The Boss Behind The Game

As they were searching for creatures, Chen Ziyu opened the shop to see what was on sale.

[Level 1 Shop]

[Level 2 Shop (Unlocks when Strength reaches Level 20]

[Level 3 Shop (Unlocks when Strength reaches Level 40]

A few options appeared.

Chen Ziyu clicked on the Level 1 Shop, and a layout of a shop immediately popped up before his eyes.

Chen Ziyu's eyes were blazing with fire as he looked through all the list of items sold in the shop. He realized that most of the items sold were clearly for mages only, and those that were suitable for other character classes were fewer, but this made him rejoice at his decision of choosing the berserker.

He glanced at his depot and saw that he had 14 soul coins. Chen Ziyu bit his lips as he purchased the Ogre's Wooden Club.

Everyone's curious gaze was on him as an enormous white wooden club appeared out of thin air. Chen Ziyu then reached out and wrapped his fingers tightly around it. A feeling of warmth instantly enveloped his body as he felt his strength intensifying once again.

As he met the envious eyes of his fellow teammates, Chen Ziyu could not help but burst into laughter.

Meanwhile, Lu Wu and Bei Li, who were secretly watching them, also ended up cracking up. The price of every little item that was sold in the shop had been increased by 30% to cover the expenses for the making of the artifact.

In other words, whenever a player purchases an item from the shop, it would partially benefit them. The more items the players purchase, the more income Lu Wu would receive.

Following the map, Chen Ziyu and the team walked speedily for almost three hours before reaching the Ghost Mountains. The fog that was visible on the map had started to disperse, exposing the landscape of the mountains.

Most of the team members had already completed their first quest along the way, and they had even bought new weaponry from the shop.

After experiencing the feeling of having enhanced attributes, everyone's expectation of the game skyrocketed. They became even more eager to find every single hidden feature that this game had to offer.

At this time, the time span for Wang Damang's respawning was already up, and so he entered the game to join the others.

This round, Wang Damang was extremely cautious when he met any Wandering Souls on the road to the Ghost Mountains. As he was in battle, he also took the initiative to observe his surroundings, especially the landform, to prevent any deja vu.

This kind of realistic battle would leave gameaholics feeling infatuated. But as he wandered deeper, he bought a new dagger from the shop, which increased his efficiency in slaying creatures.

After entering the premise of the Ghost Mountains, he could see a group of people gathered around an enormous creature of around three meters tall.

As he got closer, the group of people turned out to be his own teammates.

The feeling of resentment filled Wang Damang's heart when he saw this, "These bastards promised me that they would be done in five minutes, but they're still at it after five hours. What happened to us tackling the boss stage in Atlantis?"

As Wang Damang came into view, his teammates finally acknowledged his presence.

"Damang, come over and help us, quick! This creature's level is too high, we're having trouble dealing with it!"

Wang Damang, who was planning to just sit back and watch, was bombarded by yet another quest.

[Special creature found, initiating side quests. Players that take part in eliminating powerful netherworld creatures will be awarded a bonus of 3 soul coins, items collected from the battle can be retrieved from the shop!]

The unexpected new quest made Wang Damang decisively join the battle.

The netherworld creature had a pair of bull horns and flesh like a dragon. Its strength was so incomparable that every time it smashed on the ground, it would leave a hole behind. The audience that gathered around dared not interfere, and could only wander around helplessly.

Although Wang Damang had joined the team, the rest still felt that this would take strenuous effort.

Lu Wu, who was quietly observing, turned to Bei Li and curiously asked, "This netherworld creature is considered special? And you created a quest just to assassinate it?"

Bei Li cackled in return, "These netherworld creatures are formed from the aftermath of the Yin soldiers absorbing too many Wandering Souls. They are a mixture of specialities. On their chests, you'll find a Netherworld Pearl. This very pearl will benefit you greatly! What's more, it can increase your quality of life!"

Lu Wu was gaping at Bei Li as he finally understood her whole plan. Therefore, he went back to watching the players through the battle artifact.

Clearly the netherworld creatures were much stronger than the Wandering Souls. Luckily the players on the scene were professionals, they were quick to react. While they dodged the oncoming attacks, they also constantly created multiple wounds on the netherworld creature.

They sustained their position for almost an hour. Everyone was physically and mentally exhausted. Just when they thought they stood no chance against this netherworld creature, the ominous beast finally fell with a loud thud, creating multiple large clouds of haze which then threaded its way into everyone's bodies.

A white light started to twinkle on their bodies, indicating that they had leveled up.

Everyone sighed a breath of relief as they experienced the feeling of their attributes getting stronger.

"Quick, look over there, what's that?" one of the team members piped up.

At this moment, the skin of the netherworld creature came off due to the effect of the artifact, and there lay a black pearl the size of a palm.

Chen Ziyu rushed forward and swiftly picked up the Netherworld Pearl. The message regarding the item instantly followed.

[Netherworld Pearl: can be sold in the shop for 28 soul coins]

At this time, all the others came and gathered around. Their eyes sparkled as they finished reading the message. This was the first item that they have collected from battling a creature, not to mention that the item was quite valuable, "Let's follow the convention of splitting the money amongst ourselves."

As he was saying, Chen Ziyu pulled up the item list from the shop. When he dragged the Netherworld Pearl into the shop, a light flashed across his eyes and the pearl vanished into thin air. At the same time, 28 soul coins were added into his backpack.

Although each of them did not receive much after splitting, they were still smiling happily.

It has been so long since they experienced this kind of synergy, like back when they had tackled the last boss stage together.

Chen Ziyu glanced at the soul coins he collected then pulled up the shop once more. He chose chainmail to wear, which cost 12 soul coins.

Chen Ziyu's new style left everyone green with envy once more, as their hearts were filled with the urge to level up as soon as possible so that they could have the privilege of having such an outfit as well.

Meanwhile, in the room, Lu Wu was holding the Netherworld Pearl in his hand, seeming somewhat surprised by it, "This stuff can really help strengthen my abilities?"

Bei Li gave a strong nod, "If you ingest it, the soul power within it will gradually improve your ability. Although it doesn't help much now, it will prove useful to you in the long run!"

Lu Wu agreed with her words as he nodded his head, then went ahead and placed the round pearl in his mouth, taking a bite of it.

"Oh... it tastes weird!"

He pictured the Netherworld Pearl as an apple as he gobbled it up, releasing a loud burp in the end. He felt his whole body turning warm, which was quite comforting.

When he finished consuming the Netherworld Pearl, they turned their focus back to the group which was still exploring the Ghost Mountains.

This time, Lu Wu enacted three quests for them in one go. At the same time, he played around with the settings so that the quests would only be triggered when the players entered the premises of the Ghost Mountains.

In other words, future players who entered the Ghost Mountains would automatically receive messages regarding the quests, saving the hassle for Lu Wu to manually enact them every time.

[Side Quest: Retrieve Herbs]:

Every herb collected from Wandering Souls in the mountains will be evaluated and can be sold in the shop. Soul coins awarded according to evaluation

[Side Quest: Creature Hunting, 30 soul coins awarded]:

[Cultivating Side Quest: I am strong, 30 soul coins awarded]:

When a player reaches Level 20, a set of blue pieces of equipment for evaluation will be provided.

The two new quests filled the players with joy once more as they looked forward to seeing their enhanced strength.

Meanwhile, the main quest was still under Lu Wu's consideration.

After all, the players were still considered frail, and if they went for the larger and stronger creatures out there, they would no doubt be throwing straws into the wind. The only plan was to first steer them in the path of getting stronger, and he would then create a main quest for the game.

Initially, the team's plan was to continue hunting in the Ghost Mountains, and at the same time they would keep an eye out for herbs which would be sold later on. However, a sudden message interrupted their game:

[Your time in the game has reached 12 hours. In 5 minutes, please be prepared to be logged out of the game.]

The message left everyone in shock. They did not expect that 12 hours had passed so swiftly right before their eyes.

"Time passed so quickly! It's been 12 hours, but I'm here thinking that I had just entered the game!"

"Is it possible to stay longer? I just need another 1.5 soul coins before I can purchase a Boning Knife. This is absurd!"

However, their pleadings could never counter the settings of the game, hence after five minutes, amongst the complaints of the players, every single one of them was logged out.

As they returned to reality, they became extremely frantic. As gameaholics, they had never come across anything like this game before, however the limitations of the game had left them in a difficult situation.

The team members who were left with nothing to twiddle with returned to the group chat once more. When they were sharing today's experience in the game, the big boss came out.

Master_Wang: "Ladies and gentlemen, what were you all up to today. Not a single soul among you guys joined the game, and we're almost to the competitive team match, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and go enhance your strengths. (angry.jpg)"

Strike_Gold: "Master, what I'm going to tell you next might seem impossible to you, but I'm going to quit the team!"

Young,Wild&Free: "Same here, I have the same thought as well."

Master_Wang: "All of you want to withdraw yourselves?"

Everyone: "YES!"

Master_Wang: "May I know the reason behind this?"

Everyone gave a uniform reply: "We can't help from indulging ourselves in another game…"

Master_Wang: "What game could make you so obsessed with it? Which company does it belong to?"

Chen Ziyu then sent a screenshot of the game's introduction from Lu Wu's website.

Strike_Gold: "It's this 800MB epic game."