I'm a College Girl, and I've Got a Sweet Voice!

"Go, go, go! That first kill is mine!"

"Brothers of the Undying Stars Guild, assemble! Let's go flatten that Black Forest!"

After listening to the little nun Sivir's outrageously overdramatic pep talk for beginners,

the fifty newbies in baggy shorts and athletic tank tops were like huskies freshly released from their pens, howling as they prepared to charge toward the Black Forest.

In their eyes, this was just a beginner quest. Couldn't they simply find a Zero Tier monster and punch it to death?

Yet Lin En, seated inside the Divine Statue, nearly spat out the virtual tea he had just drunk when he saw what they were doing.

"Fuck, do these players have some kind of misunderstanding about fully immersive hardcore survival?"

Lin En watched the system backend. "Going into the Black Forest dressed like that, with bare arms and empty hands? If they run into a Zero Tier Corrupted Villager, they'll get pinned to the ground and chewed on like an all-you-can-eat buffet!"

If the newbies got wiped out, exhausted their free revivals, and had no Ash Coins in their pockets, wouldn't they all go bankrupt ten minutes into the game?

Who would advance the Fog Town main quest for him then?

"No, I can't let them deliver themselves as takeout. I have to force them to team up!"

With a thought, Lin En brought down a server-wide system warning right in the center of everyone's vision!

[Deity's oracle!]

[The depths of the Black Forest teem with deadly horrors and madness! This is no nightmare that newly born apostles can face alone!]

[Survival advice: beginner players are strongly advised to form combat squads of 5-10 members! Explore alongside veteran players who possess exclusive, no-longer-obtainable titles!]

[Notice: once your free revivals have been used up, dying will cost 10 Ash Coins to revive. Please treasure your lives!]

"Huh?!"

The newbies who had been about to sprint off slammed on the brakes when they saw the glaring words "dying will cost" in their vision.

"Dying costs money? We only get one free revival?"

[Immortal Star Crazy Young Master] swallowed.

Half his swagger vanished in an instant.

"And the system actually sent a warning in red? It even recommends exploring with veteran players?"

"This game's mechanics are way too hardcore! Wouldn't we just be throwing our lives away if we went out empty-handed?"

Just as the fifty newbies exchanged looks, unsure what to do,

"Ahem!"

[Ji Luo] cleared his throat on the Church's stone steps.

Accompanied by [Passing Pure-Love Warrior] and three other veteran players from the First Closed Beta, he slowly descended the steps like a savior, clad in a dark gray Ash robe with a glittering golden title overhead.

As their tactical mastermind, Ji Luo had actually been thinking along the wrong lines earlier, too.

He really had intended to wait for these newbies to die and come back before selling them weapons at a markup, but the system's red warning instantly brought him to his senses.

"That's right! Our goal is to conquer Fog Town. These fifty people are our future main force!"

"If we let them go bankrupt and quit right at the start, who's going to be our meat shields?"

[Ji Luo] quietly discussed it with the other four. "We need to set up a guild system! Help them level up and take a cut of their long-term earnings!"

Walking up to the newbies, [Ji Luo] abandoned his earlier aloofness and put on the face of an utterly dependable older brother.

"All you new brothers here, you've seen the system warning."

[Ji Luo] pointed toward the distant Black Forest, his expression serious.

"This isn't one of those online games where you mow everything down."

"The Zero Tier monsters outside aren't just strong and immune to pain-their bones are as hard as pig iron! If you fight them with your bare fists, you'll only break your bones and die for nothing. There's no other outcome!"

"Then... what should we do, boss?" a newbie asked timidly.

"Team up! Veterans leading beginners!"

[Even Monkeys Have Dignity] immediately stepped forward.

He hauled out a large bundle of [Flint Spears] and [Simple Stone Hammers] they had crafted the night before when they had nothing else to do.

"We've got five level-seven experts here, so each of us can take ten people!"

"Join a team, and we'll lend you these handcrafted beginner armor-piercing weapons for free! Plus, we'll personally teach you how to level up fast!"

The newbies' eyes instantly lit up.

"We get a deal that good? Free weapons? And guaranteed hands-on instruction?"

Kuang Shao looked incredulous. These veteran players were far too kind!

"Of course, there's no such thing as a free lunch."

[I'm Not Jiahao] adjusted his Ash-simulated monocle and added the most important clause in a solemn tone. "As a fee for weapon wear and tactical command, we'll take thirty percent of the Ash Coins dropped by monsters your teams kill in the field as a guild development fund."

"All the experience points are yours."

"A thirty-percent cut? I'll consider it tuition! No problem at all!"

"Boss, I want to join your team! I used to be awesome at playing tanks. I'll be your meat shield!"

"Pick me, pick me! I'm a college girl, and I've got a sweet voice!"

For penniless newbies who had only just entered the game, paying a little toll in exchange for an expert's protection and weapons was an incredible bargain!

In just five minutes, the fifty newbies were divided into five standard ten-person squads, each led by a veteran from the First Closed Beta.

This assembly-line army, nominally devoted to "mutual aid in pioneering" but actually serving as "the veteran players' initial accumulation of capital," was officially established!

The imposing fifty-five-person pioneering force slowly left the Sanctuary Barrier surrounding the Ash Church, which glowed with a faint blue light.

The instant every player's heels had fully crossed the barrier, the entire world's atmosphere abruptly changed.

Without the Deity's aura filtering it, the Wasteland World's oppressively suffocating, authentic terror hit them with almost physical force.

The Black Forest ahead resembled an ancient beast lying dormant in the gray mist.

The withered, monstrous trees towered dozens of meters high, their branches twisted like countless ghostly hands clawing desperately at the sky.

Thick black miasma filled the woods. The air reeked of rotting, fermenting earth, accompanied by faint, piercing howls that seemed to rise from the depths of hell.

What was more, as a sinister wind swept through the canopy, everyone distinctly felt a bone-chilling cold shoot from the soles of their feet straight to the backs of their heads.

"Gulp..."

[Passing Pure-Love Warrior], walking at the very front, swallowed involuntarily, his palm growing slightly sweaty around the Pimple Mace.

Despite holding his head high and puffing out his chest, even finding time to turn up his robe's collar to look cool, he was actually freaking out inside!

This was no joke!

These five veteran players from the First Closed Beta were also approaching the Black Forest for the first time!

"Warrior, isn't the atmosphere in these woods dialed up a little too damn creepy?"

Walking off to one side, [Even Monkeys Have Dignity] lowered his voice, scanning the shadows around the tree trunks while rubbing the goose bumps on his arms.

"Why do I feel like all those tumor-like patches of bark around us are staring straight at us?"

"Stay calm! All of you, stay fucking calm!"

[Ji Luo] reminded them through gritted teeth, "All fifty of our new underlings are watching from behind!"

"We're experts now! We're their guides!"

"Even if Ultraman jumps out in front of us, you'd better put on a calm face that says, 'This is just our everyday monster-grinding spot!'"

"Besides, we're only skirting the edges. We're definitely not going in! What the hell is there to be scared of?!"