153: Chapter 153 Player's Tactics: If You Dare to Show Your Health Bar, You'll Kill Even Gods.
pangu-003, Third Heavens · Misty Forest (Former Royal Hunting Ground of the Great Zhou Dynasty).
This location was the boundary planned by Li Mo between the 'Mortal Habitation Layer' and the 'Wilderness Ecological Zone'. Thanks to the Spiritual Qi recovery following space folding, the formerly ordinary forest now featured ancient trees reaching the clouds, shrouded in mist. Every leaf emitted a faint glow, and occasionally, a few squirrels with wings (genetically mutated versions) zipped past the treetops, leaving behind a string of silvery, bell-like calls.
This should have been a serene, immortal painting of peaceful times. That is, until the three thousand 'Warriors' charged in, each sporting a green name tag, clad in novice cloth armor, and wielding a motley collection of weapons (mostly bricks, steel pipes, and bone clubs snatched from the Abyss).
"Charge! For the Braised Pork!" "That wild boar is mine! Whoever snatches it, I'll fight them!" "Group up, group up! Need a healer! Oh wait, this game doesn't have healers. Need a corpse that can take a beating!"
The players scattered like a pack of unleashed Huskies, instantly shattering the forest's tranquility. Not far ahead of them, a group of creatures the size of tanks, covered in black spikes, snorting sparks from their nostrils—the **[Raging Wild Boar]** (actually a low-level vassal of a Void Realm creature)—were leisurely rooting around for Spiritual Plants.
"Roar—!!"
The leading Boar King sensed the intruders and let out a roar powerful enough to shatter eardrums. Its pair of scarlet eyes locked onto the player charging at the very front, 'Long Aotian.' Its hind hooves pawed the ground, instantly gouging a deep trench.
【Wild Monster: Raging Boar King (Elite)】
【Rank: Qi Refinement Stage Perfection (Possibly Foundation Establishment Early Stage)】
【Skills: Savage Charge, Blazing Breath, Group Trample.】
"Holy crap! An Elite monster!"
Long Aotian slammed on the brakes, swallowing hard as he looked at the behemoth twice his height. "Brothers, isn't this pig... a bit too big?"
Rumble—!
Before he could react, the Boar King charged like a cannonball fired from its muzzle, its speed so fast it generated a sonic boom. Long Aotian only managed to utter a single "Holy crap!" before being sent flying fifty meters away, hanging from a crooked tree, his health bar instantly emptying.
【System Notification: You have died. Resurrection countdown: 10 seconds.】
"One-shot kill?!"
The players behind were startled. "These stats are wrong! Why is the monster in theBeginner Village (newbie village) Foundation Establishment Stage?" "Game Designer! Come out and take a beating! Where is the game balance?" "Stop wasting time! The pig is charging! Scatter!"
For a moment, the player army descended into chaos. These online gamers, accustomed to 'standing still and outputting damage,' experienced the malice of a **'Realistic Physics Engine'** for the first time. The wild boar didn't just charge; it utilized terrain for positioning and even breathed fire to scorch their behinds. In just five minutes, hundreds of white lights rose (players resurrecting back in town).
...
At the edge of the forest, the patrol team of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
A squad of Royal Guards, clad in Mingguang Armor and wielding long spears, lay stealthily in the grass, watching the scene dumbfounded.
"Captain..."
A young soldier's spear was trembling in his hand. "Are those... the 'Heavenly Soldiers and Generals' summoned by the Old Ancestor (Li Mo)?"
"Why do they look... so weak?"
"And... they don't seem very smart?"
The patrol captain was a middle-aged Cultivator with Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation. He was equally bewildered.
"Don't speak nonsense! Those are 'Warriors' descended from the Outer Heavens!"
"Although... although they keep dying, haven't you noticed?" The captain pointed at the figures constantly emerging from the white light, only to scream and charge back to their deaths, his voice trembling:
"They... aren't afraid of death."
"Not only are they not afraid of death, they actually seem to... enjoy it?"
That was right. In the eyes of the natives, these players were simply an incomprehensible group of madmen. They might have been impaled by a wild boar one second, but the next second, upon resurrecting, their faces showed no fear—instead, they were laughing: "Haha! I figured out its attack wind-up! Brothers, charge with me!"
...
Half an hour later.
After the initial chaos, the players finally displayed the core competency of the **'Fourth Calamity'**—tactical iteration. Since they couldn't win in a direct confrontation, they decided to play dirty.
"Trap Team! Bury the 'Titan Scrap' you stole from the First Heaven!" "Aggro Team! Go lure the boar! Remember to run in an S-pattern!" "Ranged Team! Throw your shoes, bricks, everything you have! Aim for its eyes!"
Using the characteristic of 'no cooldown on resurrection,' the players managed to grind the Foundation Establishment Stage Boar King down until it was exhausted. Then came the most audacious maneuver.
Several players with IDs like 'Civil Engineering Scholar' and 'Lanxiang Excavator,' using the sappers' shovels provided by the System, dug a pit five meters deep in the Boar King's path in just ten minutes. The bottom of the pit was lined with **[Rusted Titan Rebar]** snatched from the First Heaven.
"You bastard! Look over here!"
A player stripped off his top (maximum taunt) and stood opposite the pit, shaking his butt.
"Roar!!"
The Boar King, already seeing red, could not tolerate such an insult. It let out an enraged roar and activated its ultimate skill—Savage Charge.
Whoosh—!
The player nimbly dodged aside (a move perfected after dying dozens of times). The Boar King couldn't brake in time and, carrying immense momentum, plunged headfirst into the pit.
Thwack! Thwack!
The sound of rebar piercing flesh was grating. The Boar King let out a mournful shriek but was completely unable to leverage itself to climb out of the deep pit.
"While it's weak, finish it off!" "Brothers! Beat the drowning pig!"
Thousands of players surrounded the edge of the pit and threw everything they could at it. Bricks, stones, and even the 《Qi Guiding Art》 Secret Manual they had just obtained from a quest (it was useless anyway after learning it).
Finally, as the last brick fell.
The Boar King's thick health bar was finally depleted. It let out a final, unwilling cry and turned into a pile of sparkling loot.
【Server-Wide First Kill Announcement:】
【Congratulations to the team composed of player 'Long Aotian,' 'Civil Engineering Scholar,' and others for successfully slaying the field BOSS 'Raging Boar King'!】
【Reward received: Large amounts of Spiritual Qi value, Prestige value, and dropped items 'Boar King's Tusk' and 'High-Quality Pork Belly.'】
"Yay!!!"
Cheers echoed throughout the Misty Forest. The Great Zhou patrol team in the distance felt their scalps tingle.
"Too... too brutal."
The captain wiped the cold sweat from his brow. "Is this how 'Mortals' wage war? No Spells, no Flying Swords, just using traps and bricks to grind down a Foundation Establishment Yao Beast?"
"These people... absolutely cannot be provoked."
...
Thirty-Third Heavens · Tianhe Academy.
Li Mo looked at the combat report sent to the backend and couldn't help but laugh. "Not bad."
"These players' adaptability is even faster than I imagined."
"They already learned how to exploit terrain for bugs."
"Captain..."
Star Spirit Navigator, Lumina, was standing beside Li Mo, holding a data report with a strange expression.
"Although they completed the mission... but..."
"Look at this."
Lumina pointed to several red dots on the map. "A small faction of players didn't go fight monsters."
"They... ran to the edge of the map."
"That is, to the spatial barrier between the Third Heaven and the Fourth Heaven (the area not yet opened)."
"Oh?" Li Mo raised an eyebrow. "What are they doing there? Sightseeing?"
"No."
Lumina pulled up the real-time monitoring feed from that location. In a hidden valley, several players with IDs like 'Searching for the Air Wall' and 'Map Explorer' were lying on the ground, bottoms up, facing the transparent spatial barrier... digging.
"Brother, this game is too real! Even the air wall has a physical collision volume!" "I just tested it, it seems the bottom of this wall isn't sealed! There's a gap!" "Really? Could it be a hidden map?" "Dig faster! Maybe we can squeeze through!"
These guys were actually trying to exploit a map bug. And, most ridiculously... they seemed to have actually dug up something.
In a corner of that valley, there was a faint, pale-blue glowing fissure. That was a small **[Dimensional Flaw]** Li Mo had left behind when folding space, caused by the incompatibility of the Laws of the two layers of space. Normally, such a flaw would be automatically repaired, but these players, as if possessing a dog's nose, had accurately located it and were using shovels to widen it.
"Dug it up! Dug it up!"
A player excitedly stuck his hand into the fissure. "Holy crap! It's cold! And... my hand got longer!" "There's something inside! It looks like... a dungeon entrance?"
Li Mo: "..."
He rubbed his temples. This was exactly what he had feared most. Players, as a species, never followed the script. If you show them the path, they insist on taking the sewer; if you give them an air wall, they insist on clipping through it to see if the outside is just a texture.
"Captain, should we repair it?" Lumina asked. "That fissure connects to the **[Discarded Data Zone]** (the remnants of the scrapped world mentioned in the outline)."
"If we don't repair it, the chaotic data inside might leak out, causing logical corruption."
"Discarded Data Zone?"
Li Mo stroked his chin, a sharp glint suddenly flashing in his eyes. "No need to repair it."
"Since they want to drill through, let them drill."
"Anyway... I was just worrying about where to dispose of those 'drafted manuscripts.'"
Li Mo picked up the **[spring and autumn brush]** and pointed it at the fissure in mid-air. 【Entry Loaded: Dungeonization.】
【Name: Echoes of the Forgotten (Hidden Dungeon)】
【Recommended Level: Qi Refining Stage Peak (Suicidal Rank)】
【Drops: Unknown Fragments (Could be a Divine Artifact from the drafts, or a BUG)】
"Done."
Li Mo put away the brush, smiling like a cunning merchant. "Send a server-wide announcement."
"Just say... someone has discovered a **[Hidden Secret Realm]**."
"Let these over-energetic guys help me clean up some 'System Trash.'"
...
Third Heavens · Valley.
The players who were digging suddenly received a System prompt.
【Congratulations! You have discovered the Hidden Secret Realm 'Echoes of the Forgotten'!】
【This Secret Realm is unique server-wide, with extremely generous first-clear rewards!】
"Holy crap! There really is a hidden one!" "Brothers! We're going to be rich!" "Hurry in! Don't let the main force catch up!"
Without another word, the few players slipped into the blue fissure like loaches. The next second, their figures vanished. In their place, a chilling whisper, as if from an Old One, faintly emanated from the fissure.
Li Mo stood in the clouds, looking at the activated 'trash can,' and nodded with satisfaction. "Now, the ecological loop is even more perfect."
"Players level up by fighting monsters, and incidentally help me clear out the draft manuscripts."
"I really am... a Genius."
Just then, the Emperor of Great Zhou (currently the Minister of Logistics) rushed up in a panic.
"Old Ancestor! Something's wrong!"
"What is it?"
"Those players... those players have surrounded the **'Flame Demon Barbecue Shop'**!"
"Weren't they supposed to be turning in their quest?"
"No... they said the Flame Demon cooks too slowly, and they want to barbecue themselves! The Flame Demon head chef is currently crying while calling the police!"
Li Mo: "..."
It seemed that besides their 'desire for exploration,' the players' 'desire for cooking' was also a major problem. "Let's go."
Li Mo sighed. "Let's go see what other tricks this **'Fourth Calamity'** can pull on me."