Pear Sister's codename was 'Ya Li'.
She and her four teammates were searching every corner of the town, determined not to miss anything.
Unfortunately, they hadn't found anything useful.
Just then...
The system announcement that Qin Feng had reached level 2 and unlocked the town's leaderboard left Ya Li's group in complete shock.
"What's going on? Pear Sister, this 'Shadow'… isn't he the guy who went out on his own?"
"I think so… but he leveled up to 2 already?"
"And didn't he kill a Bronze-tier mini-boss?"
"We couldn't even kill a regular monster as a group, and he soloed a Bronze-tier boss? That's absurd!"
"But the system doesn't make mistakes…"
"Maybe he teamed up with someone after going outside?"
"No, look at the leaderboard. There's only his name on it!"
Indeed, on Shell Town's leaderboard, the name 'Shadow' stood alone.
This left Ya Li's group in disbelief.
"Uh… what?"
Pear Sister, gripping her longbow, stood there stunned.
She had already experienced how terrifying the monsters outside were.
Her group of five had ventured out and were massacred by a single level 1 regular monster, unable to even reduce its health by half!
Yet now...
The very same 'Shadow,' who she thought was marching to his death, had managed to solo a Bronze-tier boss?
"That's impossible!"
Pear Sister was beginning to question her reality.
...
Niu Gang and Guan Xiaoya had just respawned in the center of the town.
The system had notified them that half of their lifespan had been deducted.
Originally, they had around 40 to 50 years, but now they were left with just over 20 years each.
Their faces were grim.
Guan Xiaoya's face was pale, "Niu Gang, do you think this lifespan deduction is real?"
Niu Gang shook his head vigorously, "No way. How could something so strange be real?"
Guan Xiaoya's expression remained complicated, "But we were just asleep, and now we're in this place? This obviously isn't a dream. And if this is a game... it feels way too real."
Niu Gang, too, was starting to feel uncertain.
Just then, the system notification about Qin Feng defeating the 'Broodmother' and reaching level 2 rang in their minds, startling them.
"What the heck? That 2.5-meter-tall spider actually got killed?"
"Who is this 'Shadow'? How could he take down that spider?"
"No way… that spider had over a dozen small spiders under its control…"
Both Niu Gang and Guan Xiaoya were now questioning everything.
Facing that massive spider, they hadn't stood a chance.
But somehow, this 'Shadow' had managed to kill it!
And judging by the lonely name on the leaderboard, they had to assume that Shadow had killed the Broodmother alone!
This realization left them completely speechless.
...
As more players who had fallen asleep began to appear in the Abandoned Land of the Gods, the population of Shell Town quickly grew to over 500.
The town square was now packed with players, all wearing black robes.
Some of the new players were eagerly asking others what was happening, but no one had any answers.
Most people were still bewildered.
However, some players had already realized that this situation was far from ordinary.
A young man with dyed golden hair stood in the square, waving his hands and calling out:
"Everyone, we all fell asleep and woke up in this so-called 'Abandoned Land of the Gods.'"
"For now, we can't leave the game. According to the hints, we can gain lifespan by killing monsters, but dying will result in a loss of half our lifespan."
"Whether it's true or not, we should play it safe. No one should venture out alone."
"Quite a few players have already been killed by the monsters outside and lost lifespan…"
"I suggest we form teams and explore together. It'll be much safer that way."
"If you want to join my team, come sign up, and we'll take down your class info."
Some players listened to the golden-haired youth, while others couldn't be bothered.
Meanwhile, near another exit of the town, a group of three men and three women had already formed a team.
The leader, a burly man with a powerful build, was named Wang Meng.
Wang Meng gazed at the town square in the distance, hearing the faint voice of the golden-haired youth, but paid him no mind.
He turned to his five companions and said, "This Forsaken Game is no joke. It's better to assume the worst than to be caught unprepared. We'll treat it like a regular game for now and head out to explore. As long as we can kill monsters and level up, we'll be fine."
"As for lifespan, just make sure no one dies. I'm a Holy Shield Warrior, and my starting skill is invincibility, so I can tank the damage for you. All you need to do is focus on dealing as much damage as possible."
Wang Meng's team had been handpicked by him after careful observation, all hidden-class players.
With a lineup like this, their strength was more than sufficient!
Meanwhile...
Elsewhere in Shell Town, some avid gamers who usually teamed up to rank up in multiplayer games had now entered the Forsaken Game together.
"Whoa, this game is the perfect place for us to show our skills!"
"Let's go, go, go!"
"We might not be great at other things, but when it comes to games, who can beat the five of us?"
"This game only allows six people per team. We need one more person."
"Let's find a cute healer girl, shall we?"
...
It wasn't just Shell Town.
Across countless other towns, more and more players were gathering.
People from all over the world—whether from Daxia, North America, or Europe—had fallen asleep and found themselves in the Abandoned Land of the Gods.
Players across the globe were waking up here, most of them utterly confused.
Some had already begun to take the situation seriously, treating it with caution.
Many strong players, even at the very start, were beginning to pull ahead of the others.
For example...
Qin Feng!
"Reaching level 2 unlocked the leaderboard and granted me 1 reputation point."
Qin Feng glanced at the system notification but didn't pay it much attention.
Reputation was a valuable resource, especially later on, when it could be exchanged with NPCs for high-level items.
At the moment, Qin Feng stood invisible near the corpse of the Bronze-tier Broodmother, preparing to collect his rewards.
First, he absorbed the visible lifespan orb floating above the giant spider's corpse.
——
[You have gained 46 days of tradable lifespan.]
——
A single small boss yielded as much lifespan as more than a dozen regular monsters combined!
Normally, it would take several fully-formed teams to take down such a boss. After splitting the lifespan rewards, each person wouldn't get much...
But Qin Feng had soloed the boss, so the reward was all his.
Next, Qin Feng retrieved three loot items from the boss's corpse.
One skill book immediately caught his eye.
"This is great!"
——
[Skill Book: Greedy Hand (Bronze): Assassin skill book. After learning, you can use this on monster corpses with a 20% chance to gain an additional loot drop. Requirement: Level 1]
——
A 20% chance might not seem high...
But the key was...
Qin Feng could evolve this skill!