"Great Snake Entanglement."
"Two Snakes Follow and Entangle."
"Three Snakes Also Follow."
After an hour of gameplay, Li Zheng and the others had already learned to coordinate their attacks with ease.
They had killed several Cursed Soldiers in succession on the Ancient Battlefield, and all of them had reached level 2.
The six players who had chosen the Black Armor Snake form had grown from their initial length of one meter to about 1.3 meters.
The feathers on the two players who had chosen the Eagle Head Demon form had become more vivid, and they had grown larger as well.
The Stone Gargoyle form had changed the most. Besides growing in size, its body had gained a layer of glossy black crystal that flowed over its surface.
As they played, they were amazed by how realistic the game was.
The improvements that came with leveling up were especially striking. They could clearly feel their strength, speed, and other attributes increase—it wasn't just a matter of adjusting the numbers on a screen.
This made leveling up far more interesting, and left them even more eager to see how much stronger they would become as they progressed.
But the game also had some frustrating issues.
It was so realistic that the stench wafting off the rotting Cursed Soldiers was almost unbearable.
On top of that, the game didn't seem to have a pain-suppression feature. They couldn't avoid getting banged up in battle, and they couldn't help cursing the Moon Eclipse Clan for being so twisted that they hadn't even added a pain adjustment setting. It was practically player abuse.
[Actually, if you open System Settings in the function panel, you'll find a pain adjustment setting. Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean it isn't there.]
"You could've told us sooner."
[You didn't ask, did you?]
They summoned the function panel and found the pain adjustment setting in System Settings.
To their surprise, the lowest they could set the pain level was 10%.
Still, that was better than experiencing pain at full intensity.
After adjusting the pain level, Li Zheng and the others' combat power surged.
After dismembering another Cursed Soldier, the exhausted group was just about to take a break.
Then Eat Earth, one of their teammates, let out a shrill warning.
"Eat Earth, why are you screeching? Think you're an eagle now?"
"Something with a strong energy signature is approaching from the three o'clock direction."
The others heard him and raised their heads, looking toward where Eat Earth was pointing. In the distance, a giant humanoid skeleton, three meters tall, was walking toward them.
Unlike the other Cursed Soldiers, this skeleton warrior was wreathed in raging, ink-black flames. Its dark body looked unnaturally eerie and terrifying beneath the flickering black fire.
As they focused their gaze, information about the Burning Bone Soldier appeared in their minds:
[Bone Fire (First Generation Origin)]: Hunting Level: 9 Guidance Analysis: A special monster that controls Primal Power and can manipulate the flames of death. Note: Killing a Primal Monster will automatically complete its containment. All participants in the kill will share a huge reward.
"A BOSS has appeared!"
Seeing that Bone Fire was a Primal Monster, Li Zheng and the others were extremely excited.
In other games, encountering a BOSS meant a lucrative payout, especially for Game Brick Mover Li Zheng.
The earnings from a single rare BOSS would be enough to cover his living expenses for days.
If he got lucky and it dropped a top-tier item, he might even make a fortune in one go.
In other games, BOSSes were always fought over, and the competition was fierce.
They didn't want to miss an opportunity that had practically landed in their laps.
"Attack!"
The ten players charged fiercely at Bone Fire as it rose to its feet.
"Great Snake Entanglement."
"Two Snakes Follow and Entangle."
"Three Snakes Also Follow."
Before they even reached Bone Fire, Li Zheng and the others began shouting out their self-invented special moves.
As Eat Earth put it, win or lose, they had to make sure they looked intimidating.
But this attack didn't go as smoothly as their previous ones. Ink-black flames flared in Bone Fire's hollow eye sockets.
With a wave of its hand, several clumps of black fire peeled away from its body and flew toward Li Zheng and the others.
Li Zheng, who was charging at the front, had his Killing Intent Stirred. Leopard Head Zero Charge was struck by a fireball, and his body burst into flames.
The searing pain was unbearable. They twisted and rolled on the ground, but the flames showed no sign of going out.
The other seven players leaped over their burning bodies and continued charging at Bone Fire.
The moment they came into contact with Bone Fire, their own bodies caught fire too. But they endured the pain and kept biting and pecking, carving one crack after another into its bones.
Before long, all ten of them had burned to ash.
As the screen dimmed, a prompt sounded in their minds:
[Challenger Notice: Character has died. 10 points of Sacrificial Power deducted. (If Sacrificial Power is insufficient, it will become negative. You will be unable to purchase any items in the game shop.) Character enters a one-hour cooldown.]
The screen returned to the virtual interface. Li Zheng and the others immediately clicked the icon again, only for a prompt to appear:
[Character flesh and blood reshaping in progress... (Cooldown: 59 minutes 49 seconds).]
Realizing they couldn't reenter the game, they had no choice but to exit the virtual interface.
[Hardcore Players Chat Group (Online: 10)]
Broke to the Bone (Admin): What the hell? Why does the game have a respawn cooldown? Give me one more chance and I can definitely kill it.
Game Brick Mover: The realism in the Dark Land is so perfect that it's painful in its own way. Sure, we can set the pain feedback to 10%, but the pain from being burned just now still left me shaken. I nearly thought I was going to meet my great-grandma.
Playing Games Costs Money: It's fun, and the attribute boosts feel amazing, but it really does hurt. Bone Fire is way too strong. We're no match for it at level 2. I suggest leveling up before challenging it again.
Killing Intent Stirred: Oh my god, there's even a respawn cooldown? My plan to raise a level-100 Heavenly Python is on hold now. I feel awful.
Family Shared Godfather: Brothers, we've got a problem. The Welfare Officer has already left the group.
Broke to the Bone (Admin): Damn, Adoptive Father left the group... He's probably worried that spreading a pirated game will get him into trouble. Everyone, remember to keep this quiet. Don't share the download link, or it'll spread everywhere and get Adoptive Father in trouble with the authorities.
Unable to enter the game while under the respawn cooldown, the Hardcore Players Chat Group discussed what to do about it.
They decided they absolutely couldn't get "Adoptive Father" into trouble. They wouldn't share the download link with anyone outside the group.
Then they discussed the game world's background. During the conversation, Li Zheng brought up an idea.
Game Brick Mover: Brothers, should we find an organization to join?
Broke to the Bone: Agreed. Most people playing this game are willing to spend money. We could earn quite a bit by joining any organization.
Family Shared Godfather: Go ahead and find one, brothers. I'll follow right behind you. Wherever you go, I'll go too. I'm absolutely loyal.
The players in the group all agreed with the idea.
By "organization," they meant in-game player groups such as guilds and gangs.
The players in the Hardcore Players Chat Group were all brick movers. In the past, they had attached themselves to medium and large gaming groups, earning money by providing services to the groups' paying players.
This time would be no different. After testing out the game, the first thing they thought of was finding an in-game organization.
Seeing that all his buddies agreed, Li Zheng typed out a reply:
Game Brick Mover: I'll look for an organization on the forum. Wait here, brothers.
A string of copycat replies followed:
Adoptive Father, go and come back quickly!
Before you continue