Chapter 41

The appearance of the earthworms was strange to begin with, without a head or limbs, and they looked even more disgusting than snakes. Moreover, since they lacked mental masters, every time an earthworm was killed, it had to be dismembered into countless pieces, which was particularly hard for the two girls in the group to bear.

"Let's keep looking. I haven't killed a boss since we've been in the game for so long," a male player hesitated for a moment before speaking. This player was the one who had been scared out of his wits by the werewolf near the little girl a few days ago.

The five players clearly looked like newbies, or rather, this kind of battle, which felt like watching a 3D movie, was not something they were used to. The 100% simulation in the "Fate" game was no joke. Fighting real monsters was as thrilling and exciting as encountering them in real life.

These five players were well-equipped from head to toe, but their combat experience was clearly lacking. As soon as they saw a monster, they would shoot wildly, ignoring concepts like hate, positioning, and teamwork. They seemed to follow the principle of beating an expert with a flurry of punches.

"This equipment is too weak; it takes forever to kill the monsters. Oh, right, we brought a lot of landmines. Let's set up some landmines," suggested a female player with a very sweet appearance. Her eyes sparkled, and the allure of setting up landmines seemed to have temporarily made her forget how disgusting the earthworms were.

"Good idea, this way we can kill more monsters. We can lure them over and blow them up all at once, avoiding the disgust of fighting them one by one," another female player also showed great interest, subconsciously pushing up her nose, though her nose was bare. This female player might be nearsighted in real life or might be used to wearing glasses, hence the subconscious action.

"Let's set up the landmines on that hill. We can lure the monsters up from this side of the slope. We have a jumping skill, so we can jump down from the other side. It's high enough that we shouldn't take any damage. This way, the landmines will explode on this side of the slope, and we won't get hit ourselves," a male player suggested, pointing to a nearby hill.

What he called a hill was actually a slightly elevated mound, about seven to eight meters high, with a gentle slope. Running up and jumping down from the other side was indeed not dangerous.

"Good idea, let's go set up the minefield. I want to set up a chain of mines to blow up these disgusting earthworms," the sweet-looking female player waved her small fists, and the five players ran excitedly towards the small hill. It was clear that these players came from prominent backgrounds, and the three males had a subtle interest in the two females.

The five players seemed to have forgotten their purpose for being there, and the males even forgot about flirting, starting to set up the minefield diligently. Even with the skill to disguise it, the minefield they set up was a mess, and anyone with a keen eye could see it. The originally grassy slope was now pitted and uneven, like a beach after the rain.

"Done, this will definitely blow the monsters sky-high. Who's going to lure them over?" The sweet female player's eyes swept over the three male players, her gaze flashing with a mischievous look.

"Let Wang Xu go," one male player pushed another male player, who was clearly the one who had been sent down to lure the monsters from the high ground and had been scared out of his wits by the werewolf near the little girl. The five players clearly knew each other in real life, so they called each other by their real names.

"Why me again?" Wang Xu looked dissatisfied.

"You've lured the monsters before, so you have experience. Besides, this is your chance to show off. Don't you want to stand out?" The last male player said, the first part loudly, the second part whispered into Wang Xu's ear.

"Alright, I'll go this time, but next time it's your turn. We'll take turns, or I won't lure any more monsters," Wang Xu hesitated, then, seeing the hopeful looks from the two girls, he gritted his teeth and said.

"Fine, fine, we'll take turns. You go first, hurry up," his companions urged, and Wang Xu walked down, looking back every few steps.

Walking down the slope, Wang Xu found a cave after a long distance. He took out his gun and fired wildly into the cave. After running out of bullets, he found no movement inside. Wang Xu shook his head in disappointment and started looking for the next target.

However, before he could find a new target, an earthworm crawled out of the cave, spitting out mud. Wang Xu's eyes lit up, and he fired a shot, then turned and ran without checking if he hit it.

Although Wang Xu's shot missed, he was close enough to the earthworm to be within its alert range. The earthworm, despite having no eyes, somehow saw the enemy and started chasing him.

"Why did you only lure one? It's a waste to use so many landmines on just one monster," the female player complained, seeing Wang Xu run back with only one monster following him.

"Let's see how effective the landmines are with one monster. If it's a one-shot kill, we'll lure more next time," Wang Xu shouted, clearly making an excuse for only luring one monster and muttering to himself, "Anyway, it won't be me next time."

Wang Xu's speed was fast, at least faster than the earthworm monster. However, when he reached the hill, he started climbing carefully. Although the landmines set by the team wouldn't harm team members, the blast could still knock people over, so Wang Xu had to be careful not to step on any.

Fortunately, the landmines were set up with no skill at all. They were all pressure-activated, with no tripwires, so as long as he avoided the obvious pits, he was fine.

Boom! An explosion sounded, and Wang Xu, who was still climbing the hill, trembled, almost stepping on a mine.

"It exploded, it exploded, that was my mine," a male player shouted excitedly, as if he felt his mine was set up with great skill.

"Hurry up and climb, climb faster. The next mine is mine. I should have set it lower," the sweet female player watched the earthworm, which was blown up and bleeding like mud, with a tense and regretful look, now also feeling disgusted by the earthworm.

The earthworm, after being blown up, wriggled a few times and started climbing the hill again. The male player who set the mine was on the hill, and the explosion had damaged the earthworm, drawing its hate.

Boom! Another mine exploded.

"That was my mine," Wang Xu, who was climbing the hill, turned back and waved his arms, looking excited and proud.

"My mine was set too high. The monster will probably be blown up before it gets there," the sweet female player looked very disappointed.

"Jingjing, don't worry... Once the lower mines explode, the next monster you lure will be hit by your mine," Wang Xu, who had climbed the hill, said with a flattering look, glancing at the other two male players, as if to say, "It's your turn to lure the monster."

"Jingjing, did you feel the hill shake?" a female player standing nearby asked.

"Shake? No, was it the explosion?" the sweet female player shook her head in confusion.

"Maybe I was wrong," the female player subconsciously pushed her empty nose.

"Who's going to lure the next monster? Hurry up. My mine hasn't exploded yet."

"You go."

"You go." The remaining two male players started pushing each other.

"Come on, Jingjing wants to see her mine explode," Wang Xu looked at his two companions with disdain, puffing out his chest as if to prove something.

Just as the two male players were bickering, one of them, feeling embarrassed by the two girls watching, was about to go down to lure the monster when the hill shook again.

"There's something under this hill," the female player who had mentioned the shaking said. The others fell silent and looked at their feet. Suddenly, the hill shook again, and without the explosion of mines, everyone felt a sense of unease.

"Ghost!" The players looked at each other, then turned and ran down the hill, which had no mines. After rolling and crawling down, they turned around in fear to look behind them.

The entire hill began to shake violently, as if a huge creature was trying to emerge from beneath it, pushing the hill up. On the other side of the hill, the mines set up were triggered by the sudden rise, some covered by soil, others exploding continuously, sending dirt and grass flying everywhere.

Boom! The hill, pushed up by the creature, finally broke open. A massive earthworm, as thick as a bucket, appeared before the small team. At the front of the earthworm, a large, suction-cup-like mouth, the size of a face, wriggled, filled with small, sharp teeth, and a yellowish, slimy mud dripped from its mouth, looking extremely disgusting.

"Boss," the male player who had been eager to kill a boss shouted in surprise.

"Monster!" Seeing the massive body and disgusting appearance of the earthworm, the female player's spirit broke, and she screamed and turned to run. The other team members also fled.