As the two-minute countdown ticked down, Mo Feng's vision returned from the empty darkness as he respawned in a damp crystal cave.
Hidden Realm Bind Point. 2 minutes paralyzed.
Suddenly, his chat exploded.
[BigSam]: "Pics or liar! We're Lv3! Golden boar quest incoming!"]
"RANDOM VILLAGE!" Mo Feng screamed internally. "Your damn pronunciation, Skinny Bai!"
Respawn ready!! While he was busy cursing, the time for respawning was up. He was given an option to choose between a random respawn point or on the spot.
Without hesitation, Mo Feng chose the random respawn point. The thought of that enormous flying reptile chilled his spine; just the thought of it caused beads of imaginary sweat to run down his forehead.
The crystalline respawn cave pulsed with faint blue light as Mo Feng's 2:00 timer ticked down to zero. His body locked and twitched rhythmically from the pain he felt after the first wind strike.
Whoosh!!
The air split apart as his body materialized in the cave.
HP: 90/90
The sound of the system alert blinked mockingly on his interface.
"Roundan Village, my ass," he muttered through gritted teeth. "Song Bai's gonna owe me a new fishing boat for this."
As Mo Feng crept toward the cave's mouth, his body shivered whenever he thought back to the earlier cause of his death. Looking outside the cave, tall black trees loomed across the purple-colored sky. The only difference from his previous location was the forest floor, which had changed from dark brown to a lighter shade of gray. Everything else looked the same.
Badum!!
Looking at the familiar sight outside the cave, his heart shook loudly as he stumbled back into the cave.
"Damn it, where the hell is this place?" After a few minutes passed with nothing occurring, Mo Feng felt a little courage return to him. Taking one deep breath, he crept to the cave mouth, peeking into the nightmare. The trees twisted high, launching themselves into the sky, their tops far above his sight. Deciding not to move out just yet, he stuck his head outward, listening for any sound of movement. As he listened closely, distant roars echoed.
Grunt!
While he was engrossed in listening, the faint sound of something grunting echoed in his ear. Squinting his eyes, Mo Feng slowly moved closer to see the outside view clearly.
Ironhide Boar Lv35.
Without taking another look at the enormous beast in the distance, Mo Feng stumbled back. This time, he pushed himself into the deeper reaches of the cave while holding his breath.
Mo Feng did not get a clear view of what the animal outside was due to the distance—from the outside clearing, it was probably standing over 100 meters away from him. But just the red name blinking atop its head chilled him. As he recalled the earlier horror, Mo Feng shivered at the thought of the beast having its sight on him.
Is that really a boar? Mo Feng thought as he recalled the enormous size of the beast grazing and grunting outside.
"Okay, Mo Feng, think. The market stall dodges, the incessant dodging around the village. You survived the villagers' numerous chases. You need to survive this."
Boosting his confidence, he stepped out, clutching the edge of his fluttering robes. He took little steps, one after the other, silently moving in the opposite direction from the grazing boar: 10 steps, 20, 30.
"Grunt!!"
A louder grunt rumbled behind him. The Ironhide Boar, which had initially been eating away in the distance, now had its eyes on him.
"SHIT!"
As Mo Feng took a peek behind him to see what was going on, the 5-meter, bull-sized creature was already on its heels, charging furiously with its metallic tusks lowered.
Without thinking anything else and before the beast could reach him, Mo Feng dove sideways, rolling through the undergrowth bush. The boar smashed a boulder in front of him, stone shards flying.
Ding! The sound of the system notification rang out in his brain as he successfully evaded the boar's charge. But the beast, which only shook its head from the collision, did not give him any chance to check the message or catch his breath.
"Grunt!" The boar spun, its eyes turning a shade of crimson red. Its exhales felt hot, almost charring the undergrowth where Mo Feng was lying down. Mo Feng desperately rolled away from the furious gaze of the giant boar.
Is this system crazy, or am I dizzy? Is this a tank or a boar? Damn it!
Mo Feng suddenly slapped his shoulder as he felt something land on it.
BUZZZZ.
As he waved his hand, a thumb-sized mosquito landed on his neck, agilely dodging his slap. Before he knew what was going on, his vision darkened, only the sound of the system notification continuing to ring in his ear.
[Blood Drain: 300 Damage]
HP: 90 → 0/90
[DEATH 2/5 - Instant Respawn]
[Respawn Timer: 2:00]
Hidden Realm cave again
Respawn point: 1.1km East [Mosquito Breeding Pond]
"A MOSQUITO?!" While still in his spirit state, Mo Feng roared angrily, slamming fists against the invisible walls of the rebirth cave.
"This game is fucking rigged!"
"What the hell is that—a mosquito? Why not call it a damn chopper?" Mo Feng cursed and cursed as he watched the timer count down to zero.
As the time reached another two minutes, Mo Feng's body materialized in the rebirth cave. This time, he was naked, without anything to cover his body—only a straw-looking paint with no data on it. His torn robe had failed to make it to this rebirth.
Shaking his head, Mo Feng brought up the system notification to check what it was.
[Dodge Roll: SUCCESS, Evasion +5/100%]
This seemed to be the notification from dodging the Ironhide Boar. Does that mean if I'm able to raise it to 100%, I would acquire a skill or what?
Looking at the single-digit increase, Mo Feng shook his head. That earlier dodge was nothing but pure luck and timing.
Looking at the next set of notifications, Mo Feng's mouth twitched furiously with dread as goosebumps crawled all over his body.
[Blood Haze Mosquito (Lv45)]
HP: ??
Strength: ?? …]
Another string of question marks, obviously from the instant death he got—a single 300+ damage.
As he finished looking at the system notifications, Mo Feng became more cautious now. Leaving the rebirth cave, which disappeared a few seconds after he left, Mo Feng sneaked along the treeline, his ears straining and twitching. The new place felt eerily quiet, unlike the previous locations bustling with the cries of different animals. The air here even felt still. As he slunk his way forward aimlessly, looking for a place where he could hide out of plain sight in this valley range.
Looking at the distant mountains piercing through the sky, five minutes had gone by, marking his longest surviving time since logging into the game.
Yes!! Mo Feng cheered inwardly. This might not mean much to others, but being in this hellish region, it signified an achievement—his first victory.
CRACK!
The sunder of lightning crackled from behind as a three-meter, lightning-crackling muscle beast burst out from the back of a tree. The paw of the beast swiped the air where Mo Feng had stood.
"Fuck you!!!" Mo Feng roared as his vision darkened, being sent into the rebirth space again. The ambush was lightning-fast, without giving him a chance to evade.
[Lv38 Thunderclaw Bear]
[Thunder Claw: 678 Damage]
HP: 90 → 0/90
[DEATH #3/5]
Corpse #3: 900m Northwest [Thunder Wood Area]
"Not fair!" Mo Feng cried out after respawning.
Looking at the notification from the slap that had sent him to his "hippity-hop," tears trickled down from Mo Feng's eyes. The pains were instant and hurtful, different from the mosquito bite earlier, which felt like his blood and vitals were being drained with a giant pipe. The lightning arcs felt nothing like the electric shock from the naked wires at home.
The pains still lingered in his memories, refusing to go away. One paw had flattened him. Mo Feng laughed hysterically, tears streaming. "Three deaths. Ten minutes played!"
Since creating a character, this was his longest time surviving in this cursed land, teeming with nothing but danger.
This time, Mo Feng respawned in a completely different location. The place looked plain with a sparse amount of trees here and there. Mo Feng stopped to look at his surroundings. Strangely, apart from the whizzing sound of the wind, no other sound could be heard in the plain region. The wind flow occasionally swayed the branches of these lone trees in the plain.
Whatever! I guess I can survive longer here? Mo Feng mumbled as he strolled forward into the open plain.
"Fuck!" Mo Feng cursed as he ducked downward, dodging a strike from one of the trees he approached.
Having been walking for some time under the blazing hot sun of the immortal expanse, Mo Feng decided to rest under the shade of one of these trees, only to feel the air vibrate, which immediately prompted him to dodge. Thanks to his quick reflexes, the strike missed him.
Rolling up, Mo Feng discovered a long streak mark on the floor as the tree branch flickered upward from the scene.
Coral Snapper (Lv28)
HP: ???
Attack: ???
Skills: ???
Despite being able to see more by viewing the tree monster's stats, all that came out was nothing but the familiar question marks. Despite the pressure from this one being lighter and the color above it being fainter than the previous Lv30+ monsters, Mo Feng's nerves were still wrung tight from fear. A level 20+ monster was not something he could confront at this stage.
[Evasion Successful: +10%]
Swoosh!!
Lost in thought as he stared at the notification screen, the sound of air being split apart rang out as the tree sent another one of its branches lashing toward him.
Bang!! was all Mo Feng could register as his vision darkened after his body slammed down onto the hard floor. The corpse twitched on the floor.
[Branch Smash: 400 Damage]
HP: 90 → 0/90
He endured two more smashes from the tree's lash before the tree calmed down, boring its sharpened edge into the corpse as it drained it of its blood. The scene was eerie, contrasting the peaceful plain.
2:00 Timer. Four deaths. Four corpses scattered like morbid breadcrumbs.
Fifteen minutes survived. Hope flickered—
HSSSSSS. Lv35 Mosquito Swarm—fifty buzzing demons—descended like a living blizzard.
"NO NO NO—!"
[Mass Blood Drain: 92 Damage]
[DEATH 5/5 - Swarm Execution]