Chapter 6: Shocked by the Damage

Flower Language Plain.

As the only leveling spot in the 9527 newbie village, this place is undoubtedly the best destination for new players just entering the game. However, at this moment, there aren't many players on the plain. The reason is simple: it's difficult!

The monster strength in "The Apocalypse" is beyond reason. Even a low-level slime at level 1 can easily send a novice player back to the grave. In just two hours since the beta testing began, countless players have already died in Flower Language Plain. Those who remain are either skilled players or wealthy ones who casually spent some money to buy initial gear when the server opened. Yet, even so, their leveling speed is still as slow as a snail. Since the server opened, no one has reached level 2.

At the edge of Flower Language Plain, Karl and Melz continued forward without any intention of stopping. This area is just the outskirts, where most monsters are between levels 1 and 3, providing little experience. Karl's goal is the core area of Flower Language Plain, where monsters generally hover around level 10, offering much higher experience. Of course, the difficulty increases several times over, but with a godly sorcerer by his side, he can easily ignore that.

"Wait a moment," Karl suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Melz asked calmly.

"I've encountered an enemy," Karl replied, his gaze fixed on a goblin in the distance, wielding a hefty spiked club and chasing two players who were screaming in panic.

Familiar. He recognized that green-skinned brat all too well! Just after entering the game, he had been chased for over ten minutes by this level 5 goblin warrior, only stopping when they reached the main city. That was ruthless! If he hadn't run into it, it wouldn't have mattered, but now, fate had smiled upon him, and he encountered this damned creature on the road.

Damn it. It was time to make it understand why the flowers were so red!

Karl pointed, "Take out that level 5 goblin."

"Easy task," Melz replied nonchalantly, flicking his hand to cast a Water Ball spell.

[-1354089]

In an instant, a terrifying number popped up above the goblin, and it disintegrated into dust, vanishing into thin air.

"What the hell?!!"

"Oh my god!!!"

Seeing this scene, the two players, who were being chased around by the goblin warrior, were instantly dumbfounded, exclaiming in disbelief. What kind of damage was that?!!

"Bro... did I just see that right?"

"Did that just deal damage like a phone number?!"

One player, carrying a shabby axe and wearing oversized shorts, known in-game as "Old Sophomore," stared in shock towards Karl's direction, stuttering.

That was a seven-digit damage number!

"I must have seen it wrong..."

The player known as "Niuzi Ge," with the in-game name "Good Cow's Slide," also wore a look of disbelief.

The two stared at each other, unsure of what to say.

Hey, is anyone monitoring for cheaters?

With their level of perseverance still intact at this point, Niuzi Ge and his friend's gaming skills were undeniable. They were seasoned veterans of virtual online games. Over the past ten years, they had played no less than fifteen different virtual games, becoming well-versed in the genre and gaining a bit of a reputation as small-time experts.

Moreover, upon entering "The Apocalypse," Niuzi Ge, as a small-time tycoon, was immediately captivated by the game's stunning visuals, spending a whopping 100,000 yuan. With a wave of his hand, he equipped himself and his buddy with basic gear, ready to dominate.

However, under the absurd difficulty of "The Apocalypse," even these seasoned players found themselves struggling. Killing a level 1 slime required their long-standing teamwork, slowly chipping away at its health, and it took them over an hour to defeat just ten.

That was already torturous enough.

Then suddenly, a level 5 elite monster appeared from nowhere in the outskirts, swinging its spiked club and charging at them. It sent the other lone player to the afterlife and chased the two of them, forcing them to flee in panic, cornered with nowhere to escape.

Despairing, the duo finally realized that this was a game designed to torment players for fun. They were even prepared to die and respawn in the city.

Then, in the blink of an eye, an old man dealt over a million damage.

Was that not cheating?

"What the hell, that's insane."

Old Sophomore was in tears.

Thinking about how hard they had to work just to deal ten points of damage to a slime made him feel a wave of sadness.

Look at how others were living!

With a wave of his hand, the monster disintegrated, dominating the battlefield; that was the right way to play a game!

"Cheater! That guy is definitely cheating; I'm reporting him!"

"Niuzi Ge, let's report him together."

Niuzi Ge was agitated; he despised cheaters the most. Comparing their arduous struggles to his, he felt a wave of sorrow and shouted to report.

"Niuzi Ge, I don't think it's possible that he's cheating."

Old Sophomore remained calm, analyzing, "The game just started beta testing; where would the cheats come from? At most, it's just the testers checking the data."

"And even if it is testing data, it wouldn't be so blatant."

"So?" Niuzi Ge found this reasoning quite reasonable.

Old Sophomore glanced towards Karl and excitedly said, "Look at that old man's robe; it's quite impressive. He's probably a powerful NPC, and that guy must have completed some kind of quest."

"You're right."

Niuzi Ge suddenly enlightened; they had played games before where players could obtain powerful helpers through various means. This wasn't cheating; it was a game mechanic.

"I said, how could a game be this hard? A wild slime is tougher than hell itself."

"The developers aren't fools! How could they come up with such a torturous difficulty?"

"It seems the right way to play this game isn't just to grind levels head-on but to find other ways to get through the newbie phase."

"That guy clearly found the trick."

The more Niuzi Ge thought about it, the more he felt it was true, excitedly slapping his thigh, "I'm a genius!"

Old Sophomore wholeheartedly agreed, "Exactly! Should we go ask him? Otherwise, getting chased around by monsters like this isn't a solution!"

"Let's go!"

The two immediately took action, heading towards Karl with strong determination.

If he can cheat, who would want to grind levels the hard way?

"Hey, buddy."

Niuzi Ge greeted Karl warmly, "Where did you get that helper? It's amazing! The damage is over a million; can I ask about it?"

Karl glanced at Niuzi Ge and turned to leave.

He wasn't interested in chatting much.

But Melz, standing nearby, looked at the two and cheerfully said, "I come from the Supreme Hall. If you're interested, you can inquire there."

It wasn't that he was friendly; it was just that encountering someone like Karl made Melz think all new adventurers were loaded.

Why not earn some extra money?

If they could earn a billion a day just by killing goblins, the old-timers in the temple would be grateful to him!

"The Supreme Hall?!"

Upon hearing this, Niuzi Ge instantly grew excited.

Sure enough, this game must have hidden mechanics!