"Great Snake Constriction."
"Second Snake Joins the Constriction."
"Third Snake Joins In."
After an hour of gameplay, Li Zheng and the others could already coordinate skillfully in combat.
After killing several Cursed Soldiers in succession on the Ancient Battlefield, they had all reached level 2.
The six who had chosen the Black-Armored Snake form had grown from their initial length of one meter to around 1.3 meters.
The two players who had chosen Eagle-Headed Demons had more vibrant feathers, and their bodies had grown as well.
The Gargoyle form had changed the most. Besides growing larger, its body had gained a flowing layer of glistening black.
As they experienced more of the game, its realism left them utterly amazed.
The boosts from leveling up were especially striking. They could clearly feel their strength, speed, and other attributes improving, rather than merely seeing adjustments to game data.
This made leveling up very interesting and left them looking forward even more to the increases in strength that further levels would bring.
But the game also had issues that troubled them.
It was too realistic. The stench wafting from the rotting Cursed Soldiers was unbearable.
Besides that, the game actually had no pain-blocking feature enabled. Bumps and scrapes were inevitable in combat, and they could not help cursing the Eclipse Race for being so twisted. Not providing a pain adjustment feature was downright player abuse.
[Actually, if you open System Settings in the Function Panel, there is a pain adjustment feature. Just because you haven't looked doesn't mean it isn't there.]
"You could've said so sooner."
[You didn't ask, did you?]
They summoned the Function Panel and found the pain adjustment feature in System Settings.
To their surprise, the lowest pain setting was only 10%.
Still, that was better than 100% Pain Feedback.
After adjusting their pain settings, Li Zheng and the others' combat effectiveness soared.
After dismembering another Cursed Soldier, the weary group was about to take a break.
But then they heard Eat Dirt let out a shrill warning from within the party.
"Eat Dirt, what are you screeching for? Do you really think you're an eagle?"
"Strong energy fluctuations are approaching from three o'clock."
At this, everyone raised their heads and looked in the direction Eat Dirt indicated. In the distance, a huge humanoid skeleton three meters tall was walking toward them.
Unlike the other Cursed Soldiers, this Skeleton Warrior was wreathed in fiercely burning Ink-Colored Flames. Its pitch-black body looked exceptionally eerie and terrifying beneath those sinister, inky flames.
As they focused their gazes, information about the Burning Bone Soldier appeared in their minds:
[Bonefire (First-Generation Primordial)]: Hunting Level: 9 Guide's analysis: A special monster that commands Primordial Power and possesses the ability to control Deathflame. Note: Killing a Primordial Monster automatically completes Containment. All participants in the kill share massive rewards.
"A boss appeared!"
Seeing that Bonefire was actually a Primordial Monster, Li Zheng and the others were exceptionally excited.
In other games, encountering a boss usually meant handsome profits, especially for Li Zheng, a gold-farming gamer.
The proceeds from a single rare boss were enough to cover his living expenses for days.
With good luck and a top-tier item drop, getting rich in one go was not out of the question.
In other games, bosses usually had to be fought over, and competition was exceptionally fierce.
They had no intention of missing an opportunity delivered right to them.
"Kill!"
All ten members of the party decisively launched a ferocious charge at Bonefire, who had risen to its feet.
"Great Snake Constriction."
"Second Snake Joins the Constriction."
"Third Snake Joins In."
Before they even reached Bonefire, Li Zheng and the others began shouting out their self-created ultimate moves.
As Eat Dirt put it, whether they won or lost, they had to bring the fighting spirit.
But this attack did not go as smoothly as before. Ink-Colored Flames ignited in Bonefire's hollow eye sockets.
With a raised hand, several clumps of inky flames broke away from its body and flew toward Li Zheng and the others.
Li Zheng, Murderous Intent Awakened, and Leopard Head, Zero Spender, who were charging at the front, were immediately struck by the fireballs, their bodies bursting into flames.
The searing pain was unbearable. They writhed and rolled on the ground, but the flames showed no sign of going out.
The other seven crossed over their burning bodies and continued lunging at Bonefire.
The instant they made contact with Bonefire's body, their own bodies caught fire too. Still, they endured the pain and kept biting and pecking, leaving cracks across Bonefire's bones.
Before long, all ten were reduced to ashes in the flames.
As the scene dimmed, a notification sounded in their minds:
[Challenger notification: Character deceased. 10 Sacrificial Power deducted (insufficient Sacrificial Power will result in a negative balance, preventing the purchase of any items in the game shop). Character has entered a one-hour cooldown.]
The view returned to the virtual interface. Li Zheng and the others immediately clicked the icon again, only to see a notification pop up:
[Character undergoing Flesh Reconstruction... (Cooldown: 59 minutes, 49 seconds).]
Realizing they could not enter the game again, they could only leave the virtual interface helplessly.
[Hardcore Gamer Chat Group (Online: 10)]
So Poor I Eat Dirt (Moderator): What the hell? Why does this game have a Respawn Cooldown? Give me one more chance and I can definitely kill it.
Gold-Farming Gamer: The perfect realism of "Darklands" is a kind of suffering too. Even with Pain Feedback set to 10%, the pain of burning just now still has me rattled. I nearly thought I was off to meet my great-grandma.
Why Pay to Play?: It's fun, sure, and the feedback from attribute boosts feels amazing, but the pain really hurts too. This Bonefire is so strong. At level 2, we're no match for it at all. I suggest leveling up before challenging it again.
Murderous Intent Awakened: Oh my god, why is there even a Respawn Cooldown? My plan to raise a level 100 Heaven-Connecting Python has ground to a halt. I'm really suffering right now.
Family-Sharing Godfather: Brothers, bad news. Perks Officer has already left the group.
So Poor I Eat Dirt (Administrator): Holy shit, Godfather left the group... Probably afraid of getting into trouble for distributing pirated software. Remember to keep this secret, everyone. Don't share the download link, or it'll spread everywhere and get Godfather a visit from the authorities.
Unable to enter the game during the Respawn Cooldown, the players in the Hardcore Grinder Group made a decision while discussing the game.
They absolutely could not cause trouble for "Godfather." The download link would not be shared for outside use.
Next came a discussion of the game world's background, during which Li Zheng proposed an idea.
Gold-Farming Gamer: Brothers, should we find an organization?
So Poor I Eat Dirt: Agreed. Pretty much everyone playing this game spends money. We can make a decent income joining just about any organization.
Family-Sharing Godfather: Go find one, brothers. Your little brother will follow closely in your footsteps. Wherever you go, I'll go, with absolutely no second thoughts.
The players in the group all expressed their agreement with the idea.
By organizations, they meant guilds, clans, and other player groups within the game.
The players in the Hardcore Grinder Group were all Bricklayers. In previous games, they had attached themselves to medium- and large-sized gaming groups, earning money by providing services to the paying players within them.
This time was no exception. After testing out the game, their first thought was to find a gaming organization.
Seeing that all his brothers agreed, Li Zheng typed out a reply:
Gold-Farming Gamer: I'll go find an organization on the Forum right now. Wait for me to get back, brothers.
A string of identical replies followed:
Godfather, hurry back!
Before you continue