One Slash, One Kill!

"Ji..."

[Passing Pure-Love Warrior] mechanically turned his head to look at Ji Luo, who had already begun discreetly backing away. Even the table leg in his hand was shaking.

"Who did you say... had the advantage again?"

[Ji Luo]'s eye twitched furiously as he struggled to preserve his dignity as a master tactician. "The advantage is... is with it!"

"Fuck, run! Is this seriously something that can spawn in the starter village? You heartless devs!"

With a piercing shriek that tore through the air, the Cave Stalker, over two meters tall, leaped down from the ruins!

Its six sharp, jointed legs scraped against the ground with an ear-splitting screech. As fast as a dump truck barreling along at full speed, it charged straight at the remaining four.

"Scatter! Split up! This thing's armor is so thick our wooden sticks aren't even good enough to scrub its back!"

[Ji Luo] roared, executed a crisp tactical roll, and dove straight behind a half-collapsed stone wall nearby.

[Passing Pure-Love Warrior] howled as he took off toward the village entrance, his flashy white hair bobbing along.

Bossy Guy might have looked simple and honest, but he was genuinely quick on his feet, racing along behind Lu Ziye like the wind.

Only [I'm Not Jiahao] remained.

Who knew whether this guy still hadn't adjusted to the game's controls or had marinated in his poser persona for too long.

Faced with the terrifying beast hurtling toward him, he actually didn't run!

He simply stood there, swept aside the thick bangs covering his left eye with one hand, and narrowed his right eye slightly, attempting to drive it back with an aloof look that said he had "seen beyond life and death."

"A mere texture made from a few lines of low-level code dares to shake my shattered soul? It's just so... you know what I mean!"

The Cave Stalker clearly didn't.

It didn't even hit the brakes. Its two sharp forelegs slashed down like enormous guillotine blades.

"Splurch!"

Before Jiahao could finish a single quote, his upper and lower halves parted ways, dissolving into a beautiful cloud of ash in midair.

[System notification: Player [I'm Not Jiahao] has died.]

"Boss Jia made that exit look so effortless!"

Pure-Love Warrior, running ahead, glanced back and sucked in a breath.

This monster's instant-kill mechanic was completely unfair!

One slash, one kill!

As Pure-Love Warrior and Bossy Guy fled blindly, they happened to pass the dry well at the village entrance.

By sheer coincidence, the three [Zero Tier Corrupted Villagers] were crouched beside the well, staring blankly into space.

These three cannon-fodder mobs weren't particularly bright to begin with. With the Cave Stalker on a rampage, they had huddled in place, trembling in terror, and even forgotten to flee.

As [Passing Pure-Love Warrior] passed them, inspiration flashed through his mind.

"Wait! We might have an Elite Monster locked onto us, but we can't leave empty-handed!"

As members of the Fourth Catastrophe, even if they died, they had to take a few bites out of the monsters first!

"Bossy Guy! Stop! Grab your weapons!"

[Passing Pure-Love Warrior] slammed on the brakes, his feet plowing two furrows through the muddy ground.

He raised the broken wooden stick in his hand and, without a moment's hesitation, swung it viciously at the back of the nearest Corrupted Villager's head!

"Eighty!"

Thud!

The poor Zero Tier mob was already fragile. Lu Ziye's heavy blow smashed its skull clean open, and it collapsed, twitching, before dissolving into a puddle of foul-smelling black water.

Immediately afterward, a crisp system chime rang out in Lu Ziye's mind:

[Killed a Zero Tier Corrupted Villager. Gained EXP +10, Ash Coins +2.]

"Holy shit! It actually dropped coins!"

At that delightful chime, Ji Luo, hiding behind the stone wall, and Bossy Guy, who had been about to run, instantly saw red.

For an online gamer, the most terrifying thing in the world wasn't facing a boss. It was realizing, right before that boss killed you, that you hadn't even earned back the cost of this respawn!

"Boys! Money over life! Kill the other two mobs before we die!"

[Ji Luo] stopped hiding. He pried a broken brick half the size of a head from the ground and charged out, his eyes gleaming with greed.

Bossy Guy pulled two pebbles from his pocket as well. His simple, honest expression vanished, replaced by the unmistakable air of a desperate outlaw.

Now it was the Cave Stalker's turn to be bewildered.

Its walnut-sized brain worked furiously, utterly unable to comprehend the scene before it.

Why had the prey it had just been chasing into a panic suddenly stopped running?

And not only had these lunatics stopped running, they had actually started viciously ganging up on its lackeys right in front of their boss?!

Thud! Thud! Crack!

The three players surrounded the remaining two Corrupted Villagers and subjected them to a merciless physical exorcism.

Brick, stick, and pebbles rained down on their heads.

Before their boss could come to the rescue, the two poor Zero Tier mobs were beaten to pieces by these players who valued money over their lives.

[Killed a Zero Tier Corrupted Villager. Gained EXP +10, Ash Coins +2.]

[Killed a Zero Tier Corrupted Villager. Gained EXP +10, Ash Coins +2.]

"Nice! Split the loot and retreat!" [Passing Pure-Love Warrior] shouted.

"ROAR!"

The Cave Stalker completely lost its cool, feeling that its dignity as the local overlord had been gravely challenged!

It let out an ear-piercing shriek, its massive body springing into the air as a sharp, jointed leg punched straight through the chest of Bossy Guy, who was closest.

"Lu, little Ji, I'm heading out first!"

Bossy Guy didn't even cry out in pain. Before turning to ash, he clung desperately to the monster's leg, trying to buy his teammates time to escape.

But the difference in speed was simply too great.

The monster shook off Bossy Guy's ashes and charged, its forelegs sweeping through them like a scythe through grass.

[Passing Pure-Love Warrior] and [Ji Luo] didn't even have time to leave any last words before their vision turned black and white.

A total party wipe.

At the same time.

Inside the dilapidated church on the edge of the Black Forest.

The Resurrection Array in the center of the sanctuary flashed wildly, white light flickering like a malfunctioning neon sign.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Five figures re-formed within the circle in a neat line.

The moment they opened their eyes, the atmosphere in the church dropped to freezing.

[Passing Pure-Love Warrior], sporting his white hair, said nothing. He simply lunged, pinned Ma Lou to the floor, and clamped both hands around his neck, shaking him back and forth:

"You grabby little bastard!"

"I told you not to touch it! But you just had to yank that fucking mushroom!"

"Was that even a mushroom?! That was a death warrant!"

"Cough, cough... bro, stop choking me! My eyes are about to roll back!"

Ma Lou flailed both hands. "This game's pain settings are fucking intense! Go easy! How was I supposed to know this shitty game's ecosystem was so messed up? Who the hell makes mushrooms with eyes?!"

[Ji Luo] also sat on the floor looking utterly dead inside, rubbing his temples:

"Three minutes into the game, and all five of us got sent back to town."

"If someone records this and posts it on the forum, our elite First Closed Beta squad might as well use its reputation to prop up a wobbly table."