Absolute Death Game

Chen Chuan saw those solo players retreating and thought they were scared (in fact, some of them really were scared), he couldn’t help but reveal a smug expression, but breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, glad that he hadn’t let the boss down.

As he thought this, he climbed onto the stockade wall and walked up to Zhang Haojie’s side, "Boss, I chased those people away, so only you will do this mission."

"Hmm, you did well. With this, the least reward for the mission will be silver equipment, and maybe even gold equipment if we’re lucky."

Chen Chuan, finding it hard to believe, said, "Gold equipment? For real? Can this crummy village even have such good rewards?"

Zhang Haojie glanced at him indifferently, "What do you know? This is Newcomer Village, it’s not the same as other villages." @@novelbin@@

"Newcomer Village?" Chen Chuan repeated the three words, clearly not yet realizing their significance.

"Newcomer Village should be a place where newcomers spawn, right? But what’s so special about that?"

Zhang Haojie explained, "Although the game has a high degree of freedom, the system still provides certain protection and preferences for Newcomer Villages. So, Newcomer Villages are different from ordinary villages and towns. Each Newcomer Village has hidden missions, characters, and treasures, so it’s completely possible for gold equipment to be a mission reward.

Even if there’s no gold equipment, there would be other special items with similar value."

Chen Chuan nodded in enlightenment and said, "So that’s how it is."

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Zhang Haojie added, "Apart from the solo players, are there other players in this village?"

Chen Chuan nodded, "Yes, about four or five. But they seem to be newbie players, their gear so shabby it’s laughable. There’s one named Qin Dahai though, who’s a bit interesting. He’s the deputy captain of the village militia. Boss, do I need to deal with them for you?"

"No need," Zhang Haojie shook his head, "They are natives of this village and have definitely taken the village defense missions. Threatening them won’t accomplish much. Plus, they probably won’t earn much credit in the mission so they’re not a concern."

After speaking, he warned, "However, you should still be cautious. If new players arrive, make sure to treat them carefully and don’t repeat the last time’s mistake, losing our men."

Chen Chuan hurriedly nodded in agreement, but inwardly seethed with anger at the thought of the three players who had killed his comrades. Just wait until I see you again, then you’ll pay.

"Lin Feng, where are we going?" Wang Xiong asked, puzzled after following Lin Feng for a while.

Lin Feng didn’t know where he was going either and could only answer, "A voice told me there’s a mission to be picked up this way."

"A voice? What do you mean?"

"I mean someone private messaged me."

A solo player who overheard their conversation immediately said, "Give me a break, the game doesn’t have any private whisper feature. Can we not boast, please?"

Lin Feng didn’t respond because the mysterious person had messaged him again, telling him to go to the clearing ahead. He led the people straight in, but then noticed something different about the surroundings.

"Huh, the NPCs here seem different from those over there," an observant solo player suddenly exclaimed.

Indeed, the previous villagers all had the title (Black Stone Village Villager) behind their names, while the villagers here bore the titles (Thousand Pines Town Townsperson) or (Thousand Pines Town Militia), clearly indicating a difference.

A militia of nearly a hundred strong was training, and Lin Feng saw the orderly NPC troops changing formations at the command of a player. They appeared well-trained, and the commanding player, clad in a dark set of chainmail, didn’t look like any ordinary quality.

"Damn, that’s badass," "Who is this Han Wenhuan, that he could even command NPCs!?"

Lin Feng scoffed, "What’s the big deal? Great Guilds generally have NPC armies under their control. You really shouldn’t make such a fuss."

Though he said that, his mind was filled with doubts. Great Guilds did command NPC forces, but why were there any here? The numbers weren’t great, and their fighting strength didn’t seem too powerful, but it was still an army. To be commanded by a single player was quite strange. (Could it be that his Prestige has climbed high? Yes, that must be it,) Lin Feng silently muttered to himself.

"Welcome to Black Stone Village." A figure suddenly appeared before the crowd. Lin Feng instantly perked up; this was Xiao Buli, the man who had been speaking to him in secret.

Then a few more people emerged from the wooden houses nearby, including a mage, a rare sight among solo players.

Lin Feng swept his gaze over the group and it suddenly landed on a swordsman off to the side, "Damn, Old He, is that really you?"

He was obviously referring to He Suoju.

He Suoju looked surprised, "You’re Lin Feng, the hunter with the Tibetan Mastiff? Where’s your pet?"

"Hey, don’t even mention it. When I was on a quest a while back, I was chased by a large guild. To cover my retreat, I got chopped up," Lin Feng said, his voice tinged with sadness when he spoke about his pet that he’d raised for several months.

Wang Xiong expressed surprise, "You guys know each other?"

Hurriedly, Lin Feng explained, "This He Suoju is also a solo player like us. I’ve teamed up with him before to kill rare elites."

Upon hearing this, everyone’s wariness lessened a bit. Solo players usually got along better with one another. After all, they had to survive in the crevices between large guilds and generally didn’t oppose each other. This almost amounted to an unspoken rule among solo players.

"Your friend seems to be doing pretty well for himself. He didn’t join some big guild, did he?"

Lin Feng also found it strange. When they teamed up before, He Suoju was on a similar level to him. How had he become so much stronger in just a few months? Could he really have joined a large guild?

Curious, he asked about it. To that, He Suoju shared, "Heh, that’s quite a story. I didn’t join any large guild, but I did become a disciple of a Sword God. Of course, I owe a lot to my friend Xiao Buli here. It was with his help that I succeeded in becoming a disciple."

Hearing this, Du Yibo couldn’t help but glance at Xiao Buli, thinking to himself, what is he talking about? How come I didn’t know about this?

Listening to the conversation, many people grew eager.

Becoming a disciple of a Sword God probably meant joining a sect. NPC sects were highly coveted and elusive organizations, not just any run-of-the-mill NPC power group. They were incredibly secretive and had stringent requirements for entry, usually through a discipleship quest. But once you joined, it was like having a powerful backer.

While you still needed to be self-sufficient and it wasn’t as convenient as being in a large guild, it wasn’t too far off, either. Sects often offered access to skills, equipment, and sect quests, which even large guilds couldn’t monopolize. So joining a sect meant having a secure and relatively safe leveling path.

However, these hidden sects were very rare, generally encountered through triggering special events, and the events themselves were difficult to complete. Hence, even when a solo player happened upon one, without significant backing, joining was nearly impossible. Surprisingly, He Suoju had encountered and successfully joined one.

"Old He, that’s not very Righteous of you, knowing about a hidden sect and not taking care of your brothers," a Swordsman suddenly complained with apparent jealousy.

He Suoju retorted, "Come on, it’s not as simple as you make it sound. Joining that sect was incredibly difficult and happened because of a fortunate coincidence. If you guys want to join, it’s not like that kind of opportunity just comes along."

The complainer knew that He Suoju was right and sighed, "Well, I’m not ambitious for sects or anything. I’d be satisfied just to have a peaceful place to level up without fighting over monsters. It’s a pity I haven’t found one yet. I made my way here to Black Stone Village to take on a quest, only to find people from a large guild here too."

This struck a chord, and murmurs of agreement followed, "Yeah, it is really infuriating."

Xiao Buli suddenly spoke up. "I actually know such a place. If you cross the Black Mountain range, you’ll reach the Desolate Mountains. That area is vast, teeming with monsters, and not yet claimed by any large guild. If you’re interested, that’s a good spot for leveling and treasure hunting."

Lin Feng objected, "Forget it. I’ve heard about that place. It’s not somewhere we could survive at our level. If we ran into some super beast, we wouldn’t even be able to escape. Unless a large guild organizes a big team to clear the area, nobody dares to go there."

But Xiao Buli casually said, "That’s not necessarily true. I was there just a few days ago and got a lot of good stuff. I even captured two pets. It wasn’t too difficult."

Lin Feng looked at He Suoju, then at Xiao Buli, wondering if that could possibly be true.

That’s when Wang Xiong scoffed, "You’re full of it. Who’s going to believe that story?"

Xiao Buli didn’t get flustered. Suddenly, he raised his hand and summoned the Swamp Crocodile. The appearance of the beast, four to five meters long, gave the group a real shock. "Damn, you managed to capture that thing? What level of Wildness is it?"

"Wait a sec, how can you summon a pet out of thin air?"

"Huh, why is it White Name? It’s not a boss? A Minor Monster can be this huge? Damn, this has to be a beast from the Desolate Mountains!"

Some hurriedly asked questions, while others were stunned, thinking about what kind of person he must be to have both Invisibility and the ability to Summon pets, not to mention his formidable strength.

It’s no wonder they were amazed. Usually, pets were weaker in combat than their owners. The sheer combat power of this crocodile was already enough to overpower most of the group. So, how strong must the owner of this giant crocodile be?

Faced with the barrage of questions, Xiao Buli didn’t respond.

"Now do you believe me?"

"Believe it, definitely believe it," came the reply.

Xiao Buli then added, "Since you’re all friends of Old He, that makes you my friends too. Look, if you want to catch beasts like this as pets, once I’m done with this campaign quest, I could take you all there. The Desolate Mountains are full of fierce beasts like this one."

The Hunters among the group were instantly interested. Their current companions were just ordinary beasts like wolves and leopards. If they could capture a pet as imposing and formidable as this one, it would significantly boost their strength.

But Lin Feng caught the essential part of Xiao Buli’s statement— "Hold on, what do you mean by a campaign quest?" (