Chapter 18: Killing the Monster - The First Battle.
Easter watched the little fire people walk away, then turned back into the village and walked to the stone house. "System, do you have a mirror?"
[Yes.] The small ball of light transformed into a full-length mirror.
When he saw the person in the mirror, Easter paused for a moment, raised his hand to trace the face in the mirror, and finally his fingertip landed on the beauty mark under the corner of his right eye. He curled his fingers and said, "That's enough." It was a kind of magic that was hard to describe in words, subtly and harmlessly bewitching people in the gentlest way.
Was it caused by the "source"? It must be. The only anomaly from yesterday to today has been Him. A faint smile appeared on His lips, indifferent and detached. Is He trying to give Him more cheat codes than the system already provides? He's already so capable, what does He want to do? Why doesn't He do it himself?
If he dies, I wonder if this game of chess can continue? His clear, light pink eyes were stained with a startling crimson hue.
“System, since you can’t detect any changes in me, let’s do an experiment,” Ister said calmly with a smile. “Are there any monsters nearby?” He pushed open the door of the stone house and went inside. After looking around, he picked up a wooden stick—or perhaps a simple spear would be more accurate. It was prepared by the players, with one end sharpened to a point and the body of the stick polished smooth without any burrs.
The system pleaded earnestly, "Host, what do you want to do? Let's just stay put and avoid dangerous things. There will be plenty of opportunities to fight monsters later."
"Just doing a small experiment. Don't worry, I value my life more than anyone else," Easter said. He had ideas, but he wasn't going to risk his life. He then took a sharpened knife, which looked like a fruit knife.
Seeing that Easter had made up its mind, the system knew that nothing it said would make a difference. [Okay, host, follow the light sphere.]
Easter carefully closed the door before following the ball of light.
Ister's progress is perfectly synchronized with the players', but they are moving in opposite directions.
Stepping out of the village, a series of rolling hills stretched out before him. Following the ball of light, East stepped into a ravine between two mountains. Scattered black rocks and piles of withered branches and leaves made a dull sound underfoot. As they ventured deeper, the interlacing shadows of the trees blocked out the scorching sunlight, and the temperature seemed to drop by two degrees.
One of the characteristics of monsters is that they hate light, so it is not surprising that most of them choose to move at night and hide in these places.
[Host, ahead is "Worry," a low-level monster. Its attack method involves releasing mist to attack, followed by biting and ramming. Its vulnerable and fatal point is the chest area where the magic crystal is located. Although "Worry's" defense is the lowest among all monsters, it still...] Compared to ordinary humans, trying to break through its defenses is a joke. If it were that easy to deal with monsters, they wouldn't be a problem that even the gods struggle with. The system didn't say these things aloud; instead, it said, [Host, wouldn't you like to reconsider?]
Ister kept some distance from the monster, quietly adjusting his perspective to see it clearly. It was a large, grayish-white mass nestled in the meadow, surrounded by a faint black mist. He pursed his lips, suddenly feeling a bit like he had PTSD.
East pressed his hand against his chest, but there was no change. It seemed that either the skill was passive or the triggering method was wrong. It couldn't have just increased his charm value, could it?
Suddenly his eyes met a pair of scarlet eyes. East smiled, gripped his spear, and leaped into the air.
The players hurled boulders at the monster in the cave below. The monster resembled a black goat with antlers like a deer, and had only one, which grew right on its forehead. The monster sprang to its feet, landing on all fours, and let out a sharp, piercing roar.
Easter was bounced off and rolled to the ground. Several gray-black balls the size of footballs came flying at him. Easter quickly rolled to the side, and the spot where he had been was smashed open with several craters.
Before Ister could be distracted, he flipped over and jumped up, dodging more incoming mist balls, and charged toward the monster.
The players faced a raging monster. Their initial boulder attacks were effective; the monster's horn was slightly crooked, and one of its legs was crippled. The players' confidence soared. Cai Die, who provided ranged attacks, coordinated with Yun Mu, who was engaged in melee combat. Yun Mu wielded what was probably the best weapon among all the players—a large sword taken from a guillotine—and launched a relentless attack on the monster. Players with combat skills stepped forward to help, while those who felt their combat strength was weaker stayed on the sidelines. The division of labor was clear, and their first collaboration was remarkably seamless.
The spear that Ister thrust at the monster broke in two, sharp wooden splinters scattered in all directions, the hand that Ister held the spear was a bloody mess, and a long line of blood ran down the cheekbone of his right face.
As if oblivious to the pain, Esther neither dodged nor retreated, closing the distance between himself and the monster. With a flash of cold light, the blade pierced the monster's eye. "Roar! Howl..." Crimson blood mingled with black blood, dark and viscous.
After striking successfully, Ister wanted to press his advantage, but the monster didn't give him the chance. Ignoring the injury to his eye, it headbutted Ister, sending him flying. The monster then placed its two front paws on Ister's arm and opened its blood-red maw to tear at him. With each bite, a row of shark-like teeth tore off a large chunk of flesh.
East was pinned down and unable to move. Half of his body was soaked in blood. He could smell the stench of blood, and his vision was blurred by the blood mist. The bloodline on his cheek burst open, leaving traces of blood tears.
East gritted his teeth, blinked rapidly, and rolled away from the monster's claws. His robes were torn to shreds, and his exposed skin was torn and bleeding. His adrenaline surged, and with the fastest speed he had ever used, he pulled the knife from the monster's eye socket. As the monster pounced again, he gripped the knife with both hands and slammed it into the monster's chest. Due to the momentum, the monster knocked East down, but the knife in its chest went in even deeper.
Using the momentum, Yun Mu leaped forward, her long sword tearing through the wind and ripping open the monster's neck. "Whoosh! Chirp..." The monster charged left and right, sending the little fire people flying. They snarled and crawled up from the ground, not approaching again, but instead taking a step back. Their beady eyes stared at the dying monster. "Bang!" The monster fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"We won! We won! Haha!" Guagua waved and cheered excitedly.
"Don't get too excited. This is just a low-level monster, not a game you've already beat." Liang Jingjing poured cold water on the situation.
Before it could even utter a few words, a flash of black light appeared, and where the monster had been, only a crystal the size of an egg remained, pure and flawless.
Easter struggled to sit up, catching the magic crystal that had rolled off him. He coughed up blood, casually wiping it away. The magic crystal was stained with Easter's blood. The accident happened at that moment. By the time Easter noticed, the transparent liquid that the magic crystal had turned into had entered his body through the wound.
For a moment, East's expression was dazed. A flood of complex knowledge poured into his mind and then vanished in an instant, leaving only emptiness.
East didn't notice his momentary daze. He looked down at his empty palms and rolled his eyes in a very unladylike manner. Hey! What's going on here?
After all that hard work, you end up covered in injuries, and the spoils you just got are gone. Who wouldn't be happy about that? Regardless of whether it's good or bad for your health, this whole thing can only be described as heartbreaking.
Easter cursed countless times in his mind, feeling a little better, before getting up from the ground and letting out a puzzled "Hmm?" His gaze fell on his arm, which was torn and bleeding, with not a single piece of good flesh left. The wound was healing slowly but obviously. He rolled his eyes again in a very unladylike manner, muttering, "I don't need your fake kindness."
【Host is awesome! Host is amazing!】The system's praise came late, much like some electronic products with unstable network connections.
East, "..." I almost forgot I had a system attached to me... (speechless.jpg)
"Let's go back." I'm too tired to talk.
[Okay, okay, I'll lead the way for you, host.] The system was clearly impatient. That thrilling battle had nearly twisted its data into a pretzel; it was on edge, terrified of even the slightest mishap. Thankfully… it patted its chest, relieved that everything was alright. A minor injury was nothing… [Host!?]
East nearly stumbled from the system's voice. "What's wrong? Don't be so startled."
Your wound...?
"Oh, this... the magic crystal entered my body." It didn't sound like he was talking about something that didn't concern him. Easter shrugged, indicating that practice makes perfect, and in the short term it didn't seem like a bad thing. If it was poison disguised as sugar, then he was just unlucky; he was someone who should have died long ago anyway.
At this moment, the system realized that it might never have truly understood the host.
[Host, your words and actions constantly convey how much you value your life, but from getting to know you, it seems you hold the attitude that living is good and dying doesn't matter. You lack any vitality and have a sense of indifference towards life, as if you've given up on it all.]
"Players have arrived, and you seem happy, but you act like you're playing house with a bunch of plush toys. You neither refuse nor accept them, and you don't express any opinion. You just observe them coldly. You don't really want to live, nor do you really want to die. You're indifferent to everything. Host, why is that?" The system said a long, incoherent sentence, which didn't sound like something a program-controlled system would say.
East didn't interrupt the system, listening quietly with steady steps. When the system finished speaking, he chuckled, "Playing house with plush toys, that's a cute description." Instead of seriously answering the system's question, he asked, "System, how's the situation on the players' side?"
A note from the author:
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