Isn't This a Game? Why Are You All Cultivating for Real!

Chapter 132: Chapter 132: Another New Player

It was midnight, and some players had already gone to bed.

After all, many of them were office workers.

Those who heard the ping shot up in bed as if they’d been jolted back from the brink of death. Those who didn’t, however, continued to snore away.

Of course, only a handful of players missed the notification.

Nearly everyone who got the news logged on immediately.

Zhou Xiao was one of the players who had been offline. As soon as he logged on, he saw that Wang’an County hadn’t been affected yet, but the atmosphere was far more solemn than usual.

The Cultivators were nowhere to be seen, and the common folk had all returned to their quarters.

Zhou Xiao grabbed Fan Guzhou from the crowd. "What’s going on?"

Fan Guzhou turned, looking panicked himself. "When Zhen Weida and his group were out looking for resources, they spotted a horde of demon beasts gathering. They’re all heading for Wang’an County! The group they saw was already several hundred strong, and there are probably more behind them. Han Tian and the others are rushing back, but we don’t know if they’ll make it in time."

To be blunt, First and Second Rank demon beasts don’t have any real intelligence.

They don’t have aggressive intent, but they don’t just stand around waiting to respawn like typical game monsters, either.

Some roaming demon beasts do occasionally wander to the outskirts of the county.

This was one of the reasons the common folk worried that it was unsafe to venture out.

But Wang’an County did have a history of demon beast invasions.

The exact cause of these invasions was unknown, but they often involved the beasts gathering together for a coordinated attack.

They would kill any Cultivator on sight and would also devour mortals.

In the wake of a demon beast invasion, even the Spirit Grass would be trampled into a complete mess.

And that wasn’t even counting all the land that had recently been developed on the outskirts, all of which was planted with Spirit Grass.

An average player could handle one or two First-rank Demon Beasts without much trouble. Now, players like Zhou Xiao could even take on a Second-tier Demon Beast by themselves.

But hundreds, even thousands of them!

Even Zhou Xiao felt a chill run down his spine.

The game didn’t have built-in voice chat yet, so players could only communicate with each other through system messages.

Zhou Xiao quickly asked the system, "System, where is that horde of demon beasts now?"

The system replied, "Honghuang and his group are currently searching for the demon beasts’ trail."

Zhen Weida’s group had only caught a glimpse of the beasts while they were out and had rushed back in a panic to sound the alarm.

Based on the direction they had pointed out, Honghuang and some other players had already headed out.

Another group of players was also on their way back, but they were as far away as First Mountain. Like Han Tian, they had no idea if they could make it back in time.

According to Zhen Weida, the demon beast horde was only half a day’s journey from Wang’an County.

And since it was still nighttime, Cultivators would be at a slight disadvantage fighting the demon beasts.

The players currently inside the Sect, plus a few Loose Cultivators from Wang’an County, and an unknown number from the Feique Sect... all told, they numbered less than a hundred Cultivators.

It wasn’t just Zhou Xiao and the others who were in a frenzy. Song Jiulai was about to set foot on the Netherworld Sect’s territory!

’Dammit, why is there a sudden demon beast invasion!’

Now that she had reached Foundation Establishment, her authority had expanded. She hadn’t planned on personally meeting the new Outer Disciples, figuring the system could just distribute the Spirit Roots to them.

’Who could have known this would happen?’

If she didn’t hurry back, there was no telling what kind of disaster the demon beasts would wreak on the Longevity Sect.

’I thought Shui Ping was just talking nonsense, but I didn’t think she was actually jinxing us!’

How long had it been? And now a demon beast invasion was really happening.

"They’re only First and Second Rank, so that’s good news. The players should be able to hold out until you get back," the system said reassuringly, then added, "The only fear is that there might be a Third-stage Demon Beast behind them."

A demon beast invasion of this scale couldn’t happen without a reason.

Without intelligence of their own, they need to be suppressed by a powerful force to act this way.

An invasion by a horde of this size probably has a commander in the rear.

A chill ran through Song Jiulai’s heart. ’My Sect! My assets! I absolutely can’t let them be damaged!!’

’She had painstakingly guided the players to this point, just beginning to build their lives on the Yunzhou Continent. Was it easy to grow the Sect to its current scale?’

’She hadn’t even annexed the Feique Sect yet! How could something like this happen!’

Moreover, Shui Ping and Su Huanli weren’t even at the Feique Sect right now. Song Jiulai figured the Feique Sect didn’t have many disciples to begin with.

Most of those left behind in the Longevity Sect were life-skill players.

Life-skill players never liked to fight in the first place, and their combat prowess was utterly pathetic!

Song Jiulai rushed back at top speed, popping a Fourth-rank Elixir whenever her Spiritual Energy ran low.

The events inside the game had no effect on the new players who were currently scrambling to snatch up the limited available slots.

At midnight, the scramble for slots officially began.

In countless cities, some people cheered while others slammed their desks in frustration.

Fifty slots were freshly released.

"I got one! I got a spot! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Someone’s ecstatic shrieks could be heard.

Others felt a quiet sense of relief after securing a slot, but their faces remained impassive.

They immediately made a phone call to report to their superiors.

"Yes, I’ve secured a slot."

"You got one?"

The voice on the other end of the line sounded a little surprised, as if they hadn’t expected the woman to succeed.

After a moment, a hint of relief colored the voice. "It’s good that you got in. Go and take a look. Maybe... maybe this game will actually be good for you."

The woman gave a quiet "mm."

The person on the other end began to ramble. "You don’t have the equipment, do you? I’ll have someone send it over to you right away. Just play for a bit to get the hang of it, then log out and report back to me..."

"Understood. I’m clear on the requirements. I’ll go in and take a look first."

After hanging up, the woman’s expression remained neutral.

’It’s ridiculous, what I’m doing,’ she thought.

’Can a game like this really exist?’

The whole thing felt absurd to her.

When Wei Jun had called, she couldn’t believe he was asking her to do something so preposterous.

But he had said, ’Just go and try it.’

A short while later, there was a knock on the door. A calm, serious voice spoke. "Hello, Ma’am. We’ve brought your items."

The woman opened the door.

She watched as they carried the equipment into her home.

The woman stared at the simple VR equipment in disbelief. "With just this, can I really...?"

"We’re only responsible for delivery, Ma’am."

After speaking, the young soldier gave her a crisp salute.

She nodded. Once they had left, she examined the equipment.

’It’s quite simple.’

Unlike the commercial models, this one seemed to have been modified by the base. The VR device was a single helmet.

It looked more like one of those legendary nerve-gear helmets from sci-fi, exuding a virtual-reality feel.

And also more like...

’A scam.’

The woman’s lip twitched into a wry smile. Before putting on the helmet, she caught sight of the scar at the corner of her eye in the mirror.

She couldn’t stop the corner of her eye from twitching again.

It wasn’t a voluntary action, but an uncontrollable muscle spasm.

It always acted up when she was tense, especially when she was trying to think. The faster it twitched, the more it affected her nerves.

It was a lingering side effect of an old injury.

It made it impossible for her to think with any precision.

From that day on, her life had fallen from heaven into hell.

Taking a deep breath, she put on the helmet. Her vision went black.

She was ready to begin the game she was convinced was a fraud.