"Eh, where did he go?"
Li Zi and her five companions stood frozen, their eyes wide as they scanned the empty space in front of them. A second ago, that guy had been there, and now he'd vanished like smoke.
They searched left and right, but Qin Feng was nowhere to be seen. His presence had completely disappeared; no footsteps, no shadow, nothing. After a while, the group could only accept it: the man was gone.
None of them dared to leave the safe zone boundary again, not after their earlier wipeout. Their faces were pale as they turned back toward the faint lights of Shell Town.
Li Zi spoke first, her tone low and serious. "It's too dangerous outside. We already died once and lost half of our remaining lifespan. We can't keep throwing ourselves out there blindly. Let's stay in town for now — search around, see if there are any opportunities, hidden quests, anything."
The long-haired girl, gentle by nature, nodded quickly. "Right, right. Maybe there are treasure chests or NPCs hidden somewhere in town."
The tall Assassin tried to laugh, trying to lighten the heavy air. "Come on, don't be so scared. I mean, sure, this 'God Forsaken Game' is weird, but affecting our actual lifespan? That's impossible. It's probably just some twisted penalty mechanic to scare us. Since we revived, we should just go out again and take down that Crawler."
Another player, a stocky Warrior, snorted. "Yeah. We almost killed it. It would be a waste to let someone else get the last hit."
Li Zi folded her arms, her ponytail swaying as she narrowed her eyes. "Don't be stupid. Five of us barely managed to take half its HP. And you think that guy can kill it alone? At most, he can run away with his invisibility. Killing it? Dream on."
The group fell silent for a moment. None of them wanted to admit that Li Zi was right.
…
Qin Feng, meanwhile, had already left Shell Town.
He didn't know what they were saying behind him, and even if he knew, he would not care. He knew what they didn't: there were no hidden quests or items inside this beginner town. It was just a temporary refuge, a place for players to catch their breath before facing the real nightmare outside.
Once beyond the wooden fences marking the town's edge, everything changed.
Qin Feng's body flickered faintly as he released Shadow Cloak.
Only anti-invisibility detection could reveal a cloaked unit like him, but his Shadow class came with "+1 Invisibility Level", meaning even early monsters with basic perception had no chance of finding him. After a hundred meters or so, the burnt plain gave way to a sparse forest. Through the fog and twisted trees, he saw it.
A shadowy figure crouched in the undergrowth.
[Crawler (Lv1)]
[Grade: Normal (Advancing…)]
Qin Feng's eyes sharpened. "So it's still here…"
That grotesque shape had already killed five players not long ago. Now it was squatting motionless beneath a dead tree, its long limbs curled like a spider's, faint grey mist swirling around its body, the visible residue of absorbed lifespan.
The Crawler should have hidden itself to advance safely after a kill spree, but it hadn't. Greed burned in its instincts; it wanted more prey.
Qin Feng smirked. "Then you can hand that lifespan over to me."
He slipped between the shadows, staying perfectly hidden. As the invisibility timer ran out, he instantly triggered Shadow Cloak again. His movement was seamless, a chain of stealth with no gaps.
Step by step, he drew closer.
The smell hit him first, a sickly, rotten stench like old blood and mould. The Crawler's body came into clearer view: a faceless, grey-skinned humanoid with impossibly long arms and legs. Its spine curved inhumanly, its entire form twitching occasionally as it absorbed the stolen lifespan.
Qin Feng's grip on the dagger tightened. "Lifespan that hasn't been digested yet will drop as loot when the monster dies…"That was all the reason he needed. If he ever needs one, that is.
He stepped within striking distance. The dagger rose. He struck, fast, silent, precise. The blade pierced the Crawler's neck, right at the weak point.
[Weak Point Attack: Damage +50%]
-372 (Weak Point Attack)!
A flash of numbers appeared above the creature's head. The Crawler convulsed, gray-white blood spurting from its wound. It tried to turn around, but its body went limp before it could react, collapsing with a dull thud.
The forest fell silent again.
Qin Feng stared at the corpse for a moment. Then, a grin crept onto his face. "This Shadow class… really is monstrous."
He knew, though, that the insane burst wasn't only from the class itself. Most of the power came from his evolved skill Shadow Cloak, which added 90 attack upon breaking stealth. That alone had doubled, maybe tripled, his total damage. The original version of the skill from before his rebirth wouldn't even have dealt half that.
[You have killed 'Crawler (Lv1)'.]
[You have gained 10 experience points.]
A faint ball of light appeared above the corpse, a small sphere of swirling gray-white mist. Qin Feng reached out and grabbed it.
[You have gained 3 days of lifespan (tradable).]
[You have gained 54 years and 155 days of lifespan (non-tradable).]
He exhaled slowly. "So that's all that dropped?"
When those five players had been killed, they must've lost over a hundred years combined. After being digested by the Crawler, only fifty-four years came out. The rest had been consumed.
"But it doesn't matter," he muttered. "Non-tradable lifespan can only keep you alive. The tradable one, that's what matters."
Tradable lifespan could be used to extract power, items, and even skills from this game into reality itself. That was the real reason this game was terrifying, and also the reason people risked everything to play it.
Still, three days wasn't much. Barely enough to count as pocket change. Then he noticed two items lying beneath the body.
[Rotten Hide Boots (Inferior): Grey quality. Physical Defense +3, Movement Speed +5%. Equipment Requirement: Level 1]
[Skill Book · Ice Cone Technique (Normal): White quality. Mage-type skill book. Learning Requirement: Level 1]
Qin Feng crouched down, picking them up. "Two drops at once. Not bad luck."
He inspected the boots, then slipped them on. The movement bonus was small, but every bit mattered when you were an Assassin-type player. The Ice Cone skill book, however, was for Mages. Useless to him, at least for now.
He looked around the dark forest. "No evolution points. No level-up either. Guess I'll have to keep hunting."
With that, he activated Shadow Cloak once again. His figure melted into the darkness as he moved deeper into the woods, searching for more prey.
…
Back in Shell Town, the world was slowly stirring to life.
Players who had just revived were beginning to gather their courage again. Some grouped up for safety, while others, driven by greed or pride, went out solo.
Not far from the town walls, a young couple had followed a dirt path into the forest. They stumbled upon the place where Qin Feng had fought moments ago.
"Whoa, a monster corpse?" the man said, eyes widening. "Someone already killed it."
His girlfriend smiled, relief mixing with curiosity. "See? I told you this game wouldn't be that hard. People are probably exaggerating the danger."
The man puffed his chest a little. "Yeah, yeah. Once we figure things out, I'll take you monster hunting myself. Let's wait here and see if something spawns. I'll protect you."
But neither of them noticed the subtle shift in the shadows above them. On the thick branch of a dead tree, something enormous crouched silently, eyes glowing faintly red in the dark, many eyes.
The next moment, the air seemed to tremble.