First Victory in the Initial Battle

"Roar--!!!"

Black mist surged, and a foul, fishy wind hit their faces. The first wave of Void Locusts broke through the defensive line.

In the players' field of vision, these originally microscopic bacteria were rendered by the system into hideous, half-mechanical, half-biological monsters. They were the size of large dogs, their carapaces flowing with toxic green code, and their sharp mouthparts, resembling rotating reamers, emitted a nauseating stench.

There was no such thing as a newbie protection period.

A locust kicked off its hind legs, launching itself like a black cannonball straight at Chen Feng, who was at the very front!

"Well come."

Chen Feng's eyes narrowed. As a former professional gaming god, his consciousness instantly completed the entire process from prediction to tactical formulation.

A slide to the left to dodge the pounce, followed by a backhand stab.

This was muscle memory he had carved into his bones during his time in God's Domain.

His brain issued the command.

However--

"Damn it!"

Chen Feng's pupils contracted violently.

He had realized it, but his body hadn't kept up.

This new LV.1 body was like a rusty old machine; the severe lag caused his movements to deform.

Rip!

What should have been a perfect dodge turned into a clumsy stumble. Although he avoided a fatal strike to the throat, his left shoulder was still viciously torn open by the locust's sharp claws.

[-35! (Bleeding)]

[Warning: External armor damaged!]

Intense pain instantly spread throughout his entire body. Although the pain sensation had been dampened by the system, the realistic feedback of "flesh being torn" still made him break out in a cold sweat.

Chen Feng retreated rapidly and immediately opened his [Character Panel].

[ID: Feng Xing Tian Xia]

[Class: Hunter (LV.1)]

[Status: Lightly Injured]

Strength: 6 (Physical Attack/Carry Capacity)

Agility: 9 (Movement Speed/Attack Speed/Neural Reaction)

Constitution: 5 (Health/Defense)

Spirit: 5 (Perception/Skills)

[Total Attribute Points: 25]

(Note: The average individual attribute for an adult male on Blue Star is 5, with a total of 20)

"Damn it..."

Chen Feng looked at that "Agility 9" and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with a bitter smile.

Although it was nearly double that of an ordinary person, this was already the initial limit for a Hunter. For the sake of balance, his Constitution and Spirit were at the lowest tier.

"Forget the identity of a god." Chen Feng took a deep breath, his eyes becoming cold and pragmatic. "Right now, I'm just cannon fodder with low stats."

The locust pounced again.

This time, Chen Feng didn't try to show off his skills. He utilized his only advantage—the bone blade.

The moment the claws were about to touch his face, he didn't retreat but instead lunged forward. At the cost of being scratched on the chest, he drove the bone blade in his hand deep into the monster's soft abdominal joint!

[Weak Point Strike! -80!]

On the other side, screams rose one after another.

Not everyone possessed Chen Feng's combat awareness. Faced with monsters of such extreme realism, many were knocked to the ground and bitten until they were a bloody mess.

"Help! It hurts! It really hurts!"

"This monster's attack power is too high! I'm already at low health after two hits!"

In the crowd, an unlucky guy with the ID Ye Shi Shen Zhi was surrounded by three locusts and instantly torn to pieces.

[Player "Ye Shi Shen Zhi" has died.]

His corpse turned into white light and dissipated, with all his equipment dropping to the ground.

Immediately after, everyone's system interface popped up with that bright red [Death Penalty Notification]:

[Warning: Player death.]

[Extracting "Core Energy" to reshape the physical body...]

[Penalty Assessment: Deducting 50% of current level experience, dropping 50% of "Bio-Energy" (currency) carried on the body.]

[Respawn wait time: 30 minutes.]

Seeing this prompt, the players who had been dreaming of an "infinite respawn" strategy instantly sobered up.

"Lose half our money? And experience points too?"

"This penalty is way too harsh! This isn't some fast-food game; this is a hardcore Soulslike!"

From his high-dimensional perspective, Gu Yuan watched everything with indifference. He hadn't been as ruthless as to "wipe" their progress, but he had to make the players feel the sting so they would learn to cooperate.

"Don't panic! Are all the Divine Guard players dead? Get up there and hold the line!"

A roar exploded across the chaotic Heart Core Plaza.

Wang Daqiang (ID: Dali Chu Qiji) crashed into the swarm of monsters like a moving mountain.

He also glanced at his stat panel; his total attributes were also 25 points, but the distribution was vastly different:

[Class: Divine Guard (LV.1)]

Strength: 8

Agility: 3 (Slow as a turtle)

Constitution: 9 (Thick-skinned)

Spirit: 5

A Void Locust bit down hard on his arm with a crisp sound. Only a white mark appeared on his heavy white plate armor.

[-8 (Blocked)]

"Hahahaha! Is that all you've got? You're just scratching me!"

Wang Daqiang laughed wildly. Although everyone had the same total stats, his years of heavy manual labor gave him a better understanding of how to use his center of gravity than those shut-ins.

He grabbed the Void Locust by the neck and, utilizing his 8 points of Strength, stood like a wall to block the swarm behind it.

"What are the Divine Guards doing! Follow my lead! Hold your positions!" Wang Daqiang shouted. "Where are the mages in the back? Zap them!"

With a tank absorbing the damage, the previously chaotic players finally found their rhythm.

Dozens of Spirit Pivot Envoy players stood in the back row. Their stat distribution was extremely specialized:

[Spirit Pivot Envoy (LV.1): Strength 4, Agility 5, Constitution 4, Spirit 12]

The high Spirit stat of 12 allowed them to channel more powerful energy.

Zzzzt—

Dozens of blue electric arcs focused fire on a single Void Locust.

[Class Trait: Nerve Block]

The monster instantly convulsed from the electricity, entering a state of paralysis.

"Healer! I'm low on health!" a Divine Guard in the front line shouted.

"Coming!"

Li You (ID: Yun Zhong You) rushed over with a heavy mechanical backpack on her back.

[Life Weaver (LV.1): Strength 5, Agility 6, Constitution 6, Spirit 8]

This was an all-rounder stat distribution, balancing survivability and support capabilities.

She rushed behind the player, pressed her hands against the wound, and activated her class skill.

[Skill: Bio-Gel Spray]

Consumes 20 Psionic Energy to restore the target's health per second and repair armor.

White foam gushed out, rapidly hardening into a scab.

The Divine Guard watched his health bar climb back up, overjoyed. "Awesome, sister! That's some solid healing! Brothers, with a healer here, what are we afraid of? Charge!"

"Charge!!"

Divine Guards tanking, Spirit Pivot Envoys controlling the field, Life Weavers healing, and Hunters reaping the kills.

The prototype of the iron triangle among the four major classes was quickly forced into existence under the pressure of survival.

When the players realized that although these monsters were fierce, they could be killed through cooperation, the greedy nature of the Fourth Calamity completely overwhelmed their fear.

"Don't steal it! This low-health one is mine!"

"That glowing orb that dropped is 'Bio-Energy'! Pick it up fast!"

Half an hour later.

As the last Void Locust had its neck severed by Chen Feng's blade, Heart Core Plaza finally returned to silence.

The ground was littered with green insect corpses and the shattered armor of the players.

Of the one thousand players, only about six hundred were still standing. The remaining three hundred-plus were in the dark room, counting down their respawn timers.

Chen Feng leaned against a massive, pillar-like muscle fiber, gasping for air.

His health bar was down to its final 10 points, and his blue bar (stamina) was completely depleted.

[Combat ended.]

[Total gains: Bio-energy +85 points.]

[Level progress: LV.1 (99%) -> LV.2!]

[Congratulations on leveling up! All attributes +1, gained free attribute points +2.]

"Leveled up..."

Chen Feng did not hesitate, immediately dumping those precious 2 free attribute points into [Agility].

Agility: 9 -> 12 (Level up +1, points added +2)

Chen Feng clenched his fist and tried swinging his arm.

Whoosh!

That heavy, sluggish feeling of his body failing to keep up with his consciousness had significantly faded. He felt as if his mind had become a bit clearer, as refreshed as if he had just woken up from a good night's sleep.

"The feedback mechanism in this game is truly well-made; even the thrill of 'getting stronger' is simulated so perfectly."

Chen Feng sighed in admiration, not thinking much of it, simply assuming it was a high-end effect of the brain-computer interface.

Just then, the system broadcast echoed across the plaza once more.

[Warriors, you have upheld your honor.]

[Server-wide announcement: Detected that the player base has accumulated sufficient "Bio-energy," now unlocking "Gene Shop (LV.1)".]

[Area unlocked: Crimson Star Path (First Defense Zone).]

Chen Feng closed the shop and looked up into the distance.

The City of Origin (Heart) where they were located was actually a super-continent suspended in the void.

And at the end of the plaza lay a grand passage leading into endless darkness.

It was the Crimson Star Path (Aorta), composed of countless gargantuan scarlet tubes.

It was as wide as a true galaxy, surging with torrents of golden-red energy. Standing at the entrance, players felt like ants standing on the banks of the Amazon River.

The system prompt chimed right on cue:

[Current location: City of Origin - Core Zone]

[Next destination: Gate of Judgment (Mitral Valve Defense Line)]

[Distance: 120,000 kilometers]

"One hundred and twenty thousand kilometers?"

Chen Feng was stunned.

He opened the mini-map and discovered that the so-called Gate of Judgment was merely a gate to leave this "newbie village."

As for the more distant regions on the map—such as the area marked as the Abyss of Storms (Lungs)—the unit of distance displayed was actually "light-years"?

"This map... isn't it a bit too big?"

Wang Daqiang leaned in, clicking his tongue as he looked at the map: "Are we going to run our legs off?"

Chen Feng shook his head, his gaze deep:

"With a map this big, there must be a vehicle system. But for now..."

He looked toward that deep Crimson Star Path, where countless black shadows could be vaguely seen wandering.

"We have to fight our way out of this gate first."