Chapter 99: The City of Nightmares

“What’s wrong? You look so flustered.”

Li Xin smiled gently; it was rare to see Wang Xiaoqian so anxious and agitated.

“Don’t say any more. Let’s continue with the previous mission. We’ve received a hidden quest, but we lost five sisters along the way. Now only four of us remain. The hidden mission requires us to slay a level 33 enhanced monster to complete the adventurer’s initiation ceremony.”

Wang Xiaoqian responded briskly and decisively. With a flick of her hands, she pulled out paper and pen, quickly sketching a rough map.

Li Xin took it and saw a large cave structure, with an underground pool and a small sandbar in the center. On the sandbar stood a grave, atop which crouched a snarling, clawed beast.

The creature resembled a crocodile, but its back was covered in sharp spines, like a saber-toothed dragon. Its fangs were long and razor-sharp, a formidable fighter.

“What kind of monster is this?”

“A level 33 saber-toothed crocodile. We tested it once; its health is about 32,500, defense around 5,500. Our four of us attacked in one round and only managed to chip off about 1,000 health,” Wang Xiaoqian said with a wry smile, full of helplessness.

Li Xin’s heart skipped a beat. Despite having slain many monsters, he had never encountered one with such a massive health pool. Even the lion king on Black Lion Ridge, level 37, had just over 17,000 health. This saber-toothed crocodile was definitely a tough, thick-skinned beast. In theory, thirty-three attacks should be enough to take it down.

But reality was never that simple. The crocodile would strike back, and its attacks were undoubtedly powerful—one or two hits might instantly kill all four of them.

After a moment’s thought, Li Xin asked, “What’s your defense like?”

“Uh…” Wang Xiaoqian’s cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

“I’m at 1,420, Wanqing is 1,300, Meimei’s Tuanzi is 980, and Hebe is 1,013. We tried one attack—when the crocodile used its bone spike group attack, it took nearly half of Tuanzi’s health. We all felt the pain. And that was just a test; if it really rages, it could wipe us out in seconds.”

Perhaps feeling ashamed, Wang Xiaoqian laughed, bending forward and shaking with mirth. The gloom and frustration from before lifted considerably. In the game, the four girls had been so tense that they didn’t dare mention this; now, saying it aloud made it easier to bear.

Li Xin chuckled and continued, “How soon can the other five arrive here?”

“They said it’ll take a day and a half. Once they enter the Shan Yao Basin, they can’t move at night, so it’ll be about two days.”

“Two days?” Li Xin frowned, muttering, “I remember you said the mission only lasts three days, right? About one day has already passed.”

“Yes,” Wang Xiaoqian said dejectedly. “If we can kill the saber-toothed crocodile, they’ll arrive in time at Bero Village to complete the mission.”

“But the problem right now is we simply can’t handle it.”

Indeed, Li Xin nodded. This wasn’t the time to recklessly prove oneself by killing a higher-level monster. Such a mysterious hidden mission involving adventurers was likely a significant branch in the story.

Silence fell in the room. Without firsthand experience facing the saber-toothed crocodile, Li Xin couldn’t make a firm judgment. He continued scribbling on the paper, seemingly calculating something. Wang Xiaoqian watched intently, not uttering a word for fear of interrupting.

Suddenly, Wang Xiaoqian’s eyes caught a formula. In her mind, a thunderbolt struck, and she was instantly enlightened.

“I—I’ve got it!”

She cried out and hurried away, leaving Li Xin bewildered.

“What did you figure out?” Li Xin frowned, scanning the paper again with eagle eyes. Suddenly, he understood as well!

He gasped quietly, full of admiration. “This woman is so clever…”

After a long moment, he smiled faintly, rose, and opened his computer. He quickly browsed a forum. The popularity of adventurers was steadily rising; many players had become adventurers and had formed teams nearby, roaming their home city-states.

With many high-level missions completed, advanced equipment began to drop.

Though only half a day had passed in reality, several days had elapsed in the game. The weapon and equipment rankings, once dominated by silver-level items, were now largely taken over by gold-level ones. Even the first dark-gold item appeared on the equipment list: a pair of bracers.

Details were hidden by the player, only showing a pair of bracers. This player became the second hot topic since the adventurer system launched.

“Dark-gold equipment…” Li Xin murmured, a cunning glint flashing in his calm eyes.

Everyone craves greater strength; he was no exception.

He glanced at the clock—ten minutes had passed, three hours in the game. Li Xin smiled wryly. The petty officials had already knocked off work and were waiting for him at the tavern.

Just as he was about to close the computer, his hand accidentally hit the right arrow key. The webpage flipped to the next page, and a post with a red title caught his eye immediately.

“Haifeng City, the Nightmare City for Players”

“Haifeng City? Isn’t that where I am right now?” Li Xin whispered, quickly clicking to read.

Author ID: Ma Sanpao. Original text as follows:

“I was doing a mission and accidentally got killed by a monster. I respawned in the nearest city, Haifeng. It’s small and sparsely populated but strangely lively. Curious, I followed the NPC crowd along the road. Just 500 meters from the respawn point, a mysterious force swept through, and I died again.

After respawning and paying double the gold from before, I re-entered the city, only to be wiped out once more by a divine light.

I tried five times in a row, losing 150 gold in total. I dared not wander here anymore and decided to leave quickly. Thankfully, nothing stopped me from leaving.

Throughout it all, I noticed something odd: the divine light instantly kills players but leaves NPCs untouched.

Isn’t that strange? If you’re interested, come check it out. Southern Continent, Haifeng City.”

Reading this, Li Xin’s heart sank. Such an important post had few views and replies. Most players were more focused on rank promotions and adventurers, causing this post to be nearly buried. He sensed there was something fishy about Haifeng City.

Without hesitation, he turned back to the sofa, put on his helmet, and logged into the game.

Upon entry, he saw four NPC clerks guarding the respawn points, sipping tea and chatting cheerfully.

“Gentlemen, sorry for the delay earlier,” Li Xin greeted.

“No worries,” the leading NPC, Chaha’er, laughed heartily. “You outsiders always appear and disappear mysteriously. We’re used to it by now.”

“Haha, come sit. I’ve already ordered food and drinks for you. Hope you don’t mind?”

“Not at all. It’s the least I could do,” Li Xin laughed, taking the bottle and respectfully pouring drinks all around.