After listening to [Ji Luo]'s instructions, the other four quickly took a deep breath.
They forced their expressions to stay composed, even deliberately putting on an air of casual ease.
Meanwhile, the fifty newbies following behind them were already so overwhelmed by the Cthulhu atmosphere of this 100% holographic simulation that their legs had gone weak.
"B-boss... isn't this game a little too realistic?"
[Immortal Star Crazy Young Master] followed Lu Ziye, trembling. His earlier boast about "flattening the Black Forest" had long since vanished into thin air.
He pointed at a strange tree beside them that was oozing black slime, his voice shaking. "Why do I feel like this tree is alive? I kind of need to pee in real life..."
"Look at you pathetic lot!"
Lu Ziye turned around, tossed his flashy silver-white hair, and swept a deeply contemptuous gaze over the newbies, instantly switching into award-winning show-off mode.
"It's just environmental textures the art team made to show off! Look how scared you are."
"This is what we call an immersive experience, get it? This black fog, these sound effects-how epic is that?"
"Remember, in this game, as long as a monster dares to show its health bar, even if a god shows up, we're still going to squeeze some loot out of him!"
Lu Ziye tapped the dead tree trunk beside him with his spiked club, producing a couple of dull thuds.
"Stay close behind me, and don't step on random vines. When we run into Zero Tier monsters, don't freak out. Focus fire exactly as I tell you!"
With this "casual" reassurance from a First Closed Beta veteran, Kuang Shao and the other newbies immediately found someone they could rely on.
"That's a veteran for you! He's rock steady even in an environment that drains your sanity!"
"Is this the confidence of a Lv. 7 player? I feel so safe!"
"That protection fee was worth every coin!"
Their eyes full of admiration, the newbies gripped their rented, battered wooden spears and followed close behind the veterans like chicks trailing a mother hen.
At that moment, the group split up completely, heading in different directions to explore the Black Forest.
At the edge of the Black Forest.
[Passing Pure-Love Warrior] carried his Pimple Mace over his shoulder and led ten newbies through the dead grass in a crouch.
"Everyone, keep your footsteps light. Environmental sounds here can attract monsters," Lu Ziye instructed in a low voice.
Just then, two wandering [Zero Tier Corrupted Villagers] appeared beside a dry stream a short distance ahead.
"There's our prey!"
Lu Ziye's eyes lit up. He turned to the newbies behind him, whose palms were already sweating with nerves. "Kuang Shao! Take three people with stone spears around to the left! The rest of you, follow me and draw aggro from the front! I'll show you the art of high-level combat!"
"Go!"
Kuang Shao took a deep breath, gripped his Flint Spear tightly, and charged out after Lu Ziye.
Hearing the commotion, the two monsters lunged at them with snarls.
"Watch closely! The monsters in this game don't have super armor, and they're subject to physical inertia!"
Instead of retreating, Lu Ziye advanced. Just as a monster was about to pounce on him, he dropped into a tactical slide, even conjuring a faint Ashen Missile in his hand.
Boom!
Spark-filled black smoke exploded right in the monster's face, instantly triggering the "blindness" mechanic!
"Now! Stab its knee joints!"
Lu Ziye roared.
Kuang Shao and the others were nervous, but they were still experienced gamers.
Seeing the monster stagger, they raised their stone spears and drove them hard into the backs of its knees!
Squelch! Crack!
At that moment, the physics engine of the 100% holographic simulation was on full display.
With spears wedged into its knee joints, the monster's massive body lost its balance, and it crashed to its knees in the mud.
"Smash the back of its head!"
Lu Ziye leaped up. His Pimple Mace whistled through the air, and a single crushing blow shattered the monster's skull.
[System notification: Zero Tier Corrupted Villager slain. Party experience +10, Ash Coins +2.]
"Holy shit! That was badass!"
"Those collision physics! That teamwork! Absolutely insane!"
Watching the Zero Tier monster dissolve into black water on the ground, the newbies flushed bright red with excitement.
The realistic resistance as their spears pierced flesh, along with the dull tremor when the monster hit the ground, sent these hardcore gaming enthusiasts into a frenzy.
Now this was a truly revolutionary online game!
By comparison, all those reskinned games they'd played before, where you stood still and competed over stats, were nothing but industrial garbage!
"Don't just stand there! These woods are full of walking Ash Coins! Keep pushing!"
[Passing Pure-Love Warrior] swept his arm forward with the commanding air of a general.
After experiencing the incredible thrill of "hardcore hunting," the fifty newbies had completely forgotten their fear.
Once the nature of the fourth catastrophe was unleashed, neither the Black Forest's miasma nor its atmosphere of indescribable horror mattered. In their eyes, everything had turned into bright green experience bars!
For the entire morning that followed, the outskirts of the Black Forest became a playground for these five "sweep squads."
"Two behind that tree on the left! Squad three, flank them! Don't let them get away!"
"Watch your positioning! Front line, brace your stone shields! Back line, stab their kidneys with your spears!"
"Where's the healer... oh, right, we don't have one yet. If you're low on health, fall back! Don't fucking charge in and feed! Reviving costs ten coins!"
Under the direction of [Ji Luo] and the other four veteran players, the newbies learned incredibly fast.
They were already skilled players in various games. Now they were merely working with a more realistic physics engine, and after a little adjustment, their combat strength soared.
Crack!
With a sharp snap, the [Flint Spear] Kuang Shao had used to stab more than a dozen monsters finally gave out. The sharp stone lashed to its tip shattered outright.
"Oh, damn! My weapon broke!"
Kuang Shao froze for a moment. Looking at the bare wooden stick in his hand, he quickly turned to [Passing Pure-Love Warrior]. "Warrior, why does weapon durability drop so fast?"
Lu Ziye was already laughing with delight inside, but he put on an utterly helpless, compassionate expression and patted Kuang Shao's shoulder.
"Brother, this is a 100% holographic world with realistic physics."
"You're smashing rocks against monsters' hard bones. How could they not wear down quickly?"
Like a seasoned salesman, Lu Ziye reached beneath his long robe, pulled out two brand-new stone spears, and handed them over.
"Same price as always. Two Ash Coins each."
"This is stock I stayed up grinding out last night. Supplies are limited, so it's first come, first served!"
Kuang Shao gritted his teeth. Looking at the dozen or so Ash Coins in his account that he'd just earned from killing monsters, he accepted the trade without hesitation.
"I'll buy them! How am I supposed to fight monsters without a weapon? This deal's guaranteed to pay off!"
These newbies had no idea that they were falling into an utterly absurd, interlocking "cyber labor" trap.
They worked their asses off killing monsters, only for the veterans to take 30% as a "guild protection fee." Then they had to spend what remained buying disposable weapons from those same veterans-weapons that cost practically nothing to make, cobbled together from any old rotten stick and broken rock!
Before you continue