Excited Adventurers

Once he got closer, he finally saw clearly. Damn, weren't those gnolls? How had they gotten into the village? And there were goblins and kobolds too. What was going on?

A monster siege!? The phrase instantly sprang to Hellboy's Dad's mind. Similar events had happened in this game before, but they generally took place in major cities, and the attackers were invariably powerful monsters like dragons or demons. This was the first time he had seen gnolls, goblins, and kobolds laying siege to a newbie village.

It obviously didn't make much sense for him to go back and fight alone. He needed to find people, fast! With that thought, he hurried back to the character login screen, pulled up his friends list, and started contacting them one by one. "Hey, is this Surviving Fighter? It's Hellboy's Dad. What, you're sleeping? Damn it, forget sleep and log in! There's a monster siege!"

"Hey, Peerless Flying Dragon? It's Hellboy's Dad. There's a monster siege!"

Before long, Hellboy's Dad had called every friend he knew. Apart from a few who were sleeping too soundly and refused to log in, he had notified everyone, a dozen or so people in all.

Back in the game, Hellboy's Dad immediately sent a private message to a friend. "Hey, are you on?"

"Don't ask. The village is full of monsters, and they've even taken over the graveyard. We got killed as soon as we logged in."

Hellboy's Dad slapped his thigh. "Damn, you idiot, why don't you leave the village and resurrect at a graveyard outside?"

"Oh, right! Give me a minute. I'm coming out now."

After closing the chat, Hellboy's Dad headed straight for the nearest graveyard outside the village. On the way, he heard a system announcement.

System announcement: Warning, Nightwhisper Village is under attack by a monster army and is in grave danger. Archdruid Manster Moonwalker calls upon all nearby adventurers to come to its aid. The archdruid of Nightwhisper Village has declared that any adventurer who participates in retaking the village tonight will receive a generous reward and earn the friendship of the night elves.

Hearing that made Hellboy's Dad even more excited. It looked like he was in for some fun tonight.

He soon reached the graveyard outside the village, a remote resting place in a small valley. Few people usually resurrected here. After all, the monsters near the newbie village were all low-level mobs around level three to five, so it was hard to die even if you wanted to. Today was different, though. Hellboy's Dad got a fright as soon as he entered. Flashes of white light appeared one after another as adventurer players resurrected, forty or fifty of them in all. Apparently, quite a few adventurer players had been killed in the village. Some were recovering health, while others shouted excitedly.

"Damn, this is great! I've finally run into a monster siege. But why the hell is this event attacking in the middle of the night? Seriously, the game company has no consideration for us working people."

"Yeah, exactly. Still, there seem to be quite a lot of monsters this time. But why isn't the gnoll leader Hogger?"

Just then, a warrior in armor suddenly jumped onto a large rock. His name was "Professional Expert Gamer 007."

Professional Expert Gamer 007: "Everyone, quiet down! We don't know what's going on with this monster siege, but it's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You all saw the system announcement just now, right? As long as we take the village back, there's bound to be plenty of rewards. And there must be bosses in there. A story kill like this is guaranteed to drop good stuff."

"What's a story kill?" People in the crowd who didn't know what was going on immediately started asking.

Professional Expert Gamer 007: "A story kill means killing a boss during a story event. This kind of kill is special. Once you kill a boss during a story event, it's truly and completely dead. You're probably wondering what I mean by 'completely,' right?"

"It means that once this boss is killed in a story kill, it won't ever appear again. The person who killed the boss will even have their name recorded in the Firmament Chronicle, becoming a permanent part of the game."

Of course, the chronicle only records the boss that was killed, not the adventurer's name, Professional Expert Gamer 007 added inwardly. His face, however, still wore an excited expression, as though something wonderful awaited everyone.

"Not only that, a boss will drop everything after a story kill. What does that mean? It means everything the monster can drop will come out. As long as it's on the drop list, even if it only has a one percent drop rate, it's guaranteed to drop. You can even make it drop its underwear. And they're all unique, genuine articles, top-grade equipment much better than the ordinary versions that normally drop."

"Holy shit, that's amazing! Is that true?" the people below cried out.

"Of course it's true. You've seen my name too. To tell you the truth, everyone, I didn't pick it at random. You could say I know this game inside and out. I'd never lie to you. So this time, we have to work together and take down those bosses in the village. To make sure we complete this event smoothly, I suggest I lead everyone and put together a team so we can coordinate our efforts."

"Who the hell are you? What gives you the right to boss us around?" As soon as Professional Expert 007 finished speaking, an indignant voice rang out. But there weren't many people like that. Most players preferred to follow the crowd and ride someone else's coattails, so when they saw a professional expert taking the lead, quite a few immediately chimed in.

"Count me in! Add me! I'm a level thirteen warrior. Let me join too."

"I'm a priest. I may only be level nine, but my healing is more than enough."

Professional Expert Gamer 007: "Listen, everyone. Since I'm taking the lead, I naturally hope you'll join, but it doesn't matter if you don't want to. It's only ********** anyway. If you want to join my team, type 1, and I'll invite you to the raid."

Hellboy's Dad, however, had no intention of joining Professional Expert Gamer 007's team. In big groups like that, loot ninjaing was all too common, and he didn't want to work for someone else. It was better to form a team with people he knew. Besides, there was more than one boss in the village. If it came down to it, they could leave the big boss alone and fight a small one instead. He soon found two friends, the paladin Surviving Fighter and the warrior Supreme Greatsword. "Where's Toffee?"

"Don't ask. Last time, a goblin boss killed her and left her traumatized. She said she wasn't going to play an adventurer anymore and was going to use a civilian template instead."

"Sigh, I suppose so. Girls really shouldn't play such bloody games. Most girls are timid, after all, and can't handle a game this realistic and bloody." As Hellboy spoke, he felt a little troubled. But that leaves us short-handed. What do we do?

"Hmph, I don't like the sound of that. What do you mean, girls are timid? I'm not afraid of any goblins. I know that goblin camp. My sister and I went there the other day and slaughtered the whole camp. What's the big deal?"

Hellboy turned around and saw two beautiful night elves, one a mage and the other a hunter. One was named Water Falls Without a Trace, and the other Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats.

He didn't mind what she had said. "Hey, ladies, are you in a group? If not, join ours. We happen to be two DPS short."