Chapter 315 - 204: The Herded Sheep (Part 2)

"Huh?"

Li Miao, who was standing to the side, hadn’t even reacted yet when Faraway’s voice, mixed with the piercing shrieks of monsters, reached his ears.

"Enemy attack!"

"SKREEE—"

Canine-like tentacled monsters surged toward them like a tide.

Everyone’s heart skipped a beat. They all raised their Weapons, activating their Magic and Prayers to meet the attack.

Luo Ge swung his sword again, finishing off another attacking tentacled hound. With his other hand, he grabbed a different hound trying to ambush him from behind, squeezing its throat tightly.

"ROAR!"

The tentacled hound in his grip struggled frantically. Realizing it was trapped, its head exploded, and its exposed gullet instantly spewed a stream of blackish-yellow slime.

Luo Ge tilted his head to dodge, but a slight stinging pain still registered on his ear—it had undoubtedly been corroded.

With no time to dwell on it, he used both Magic and Combat Skills, cleanly and efficiently harvesting the lives of one tentacled hound after another.

The other players were not slow either.

Soon, the surprise attack was dealt with.

Although they had been caught off guard, they were all elite players. Plus, Faraway had already told them to be prepared.

So, while their response was a bit rushed and messy, they thankfully hadn’t fallen into disarray.

"Holy shit." Forgotten Dao, holding a Living Corpse, kicked one of the dead monsters on the ground and cursed, "What kind of bullshit jump scare is this from the dog-shit devs? What the fuck are these monsters? They’re scary as hell."

Bu Long, who had been about to speak, saw this and fell silent again.

’Dude, compared to the tentacled corpse on the ground, you holding that other corpse is way scarier...’

Bu Long wasn’t the only one; the others were thinking more or less the same thing.

But this clearly wasn’t the time for banter.

Faraway quickly scanned their surroundings, not neglecting the areas above or below them.

’Nighttime, a reef island surrounded by the sea... judging by the tracks in the sand, these monsters must have crawled out from the crevices in the reefs...’

After confirming there were no other immediate threats, he looked down at the monster corpses. He frowned slightly and didn’t speak right away, as if waiting for something.

"By the way, why can’t I see any info on these monsters?"

"I don’t even know what these things are called."

Black Mountain Little Demon recalled his Golden Bull Guard’s Magic Pearl, kicked a nearby corpse, and frowned.

"Who cares? I don’t look at that stuff anyway."

Brother Mangzi said nonchalantly, his large hammer resting on his shoulder.

Luo Ge listened in silence.

’Maybe it’s because of the Broken Core, but this place has a huge effect on Spirit Candle Power. Controlling this vessel and maintaining the Milestone Spirit Candle are both draining a lot of my energy.’

’So, I had to omit minor details like monster information.’

’It just makes the experience feel a bit more hardcore. It shouldn’t have much of an impact on these elite players.’

Li Miao glanced at Faraway and then sighed in relief before turning his gaze to Luo Ge.

"Holy crap, Brother Jiao, you’re full of surprises!"

"I was just wondering why you suddenly attacked. Turns out you were the first to react."

Li Miao clicked his tongue in amazement. He then shot a disdainful look at Shore beside him and began to lecture him like a son.

"Look, just look! That’s how a Mage is supposed to play! Learn from him! Don’t just hide behind me all day, you good-for-nothing."

"Screw you!" Shore shot back without hesitation, then looked at Luo Ge with admiration. "Brother Jiao, what Magic was that you just used? I’ve never seen it before."

"Mithros Radiant Sword."

Luo Ge refocused his attention and answered openly.

’It’s not like other players haven’t used this Magic before. It’s a bit expensive for a Mage, sure, but an elite player like Shore should be able to afford it, right?’

"Radiant Sword?!" Hearing this, Shore was in disbelief. "That thing can be instant-cast? Like you just did?"

"..."

Luo Ge fell silent for a moment.

’Okay, now I know why Shore is so shocked.’

For players, whether it was Magic Combat Skills or Prayers, once learned, they were all basically the same. The only difference was their potency.

It was similar to the innate combat instincts within their Candle Spirit Bodies—easy to pick up, but with a low ceiling.

As for Luo Ge’s true self, that was another story. If he was willing to specialize in a certain Magic, he could achieve more than just faster Casting speed; firing multiple shots at once wasn’t out of the question.

To put it simply, the difference between him and the players was the difference between a custom-built product and a mass-produced one.

’Back in my true body, I got used to using custom-made Magic. So when I was creating this vessel, I naturally included that feature...’

’That’s why the Casting speed looks like I’m hacking. No wonder Shore is making such a big deal out of it.’

However, Luo Ge was quite skilled at making things up on the spot. He just paused for a moment, scratched his head, and smiled.

"Yep, it’s the Magic I got from a Candlekeeper quest."

"Wait, you mean the Radiant Sword sold by Burton Mage can’t be instant-cast?"

Luo Ge said, feigning surprise.

"Hell no, of course not."

"That Magic is in the top three most powerful ones available right now. Its only drawback is the long casting animation. If it could be instant-cast, the number of Close Combat Mages would at least double!"

Shore slapped his palm, disappointed that it wasn’t some special technique he could learn.

"So it’s from a Candlekeeper quest."

"Damn it, I knew that old Candlekeeper was hiding the good stuff from us!"

"He won’t let us use the instant-cast Radiant Sword, but he lets Burton Mage sell a nerfed version for such a high price. What a scumbag!"

Shore grumbled irritably.

"...Heh, yeah..."

Luo Ge replied with a smile.

"I was wondering how you managed to fight your way through the crowd to get a spot this time," Li Miao said with a knowing smile.

No wonder this unknown player was able to come here with them.

’So not only is he highly skilled, he’s also got great luck!’

Li Miao had already come up with a perfectly logical explanation in his head.

Just as Shore was looking at Luo Ge with envy, about to say something...

Niuniu stood up, shaking off his blood-drenched hands.

"Brothers."

He had just finished rummaging through all the dead tentacled hound corpses, not the least bit disgusted.

"These monsters are different from the ones in dungeons. Their bodies don’t disappear."

"And these tentacles on their backs might not be part of their bodies. They look more like they grew out of a cyst."

As he spoke, he held up a spherical, fleshy growth. It was covered in tiny, blood-red rootlets, and the top was connected to a slimy tentacle.

The sight of Niuniu like this, combined with his blood-soaked appearance, was inexplicably terrifying.

Luo Ge glanced again at Forgotten Dao, who was standing nearby holding the Living Corpse and wearing his Blood Clothes.

’...Why do I get the feeling that this group of players looks even more horrifying than the monsters on the ground?’

"Parasites?"

Looking at the fleshy growth, Li Miao was reminded of the strange power from the Skeleton Forest dungeon.

"Let’s not mess with that stuff..." Shore said, his scalp tingling with revulsion. "The info panel is gone, the monster corpses don’t disappear... it’s already hardcore enough without being this terrifying."

"Can’t we just kill monsters and level up normally?"

’Where are the goblins? The skeletons? Somebody save me...’

’These things were just too much of a sanity drain. Compared to them, even skeletons seemed fresh-faced and cute.’

’Besides, this virtual reality game felt so damn real...’

’There’s a reason Sister Wowo was so determined to never run a dungeon again...’

"Everyone, let’s speed up our exploration of this island."

Faraway said.

"Split into three groups. We’ll communicate on the party channel and check in at fixed times."

After giving these concise instructions, Faraway led Brother Mangzi and Bu Long toward the center of the island.

Li Miao also formed a group with Luo Ge and Shore, heading off to explore the left edge of the island.

Before long, Luo Ge noticed something unusual. He squatted down, lost in thought.

"It seems these monsters aren’t hounds, but sheep being herded..."