to run!
He didn't need to tell the others. His four teammates were every bit as quick to flee as he was. Ranger and Shooting A Bit Like Kobe, both members of the Agility Class, had already made it ten meters ahead.
In the distance, the Jackalmen had naturally spotted Da Qing and the others.
"Big brother, should we chase them?"
One of the Jackalmen asked Bear Hunter.
The arrow in Bear Hunter's shoulder had been pulled out, and the wound had been given a simple bandage.
"No need."
Bear Hunter watched the five Humans flee, then glanced at the valley, which was already visible in the distance. He sneered and shook his head.
"Even if they make it back to the valley, all they can do is wait there to die!"
Da Qing kept looking over his shoulder as he ran. When he saw the Jackalmen weren't chasing them, he let out a long breath of relief.
The valley wasn't exactly close, but it wasn't far, either. If the Jackalmen really pursued them on all fours, then aside from Ranger and Shooting A Bit Like Kobe, the two members of the Agility Class, the other three might not have escaped.
The five of them raced back into the valley.
At the entrance, Lin Feng stood with a group of players, ready for battle.
"What's going on?"
Ranger was the first to run into the valley. Seeing how hurried he looked, Wanhuatong asked curiously.
"Jackalmen! There's a group of them outside—twenty or thirty, maybe even more!" Ranger panted.
He'd only taken a quick look and hadn't counted them, so he couldn't be sure exactly how many Jackalmen there were.
He didn't dare make up a number.
If the number he gave was way off and misled the chief about the situation, it would be a serious mistake.
Many players had already guessed that the chief had issued the quest and summoned everyone online because the Jackalmen were attacking. Now that Ranger had confirmed it, their eyes lit up and they grew excited.
They knew all about fighting Jackalmen!
Lin Feng had been listening nearby, too.
When he heard that the invaders really were Jackalmen, he relaxed as well.
Compared with some unknown creature, he'd much rather face Jackalmen. At least the risk was manageable.
And judging by the information Ranger had brought back, the number of invading Jackalmen was within an acceptable range.
As they spoke, Da Qing and his other three teammates entered the valley right behind Ranger.
"Why haven't Innocent and the others come back yet?" Da Qing asked, looking around for the five members of I Shoot You Innocent.
He and I Shoot You Innocent had both entered the game in the first wave, and they got along pretty well.
"They ran into Jackalmen while hunting and got wiped out," Lin Feng said.
"Haha, that's rough!"
Da Qing couldn't help laughing.
They were friends, but that didn't stop him from enjoying their misfortune.
They could revive after dying, anyway.
"The Jackalmen are here. Grab your weapons and get ready to fight!"
Lin Feng fixed his gaze on the distance and spoke sternly.
The Jackalmen had appeared on the far horizon. Lin Feng counted roughly thirty of them.
That was manageable.
Unlike the thirteen Jackalmen who had appeared last time, this group was coming straight for the valley with a clear objective.
They obviously already knew what was inside.
That also meant a Jackalman scout had indeed visited the valley.
Lin Feng was curious: how had the Jackalman scout entered the valley without being noticed?
The Outer Valley was large, but plenty of players were active there. There was no way they wouldn't notice a Jackalman over two meters tall coming in.
"Chief, should we hide and ambush them?" Wanhuatong suggested from beside Lin Feng.
"No need." Lin Feng shook his head. "The Jackalmen came prepared this time. An ambush won't do much. Get ready for a hard fight!"
"Sure!"
The players excitedly raised their weapons.
They weren't afraid of a hard fight. The more intense, the better.
They could always wait twenty-four hours and get back in the game!
Lin Feng watched the excited players, the corner of his mouth lifting in a faint smile.
His attitude toward the Jackalmen was completely different this time.
Last time, they'd faced a Jackalman scouting party. If the scouts had made it back with news of the valley, no one knew how many Jackalmen the tribe would send.
If fifty or sixty came at once, the tribe might be wiped out.
Even if the players could revive after dying, what would happen to him and the five children?
That was why he'd had to wipe out every last Jackalman. He couldn't let even one escape!
But this time was different.
The Jackalmen had sent a force of only about thirty. He had no reason to fear so few.
The players were all level three now, and some had even reached level four. Their combat strength had improved quite a bit.
With him there to hold the line, defeating these thirty Jackalmen would be no trouble.
According to the information Da Qing's team had brought back, the Jackalman tribe had around sixty or seventy members in all.
Even if there were eighty, that was fine.
They'd killed thirteen last time. If they could kill twenty more this time, only a little over forty would be left.
Then even if the Jackalmen attacked with their entire tribe, he wouldn't be afraid!
In fact, if they got a good result this time, he could even start thinking about striking back at the Jackalman tribe!
He had already promised the players on the forum a couple of days ago that he would launch the illusion system. Wiping out the Jackalmen sooner would let him make good on that promise sooner, too.
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