Players in the Nine Provinces had actually been mentally prepared for Lu Xiu's dungeon torture.
After all, it wasn't like they hadn't played Sekiro.
They had even experienced that hellish scenario of running barehanded through an asylum while being chased. Players from the Nine Provinces had truly thought they were fully prepared.
But the facts proved otherwise.
They still hadn't prepared themselves enough----
Whether Sekiro counted as a Soulslike had always been debated.
It was certainly difficult, but it didn't have that much malice.
In Sekiro, players usually died because they lacked skill, failed to grasp the rhythm of Deflects, or failed to perform a Mikiri Counter or jump in time against Perilous Attacks.
After dying, players would curse about how hard it was, how difficult the moves were, and how ridiculous the enemies were, but inwardly, they would also curse themselves for being too greedy and not good enough.
But being chased through an asylum barehanded was pure horror-atmosphere pressure. Players understood the situation of the reporter they played; they knew that as long as they ran fast enough and hid well enough, they could survive.
But in [Dark Souls]----
Put it this way.
In this dungeon, death often had absolutely nothing to do with whether the player's controls were good or whether they could run fast.
Players from the Nine Provinces had assumed an SSS-rated dungeon would be difficult because monsters had high stats, dazzling moves, and a long progression.
But what Lu Xiu's [Dark Souls] revealed from the very beginning was something completely different. Its most obvious difficulty was the malicious way it attacked players' psychology and habits.
And this temperament was already on full display in the very first map.
The Asylum Demon was a perfect example.
The moment players entered, they were thrown into a