Chapter 9

Darkness enveloped the land, and the stench of death filled the air. As Zhang Yi stepped out of the safety zone through the light barrier, it felt as if he had instantly moved from heaven to hell.

Looking around, the ruins of the city were shrouded in smoke, with countless bizarre and monstrous bio-beasts of levels 1 to 5 roaming through the debris. Crows darted about in the sky above.

Zhang Yi was fearless, and with his large iron hammer in hand, he stepped directly into the midst of the beasts.

"Roar!"

As Zhang Yi entered the hate range of the monsters, one after another, low-level bio-beasts began to pounce at him, their roars echoing.

Zhang Yi swung his iron hammer, unleashing a flurry of strikes.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

-48!

-48!

-51!

-94 Critical Hit!

...

"Chime~ You have killed a Level 3 [Bio-Cockroach], +6 Experience!"

"Chime~ You have killed a Level 2 [Bio-Rat], +2 Experience!"

...

One by one, the bio-beasts turned into experience points, which Zhang Yi collected.

For Level 1 to 4 monsters, it only took Zhang Yi 2 to 4 hammer strikes to defeat them. The only real threat to him now were the Level 5 beasts.

Level 5 bio-beasts had an attack power of 25, dealing 18 points of damage with a single hit, and had a health of over 240. Without a critical hit, Zhang Yi needed 6 hammer strikes to kill one.

Almost every time he killed a Level 5 bio-beast, Zhang Yi had to consume a red potion to recover his health.

However, the rewards from Level 5 beasts were the highest, giving Zhang Yi 20 experience points per kill! He was guaranteed at least 1 copper coin, and with good luck, he could get up to 3!

As Zhang Yi was heading out of the safety zone, he encountered many players rushing towards it.

Those players who had fought their way from the spawn point to this location were puzzled to see Zhang Yi heading in the opposite direction, until they saw the white ID above his head—Yinuo Qincheng!

"Damn, isn't that the guy who was announced as the first player to reach the safety zone?"

"Yinuo Qincheng... That's the right ID!"

"Good guy, he's even changed his weapon. We haven't even reached the safety zone yet, and he's already heading out to fight!"

"Let's hurry to the safety zone. I read in the game manual on the official website that daily quests have a limited number of claims. If we're late, we won't get anything!"

Thus, a large number of players passed by Zhang Yi, rushing towards Hope Town.

To them, even as the first player to reach the safety zone, "Yinuo Qincheng" seemed to be heading out to certain death, no matter how skilled he was.

At that moment, a scream came from ahead.

Looking over, Zhang Yi saw a girl in a tank top and hot pants being pinned down by a Level 5 [Bio-Spider]. Her health bar was already half empty, and after being bitten by the bio-spider, it dropped to a quarter!

"Help!"

"Don't be afraid, girl, I'm coming to save you!"

Seeing the pretty girl in trouble, a young man with a beginner's sword rushed towards the bio-spider.

However, before he could get close, the bio-spider counterattacked, dealing a 44-point critical hit and triggering the [Poison] ability, which dealt 3 points of toxin damage per second. In an instant, the young man was killed.

With a scream, the young man turned into white light and disappeared.

The Level 5 bio-spider then continued to approach the girl, who was nearly out of health.

Seeing that it was a Level 5 monster and witnessing its terrifying damage that had instantly killed a player, the other players were too scared to help.

After all, although it was just a game, dying meant respawning at the spawn point. They had fought hard to get this far, and they were almost at the safety zone. No one wanted to risk everything for a stranger, no matter how attractive she was.

Just as the girl was about to be devoured by the spider, Zhang Yi approached with his large iron hammer.

Seeing this, the surrounding players sneered.

"Hey, this guy thinks he's something special because he was the first to enter the safety zone and got a reward. He's trying to be a hero!"

"Wait and see him get killed. If he drops that hammer, it would be great; it's definitely more powerful than a beginner's sword!"

Thus, the surrounding players watched with amusement as Zhang Yi approached the bio-spider and the girl.

As soon as Zhang Yi got close, the bio-spider sensed the danger and pounced at him.

A hammer strike from below sent the bio-spider flying, and a golden critical hit damage number appeared above its head—

-94!

As the surrounding players gasped, Zhang Yi quickly approached and delivered two more hammer strikes, each dealing 47 points of damage, killing the Level 5 bio-spider that was not at full health.

This scene stunned all the players who had been watching for a show.

Player A: "My God... What kind of damage is this!"

Player B: "Damn, that hammer in his hand must be a divine weapon!"

Player C: "I can't deal as much damage with ten sword strikes as he does with one hammer strike..."

...

As the players were in shock, Zhang Yi had already picked up the 2 copper coins as loot and quietly left.

Following the map, it took him about ten minutes to fight his way from Hope Town to the [Doom Factory]. The experience points from the low-level monsters along the way had already brought his experience bar to 70%, and he was about to level up to Level 3!

In his line of sight was an abandoned chemical processing plant in the wilderness, overgrown with weeds. The factory's chimneys were covered in vines, and the entire place looked desolate and dangerous.

For a normal person, playing a survival game like this for the first time, they might not even have the courage to approach the factory without a team. But Zhang Yi, without hesitation, dragged his large iron hammer and entered the factory.

Inside the factory, chemical agent barrels were scattered haphazardly, and the floor was littered with garbage and debris. Rotten and decaying corpses of NPC workers were scattered everywhere, emitting a foul odor.

In addition, there were many large, black insects with six legs, crawling on the corpses, gnawing on them, and making a bone-chilling chewing sound.

These large insects were Zhang Yi's target—

Cannibal Bugs!