novelslam Chapter 101 [Dividing into Two Groups, the Gaze from the Deep Pit]
Chapter 101 [Dividing into Two Groups, the Gaze from the Deep Pit]
The uproar and chaos on the official forums did not provide any real help to these "players" who were struggling to make ends meet.
The hunger is real, the pain of being attacked by wild beasts is real, and the weakness of being resurrected in a thatched hut after death is also real.
When the pressure of survival becomes specific to every breath and every stomach cramp, the player community diverges.
After the initial chaos, a group of people, led by college student Zhang Wei, calmed down.
Zhang Wei, the man who earned food and 0.1 contribution points by helping an old woman carry water, realized that the underlying logic of this game might not be fighting and killing, but rather integration and building.
They began to systematically imitate the indigenous people of the tribe, trying to help the villagers with some physical labor.
Although the contribution points gained were negligible and the food received in return was merely crude and barely enough to fill one's stomach, this model at least guaranteed survival.
Centered around the villages they established in Terra, they studied how to cultivate the land and how to make tools from the simplest stones and sticks. These people, yearning for stability and development, spontaneously formed the "Farming Faction."
Another group of people, represented by "Lightning Blade," the professional gamer who provoked the hen and got pecked in return, simply couldn't tolerate this slow accumulation of problems.
They are the "wolves" in the game, accustomed to solving all problems through combat.
After repeatedly trying to challenge wild creatures and being mercilessly sent back to the respawn point, they were deeply attracted by the aura of iron and blood in the camp of the tribal war leader, Karn.
Kahn was wary of these "resurrected" strangers, but he also saw in them a fearless madness.
He showed these belligerent players the rusty iron spears from the tribe and promised that if they could complete enough hunting missions and prove their worth, they would be qualified to be equipped with weapons and even increase their reputation among the warriors.
Gear and Horde reputation hit a nerve with combat-oriented players.
Under Kahn's tutelage, they accepted various dangerous hunting missions.
Death was merely a temporary punishment for them, and each successful return of prey earned them Kahn's approval and better tools.
This fearless fighting force, composed of "players," gradually took shape under Kahn's command, and they called themselves the "Fighting Faction."
.......
The original four-person team has long since disappeared from the hustle and bustle of civilization.
Guided by the animal hide map they obtained from the ancient dwarven archives, they headed north, deep into the heart of the Weeping Mountains.
This place is off-limits to ordinary people, covered by snow and wind all year round, with biting cold winds howling through the valleys.
Chen Kai walked at the very front, and the [Fang of Wind] spear on his body naturally parted the wind and snow in front of him.
Aija followed closely behind, her Prospector leather armor allowing her to easily identify the most solid footholds beneath the ice.
Wang Xuan walked in the middle, the thick [Scholar's Barrier] allowing him to completely ignore the severe cold that could freeze steel.
Li Yao walked at the back. The faint light emitted by the [Heart of Protection] amulet freed her from the need to resist the cold, allowing her to concentrate all her energy on sensing the restlessness of the [Seed of Chaos].
The deeper they went into the mountains, the weaker the throbbing of the [Seed of Chaos] in Li Yao's chest became.
This put her at ease.
"According to the map, it should be around here." Ai Jia stopped and looked at the huge valley buried by glaciers in front of her.
"It's too spacious here, not suitable for setting up camp." Chen Kai looked around, his years of combat experience keeping him highly vigilant.
Wang Xuan activated the detection function of the [Scholar's Barrier], and a barely perceptible ripple spread out from him.
A moment later, a voice came from beneath his visor: "Thirty meters below the ice, the area is quite large."
The four exchanged a glance.
Chen Kai nodded, pierced the tip of the [Wind Fang] spear into the hard ice layer, and infused it with a trace of spiritual power.
The spearhead began to vibrate slightly, and the surrounding ice became loose and cracked.
This is the most basic rune technique – Resonance.
Soon, a bottomless passage appeared before them.
The four entered one by one, and as they descended, they saw a magnificent scene frozen on both sides.
Huge gears, broken steam pipes, and dwarven prospectors in their final working poses.
A deep sense of fear was frozen on their faces.
Half an hour later, they finally reached the bottom of this underwater ruin.
This is the site of an ancient dwarven exploration team's camp, and it is remarkably well-preserved.
The moment they stepped into the camp, an invisible spiritual shock swept over them.
Chen Kai and Ai Jia grunted and backed away.
Li Yao's [Guardian Heart] shone brightly, barely withstanding the impact, but she still felt a pang of fear.
The [Scholar's Barrier] runes on Wang Xuan's body lit up one by one, forming an invisible barrier.
The terrifying mental imprint struck the barrier, only causing ripples.
"It's residual pollution. You all stay where you are." Wang Xuan stepped into the largest main tent in the camp alone.
The scene inside the tent was even more bizarre.
Everything was left as it was: the metal wine glasses on the table, the scattered tools, the map hanging on the wall, as if the owner had just left.
But beneath the ice in the center of the tent, Wang Xuan saw a dwarf corpse curled up.
He was not a combatant, but a scholar, and was wearing an exploration uniform.
The dwarf scholar pointed to a metal plate beneath him.
Wang Xuan stepped forward, and the [Scholar's Barrier] easily melted the ice layer.
He picked up the metal plate; it felt warm and smooth to the touch.
The surface is covered with densely packed dwarven script, dyed with a special mineral dye.
This is an exploration log.
Wang Xuan activated the armor's built-in translation function and began reading.
The first half of the log details how the exploration team, guided by ancient legends, tracked their way to the depths of the Weeping Mountains and finally confirmed the existence of their target—the Bottomless Pit.
The logs have pinpointed the coordinates of the deep pit.
Seeing this, they've come to the right place.
But as you continue reading, the handwriting in the diary begins to tremble and become disordered.
[...We arrived there. It wasn't a geological structure; it was a scar on the world. We deployed our most advanced exploration dummy, crafted from the strongest alloy, capable of withstanding the pressure of the ocean at a depth of ten thousand meters.]
The puppet descended only 300 meters before transmitting its final images and data, all of which pointed to an "error."
Gravity is meaningless here; light bends, time sometimes stands still, sometimes flies by… Our time comparator recorded a span of seventeen years in that instant.
That was a living disaster!
It "saw" us. We saw nothing, but we knew it had. We fled frantically, but it was no use. That "gaze" pierced through the mountains, through the ice, and was branded directly onto our souls. We... were finished.
The diary ends here.
The last few words conveyed a despair that pierced through the back of the board.
Wang Xuan took the log out of the tent and told the other three about its contents.
"A living disaster..." Aija began to wonder.
"It is an independent ecosystem in itself."
"No matter what it is, our goal will not change." Chen Kai wiped his spear, his eyes resolute.
Wang Xuan nodded: "Let's go. We've obtained the most accurate and dangerous intelligence. It's time to meet it."
Based on the remarkably accurate coordinates in the log, the four-person team arrived at their destination in no time.
It was a massive black rift that seemed capable of swallowing all light in the world.
It lay there quietly at the end of the mountain range, and the wind and snow in the sky mysteriously stopped and dissipated when it was within a few hundred meters of the edge of the rift valley.
Silence, no light, only pure darkness.
The [Seed of Chaos] on Li Yao's chest lingers... yearning.