2,000 Goblin's Hearts?

The players in the safe zone watched in astonishment as Xin Jiu chased the goblins.

The livestream viewers went wild with laughter.

This was the first time they had seen a dungeon miniboss afraid of a player.

Xin Jiu was an expert player, so killing a minor chief was no trouble for her. Everyone watched as she deftly pierced its skull.

Fast, precise, ruthless-not a second of hesitation.

The minor chief vanished, and a white bead appeared.

[Goblin's Heart x1]

[Congratulations to player Xin Jiu for killing the 'Goblin Second-Tier Chief.' Reward: attribute points x3 (freely assignable)]

One minor chief could give her three attribute points?

Xin Jiu was delighted!

After putting the bead into her system inventory, she began searching through the goblins. But even after making a wide circuit, she could not find another goblin wearing a hat.

Having lost their chief, the goblins grew sluggish.

The players outside the circle noticed it too and began fighting back with their weapons!

Unable to enter the safe zone, Xin Jiu simply stayed outside and kept killing goblins to earn points.

It was almost time for the glowing circle to shrink again.

Someone inside the circle suggested, "This can't go on. Why don't we vote on who stays in the safe zone and who goes outside?"

"Good idea!"

"Why bother voting? Just send the old people and women out."

"Why should we?!" the ponytailed girl retorted. "That's not fair!"

"How is it unfair? Those old fossils can't earn any points even if they stay, and women have no strength at all. Obviously, we should keep the young, strong men in a situation like this. Don't forget, it's our total points that count at the end. You don't want supernatural horrors descending on the Nine Provinces either, do you?"

[Holy shit! What a disgusting thing to say!]

[Young and strong, my ass. Has he even looked at that sauce-pressed-duck body of his? I noticed earlier that he hasn't killed a single goblin. Throw him out first!]

The livestream viewers were all cursing him out.

Xin Jiu scoffed.

"How many points have you earned?"

Sauce-Pressed Duck froze. "Why are you asking?" His gaze seemed a little shifty.

Xin Jiu turned to ask the ponytailed girl instead.

"165 points."

Then she asked a girl carrying a bow and arrows.

"215 points."

"195 points."

"320 points."

Everyone Xin Jiu asked was a girl.

Finally, she asked the elderly man, who said a little sheepishly, "This old man isn't much use. I've only earned 125 points."

"Your turn. How many points do you have?" Xin Jiu asked Sauce-Pressed Duck.

Sauce-Pressed Duck had spent fifteen minutes in the safe zone and accumulated 30 points, but that was all he had.

Seeing him hem and haw without answering, Xin Jiu sneered. "Afraid to say?"

"Who knows if you're exaggerating? I could say I've earned 500 points too!"

This time, Xin Jiu did not need to say anything.

The girls all brought up their points panels.

Even the lowest had sixty-five points.

Everyone stared at him.

Sauce-Pressed Duck's face flushed red.

"Let's use the method you just suggested. Those with low points go out. Everyone, bring up your panels."

Of course, not everyone was willing to show their panels. Their points were embarrassingly low, after all, and losing to girls was humiliating too.

So they said they would throw Sauce-Pressed Duck out first when the glowing circle shrank.

Since Xin Jiu could not enter the safe zone, they should not have needed to fear her.

But the tutorial match would end eventually. Who knew whether she would turn that bayonet on her own people?

Xin Jiu snorted.

She went back to earning points.

Just then, the system suddenly popped up.

[A bug has occurred in the second round of the tutorial match. The round will end early.]

[All players will receive 60 points.]

Xin Jiu was stunned. The players were stunned. The livestream viewers were stunned too.

Just like that, the goblins disappeared before everyone's eyes.

The system cursed Xin Jiu a dozen times in its mind. With the chief dead, the remaining goblins were nothing but scattered sand.

How was the game supposed to continue?!

[Current players in the dungeon: 798/2500]

[The final round of the tutorial match will begin in ten minutes.]

The glowing circle marking the safe zone had not disappeared. It seemed the third round would not be easy either.

Sauce-Pressed Duck's legs gave out, and he slumped straight to the ground, looking utterly drained.

Before the third round began, Xin Jiu walked around the area. Although the dungeon's surroundings were in poor condition, with ruins everywhere she looked, this should have been a city.

Since it was a city, might there be convenience stores, pharmacies, and the like... Should she go search them for supplies?

She took a few steps, then stopped.

Better wait until the rules for the final round come out. Leaving rashly would be risky...

When the time came, the system made its announcement right on schedule.

[Final round of the tutorial match.]

[Objective: Players must obtain a total of 2,000 'Goblin's Hearts' this round. Heart drop rate: 75%.]

[Time limit: One day.]

[Notice: Failure to meet the objective within the time limit will result in a failed clear and the death of all players in the dungeon. Upon clearing, all players will receive 500 points.]

A 75% chance was not too low.

Split among all the players, 2,000 hearts meant fewer than three each.

It was not too difficult.

The players waited a few minutes, but no new goblins spawned.

"Are we supposed to find them ourselves?" a player asked.

"Probably, but this place is so big. Are we supposed to split up? That'd be far too dangerous!"

Sauce-Pressed Duck perked up again and said snidely, "You with the bayonet. Yeah, you."

Xin Jiu looked over.

"I'm sure 2,000 hearts wouldn't be hard for you, right? You're so amazing, after all."

"What do you mean by that?" The ponytailed girl glared at him.

"What could I mean? Doesn't she love showing off? Just let her go alone."

The elderly man said angrily, "Two thousand hearts, and you want a young girl to find them alone? Are you even human?!"

The other players began berating him too.

Sauce-Pressed Duck let their words go in one ear and out the other. "Then go with her. I'm staying here, anyway."

He did not believe all the players here could resist going out to find goblins.

In any case, he would not go. What if another goblin popped out somewhere? That would be dangerous.

Besides, as long as they had enough in the end, they could clear the first floor.

Why not sit back and reap the rewards?

The livestream viewers were cursing him too.

Some players seemed persuaded, hesitation appearing on their faces.

Xin Jiu showed no great change in emotion. No one knew what she was thinking. Then, under everyone's gaze, she walked deeper into the ruins.

It looked as though she was going to find the goblins alone.

[Come on! This is a team match!]

[I seriously can't. Why do people like this exist?!!!]

[This is so frustrating, I want to punch someone!]

[Poor Jiujiu, getting stuck with teammates like these.]

Perhaps she had killed so many goblins that it had awakened something bloodthirsty within her. For one brief moment, Xin Jiu had wanted to kill that player.

But she held herself back.

For now, she still could not be that ruthless toward players from the Nine Provinces.

That male player could stay inside the circle, as long as he could bear the consequences.

After all, the system had made it very clear: players needed to obtain hearts. It had not said they could clear simply by having enough hearts. Obtaining them and dividing them equally were not the same thing.

As for obtaining them, even one would count.