Volume 1, Chapter 42: Plague Hound

After individually finishing off a plague hound, Li Chuan and Lin Yaoyao finally arrived at the left side of the area occupied by the Illuminati. Using the wall at their backs as a stronghold, the two of them continuously ambushed and killed the monsters daring to rush toward this side.

With the wall behind them and the Illuminati to their right, Li Chuan and Lin Yaoyao only needed to face monsters coming from the front and the left, significantly reducing their pressure.

At some point, the two massive ruptures in the curved wall had closed up again, as though they had never split open at all.

In the moderately sized metallic space, the sounds of barking dogs, combat, battle cries, and screams echoed incessantly.

Because the plague hounds did not deal extremely high damage, most players gradually recovered from their initial panic and began instinctively gathering into small groups to jointly fend off the plague hounds.

As the leader of the first organized group and a natural-born saintess, Gao Han had the largest number of players gathered around her. Combined with the Illuminati members who already followed her, she commanded over thirty people—nearly half the total number of players who had entered this space.

The second-largest group should have been the Three Heroes Association, but since the three heroes had all been eliminated by Li Chuan, many solo players had spontaneously formed a defensive squad led by the two formidable warrior-type players, "Zhao Gao Points to a Deer as a Horse" and "Donghe Flowing Water."

That Donghe Flowing Water seemed to possess some capability in combat command; under the execution of his tactical orders, they actually managed to resist the encirclement of the plague hound pack.

Most unexpectedly, the third group to successfully resist the plague hounds was formed right here around Li Chuan and Lin Yaoyao.

It started with the woman they had rescued rushing over, followed by others who had witnessed Li Chuan and Lin Yaoyao's combat prowess, and then the crowd grew larger and larger.

However, although there were quite a few players, very few dared to actually attack the plague hounds.

Among the fourteen or fifteen players, only about six or seven stepped forward to hunt the monsters alongside the two of them.

The rest cowered near the edges of the wall, only daring to shriek and flail their weapons when a monster drew close.

In truth, Li Chuan did not care whether anyone helped out or not at this moment; since the current monsters were low in difficulty, every kill yielded experience points and currency, and having no one else to steal them was even better.

After a dozen minutes, the number of plague hounds dwindled, and players with skills and recovery abilities gained a distinct upper hand.

"Kill these beasts!"
"There aren't many left, charge out!"
...

Weakness Strike!
Blade Impact!

The final plague hound was instantly slain by Li Chuan, leaving no monsters remaining in the space.

Many players stared at Li Chuan in shock, marveling at his strength.

Ignoring the various gazes from the crowd, Li Chuan bent down to pick up the coins and materials dropped by the plague hound.

Some players, having experienced the sudden raid of the plague hounds, continued to hide among the Illuminati crowd, not daring to leave a single step.

Other players rushed anxiously into the battlefield after the battle ended to snatch copper coins and materials.

"I killed this one! Hand it over."
"What do you mean you killed it? I clearly attacked it too."
"You're not giving it to me, right? If you don't, I'll make you pay."
"Make me pay? Come on then! Let's see who's afraid of whom!"
...

Players fighting over dropped items were not limited to just one or two; the drawbacks of multi-player monster raids were gradually manifesting.

Just as the scene was becoming difficult to control, Gao Han, who was surrounded by the majority of the players, suddenly raised her voice.

"Everyone, please stop arguing! I believe this quest is a group-based trial. The quest description states that only the group that survives to the very end will live. Therefore, I suggest we put aside our minor grievances for now, come to my side, unite as one, and formulate a solid battle plan together."

Toying with her black dagger, Lin Yaoyao looked up at Li Chuan.
"Oh, the living boddhisatva is going to hold a meeting. Are we going?"

Li Chuan adjusted his glasses and nodded.
"Let's go. She's right; the number of these monsters is truly terrifying, and there will definitely be more than just this wave. Relying solely on the two of us definitely won't work."

The young girl nodded in agreement.
"Big Brother Chuan is so smart. Oh, look at the chat channel, there are so many, many more people in it."

Many more people?
Li Chuan hurriedly opened the regional chat channel as he walked.

Fortress Arena Region Chat Channel
Current Surviving Players: 1454/2000

There are actually this many players here?
Judging by the number of people, does the regional count mean there are twenty player groups with experiences identical to ours?

Heaven You Go I Won't Go: "Damn it, those cursed plague dogs, does anyone have a fracture-healing potion? Buying at a high price."
A Golden Spear That Never Falls: "Wow, it feels like I haven't seen so many people in ages. I've listed a blue weapon on the auction house, everyone go buy it!"
Princess Fei Fei: "Golden Spear, what are you doing? Selling a blue weapon to others, isn't that aiding the enemy?"
A Golden Spear That Never Falls: "My god, I can't afford to buy it so I'm not allowed to sell it to someone else? Selling it to exchange for a weapon I can actually use also increases our region's combat power, doesn't it?"
Omelet Hero: "That makes sense, I'm going to check out the auction house too."
...

Right, the auction house feature had also been unlocked.
Li Chuan quickly patted Lin Yaoyao.
"Quick! Put all the equipment and materials you don't need up on the auction house. Once everyone's level comes up, the equipment we're holding won't be worth much."

"Ah? Oh! Okay, okay."

After reminding the young girl, Li Chuan hurriedly opened the auction house himself, listing all the green, white, and replaced blue items from his backpack, pricing them twenty percent lower than the system mall.

"Hmm! This feature is quite good. Although a one-percent transaction fee is charged, it saves me from having to find people to trade with individually."

In the silver-white circular hall, the two of them squeezed into the crowd.
Unsurprisingly, the crowd very 'respectfully' cleared out a large space for them.

Gao Han, who had been waiting for everyone to gather, glanced at Li Chuan. Coincidentally, Li Chuan was also looking at her. The two exchanged a glance before simultaneously and imperceptibly looking away.

After nearly all the players had gathered, the player with the nickname Donghe Flowing Water spoke up first.

"I checked the chat channel here and synthesized the information within. I suspect this is a competitive city defense battle."

A sharp voice questioned him.
"Stop inventing so many fancy terms. At a time like this, does playing at being sophisticated do any good?"

Gao Han nodded in agreement.
"I agree with this assessment. To put it simply, there are twenty player groups with the same circumstances as us, currently experiencing the hunt of these monsters just like we are."

"The monsters definitely aren't limited to just the plague hounds we saw earlier; other monsters will almost certainly appear next. And the method to clear the level should be to endure wave after wave until the other player groups are completely wiped out."

Zhao Gao Points to a Deer as a Horse frowned and said, "Endure until only we are left? Exhausting to death the other thousand-plus players? Is the difficulty really that high?"

Standing in the open space, seeing that everyone's morale was somewhat depressed, Li Chuan could not help but step forward to offer his analysis.