The Beginning of Night

"Aah-!"

Xiao Hao jolted awake from a deep sleep.

Who the hell was that?!

Howling like a ghost in the middle of the night-was anyone supposed to get any sleep?!

Irritated, Xiao Hao got up and pulled open the curtains.

The sight through the window instantly extinguished his anger.

Ever since he had gained night vision, Xiao Hao could not only see in darkness as clearly as in daylight, but also see much farther.

Beneath a dim streetlamp, the roof of a black car had caved in. A huge Insectoid Monster crouched on top, its legs hammering the windows as cracks visibly spread across the glass.

The Insectoid Monster resembled a scorpion, with a pair of enormous pincers, six long, slender legs, a sharp, segmented scorpion tail, fiery red armor, a vicious maw packed with sharp teeth, and a pair of blood-red eyes.

Translucent slime dripped between its teeth onto the car roof with a sizzling sound. Wisps of white smoke rose from the metal beneath its mouthparts, and small holes soon corroded through it.

The driver frantically cried for help from inside the car. None of the residents he had woken dared shout. They all drew their curtains and hid indoors, terrified the monster would come to their doors.

Seeing the driver scared out of his wits, Xiao Hao felt no sympathy at all.

What had he been doing all this time?

Throughout the day, broadcasts had warned every resident to hurry home and lock their doors and windows. Especially after the battle, large numbers of police and soldiers had cleared away monsters, opened up roads, and helped people get home.

What had this guy been doing?

Only coming home in the dead of night-did he have a death wish?

Even thrill-seeking had its limits. Now he'd gone and thrown his life away.

The communications base stations had been destroyed. He could not even make a call.

Seeing the monster's legs pierce the car windows, Xiao Hao knew it was too late to save the man.

Xiao Hao lived on the seventh floor, and the car was so far away that even Shadow Transformation could not get him there in time.

Several seconds passed before Xiao Hao reached the streetlamp.

The monster had torn off the car's roof. The driver's upper body was already inside the Insect Monster's enormous maw, blood spurting from his severed vessels as it chewed his corpse.

A figure flickered in and out of sight in the headlights. The driver was already dead, and all Xiao Hao could smell from inside the car was alcohol and blood.

The apocalypse had arrived, and he'd gone drinking at this hour?

And driven drunk, too?

Xiao Hao could never understand why some people were so determined to get themselves killed-and in ways that left no chance of saving them, even if someone wanted to.

He gave a soft scoff. "Served you right."

At the sudden voice beside it, the Insect Monster stopped chewing and turned its blood-red eyes toward the figure in front of the headlights.

"What are you staring at? Keep staring and I'll gouge your eyes out!"

Xiao Hao snapped at the Insect Monster without restraint, and it took off in fright.

After running a short distance, it realized something was wrong.

It had feared humans out of habit, forgetting that it now possessed tremendous power!

Its legs turned its car-sized body around, and the Insect Monster fixed its blood-red eyes on Xiao Hao.

Its scorpion tail suddenly extended, thrusting its sharp, venomous stinger toward Xiao Hao!

The Ghost Scythe Ring merged into his finger. Xiao Hao raised both hands and slashed downward in an X!

Now its segmented scorpion tail truly became separate chunks of flesh. Slime seeped from the pieces as the Insect Monster thrashed wildly in pain.

"Hiss-! Hiss-!"

Even though Xiao Hao had sliced its scorpion tail into chunks, it no longer dared attack him.

The aura of the Ghost Scythe Ring reminded it that the man before it was none other than the king who had stood at the highest point during the day!

It tried to turn and flee, but a gigantic Reaper's Scythe pierced it. The sharp tip drove through the concrete as well, pinning the Insect Monster to the ground and leaving it unable to move!

And the very end of the Reaper's Scythe's shaft was connected to Xiao Hao's right index finger!

The insect's struggling legs gradually weakened, and a game notification popped up: [Spirit Pearls +30].

In the pitch-black night, beneath the dim streetlamp, the survivors in the apartment buildings trembled with excitement at the sight of that familiar black trench coat.

The number one player!

As expected of the number one player! He was ridiculously strong!

A monster that could easily rip the roof off a car had been killed by a single finger from the number one player!

Fortunately, it was midsummer. The cool night breeze blew away Xiao Hao's sleepiness.

"Number one player!"

"Boss, over here!"

"Boss, can I have your autograph?"

"It's cold tonight, boss! Come sleep under my covers. They're nice and warm!"

"You foot-picking brute upstairs, get lost! Boss, my bed smells lovely. Satisfaction guaranteed!"

"Shut up, all of you! Don't sully the boss!"

With the monster dead, the survivors grew bolder. Like rabid fans, they called out all sorts of bizarre declarations to Xiao Hao.

Their declarations made him miserable.

Why were his fans so different from everyone else's?

Had that shameless college girl started this, making everyone think he liked this sort of thing?!

Surely not!

Please, no!

Damn it!

Xiao Hao merged into the darkness, his eyelids twitching furiously.

I'd better not see that college girl again!

Otherwise, she was definitely getting punished!

She was really fucking asking for it, leading everyone astray like that!

His shadow blended into the darkness, effectively rendering Xiao Hao invisible, so he hardly needed to worry about being spotted.

Back in his tiny rented room, Xiao Hao had barely lain down when another round of shrieking erupted outside.

Would this ever end?!

Making such a racket in the middle of the night-did they have no consideration for anyone?!

Furious, Xiao Hao flung off his blanket, put on his trench coat, and yanked open the curtains.

A huge flying insect resembling a dragonfly was crawling along the wall of the tall building opposite. A frightened woman kept screaming, drawing its legs to her window, where they hammered relentlessly.

Why were there still so many wild monsters?

Hadn't they cleared them out during the day?

Before long, screams came from other directions as well. Xiao Hao had a feeling he would not be getting any sleep tonight.

With his trench coat on and his hood raised, a streaking black shadow descended from the sky.

The Dragonfly Wild Monster kept stabbing at the window until the glass shattered. It tried to crawl inside, but halfway through, the other half of its body had already fallen to the ground below and smashed into pulp.

Cut in half at the waist, the Dragonfly Monster struggled briefly before dying.

The Aurora Shadow vanished through the air, and a sense of foreboding settled over Xiao Hao.

There were far, far more insects than animals.

The Dragon Transformation Pool players had swept through the city, but they could only search from above. Fast as they were, they had also missed far too many wild monsters.

Moreover, many wild monsters only became active at night.

As a result, all those lingering threats erupted together after dark.

Looking at the Spirit Pearls coming in on his game panel, Xiao Hao decided to stay up farming monsters tonight and rest during the day instead.

Farming monsters in the real world yielded Spirit Pearls much more slowly, but it was safer.

Standing on the rooftop of a tall building, Xiao Hao gently rubbed his temples.

For some reason, even though he had quit his job, he still felt as if he were working.

When he had a job, the company exploited him. Now that he no longer worked, the game exploited him instead.

Fucking ridiculous.

After he killed several giant insects, gunshots rang out in the distance.

The more contact he had with them, the greater the risk of exposing himself.

Xiao Hao hesitated, then decided to use Shadow Transformation to go take a look.

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