With a loud crack, the transparent protective shield of the village's outermost layer suddenly shattered. Xin Tong tightened her grip on her dagger and regretted to herself--there were only 30 minutes left until the end of the beta test, and why did the safe zone have to be breached now?
The shield was destroyed, and the small monsters inside began to howl and charge towards the village. Xin Tong peered out to observe. In the left direction, a minotaur was swinging its wolf-toothed club and smashing buildings into ruins. In the right direction, a player was surrounded by a swarm of giant bees and unable to dodge their stingers. With a final curse, the player disappeared from the game. Xin Tong knew that this meant the player had been eliminated.
For the past five years since the advent of holographic online gaming, I have never played a survival game more interesting or realistic than "Apocalypse Disaster." When she was invited to participate in the beta test, the system promised that surviving for 100 days would result in unexpected and substantial rewards for the surviving players. She must survive at all costs!
With this in mind, Xin Tong used her "Swift Movement" skill and fled towards the direction with fewer monsters. But just as she had run a few steps, a skeleton soldier blocked her path. When she tried to change direction, she found that there were even more monsters ahead. With gritted teeth, Xin Tong chose to charge through them.
Ambush!
Venom attack!
Fatal blow!
She used all her attack skills at once, and the skeleton soldier was instantly defeated. Xin Tong didn't stop and continued to run forward. According to her original plan, she was going to shake off her pursuers and find a place to hide until the countdown ended. But she found that there were monsters everywhere she turned.
Fire elementals, stone golems, demons... not only were there various types of small monsters, but they also became more and more difficult to deal with. If she stopped for even a moment, she would likely be surrounded and defeated.
Thinking this, Xin Tong gritted her teeth and ran for her life. Suddenly, a strong wind blew from behind her. Xin Tong's heart tightened, and she stopped in her tracks. Just as she stopped, a spear fell to the ground next to her foot. As it hit the ground, the tail of the spear swung back and forth, showing the tremendous force behind its throw.
"In other games, it's the players who team up to fight monsters, but in Apocalypse Disaster, it's always the monsters chasing after the players." Xin Tong muttered to herself as she continued to run. Time was ticking away, and she encountered small monsters along the way. She killed the ones that were alone and avoided the ones in groups. However, her health and mana were still significantly decreasing.
Running for a long time, Xintong was out of breath and exhausted.
Fortunately, the number of small monsters around her was decreasing.
Thinking she had found a corner with no one around to rest, Xintong leaned against a tree. But just as she sat down, a three-meter tall stone man appeared in front of her.
Above its head was a line of text, "McDonald (boss)."
Xintong, "..."
As everyone knew, the small monsters in the end-of-days catastrophe were divided into three levels, from low to high: normal, elite, and boss.
One boss could probably withstand the attacks of 17 or 18 normal monsters or four or five elite monsters. Unless in a group, it was impossible to defeat them.
No wonder she couldn't see any other small monsters around. She had unintentionally stepped into the boss's territory...
How unlucky! It would have been better to be surrounded by normal monsters!
Xintong thought about running away, but she had run for too long before and her stamina was depleted. Her attribute panel even showed a negative status of "movement speed -40%".
She knew she couldn't escape, so she could only grip her dagger tightly and face the enemy head-on.
Surprise attack!
The dagger hit the stone man, making Xintong's hand hurt from the impact.
The boss waved its arm as if nothing had happened and threw her off.
Xintong fell to the ground, but she gritted her teeth and stood up stubbornly.
Toxic attack!
Fatal strike!
She successfully attacked, but the boss had no reaction.
Meanwhile, Xintong's mana was depleted and all her skills were on cooldown.
Looking at the time, there were still 14 minutes and 23 seconds left.
Xintong felt extremely desperate, thinking that the system was simply a fraud! The difficulty was so high, who could survive?
As she cursed in her heart, the boss released its magic.
It was a case of "too late for regrets", as countless fist-sized rocks were thrown towards Xintong.
She lay down to avoid most of the attacks. Then, she randomly chose a direction and ran with all her might.
Despite the negative status, despite having very little health left, despite feeling like she couldn't escape, she refused to sit and wait for death!
Pushing aside the bushes, Xintong scanned her surroundings, searching for a suitable escape route. Suddenly, she spotted another female player resting not far away.
Without hesitation, she shouted out a warning, "Run! There's a boss chasing us from behind!"
The other player looked surprised, then shook her head and made no move to leave.
Xintong felt annoyed. How could someone give up so easily after all they had been through together? But she had no time to waste and decided to make a run for it on her own.
After what seemed like an eternity, her stamina finally ran out, and she was forced to stop and rest.
"Oh no," Xintong thought in despair as the countdown began.
Ten minutes left.
Five minutes left.
Three minutes left.
As the public beta was about to end, the stone golem still hadn't caught up to her.
"Where's the boss?" Xintong wondered, puzzled.
She rested for more than ten minutes and regained some of her stamina before cautiously making her way back.
Soon, she heard the sounds of battle and readied herself for combat.
Approaching the scene, Xintong was speechless.
There, not far away, a player was locked in a fierce battle with the stone golem.
Meteor strikes.
Swift charges.
Heavy blows.
The boss used all its abilities to attack, but the other player was skillfully dodging behind a tower shield, seemingly unscathed.
What's more, the player's backpack and shield glimmered with a purple glow, indicating they were equipped with rare items.
In the world of Apocalypse Catastrophe, equipment and items were divided into four levels: white (common), blue (rare), purple (epic), and orange (legendary). Xintong watched in awe as the other player deftly juggled the shield and food items from their backpack.
The public beta had been running for just over a hundred days, and it was clear that the player who managed to acquire rare-level equipment during this time was no ordinary player.
Not to mention the fact that they had pulled out a bunch of restorative food items from their inventory.
If they had enough restorative items, they would have fled and evaded until the countdown ended, why would they be in such a desperate situation now?
In the apocalypse, restorative items were scarce and there was no such thing as a drug-abusing strategy.
As this thought crossed her mind, Xintong saw the female player continuously pulling out items from her inventory. Most of them were emitting blue light, some were emitting purple light, and there was even one emitting orange light.
With the help of these items, the situation was at a stalemate.
The boss had exhausted all its tactics, yet it still couldn't kill the opponent.
After more than ten minutes, the system issued a notification, "Out of 100,000 beta testers, only 10 players have survived. Congratulations, you are one of the survivors."
Xintong, "..."
She had lost.
**
Unlike Xintong's anxiousness, Yun Ling knew from the beginning that she would survive.
Her role was a tank, with main points invested in health and defense.
The canvas backpack on her back, which was a rare equipment, had a total of 8 slots, with each slot able to hold up to 99 of the same item. Before the battle, she had prepared over 200 blue-quality, over 30 purple-quality, and 2 orange-quality restorative items in her backpack.
Most importantly, her opponent was a stone golem. This creature was notorious for having high defense and low attack, making it a battle of attrition.
The boss had a strong territorial sense and would not allow any other races of small monsters to appear in its area.
Therefore, Yun Ling specifically came here with the idea of dragging out the battle until the end of the game.
As expected, everything went according to plan, and she easily survived until the end.
As she contemplated, the system announced, "You have completed the 'Hundred Days of Survival' mission. Please choose 3 out of the following 4 options as your reward."
"1. Lord's Token *1, which can be used to establish your own territory."
"2. Retention of life skill levels."
"3. S-rank passive skill 'Nature's Heart.' After learning, health increases by 200, and the healing effect doubles."
"4. Orange equipment 'Hero Armor.' After wearing, health increases by 100, and the damage received is reduced by 20%."
"There are four life skills, which are intermediate fishing, intermediate gathering, advanced sewing, and advanced cooking. Retaining their levels will be interesting for mass-producing restorative items and building an indestructible fortress." With a thought, Yun Ling decided to choose options 1 and 2 as must-haves.
As for options 3 and 4...
"Skills are divided into four levels, from low to high: C-level, B-level, A-level, and S-level."
"S-class skills are equivalent in value to orange equipment," the game prompt read.
"However, in the early stages of the game, having 200 health and double healing effects will increase survival ability."
With that, she selected option 3.
After making her choice, the system notification appeared: "Beta testing has ended."
"Ten days later, on April 1st, 3000, at noon, the game will officially launch."
"Players, please prepare accordingly."
**
After logging out of the game, Yun Ling removed her holographic helmet and made herself a cup of instant oatmeal.
The oats came in a convenient packet and were easy to prepare. Plus, after drinking a cup, she felt full.
After a short break, Yun Ling put her helmet back on and logged into another holographic online game.
But after playing for a while, she found it dull.
Having become accustomed to the suspenseful style of "Apocalyptic Catastrophe," she couldn't get excited about other games.
"I really wish April 1st would come sooner," she thought.
**
On the morning of April 1st, Yun Ling went to the supermarket early to buy enough groceries for a week. She then had an early lunch and sat in her chair, waiting for the game to launch at 12 pm.
Because it wasn't 12 yet, even if she logged into the game, the page would only show, "Apocalyptic Catastrophe, launching with a bang on April 1st!"
She wondered what surprises the game would bring to players after the beta test.
Yun Ling was filled with anticipation.
At 11:45, two lines of text suddenly appeared before her eyes: "Player obtains Lord's Token *1. Please follow the arrow to go to your territory."
The game wasn't even launched yet, so how could she follow the arrow and go to her territory?
Yun Ling took off her helmet and planned to have a cup of tea.
But as soon as she stood up, she saw that the arrow was still in her field of vision, precisely pointing outside the door.
She glanced at her holographic helmet and then at herself, growing increasingly puzzled. She hadn't logged into the game, so how could she see the arrow? Could it be that she had been overworked recently, causing her to have hallucinations?
She grabbed her keys, locked the doors and windows, and followed the arrow in the direction it pointed.
After walking for seven minutes, she arrived at an empty lot behind a residential building where a wooden plaque, the size of a palm, was floating in the air.
It was the reward Yun Ling had chosen – the Lord's Token!