The Primal: Bone Fire

"Great Serpent Coil."

"Second Serpent Follows."

"Third Serpent Also Follows."

After 1 hour of gameplay experience, Li Zheng and the others could already cooperate proficiently in combat.

They had consecutively killed several Cursed Soldiers on the ancient battlefield, all leveling up to 2.

The six players who chose the Black Armored Snake form saw their length increase from the initial one meter to about 1.3 meters.

The two players who chose the Eagle-Headed Demon had more vibrant wings and their bodies had also grown.

The biggest change was in the Gargoyle form; besides an increase in size, their skin was covered by a layer of flowing, crystal-clear black.

As they delved deeper into the experience, the game's realism left them utterly astonished.

Especially the enhancements gained from leveling up, they could clearly feel their strength, speed, and other attributes being strengthened, not just adjusted game data.

This made leveling up very interesting and made them even more eager for the power boost that further leveling would bring.

However, the game also presented them with a problem.

The game was too realistic; the stench emanating from the decaying Cursed Soldiers was unbearable.

Furthermore, the game surprisingly lacked a pain suppression function. In combat, bumps and bruises were inevitable, and they couldn't help but curse Moon Eclipse Clan for being too perverted, not setting up pain adjustment functions, practically abusing players.

[In fact, the pain adjustment function is in the system settings within the function panel. You didn't look for it, not that it doesn't exist.]

"You didn't say so earlier."

[You didn't ask either?]

Summoning the function panel, they found the pain adjustment function in the system settings.

To their surprise, the pain adjustment could only be lowered to 10% at its minimum.

But it was still better than 100% pain feedback.

After adjusting the pain, Li Zheng and the others' combat power surged.

After dismembering another Cursed Soldier, Li Zheng and the others, feeling exhausted, were about to take a break.

Suddenly, they heard a sharp warning from Eat Earth in the team.

"Eat Earth, what are you howling about? Do you really think you're an eagle?"

"There's a strong energy fluctuation approaching from the 3 o'clock direction."

Hearing this, everyone raised their heads and looked in the direction Eat Earth pointed. In the distance, a 3-meter-tall giant humanoid skeleton was walking towards them.

Unlike other Cursed Soldiers, this Skeleton Warrior's body was covered in fiercely burning ink-black flames. Its dark body appeared exceptionally eerie and terrifying under the shroud of the chilling ink-colored flames.

Their gazes focused, and information about the Burning Bone Soldier appeared in their minds:

[Bone Fire (First Generation Origin)]:

Hunting Level: 9

Analysis: A special monster that controls the power of origin, possessing the ability to manipulate death flames.

Note: Killing an Origin monster will automatically complete containment, and participants will share huge rewards.

"The BOSS has appeared!"

Seeing that Bone Fire was an Origin monster, Li Zheng and the others became exceptionally excited.

In other games, encountering a BOSS usually meant generous rewards, especially for Li Zheng, a "game gold farmer."

The income from one rare BOSS was enough to cover his living expenses for many days.

If he got lucky and dropped top-tier items, becoming rich overnight was not impossible.

In other games, BOSSes had to be fought over, and the competition was fierce.

Facing an opportunity delivered right to their doorstep, they didn't want to miss it.

"Kill!"

The ten members of the team decisively launched a fierce charge towards the rising Bone Fire.

"Great Serpent Coil."

"Second Serpent Follows."

"Third Serpent Also Follows."

Before even approaching Bone Fire, Li Zheng and the others began shouting their self-created ultimate skills.

As Eat Earth explained, "Regardless of victory or defeat, you must have momentum in a fight."

But this charge did not go as smoothly as before. The hollow eyes of Bone Fire ignited with ink-black flames.

With a raise of his hand, several balls of dark flame separated from his body and flew towards Li Zheng and the others.

Li Zheng, Killing Intent Stirred, and Leopard Head Zero Charge, who were charging at the front, were instantly hit by the fireballs, their bodies engulfed in flames.

The burning pain was unbearable, causing them to writhe and roll on the ground, but the flames showed no signs of extinguishing.

The other seven crossed over their burning bodies and continued to pounce towards Bone Fire.

The moment they made contact with Bone Fire's body, they too were ignited by the flames, but they endured the pain and continued to bite and peck, creating cracks on Bone Fire's bones.

Before long, all ten were reduced to ashes in the inferno.

As the screen dimmed, a prompt sounded in their minds:

[Challenger Prompt: Character Death. Deducted 10 Sacrifice Points (Insufficient Sacrifice Points will result in negative values, preventing any purchases in the game store). Character enters one-hour cooldown period.]

The scene returned to the virtual interface. Li Zheng and the others immediately clicked their icons again, only to see a prompt:

[Character flesh and blood being reshaped... (Cooldown: 59m 49s)]

Realizing they couldn't re-enter the game, they had no choice but to reluctantly exit the virtual interface.

[Hardcore Players Chat Group (Online: 10)]

Eat Earth (Admin): What the hell? Why is there a resurrection cooldown in the game? Give me one more chance, and I'll definitely kill it.

Game Gold Farmer: The realism of Dark Land is too perfect, which is also a kind of pain. Although I can set the pain feedback to 10%, the burning pain from the flames just now still makes me tremble. I almost thought I was going to see my Great Grandma.

Gamer Who Pays to Play: It's fun, the attribute boost feedback is very satisfying, but the pain is also real. This Bone Fire is so strong. We at level 2 are no match. I suggest leveling up before challenging it.

Killing Intent Stirred: Oh my god, a resurrection cooldown? My level 100 Heavenly Python nurturing plan is stalled! I feel terrible right now.

Family Sharing: Big brothers, something bad has happened. The welfare officer has left the group.

Eat Earth: Holy crap, Adoptive Father left the group... He's probably afraid of getting in trouble for spreading pirated copies. Everyone, remember to keep it a secret. Don't spread the download link everywhere, or Adoptive Father might get investigated.

...

While in resurrection cooldown, they couldn't enter the game. While discussing game content, the players in the hardcore group made a decision.

They absolutely would not cause trouble for "Adoptive Father." The download link would not be spread or used externally.

Following this was a discussion about the game world's background. During this, Li Zheng proposed an idea.

Game Gold Farmer: Brothers, do we need to find an organization?

Eat Earth: Agreed. Most players of this game are paying players. Joining any organization can bring in considerable profit.

Family Sharing: Big brothers, you go find one. Little brother will follow closely in your footsteps. Wherever you go, I go. My loyalty will never waver.

The players in the group widely agreed with this idea.

The so-called "organization" referred to in-game guilds, factions, and other player groups.

The players in the hardcore group were all gold farmers. In previous games, they would attach themselves to medium-to-large game groups and earn income by providing services to paying players within those groups.

This time was no exception. After experiencing the game during the test phase, their first thought was to find a game organization.

Seeing that his brothers all agreed, Li Zheng typed a reply on his keyboard:

Game Gold Farmer: I'll go to the forum to find an organization. Brothers, wait for my return.

This was followed by a string of repetitive replies:

Adoptive Father, hurry back!

(End of Chapter)