Sister Pear's codename was "Pear."
She and her four teammates were searching all over town, determined not to miss a single corner.
Unfortunately, they had found nothing so far.
Just then...
The system notification announcing that Qin Feng had reached level 2 and unlocked the town's level rankings left all five members of Pear's team stunned.
"What's going on? Sister Pear, isn't this Shadow the guy who just went out alone?"
"I think so... he reached level 2 that fast?"
"Isn't the real issue that he killed a Bronze Grade miniboss?"
"We can't even kill ordinary mobs as a team, and he soloed a bronze boss? You've got to be kidding!"
"But the system notification can't be wrong..."
"He must've joined a team after leaving, right?"
"No, look at the rankings. He's the only one on the level leaderboard!"
On Shell Town's level leaderboard, there was currently only one name: "Shadow," sitting there all alone.
All five members of Pear's team found it unbelievable.
"Uh..."
Sister Pear froze on the spot, her longbow in hand.
She had experienced firsthand how powerful the Demons outside were in this strange game.
The five of them had gone out as a team, only to be slaughtered by a single ordinary level 1 mob! They hadn't even taken off half its health!
But now...
"Shadow," the man she had thought was heading out to get himself killed, had actually soloed a Bronze Grade boss?
"That makes no sense!"
Sister Pear began questioning everything she knew.
Niu Gang and Guan Xiaoya had just respawned in the middle of town.
The system informed them that their lifespans had been halved.
They had originally had forty or fifty years left. Now they had only twenty-odd years.
Their expressions turned grim.
Guan Xiaoya's face was a little pale. "Niu Gang, do you think this lifespan deduction could be real?"
Niu Gang shook his head vigorously. "Impossible. How could anything that bizarre happen in this world?"
Guan Xiaoya looked conflicted. "But we'd only just fallen asleep. How did we both end up here? This clearly isn't a dream, and if it's a game... it's way too realistic."
Niu Gang was starting to feel uncertain too.
Just then.
The notification announcing that Qin Feng had killed the Broodmother and reached level 2 rang out in the couple's minds!
Both were instantly startled.
"What? Someone actually killed that giant spider that was two and a half meters tall?"
"Who's this 'Shadow'? How could he kill that giant spider?"
"That's impossible. That giant spider had more than a dozen smaller spiders under it..."
Niu Gang and Guan Xiaoya began questioning everything they knew.
They hadn't had the slightest ability to fight back against that giant spider.
Yet "Shadow" had actually killed it outright!
And with "Shadow" sitting all alone on the leaderboard, they had no choice but to suspect that he had killed the Broodmother solo!
That made it even harder for them to believe their eyes!
More and more players were arriving in the Land Abandoned by the Gods after falling asleep.
The number of players in Shell Town soon reached five hundred.
New players in black robes were already everywhere in the town square.
Some newcomers grabbed anyone they could find and asked what was going on.
Unfortunately, no one could answer that question.
Most people were utterly confused.
But some players had realized that there was more to this than met the eye.
A young man with dyed blond hair was waving and calling out in the square:
"Everyone, we all fell asleep and ended up in this so-called 'Land Abandoned by the Gods.'"
"We can't leave the game yet. According to the notifications, killing monsters gives us lifespan, while dying cuts our lifespan in half."
"Whether it's real or not, let's play it safe. No one should go out alone."
"Quite a few players have already been killed by the Demons outside and lost lifespan..."
"I suggest we form a group and explore together. That'll be safer."
"Anyone who wants to head out with me, come sign up and register your class..."
Some listened to the blond young man, while others couldn't be bothered.
Near another exit from town, three men and three women had already formed a team.
Their leader was a burly man who looked tough and formidable.
His name was Wang Meng.
Wang Meng watched the central square from afar, hearing the blond young man's faint calls without paying them any mind.
He told the five people beside him, "With this Godforsaken Game, we're better off assuming it's real than dismissing it. Let's treat it like a normal game for now and go explore. As long as we can kill monsters and level up, it won't do us any harm."
"As for lifespan, just make sure you don't die. I'm a Holy Shield Warrior, and I started with an invincibility skill. I can block damage for you, so all you need to do is deal as much damage as you can."
Wang Meng had observed and handpicked his teammates, all of whom had hidden classes.
A lineup like this was definitely strong enough!
Meanwhile.
There were also some gaming addicts in Shell Town who usually played ranked matches together.
Now they had entered the Godforsaken Game together.
"Holy shit, isn't this game our chance to really show what we can do?"
"Let's go, let's go, let's go!"
"We might not be great at other stuff, but gaming? Heh, who can beat the five of us?"
"A team in this Godforsaken Game can have up to six people. Aren't we one short?"
"Let's find a cute girl. We need a healer anyway, don't we?"
It wasn't just Shell Town.
There were already tens of thousands of towns, with more and more players gathering in them.
They were all humans who had fallen asleep at this time, their consciousnesses transported to the Land Abandoned by the Gods.
Whether they were in Great Xia, North America, or the West...
Almost everyone was completely bewildered when they first entered the Godforsaken Game.
Some players, however, had already begun taking it seriously, choosing to err on the side of belief.
Many powerful players had actually begun pulling ahead of the others right from the start.
For example...
Qin Feng right now!
"Reaching level 2 unlocked the rankings and gave me 1 reputation point."
Qin Feng glanced at the system notification without paying it much mind.
Of course, the more reputation he had, the better. Later on, he could use it to buy high-tier items from NPCs.
At that moment, Qin Feng stood invisible before the Bronze Grade Broodmother's corpse, ready to collect his rewards.
First came the lifespan!
Qin Feng reached out and absorbed the grayish-white orb floating above the giant spider's corpse.
--
[You gained 46 days of lifespan (tradable).]
--
A single miniboss gave as much lifespan as more than a dozen ordinary mobs!
Normally, several full teams would have to join forces to take down this boss. Once the lifespan was divided evenly, each person wouldn't get much...
But Qin Feng had soloed the boss, so his haul was naturally substantial.
Next, Qin Feng pulled three pieces of loot from beneath the boss's corpse.
One of them was a skill book that made Qin Feng's eyes light up.
"Now I've hit the jackpot!"
--
[Skill book · Greedy Hand (bronze): Assassin-class skill book. Once learned, it can be used on Demon corpses, with a 20% chance of obtaining an additional set of loot rewards. Learning requirement: Level 1]
--
A 20% chance didn't look high.
But the key was...
Qin Feng could evolve this skill!
Before you continue