Hurricanes howled through the sky, churning the red clouds.
After a thunderclap, black lightning crawled across the heavens like a spiderweb, vanishing seconds later.
Across the land, chains of volcanoes erupted violently. Winding streams of crimson fire swallowed every living thing in their path, and the air reeked of sulfur and scorched earth. Under the dark red crescent moon, the highest mountain ridge gleamed blood-red, like a blazing, serrated sword cleaving at the sky, as though intent on piercing that heavy curtain.
Countless terrifying monsters roamed heaven and earth.
There was the eighteen-headed Xieqi, as tall as a mountain; the Frost Behemoth, whose breath could freeze ten thousand miles; the Redwing Cryer, whose wings could carry it ten thousand miles... Beyond these apex predators, countless terrifying monsters could swallow mountains and rivers with a gape of their jaws or reshape the land with a stomp.
This was an ecosystem made up of countless terrifying creatures.
The view turned toward the ground, descending rapidly and closing in until it settled on a dilapidated village. Then darkness crept in from all sides, engulfing the scene.
When the darkness cleared, Li Zheng found himself floating before a towering blue Crystal Wall. A notification sounded in his mind:
[Welcome to Monster World, Challenger. Please begin creating your Initial Character.]
"Monster World? Isn't the starting village in the Darklands supposed to be Dark City?"
He gave the question little thought, assuming the Eclipse Race had changed the game settings revealed several years earlier.
The aerial sequence just now and the character creation environment before him made him realize he really had downloaded a cracked version of the Darklands.
Words could not describe his excitement. Other people had to spend 128,888 to get this game, while he had gotten it with an hour-long download.
The Perks Officer really was handing out perks!
He no longer doubted the game's authenticity.
What scammer would spend a fortune creating a game this realistic?
If that opening CG sequence was meant to make the deception more convincing, the prank had cost far too much.
Using the virtual keyboard, he entered "Gold-Farming Gamer" in the name field. After he confirmed, the enormous, gridded Crystal Wall before him rapidly drew closer.
Most of the cells in the wall were empty. Only cells 1 through 3, at the starting point along the bottom, held hideous, ferocious-looking monsters.
The cell marked No. 1 held a humanoid stone statue with bat ears, crouched on a stone pedestal half a meter high. Its body was finely carved, a bloody glimmer shone in its enormous pupils, and its open mouth revealed sharp white fangs.
The monster in cell 2 was an owl-like creature with fiery red wings. Its sharp claws repeatedly struck the crystal wall of its containment cell, producing an ear-piercing scraping sound.
Cell 3 held a large snake covered in black armored scales, coiled inside its containment cell and flicking its forked tongue.
[Please select your starting form.]
Li Zheng looked at the first monster, and its detailed information appeared.
[Gargoyle]: Starting level: 1 Starting attributes: Physique: 7 (determined by combined physical values such as strength, stamina, endurance, and explosive power) Mental strength: 5 (affects mental recovery, casting speed, and spell potency) Elemental resistance: 5 (affects the final calculation of elemental damage) Primordial Ability: Petrification (active) Ability description: Upon activation, enter an immobile petrified state, greatly reducing damage from attacks of any kind. The specific effect depends on physique.
His gaze shifted to the Eagle Head monster and the large snake beside the Gargoyle.
[Eagle-Headed Demon]: Starting level: 1 Starting attributes: Physique: 3, mental strength: 8, elemental resistance: 4 Primordial Ability: Grudge Chant (active) Ability description: Activate a perception view that provides advance warning of nearby dangers (killing intent, hostility, auras, fluctuations). Duration and warning range depend on mental strength. [Black-Armored Snake]: Starting level: 1 Starting attributes: Physique: 12, mental strength: 1, elemental resistance: 2 Ability: Deadly Poison (passive) Ability description: Physical damage of any kind inflicts poison, dealing continuous damage to the target.
Li Zheng pondered which to choose.
Of the three starting abilities, the Gargoyle's and Eagle-Headed Demon's required manual activation and continuously consumed mental energy while active. By contrast, the Black-Armored Snake's ability could be triggered by physical damage of any kind, making it clearly more suitable for a beginner.
Once he had made up his mind, the monsters in the cells marked No. 1 and No. 2 faded, while the Black-Armored Snake in cell 3 rapidly enlarged before his eyes.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The sound of a pounding heart grew clearer in his ears.
Just then, the Black-Armored Snake in the scene abruptly raised its head and lunged straight at him, jaws open.
Li Zheng jolted in fright and instinctively raised both hands to block it.
But no pain came. When he opened his eyes, he found the scene had changed, and he was now wearing a Black Cloth Robe provided by the game.
He looked around. His surroundings were the dilapidated village shown at the end of the CG sequence.
Thick black mist enveloped the area outside the village. Some mysterious force seemed to prevent it from seeping into the village, yet he could clearly hear strange sounds coming from within it.
The cries of night hawks, the crunch of bones being chewed, hoarse whispers... All manner of eerie sounds echoed over the village.
Li Zheng turned his head and jumped in fright.
He discovered a phantom Black-Armored Snake over a meter long floating behind him. When he took two steps to the right, the phantom snake shifted along with him.
As he focused his gaze, a flood of information poured into his mind, accompanied by a view of his body's interior.
In that view, he could clearly see that his spine had become a channel glittering with stars like the Milky Way. At its very top was his Real World appearance. A glowing black orb was embedded in the first slot below, with the form of the Black-Armored Snake inside.
[Challenger name: Gold-Farming Gamer]: Main form: Human Body Tempering level: 0 (inherited Life Soul attributes: 0) (Tip: Each additional Body Tempering level allows you to fully inherit all attributes of one Monster Form while in human form.) Star Meridian inlays (level: 1): Inlay slot 1: Black-Armored Snake Life Soul Lv1 (trait: Deadly Poison) (Tip: Use the Star Meridian function to switch freely between Monster Forms. A Monster Form grants 100% of its attribute bonuses. Increasing your Star Meridian level increases the number of monster Life Souls you can inlay.)
"Star Meridian switching?"
Puzzled, Li Zheng touched the first inlay slot in his Star Meridian with his mind.
An intense tingling instantly surged from his spine into every part of his body, which twisted and transformed under the coursing power.
His viewpoint rapidly dropped.
Looking down, he was astonished to discover he had become the Black-Armored Snake that had been floating behind him.
At the same time, he could distinctly feel his physique improving. Even his vision had become clearer.
This game... is kind of twisted, but I like it!
Switching back to human form, Li Zheng surveyed his surroundings, now understanding the game's basic setup.
Driven by curiosity, he began testing how realistic the game was.
Pinching his face, shaking his hands, squeezing his arm... The sensations were no different from reality, leaving Li Zheng marveling.
Then he crouched, picked up a small stone, and slowly crushed it between his fingers, feeling the powder slip from his fingertips.
"Holy shit, this game is fucking incredible!"
His simple tests revealed flawless, realistic feedback. He could find nothing wrong with it.
What puzzled Li Zheng, however, was the absence of other players. He seemed to be the only person in the entire village.
The Darklands had been released worldwide. Judging by its sales, the starting village should have been packed with players.
Could different players be separated into different game channels? Am I just in a newly opened channel?
While Li Zheng was considering how to explore the game, the space beside him warped, and a pale blue water orb appeared.
Ripples spread across its surface before a stern expression appeared. It looked at him and said gravely:
[Evil Spirits run rampant, and terror descends. Monster World, ruled by Emperor Zhao, has been invaded by the Terrifying Dark Tide. Granted power by Emperor Zhao, you must shoulder the responsibility of saving the world. Please proceed immediately into Monster World to hunt down Emperor Zhao's lost Primordial Power and contribute to restoring his true body.]
As it spoke, the pale blue water orb formed a right arm and extended it toward him:
[I am your Newbie Guide in Monster World. You may call me Guide.]
Somewhat bewildered, Li Zheng reached out and shook the hand the water orb had formed.
[We're buddies now. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me.]
Hearing this, Li Zheng grabbed Guide and gave him a thorough rub, knead, and squeeze before exclaiming:
"You feel amazing!"
[Amazing, my ass! Keep that up and I'm going on strike!]
"A Newbie Guide can go on strike? Aren't you supposed to be an AI Ox-Horse at the players' beck and call?"
[Your whole family are AI Ox-Horses! If I'm unhappy, I'm going on strike!]
Realizing that angering his Newbie Guide would cost him an important tool during the beginner stage, Li Zheng immediately let go, allowing the Guide Water Orb to fly aside. Then he promptly backed down and apologized:
"Sorry, I was wrong."
[Get on your knees and apologize.]
Looking at the Guide Water Orb's arrogant expression, Li Zheng wore a helpless look.
"I don't understand why the Eclipse Race designed such a humanlike Newbie Guide."
As he grumbled, he suddenly remembered his fellow sufferers outside, waiting for his feedback.
He immediately looked at the Guide Water Orb and asked:
"Guide, how do I log out?"
[It's simple. Call up the "function panel" in your mind. It has a teleportation function that can return you to the real world. The process requires a thirty-second wait. You must not take any damage during that time, or the teleportation will be interrupted.]
"Got it!"
Following Guide's instructions, he watched the scene gradually darken as the teleportation countdown ticked away.
An intense sensation of weightlessness swept over him, and Li Zheng shouted excitedly in his mind:
"Brothers, we finally got the good stuff this time!"