The sky roared with howling winds, churning the red clouds overhead.
After a clap of thunder, black lightning spread across the sky like a spiderweb, then vanished without a trace a few seconds later.
Across the land, volcanoes erupted in a continuous chain, spewing fiercely. Red rivers of fire snaked down their slopes, devouring every living thing in their path. The air reeked of sulfur and scorched earth. Under the light of the dark red waning crescent, the ridge of the highest peak glimmered with a bloody sheen, like a flaming saw-toothed sword slashing toward the sky, as if it meant to pierce the heavy canopy above.
Countless terrifying monsters roamed the land.
Xie Qi, with eighteen heads and a body as tall as a mountain; the Frost Giant Beast, whose breath could freeze thousands of miles; Red Wing Ming, whose wings could carry it tens of thousands of miles... Alongside these creatures at the top of the food chain, countless other terrifying beasts existed, their mouths wide enough to swallow mountains and rivers, their stomps powerful enough to reshape the land.
It was an ecosystem made up of countless terrifying creatures.
The view shifted toward the land, rapidly descending and zooming in until it settled on a dilapidated village. Then darkness closed in from all sides, swallowing the scene.
When the darkness cleared, Li Zheng found himself floating before a towering blue Crystal Wall. A prompt rang out in his mind:
[Welcome, challenger, to Monster World. Please begin creating your starting character.]
"Monster World? Isn't the newbie village in Dark Land called Dark City?"
He didn't dwell on the question, assuming the Moon Eclipse Clan had changed the game's settings, which had been exposed years ago.
The overhead view he'd just seen and the character creation environment around him made him realize he really had downloaded a cracked version of Dark Land.
His excitement was beyond words. Other people had to pay 128,888 to get the game, but he'd gotten it after just an hour of downloading.
The Welfare Officer really was handing out freebies!
He no longer doubted the game's realism.
What kind of scammer would spend a fortune making a game this lifelike?
If the earlier CG experience had been meant to make the scam more convincing, then the cost of this prank was absurdly high.
In the name-entry box, he used the virtual keyboard to type in "Game Brick Mover Party." After he confirmed, the enormous grid-patterned Crystal Wall ahead quickly drew closer.
Most of the squares on the wall were empty. Only the ones at the starting position along the bottom, numbered one through three, held grotesque, menacing monsters.
The monster locked inside the No. 1 square was a humanoid stone statue with batlike ears. It crouched on a half-meter-high stone pedestal, its body intricately carved. A faint red glimmer shone in its enormous pupils, and rows of pale, sharp teeth showed through its open mouth.
The monster in the No. 2 square was a creature with fiery red wings, shaped like an owl. Its sharp talons kept striking the Crystal Wall of its containment cell, scraping against it with a piercing shriek.
The monster locked in the No. 3 square was a huge snake covered in black scales. It coiled inside its cell, flicking its tongue.
[Please choose your starting form.]
Li Zheng looked at the first monster, and its detailed information appeared.
[Stone Gargoyle]: Starting Level: 1 Starting Attributes: Physical Fitness: 7 (Based on the combined values of strength, stamina, endurance, explosiveness, and other physical attributes) Mental Strength: 5 (Affects mental recovery, casting speed, and spell power) Elemental Resistance: 5 (Affects the final calculation of elemental damage) Primal Ability: Petrification (Active) Ability Description: Activating this ability puts you in an immobile, petrified state and greatly reduces damage from all forms of attack. The specific effect depends on physical fitness. ...
His gaze shifted to the Eagle Head Demon and the snake beside the Stone Gargoyle.
[Eagle Head Demon]: Starting Level: 1 Starting Attributes: Physical Fitness: 3, Mental Strength: 8, Elemental Resistance: 4 Primal Ability: Wailing (Active) Ability Description: Activating this ability opens your perception, allowing you to sense nearby dangers (killing intent, hostility, auras, and fluctuations). Its duration and range depend on mental strength. [Black Armor Snake]: Starting Level: 1 Starting Attributes: Physical Fitness: 12, Mental Strength: 1, Elemental Resistance: 2 Ability: Venom (Passive) Ability Description: All forms of physical damage inflict a poison effect, causing continuous damage to the target.
Which one should he choose? Li Zheng fell into thought.
The Stone Gargoyle and Eagle Head Demon both had abilities that needed to be activated, and keeping them active would consume mental strength. By comparison, the Black Armor Snake's ability could be triggered by any form of physical damage, which made it clearly more suitable for a beginner.
Once he'd made up his mind, the monsters in squares No. 1 and No. 2 vanished, and the Black Armor Snake in square No. 3 rapidly enlarged before him.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sound of a violently beating heart gradually grew clearer in his ears.
Just then, the Black Armor Snake on the screen suddenly raised its head and lunged straight at him, jaws open.
Li Zheng jolted in fright and instinctively raised both hands to block it.
But no pain came. When he opened his eyes, he found the scene had changed, and he was wearing a black cloth outfit provided by the game.
He looked around. The area was the same dilapidated village from the end of the CG scene.
Thick black fog surrounded the village outskirts, as if held back by some mysterious force. It couldn't spread into the village, but strange sounds rang clearly from within it.
The cries of Night Hawks, the crunch of bones being chewed, hoarse whispers... All kinds of eerie sounds echoed above the village.
He turned around and was startled.
A phantom Black Armor Snake, over a meter long, floated behind him. He took two steps to the right, and it glided along with him.
When he focused on it, a flood of information poured into his mind, along with a view inside his body.
In that view, he could clearly see his spine had become a starry, Milky Way-like constellation of veins. At the very top was his real-world appearance, and in the first socket below it sat a glowing black orb containing the image of the Black Armor Snake.
[Challenger Name: Game Brick Mover Party]: Primary Form: Human Body Tempering Level: 0 (Inherited Monster Soul Attributes: 0) (Tip: For every Body Tempering level gained, you can perfectly inherit all the attributes of one monster form while in human form.) Astral Veins Inlay (Level: 1): No. 1 Socket, Black Armor Snake Soul Lv. 1 (Trait: Venom) (Tip: You can use the Astral Veins feature to freely switch between monster forms. In a monster form, you gain a 100% attribute bonus. Raising your Astral Veins level increases the number of Monster Souls you can socket.)
"Astral Veins switching?"
Puzzled, Li Zheng touched the first socket in his Astral Veins with his mind.
A powerful tingling sensation surged from his spine into every limb. His body twisted and changed as the energy coursed through him.
His view rapidly dropped.
Looking down, he was astonished to discover he'd become the Black Armor Snake that had been floating behind him.
At the same time, he could clearly feel his physical abilities had increased, and even his vision had grown sharper.
This game... It was kind of insane, but he liked it!
After switching back to human form, Li Zheng, who now had a basic grasp of the game, looked around.
Driven by curiosity, he began testing how realistic the game was.
He pinched his face, wiggled his fingers, and pinched his arm... The sensations were indistinguishable from reality, leaving him amazed.
Then he crouched, picked up a pebble, and slowly crushed it between his fingers, feeling the powder slip from his fingertips.
"Holy crap, this game is incredible!"
The simple tests had produced flawless, completely convincing feedback.
But what puzzled Li Zheng was why there weren't any other players in the game. The entire village seemed to contain only him.
Since Dark Land had been released worldwide, judging by its sales, the newbie villages should have been packed with players.
Could the players have been divided among different game channels? Was he in a newly opened channel?
Just as Li Zheng was wondering how to explore the game, the space beside him warped, and a light-blue orb appeared.
Ripples crossed the orb's surface. A stern face emerged, looked at him, and spoke in a grave tone:
[Unclean forces run rampant, and terror descends. The monster world under Di Zhao's rule has been invaded by the Terror Black Tide. You, who have received power from Di Zhao, must shoulder the responsibility of saving the world. Go immediately to hunt down the Primal Power lost by Di Zhao, and do your part to restore Di Zhao's true form.]
As it spoke, the light-blue orb transformed into a right arm and reached toward him.
[I am your newbie guide in Monster World. You can call me Guidance.]
A somewhat bewildered Li Zheng reached out and shook the hand formed by the orb.
[We're brothers from now on. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me anytime.]
Hearing that, Li Zheng grabbed Guidance and gave it a thorough rub, squeeze, and knead before exclaiming:
"Feels great!"
[Great, my ass! Keep this up and I'll quit!]
"A newbie guide can quit? Aren't you supposed to be an AI workhorse at the players' beck and call?"
[Your whole family are AI workhorses! I'll quit whenever I feel like it!]
Realizing that if he angered the newbie guide, he'd lose an important tool during the beginner period, Li Zheng immediately let go. He let the Guidance orb float off to the side, then quickly apologized and backed down.
"Sorry, I was wrong."
[Get down on your knees and apologize.]
Li Zheng looked at the Guidance orb's smug expression, his own face helpless.
"I don't understand why the Moon Eclipse Clan designed such a humanlike newbie guide."
As he complained, he suddenly remembered the brothers in trouble waiting outside for his feedback.
He immediately looked toward the Guidance orb and asked:
"Guidance, how do I exit the game?"
[Easy. Call up the "Function Panel" in your mind. There's a teleport function on it that can take you back to the real world. It takes thirty seconds, and you can't take any damage during that time, or the teleport will be interrupted.]
"Got it!"
Following Guidance's instructions, he started the teleport countdown. The scene before him was gradually swallowed by darkness.
A powerful sensation of weightlessness washed over him, and Li Zheng called out excitedly in his heart:
"Good brothers, we've struck gold for real this time!"
Before you continue