The three joked and roughhoused for a while before they stopped and suddenly became aware of something strange about their surroundings.
As they delved deeper into Withered Wood Forest, they could no longer see the shadow of Star Dragon Ridge outpost.
The trees were wilted, their bark dry and cracked.
The ground was fissured, and the trio felt as if they were walking on a land completely devoid of life, their alertness heightened at every step.
They didn't miss the subtle sound of footsteps.
"Here they come!"
"Yeah!"
A grayish-yellow shadow suddenly sprang out from behind a withered tree, and the one who chose the Black Tortoise Shield as his weapon immediately charged forward to block it.
His burly figure was staggered by a lean wolf, knocking him back, causing him to fall on his behind.
"My attribute is too low, but still good, it didn't break my defense," said the Black Tortoise Shield, propping himself up on his elbows, and shouting, "Hurry up, finish it off!"
The jackal had not expected the burly guy to be so weak, but his sneak attack was blocked, and he found himself surrounded.
With one on each side, both holding longswords, they hacked away. Though lacking in technique, they were not slow. Carelessly, the wolf was struck by a sword and howled pitifully, his eyes burning with hatred as he lunged at the one who had hit him – Dragon Scale Sword.
"Dragon Scale Sword! Fall back! I'll handle it."
Looking strong but proving to be a paper tiger, the Black Tortoise Shield had already gotten up, and with his shield raised, he charged again, forcefully withstanding another pounce from the jackal, only to fall on his behind once more.
Moon Slash Blade took the opportunity to strike another blow.
"It's severely wounded! Fast!"
The trio gradually figured out the jackal's attack patterns and coordinated with each other, finally managing to kill it.
"Phew!"
Wiping the sweat from their faces, the three burst into laughter: "That was exhilarating!"
"I got the killing blow just now," said Dragon Scale Sword. "Next time it's weak, you guys jump in."
"No worries, we're all buddies here," said the Black Tortoise Shield indifferently, waving his hand before asking, "How much experience does one wolf provide?"
"Five points," said Dragon Scale Sword.
"We need 40 experience to level up, so you just need to kill seven more wolves, right?"
Dragon Scale Sword shook his head, dismissing the suggestion: "Let's do it together. We're beta testing, so let's play it slow; we're not running a studio here."
Moon Slash Blade nodded, then sighed, "But this game really is realistic. When we were fighting just now, it reminded me of a mad stray dog I encountered back in high school. It scared me so much, my legs went numb. The wolves here are much fiercer than a mad dog."
"Lower the pain sensation, there's nothing to fear! Don't forget we can still resurrect," said the Black Tortoise Shield as he stood up. "Let's gather five wolf corpses first and go back to complete a quest, and save up to upgrade some equipment."
"Sounds good!" The other two nodded in agreement with this plan.
"However, I think this game will definitely be revolutionary. Starting a studio might actually be a good idea."
...
"Thank you, your brave actions have won the friendship of Star Dragon Ridge outpost," said Lind, standing in front of a small hill made of jackal corpses, praising the four individuals before him.
Although Loves White Silk had gone to do tasks early, his efficiency alone could not match that of three, and it took him a whole game-day, costing him two lives, to barely kill five wolves.
Meanwhile, Black Tortoise Shield, Moon Slash Blade, and Dragon Scale Sword, working together, had killed 16 wolves, thoroughly exterminating the jackals from Star Dragon Ridge outpost.
The pile of corpses also had a few little jackal wolf cubs, clearly intended to pad the numbers.
Aside from Lind, who had anticipated the players' courage, the other soldiers were too shocked to speak.
Four people had killed more than twenty wolves? And they were naked, wielding only some shabby weapons.
This was simply impossible!
These undead were far too terrifying.
Under the expectant gazes of the undead players, Lind began distributing rewards.
Although the money was being handed out now, it would return to his hands in a few minutes.
Sure enough, as soon as they received the money, the four of them immediately rushed to the [Weapon Shop].
Lind's soldiers looked blankly at the pile of wolf carcasses.
Why was this happening?
Especially when they saw that group, jubilant and carrying a bunch of junk as they exited the room, they were utterly baffled.
Forget it, as long as Lord Lind understands.
I don't want to think about it anymore.
Lind too watched the four, curious to see whether they had leveled up and what rewards they would receive for completing the task he had assigned.
The four weren't secretive either, chatting openly among themselves.
"White Silk, I saw your video coming over. How much more do you need to level up?"
"Just two more wolves, and you guys?"
"Black Tortoise Shield, Moon Slash Blade, three more wolves, Dragon Scale Sword and I need two more wolves, just like you."
Loves White Silk felt somewhat envious, "It's great to have a team, you guys are friends offline."
"Sophomore year, dorm buddies."
"…" Loves White Silk looked at Moon Slash Blade, fell silent for a long while before giving a thumbs up and squeezing out two difficult words, "So cool!"
Three thousand slots, and to get three slots in the same dorm, was indeed quite cool.
Of course, another meaning of cool, well, that's another story.
As they chatted, Lind learned more, like Loves White Silk made gaming videos and the three came to Star Dragon Ridge because of his videos, identifying him as someone worth supporting to promote Star Dragon Ridge.
Also, players could see the health bars of red-named enemies but couldn't view the health bars of non-hostile targets.
This left Lind with a slightly larger scope of operational maneuvering.
He wanted to establish a good cooperative relationship with the players and needed to offer tempting rewards. The most appealing, of course, was experience, followed by various equipment and items. He could not provide experience, but he could supply other items.
"Let's go to Prey Town first to handle the goods, get some durable food to bring back, and fertilize the vegetable garden more. Maybe we can even grow some grain and vegetables in the future," Lind looked at the pile of wolf carcasses, at least they wouldn't have to worry about meat this winter, and he knew that some people held survival skills on the barren post-apocalyptic land, barely managing to grow some food.
Meanwhile, the four had already gathered in front of Lind.
"My lord, is there anything else we can help with?"
Seeing the four so idle, Lind felt he couldn't let them remain unoccupied, or surely there would be trouble.
So, drawing on some church myths and childhood fairy tales he remembered, he said, "Calamity descends, the severe winter winds from the giants' breath will take the lives of any unfortunate souls who inadvertently sleep outside their houses in the night, even though you are undead, surely you would not want to experience death by suffocation in the darkness. I permit you to build a shelter within Star Dragon Ridge to settle in."
The four paused, then exclaimed in surprise, "Damn, we can even build houses!"