Absolute Death Game

Lin Feng stood at the back of the crowd of solo players, feeling extremely frustrated, downright furious. When he first dove into this game, he had made a significant resolution to begin this journey. Since playing this game, he’d been on tenterhooks, knowing he could die at any moment, which forced him to be extremely cautious.

Unlike his previous gaming experiences, he dared not act with reckless abandon, avoiding any slight risk. Consequently, he had spent a whole year in Newbie Village. During that time, he’d learned all the Professional Skills he could, nearly pushing his five Basic Attributes to thirty points each, and acquired seven or eight Basic Combat Skills before he dared to venture out of the village.

But leaving the village didn’t mean he’d made it. The world of the game was vast, yet there didn’t seem to be many territories without an owner. Everywhere he went was under the shadow of some Great Guild. Wherever he went, he was told, "This area is under the control of our XXX Guild, you’re not allowed to take quests or enter dungeons here."

He didn’t dare to enter dungeons lightly; after all, death in this game meant the end. So, he could only fight Minor Monsters. But being barred from even taking quests was a bit too much. However, considering how vast the game’s world was, even the Great Guilds couldn’t monitor everything, so he did manage to complete some scattered quests, slowly but surely increasing his power.

Lin Feng had chosen the profession of Hunter and advanced to the seemingly impressive Advanced Profession of Ranger. Actually, he had hoped to become a Mage Profession, but in this game, Mage Professions were Hidden Professions. Without the support of a Great Guild and a stroke of fate, it was very hard to specialize, so he settled for a profession with special abilities instead.

The special ability of the Ranger was to communicate with plants, understand information about recent events in the vicinity, track traces left by humans and beasts, and hide effectively in the wild, giving off a special forces vibe. Sadly, this ability didn’t mean much in reality, but in the game, one could hold secondary professions.

With his rich Basic Attributes and skills, he also took up the profession of a Rogue, adept in Qinggong.

Despite having two professions, Lin Feng wasn’t doing too well. Fortunately, aside from the Great Guilds, there were many other solo players in the game. Over time, he’d made a few friends. Looking out for each other, they barely managed to survive in this cruel game world.

Not long ago, they heard that the guild in Nine Dragons City had been wiped out, leaving it a no man’s land temporarily, so he followed some close friends to the city. Yet, it didn’t take long for him to realize that there was little to gain there.

The place was overcrowded, with everyone waiting for the Demon Clan to attack the city, taking all the local quests in the meantime, even mundane tasks like carrying water for the blind old lady, just for a few copper coins.

As the Demon Clan’s siege drew nearer, they knew that they, as solo players, were unlikely to benefit much from such large-scale events and that there was a real danger of dying if one was not careful. Continue reading on NovelBin.Côm

So, when they received the system alert about a monster attacking the village while farming Minor Monsters in the wild, Lin Feng and a few friends immediately rushed towards Black Stone Village, knowing that defending a village was much easier than defending a city.

To his dismay, he still couldn’t avoid the hateful Great Guilds even in such a remote place.

While mulling over this, Lin Feng finally snapped back to reality and turned his attention to the expression on the face of that guy called Chen Chuan.

"Hey, can you be reasonable?" Wang Xiong, a Barbarian Warrior who was adept at using blunt weapons and one of the only tank type professions among their group of solo players, spoke up. "This isn’t within the influence of the Awesome Empire. There’s nothing against the rules in taking a quest here."

Chen Chuan scoffed at Wang Xiong, this anomaly among the solo players, with undisguised disdain. "Humph, rules? Might makes right. We’re running this monster defense quest today, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll clear off."

The strength of Lin Feng and the other solo players wasn’t very strong, which was evident from their equipment. Unlike the players from the Great Guilds, who had ample opportunities to raid dungeons and had professional logistics players supplying them, their equipment was poor.

Lin Feng was clad in just three pieces of light blue gear, two of which he had looted from rare elites, and one that was a reward for completing a quest. Because of that quest, he was hunted by a Great Guild for days and nearly killed. He only escaped thanks to the unique stealth ability of the Ranger.

The others were similar to him or even worse off, clad in basic gear. There were not many veteran players like him who had been playing for over a year in this place.

Chen Chuan gave off an oppressive aura. Seeing a prestigious Mage wasn’t an everyday occurrence, but what made Lin Feng more nervous was Zhang Haojie, radiating a faint glow while standing on the palisade.

Even though Zhang Haojie stood on the palisade with his hands behind his back, silently gazing into the distance, Lin Feng dared not overlook him. With his experience in the game, he knew Zhang Haojie was no ordinary player.

"You shouldn’t push people too far," Wang Xiong called out, agitated.

Chen Chuan just snickered, "And what if I do push you too far? If you have the guts, come at me. I’ll give you a chance; all of you can come at once." With that said, he slammed his Magic Wand into the ground, sending a bolt of blue lightning that cracked the earth in a five-meter radius, intimidating everyone into stepping back.

Magic Damage couldn’t be mitigated by Armor, and although some items provided magic defenses, these players barely had any blue gear, let alone magic defense equipment, rendering them defenseless against Mages.

Seeing that everyone was considering backing down, Lin Feng could no longer hold back and stood up, saying, "Don’t be afraid, everyone. We’re in a safe zone right now; they wouldn’t dare lay a hand on us."

Chen Chuan was taken aback, as if hit by the truth, and gave Lin Feng a glare before scoffing, "You’re right, but do you think you can stay in the safe zone forever? If you know what’s good for you, stay away. I don’t care if you kill some minor monsters; I won’t compete with you for the loot. But if you dare to compete with us for the tasks, don’t say I didn’t warn you."

Before Lin Feng could answer, someone from his team spoke up discontentedly, "Hey, that’s not fair. There’s no limit on how many can take on the task, so why can’t we take it? If we take on the task, we could relieve some of your pressure, too."

Chen Chuan seemed to be getting impatient, "It’s true that this task is unlimited, but the total value of the rewards is fixed. You lot are useless and would only dilute the rewards we’d get, so there’s absolutely no way we’re letting you take this task." @@novelbin@@

Lin Feng knew Chen Chuan wasn’t lying, based on his experience with the game; such a setting was very likely. For the same task, if ten people completed it, each would get a white armor piece. If one person did it, the worst they’d get would be deep blue gear. With the current situation, if everyone took on the task together, each person would probably get light blue or deep blue gear.

But if only one person took on the task, they could possibly get silver or even gold equipment.

The opposition had valid reasons to monopolize the task. But reasons aside, facing this situation, Lin Feng couldn’t bring himself to accept it. Why should they get first dibs? Why should our interests serve theirs? Just because they are a bit stronger?

Sitting in front of his computer, Lin Feng suddenly let out a wry smile, (That’s right, it’s because they are stronger! In both this world and the one behind the screen, might makes right.) Clenching his fists at the computer, he thought bitterly, (Damn it, wasn’t the whole point of getting into this game to become stronger? So why should I compromise and back down now?)

Though feeling aggrieved, the solo players didn’t dare to talk back, aware that dying in this game carried a hefty price. In any ordinary game, they would have fought regardless, as human pride is worth contending for, even if it meant a thrilling but hopeless fight. But in a game like this, a thrilling fight was out of the question. Better to cut their losses and run.

Some wanted to back down, others couldn’t bear to just give up, and there were those who thought their greater numbers could be leveraged. Lin Feng wasn’t sure which category he fell into. While he was hesitating, a message suddenly popped up on his screen—

Xiao Buli whispered to you: "Hello there, interested in taking on a task? Head to the south of the village; you can accept tasks there."

Lin Feng was startled, staring blankly at the screen. It was his first time encountering such an event. He wondered, what’s going on? And who was Xiao Buli?

But as a seasoned player, he knew there had to be a reason. Collecting himself, he replied: "Who are you?"

Xiao Buli whispered to you: "Don’t worry about who I am, just do as I say, and call your people over. I can give a task to all of you."

Lin Feng thought to himself that this was an unexpected boon, and he was not the type to hoard opportunities, "Okay, but they’re not my people."

After responding, Lin Feng said to the others, "Everyone, follow me for a bit, I have something to tell you."

He held some prestige among these people and they all had a decent relationship, so they were somewhat willing to listen to him,

Without making a fuss, he motioned to a few people nearby and they quietly walked away. (