Beginner difficulty?

Chapter 3: Beginner Difficulty?

[Hardcore Players Chat Group (Online: 10 people)]

Family Shared Godfather: Why isn't Godfather back yet? Could he be too engrossed in the Calabash Brothers' grandpa-saving storyline to pull himself away?

Broke to the Bone (Admin): Maybe he's reporting to the police, trying to recover the massive 20 yuan stolen from his bank account. He won't get his streaming fees until the day after tomorrow, and that's Brother Li's food money for tomorrow (smirk.jpg)

Fun Without Paying: Godfather has fallen. Next Godfather, please step forward.

Killing Intent Stirred: Enough talk. Kick Welfare Officer out first. Which admin added him? Make them give the group brothers a red envelope to apologize.

Just as the group members were heatedly discussing the "Game Grinder" who had vanished, the main character himself returned.

Game Grinder: Brothers, hurry and download the game! Welfare Officer is really giving out benefits! The link he sent let me download a cracked version of Dark Land. It's awesome! The modeling is 100% realistic. I haven't even experienced the story yet, but the realism is definitely not exaggerated. It's amazing.

Broke to the Bone replied to Game Grinder: Are you trying to become victim number two?

Family Shared Godfather replied to Game Grinder: Brother Li, I trusted you so much, and yet you tried to trick me into downloading Calabash Brothers (wiping tears.jpg)

Fun Without Paying replied to Game Grinder: Brother Li, you usually take good care of your brothers. How did you learn from Broke to the Bone and start scamming cute group members? I'm not watching Calabash Brothers.

Facing the group members' doubts, Li, sitting in front of his computer, furiously typed on the keyboard, entering a line of text:

Game Grinder: We've been playing games together for so many years, you know my character. I guarantee with my integrity that there's absolutely no fraud. Download it quickly and let's experience the game content together. I'll say it again, this link really lets you download the legitimate Dark Land.

Broke to the Bone (Admin): I suspect the one online now isn't Brother Li, but Welfare Officer using the link to steal accounts... How about this, let's test the password: What do you do if a BUG appears in the game?

Game Grinder: There are no BUGs, they are all features.

Broke to the Bone (Admin): Confirmed. This really is Brother Li. Brothers, I'm going in first. If I get scammed, I accept it.

Killing Intent Stirred: Unbelievable, but the password matched. I believe this is Brother Li. Brothers, I'm going in too.

Family Shared Godfather: Godfather, I will continue to follow your footsteps.

Game Grinder: Don't rush, everyone. Let's first discuss the starting class selection and put together a suitable team for the initial grind.

[Challenger "Night Flowing Cloud" has entered the game. Creating initial monster body consumes 1000 Sacrifice Power. Remaining Sacrifice Power: 139278.]

[Challenger "Chosen King" has entered the game. Creating initial monster body consumes 1000 Sacrifice Power. Remaining Sacrifice Power: 138278...]

The prompts of players entering the game sounded one after another in Qi Sheng's mind.

Looking at the now silent group chat interface, Qi Sheng clicked "Leave Group." Immediately, an option prompt popped up on the screen:

[User: "Welfare Officer", do you confirm leaving "Hardcore Players Chat Group"?]

Qi Sheng reached out and clicked "Yes." The group chat interface on his computer desktop disappeared.

The recruitment of the first batch of players was complete.

To recruit these players, he had specifically created a fake link.

The players thought they were playing the real Dark Land. In reality, behind the link, there was no game at all. Instead, it was a space-transferring formation array that could extract players' consciousness and send them to the monster world. There, they would undergo life reshaping and obtain a perfectly adapted monster body.

But the players in the group clearly hadn't discovered this issue, thinking they had downloaded a free cracked version of Dark Land.

It was certain that after they experienced the game content, they would be eternally grateful to him in the group chat.

They might even regard him as their new Godfather.

But Qi Sheng's objective had been achieved. He was too lazy to read the subsequent flattering words. He cared more about the profits the players would create for him.

Emperor's Tomb Village was still continuously being damaged by the energy of the terrifying black tide. A large amount of Sacrifice Power was needed daily to maintain the defensive barrier of Emperor's Tomb Village. If the players couldn't generate revenue for him, the remaining Sacrifice Power would soon be depleted.

Just then, a light blue water ball suddenly popped up beside him.

[Boss, are the people you recruited this time from your former homeland?]

"Before I transmigrated to the monster world, I was one of them. But this world underwent some changes during my absence, and many alien forces appeared," Qi Sheng nodded in response.

The floating water ball beside him was named Guider. Its ability was very special; it could turn scanned objects into data information.

The novice Guiders accompanying the players were all its clones.

In the hundreds of years he had been in the monster world, he had inherited the original power of Di Zhao. The Guiders that had once followed Di Zhao also became one of his four great subordinate spirits.

The data processing part of the Challenger System (Player Recruitment System) he designed was handled by Guider.

[They have entered the monster world. Do you want to take a look?]

Qi Sheng nodded and waved his hand. A light screen appeared before him, displaying the players entering the game for the first time.

"What's the difference between this game and reality? Even the modeling of the scattered stones on the ground is perfect."

"After watching Calabash Brothers for so many years, I've finally downloaded the legitimate game. Welfare Officer from the group is now my new Godfather."

"It's so realistic. As expected of the super virtual reality game that Moon Eclipse Clan spent ten years developing. It's simply perfect."

A flash of white light, and ten figures appeared in the central plaza of Emperor's Tomb Village.

Among the ten players, two had the phantom image of Eagle Head Demon floating behind them, two had the phantom image of Stone Gargoyle behind them, and the remaining six chose the initial form of Black Armor Snake.

"Brothers, let's leave the Novice Village. Now that the server just launched, we need to level up quickly. Our future wealth depends on this game! It's the game with the most paying players right now, so we must cherish this early development phase," Li Zheng said at this moment.

"Brother Li, why are there only a few of us in the Novice Village? Where are the other players? Didn't they say they sold a million copies in ten minutes? There should be a crowd of players in the game."

The player speaking looked very young, with the game name "Broke to the Bone" floating above his head. Behind him, the phantom of "Eagle Head Demon" hovered.

Before Li Zheng could answer, a young man with "Killing Intent Stirred" floating above his head calmly said:

"Nonsense, we must have entered a separate channel. Otherwise, with millions of players flooding in at once, this Novice Village would be packed to the brim."

"That makes sense."

"Let's leave the village first. Leveling up is the most important thing early on."

"We'll listen to Brother Li. You're the most professional when it comes to games."

Along the bluestone-paved road, the ten-person team passed through the energy barrier and entered the black fog.

Instantly, an indescribable sense of fear surged into their hearts. They could faintly hear the sound of bones breaking, wails... various complex sounds intertwined in their minds, even causing a strong sense of dizziness.

Just as Li Zheng and the others were about to lose consciousness, the black fog ahead dispersed, and their vision suddenly widened.

[Emperor's Tomb Mountain Range]

A line of golden text appeared before their eyes and quickly vanished.

What greeted them was a crimson world. Under a vast sky, a dark red crescent moon hung tilted at the horizon. The clouds were dyed red by the afterglow, and lightning flickered within them as they churned.

At the end of the horizon, they could see volcanoes still spewing flames. The air was filled with the smell of sulfur and scorched earth, and rolling heat waves swept in from afar.

The near-apocalyptic world scene before them shocked the team.

"Hiss, so shocking. I feel like the erupting volcano will drown us in the next second," Chi Tu exclaimed at this moment.

"Calm down. The scene outside the Novice Village looks terrifying, but there definitely won't be any powerful monsters. They'll give us a chance to adapt and grow," Li Zheng said, offering what he thought was a reasonable analysis despite his shock.

As his words fell, a bolt of lightning tore through the sky, and black cracks instantly spread across the entire sky.

A colossal beast, entirely crimson, tore through the clouds, revealing its ferocious form.

Its immeasurably vast body was covered in crimson scales, like burning flames, each containing immense power and endless majesty. Its open eyes were like two rubies, deep and sharp.

A deafening beast roar echoed through the sky, making the air tremble.

The monster's wide and powerful wings were edged with golden patterns. When they flapped, they stirred up hurricanes that blew down the trees below, kicking up dust.

Even from a distance, Li Zheng and the others were affected, pushed back by the strong winds.

The giant beast's descent suddenly accelerated, like a crimson lightning bolt streaking across the sky, carrying an aura of destruction as it plummeted towards an unknown target below.

At this moment, time seemed to freeze, and everything fell silent. Only the crimson figure was the sole focus of the world.

As its body was about to touch the ground, a torrent of heat accompanied by a deafening roar swept out.

BOOM!

The ground trembled violently, and a mushroom cloud rose in the distant sky.

A moment later, everything returned to silence, but Li Zheng and the others stood frozen, their shock immeasurable.

After a long time, Chi Tu turned to look at the stunned Li Zheng:

"Is this the 'not very dangerous' Novice Village scene you were talking about?"

Li Zheng swallowed and continued to analyze:

"Is it possible that this is just an opening scene for the game, like a CG animation, and won't pose any real threat to us? After all, we're newcomers; there should be a gradual process of adaptation with increasing difficulty..."

Before he could finish, the beast's roar, accompanied by a gale, struck them. The terrifying sonic wave made their eardrums sting.

"Don't panic, this is just an initial strength experience; it won't affect the low-difficulty Novice mode that follows."

Li Zheng wiped the blood from his nose, stubbornly analyzing.

[I like this guy's personality. He's all about self-deception.]

Shui Qiu, who was walking beside Li Zheng, gave him a thumbs-up at this moment.

Li Zheng: ...