Chapter 10
Chapter 10: Leveling Up by Fighting Monsters
A sharp-looking man in a light gray T-shirt with a crew cut saw Long Ming turn and leave alone, and his eyes lit up as he told a few players he had just met: “bro, see that guy walking off?”
One of them answered: “Yeah, what is it, Gu Yi?”
Gu Yi said his idea: “At a time like this, anyone who dares to go alone is usually a pro. Let’s follow him.”
Another agreed: “Makes sense, go!”
The players nodded at Gu Yi’s take and hurried after Long Ming.
Many other players noticed Gu Yi’s group moving and said to the people beside them: “Look, someone’s leading a team out, let’s tag along too.”
“Okay!”
In no time a lot of players followed Long Ming because of the follow-the-leader effect. Of course, not everyone went with him; only about a hundred people left.
Qin Yan looked in the direction Long Ming had gone with a thoughtful expression. A muscular, dark-skinned man with stubble lowered his voice to ask Qin Yan: “Should we follow them?”
Qin Yan answered calmly: “No, Xie Shan, we’ll go the other way.”
Qin Yan led his companions off. Lin Yue saw them leave and quickly followed, and many female players went after them. The rest split into two groups and headed in different directions.
Before long, at the edge of the ruins, Long Ming glanced back with a hint of confusion. [Why are so many people on my tail?] He did not dwell on it. After all, a crowd has its perks: [If danger shows up, I just need to run faster than they do.]
The moment he stepped out of the ruins, he frowned at the sight ahead. Rolling yellow sand stretched to the horizon with no end in sight. The dry air shimmered under the sun like a rising heat wave. For a moment, Long Ming did not know which way was best.
Gu Yi and the others also stopped. They watched Long Ming stand there and felt uneasy, but it seemed awkward to go up and ask.
Long Ming soon decided: since he didn’t know where to go, he would head for the nearest extraction point and see what it was like. He raised his wristband to check the map, confirmed the direction of the closest green dot, and started toward the extraction point.
The sand burned under his feet, and every step took effort. Even so, he kept his patience and moved forward step by step. Gu Yi and the others hurried to keep up.
After dozens of minutes, the players trailing Long Ming began to grumble. One asked: “Where on earth is this guy going?”
Another muttered: “No idea.”
A third guessed: “Maybe he doesn’t know the way and he’s dragging us around at random.”
Someone pushed back: “Then you go ask him.”
“I’m not going.”
Long Ming heard the chatter behind him, but he paid it no mind and kept walking.
Just as everyone’s patience was about to run out, a round mechanical platform appeared in the unchanging dunes ahead. It looked out of place in the endless sand.
Gu Yi and the others reacted right away and said in surprise: “It’s an extraction point!”
Someone complained: “So after all that, he brought us to an extraction point.”
Another sighed: “I thought we were going somewhere special.”
Seeing the extraction platform, several players were speechless.
One male player waved it off and said: “Well, we’re here anyway, I’ll try it!” He ran onto the platform. The complicated lines under the metal began to glow faintly. His wristband buzzed and popped up a prompt: “Extract now?”
He answered at once: “Extract.”
With a hum, the platform activated. He started to float and shouted in shock: “Whoa, I’m flying!” A second later, he turned into a streak of white light and vanished.
Many players shook their heads at the sight and scolded: “Idiot, what a waste of a ticket.”
Long Ming was speechless too. He had not expected someone to give them a live demo. Still, that was fine; now he knew exactly how to leave.
The road ahead, though, would be rough.
Long Ming scanned the dunes around them. To the eye, every direction looked the same. Without the minimap on his wristband, it would be easy to get lost. [Not that I care about getting lost. I don’t even have a clear goal.] He kept going.
Gu Yi and the others saw him continue and had no choice but to grit their teeth and follow.
Time ticked by. Long Ming was sweating all over and his mouth was parched, and without noticing it his pace slowed. He glanced at his wristband’s status and saw several negative prompts pop up: “Notice: You are mildly dehydrated. Please drink fresh water soon.” “Notice: Stamina down.”
The players trailing him were also at their limit, and several simply collapsed onto the sand: “I’m done. I can’t walk another step.”
Long Ming stared at the far dunes, still endless, then stopped to rest for a bit.
Unable to hold it in, Gu Yi stepped up to ask Long Ming: “bro, where are you even going?”
Long Ming answered evenly: “I don’t know. Wherever my feet take me.”
Gu Yi’s eyes went wide and he was about to argue when a startled shout cut through the air: “Whoa!”
Everyone turned. A short player with acne on his face, Zhao Wei, led two companions excitedly toward a dune on the left. There a red-spotted giant lizard more than three meters long lay sleeping, its gray skin covered in red bumps. With its eyes closed, it looked eerie.
One companion asked nervously: “Zhao Wei, are you sure about this?”
Zhao Wei puffed himself up and said: “What’s to be scared of? Games are all about fighting monsters to level up. Charge!” He grabbed a rock from his pack and rushed the red-spotted giant lizard, smashing the stone down on its head.
With a dull thud, the creature flinched and slowly opened its eyes. It rose, bared its maw, and let out an angry roar.
“Rrraah!” The lifelike scene startled Zhao Wei. He trembled, turned, and tried to run.
The lizard pushed off with all four limbs, lunged in a single bound, and clamped its jaws around Zhao Wei’s waist.
“Ahh, it hurts! Help me!” Zhao Wei screamed, begging for help on instinct.
His two companions didn’t dare go near it. Terrified, they turned and bolted.
Long Ming’s face tightened as he watched the lizard, but he had no intention of stepping in. [A beast this big, covered in those red bumps, is not normal. With no guns or proper weapons, there’s no way to win.]
With a harsh crack, the red-spotted giant lizard bit down and tore Zhao Wei in two. His body broke apart into points of light, and his backpack fell to the sand.
“Run!” Gu Yi and the others panicked at once and fled in terror.