Gundyr the Teacher Begins Class!

"Swipe the card! Ten thousand gold soul coins! I'll add more if it isn't enough!"

Yan Shaozhe slapped a golden Treasure Pavilion card onto the counter.

"Boss, let's be clear first. With these ten thousand gold coins, I want to reserve the use of that machine in there every day from now on, exclusively for Xiaotao! Use the rest to reserve a few more machines for me. I'm bringing those little brats from the inner court over for special training!"

Lu Yuan accepted the card with a smile and deftly swiped away ten thousand gold soul coins.

"Dean Yan, how generous! Don't worry, VIP customers get priority. I've already arranged Senior Xiaotao's Iceborne treatment."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ma Xiaotao climbed into the silver-white gaming pod.

To her, the Hoarfrost Reach there offered a rare sense of peace and freedom.

After watching Ma Xiaotao lie down in the gaming pod and seeing her expression gradually relax, Yan Shaozhe's perpetually tense shoulders finally loosened.

Having dealt with his disciple's matter, Yan Shaozhe's gaze fell upon a black screen on the second floor that radiated a cold, sinister aura.

That screen displayed none of Monster Hunter's magnificent scenery. There was only a dim, gray ruin, permeated by a suffocating atmosphere.

At the center of the image stood a spiraled sword, beside which sat a lifeless, armored corpse.

"Boss, I heard you mention another new game earlier?" Yan Shaozhe pointed at the screen. "You said it can train the soul and one's state of mind? Is it even more formidable than that Anjanath?"

"Formidable?" Lu Yuan shook his head. "No, it doesn't pursue being formidable. What it pursues is... hope within despair!"

Lu Yuan walked over to the machine, and his tone grew solemn.

"This game is called Dark Souls 3. Here, you are no longer a lofty Titled Douluo. You have no martial soul or soul skills. You are merely a lowly Ashen One who cannot even die properly."

"What you must face are long-dead gods, crazed Lords of Cinder, and the end of the world."

Yan Shaozhe was left dumbfounded by those words.

Gods? Lords of Cinder? The end of the world?

The setting sounded even grander than Monster Hunter's!

"Interesting." Yan Shaozhe's pride as an expert was stirred. "I'd like to see what kind of game can make me feel despair!"

"Start this machine for me! I refuse to believe that, with my level-97 spiritual power, I can't control a game character!"

Lu Yuan made an inviting gesture, the smile on his lips growing brighter.

"May you... enjoy linking the fire! One friendly reminder: don't get greedy."

[Game launched: Dark Souls 3]

[Loading: High Wall of Lothric...]

[Character created: Knight.]

Yan Shaozhe opened his eyes, and the smell of mildew hit him head-on.

The sky was a bleak gray-white. In the distance stood towering yet ruined castles, while bells mingled with the wind, sounding like funeral knells.

Yan Shaozhe looked down at himself. He wore a battered suit of plate armor, the straight sword in his hand had a chipped edge, and his shield looked as though it might shatter at any moment.

"This is my body?" Yan Shaozhe frowned.

Weak.

Far too weak.

He felt as though he would be out of breath after running just a few steps.

He tried swinging his sword. The movement was heavy and sluggish, utterly unlike reality.

"So this is what it feels like to be an ordinary person?" Though Yan Shaozhe was uncomfortable, he did not take it to heart.

He followed a small path through the graveyard and encountered several skeletal hollows along the way.

Yan Shaozhe casually cut them down with two swings. The controls felt unfamiliar, but it was still easy enough.

"That's it?" Yan Shaozhe could not help laughing. "The boss was exaggerating too much! Even a soul master like Huo Yuhao could kill monsters like these with ease."

He bulldozed his way forward and soon arrived at a massive circular plaza.

At the center of the plaza, a giant in heavy armor knelt on one knee.

A Coiled Sword was embedded in the giant's body. Though he remained motionless, the oppressive aura he exuded still made Yan Shaozhe feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"So this is the boss?"

Yan Shaozhe walked up to the giant and looked at the conspicuous prompt: [Pull out the Coiled Sword]

"Hmph. Putting on airs."

Yan Shaozhe reached out and yanked the sword free.

Boom—!

The instant the sword was pulled out, the previously silent giant suddenly moved.

Black energy erupted from his body, and two red lights ignited within the hollow eye sockets of his helmet.

Ashen Judge—Teacher Gundyr had awakened!

"Come on! Let me see what you've got!" Yan Shaozhe shouted, raising his shield.

Gundyr slowly rose to his feet. The massive halberd in his hand scraped across the ground, scattering sparks. Then...

Without any warning, the enormous halberd swept toward him with a howl of wind!

"So fast!" Yan Shaozhe was startled. He instinctively tried to teleport with soul power, but he did not move an inch.

Bang!

The halberd smashed fiercely into his shield.

Yan Shaozhe felt an overwhelming force crash into him. He staggered backward, his shield nearly flying from his hand, while his green stamina bar was instantly emptied!

"My guard was broken?"

Before he could steady himself, Gundyr's second attack had already arrived.

A heavy downward chop!

"Dodge!" Yan Shaozhe desperately rolled backward.

The roll was utterly undignified. There was none of a Super Douluo's bearing left in him; he looked like a beggar rolling through the mud.

"Damn it! This body is too clumsy!"

Yan Shaozhe was seething. Spotting the gap after Gundyr finished his attack, he rushed forward and slashed Gundyr's thigh three times.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The health bar dropped by a small portion.

"It worked!" Yan Shaozhe's eyes lit up. "As long as I can break through his defense, I can whittle you to death!"

However, he had forgotten Lu Yuan's warning: Don't get greedy.

Just as he prepared to strike a fourth time—

Gundyr suddenly slammed into him with his shoulder!

Bang! Yan Shaozhe was sent flying, and half his health bar vanished in an instant.

"That hurts so much?"

Yan Shaozhe sucked in a sharp breath. The pain here had been weakened, but the terror of feeling his life slip away was real!

Just as he fumbled to drink an Estus Flask—

Gundyr's health fell to 50%.

Roar—!

A scalp-numbing roar rang out.

Gundyr's back suddenly exploded, and a massive mass of black sludge burst forth. It resembled a mixture of petroleum and a swarm of snakes, instantly transforming into a grotesque monster!

Pus of Man!

What had been a relatively normal knightly duel abruptly changed into something entirely different!

The massive black claw came crashing down at him, carrying an even more terrifying range and attack power!

"What the hell is that?"

Yan Shaozhe's pupils abruptly contracted. The sight before him completely exceeded his understanding!

He wanted to run, but the enormous black monster's attacks covered far too much ground.

Smack! A claw came down.

Yan Shaozhe's vision instantly turned black and white.

Blood-red words appeared in the center of the screen: [YOU DIED]

In the real world, on the second floor.

Yan Shaozhe abruptly tore off his helmet. His face was pale, and his entire body was drenched in cold sweat.

"Dead... I died?"

He was a level-97 Super Douluo, yet he had been instantly killed by a gatekeeping boss in the beginner tutorial?

That sense of helplessness, that terror of being crushed by a monster, made this powerhouse standing at the peak of the continent experience the feeling of being "weak" for the first time in a long while.

"How did it feel, Dean Yan?"

Lu Yuan leaned against the railing, holding the unfinished bottle of Sprite in his hand, smiling brightly.

"That was Dark Souls' first lesson—humility."

"That boss is called Gundyr. We respectfully call him Teacher Gundyr. He teaches every new fire-linker this: no matter how strong you once were, here, you are only an ordinary person who might be bitten to death by a stray dog on the roadside."

Yan Shaozhe took a deep breath, trying to calm his still-racing heart.

He was very unwilling to accept it.

But he had to admit that he had underestimated his opponent, gotten greedy, and been thrown into disarray by that monster's transformation.

If I had stayed calmer, if I had observed his movements more...

"Again!"

Yan Shaozhe gritted his teeth and put the helmet back on.

"I refuse to believe it! I'm the great Bright Phoenix Douluo, and I can't even beat a gatekeeper!"

Over the next hour.

Yan Shaozhe's cries of alarm continuously rang out from the VIP area on the second floor:

"Fuck! It can grab me too?"

"Drink the potion! Drink it! Ah, why can't I move while drinking a potion?!"

"I died again? The hit detection is broken, isn't it?!"

"Don't transform! Don't transform! I was wrong, don't transform!"

Downstairs.

Wang Dong and Wang Qiuer stopped bickering, while Xu Sanshi and Bei Bei also took off their helmets.

Everyone looked toward the second floor in unspoken agreement, their expressions somewhat strange.

"Um... is that Dean Yan upstairs?" Xu Sanshi swallowed. "Why does it sound like... he's having an even worse time than we did fighting the Anjanath yesterday?"

Huo Yuhao was wiping down a table. Hearing this, he quietly said, "The boss said that game is called Journey of Suffering. Apparently, anyone who can clear it is practically a god."

Wang Dong's eyes lit up. "It's harder than Monster Hunter? Then this young master definitely has to try it!"

Finally.

After the screen turned gray for the eighth time—

"Drink this! Die already!"

Accompanied by Yan Shaozhe's furious roar—

On the screen, Gundyr, who had already mutated into a black monster, finally let out a wail and dissolved into ashes.

[Defeated the Heir of Fire!]

[Obtained: Coiled Sword!]

Yan Shaozhe removed his helmet. He looked as though he had just been hauled out of water, slumped limply in his chair.

Yet his eyes shone with an excited light.

He had won!

The exhilaration of finding an opening amid despair, learning from countless deaths, and finally defeating a powerful enemy... was even more satisfying than breaking through a level of soul power!

More importantly, he could feel that after being repeatedly tempered, his spiritual power had become more solid, and his state of mind had grown much steadier.

"Good game... it really is a good game!" Yan Shaozhe muttered.

He suddenly turned toward Lu Yuan, his eyes filled with fanaticism. "Boss! This game has to be made a required course for the inner court!"

"Those little brats are all arrogant and conceited, looking down on everyone just because they're geniuses. They need to come here and let Teacher Gundyr teach them how to behave!"

Lu Yuan snapped his fingers, his smile unchanged. "No problem! As long as the money is there, Teacher Gundyr is ready at any time."

"Since you're so satisfied, Dean, can we discuss... the discount for Shrek Academy's group membership cards?"

Yan Shaozhe waved a hand.

"No discount! Full price! As long as it can grind down those little monsters' arrogance, what does this bit of money matter?"

"Tomorrow! Tomorrow, I'll drag Dai Yueheng, Ling Luochen, and all the others here!"

"I'll let them learn what a real beating from society feels like!"