novelODS Chapter 6 1 vs 3
Chapter 6 1 vs 3
Night fell earlier than Lynn had anticipated.
The bright colors of Rainbow Village were replaced by the oppressive night. The lingering green mist in the distance seemed to take shape in the darkness, clinging to the skin like moss.
Just then, three figures made a move almost simultaneously inside the wooden hut at the outpost.
The little snail, the whole roasted lamb, and the agent sat up almost as if they were launching themselves, their movements perfectly synchronized.
Their eyes were full of excitement.
"Spots! Experience! Hurry up!"
The roasting whole lamb shouted as he rushed out of the wooden house.
However, instead of a meadow bathed in the setting sun, they were met with darkness.
Fortunately, the moonlight made it possible to see some of the road.
Lynn stood on the steps, with several crude torches already lit at his feet.
The orange-red flames flickered, but could only illuminate an area of less than five meters around them.
Further away lies a bottomless, dense forest, from which come chilling roars.
"Master GM..."
The agent swallowed hard, already feeling the real chill. "Isn't the atmosphere a bit different tonight?"
"In this world, daylight belongs to living beings, and night belongs to monsters."
Lynn's speech was still pretentious.
"Everything you want is hidden inside the bodies of those monsters."
But first, you must ensure that you and these villagers don't starve to death tonight.
Three heavy wooden sticks, wrapped in layers of cast iron and as heavy as lead, were kicked to their feet by Lynn:
"It's been reinforced. Of course, these aren't free; you'll need to exchange them for the credit points you earned this afternoon."
"So I have to rent one. When will I be able to have my own weapon..." the roasted whole lamb muttered.
Lynn ignored his mutterings and continued:
"Go on, the Floating Pig has been spotted at the edge of the southern forest."
Blue snails and other molluscs won't solve the famine; I need you to bring back real meat.
The three exchanged a glance, picked up the wooden stick, and felt a sense of security from its heavy weight.
The climbing snail raised its torch, its expression somewhat grave.
"Brothers, we need to change our tactics. Visibility is limited at night, so we can't spread out."
For the whole roasted lamb, your initial strength should be the highest. Use the iron wooden stick horizontally as a shield. Agent, you're in charge of the left flank, I'll handle the right flank and lighting.
"Don't stray too far from the firelight; it always feels like something's watching us from the fog."
The three men formed a triangle and slowly advanced toward the woodland south of the outpost.
George, who had been following behind, stuck out his tongue and excitedly charged into the depths of the jungle alone.
Less than 100 meters into the woods, the agents sensed something was wrong.
"Damn it, this fog is reflecting light!"
The climbing snail was startled and could barely see the grass at its feet when it looked down; it could hardly see any movement in the distance.
The firelight was severely scattered in the thick fog, casting countless twisted and swaying shadows on the tree trunks, as if a monster was hiding behind each tree.
"Holy crap, this NPC is so unprofessional. Making us light torches in a foggy jungle at night is practically the same as being blind. We're just asking to be hunted."
"But I have to say, the details of this jungle are really well done! I feel like it's only this good in real life!"
"This isn't the time to marvel at how awesome this game is, is it? Damn, I'm a little scared!"
Thump! A heavy thud came from the side.
"There!" The little snail turned around abruptly, its torch piercing the darkness. There stood a giant flower mushroom, about half a person's height, covered in mottled gills, bouncing through the forest with its strong stem.
Its red canopy was covered with orange protrusions, which seemed to writhe faintly in the firelight, like a huge, beating heart.
"It's spraying spores!" the little snail shouted. "I don't remember it doing this in the game!"
The flower mushroom traced an arc in the air, its cap suddenly contracting at the edge, and a cloud of pale purple smoke instantly billowed out.
"Hold your breath! Run towards the wind!"
The agent reacted quickly, tearing off a piece of clothing to cover his mouth and nose.
The whole roasted lamb let out a roar, relying on its physique that had been slightly adjusted by the system, and charged forward under pressure, its heavy iron and wooden club sweeping fiercely with a piercing sound.
With a thud, the wooden stick struck the tough stem of the mushroom, producing a dull thud like striking leather.
The flower mushroom was flung and hit the tree trunk, but it bounced up quickly like a roly-poly toy, emitting a sharp hiss.
However, at that moment, a rapid, thunderous sound of hooves came from deep within the forest.
"Oh no, it's Pretty Pig!"
A mutated flower mushroom was already putting the three of them under some pressure, and the arrival of the Floating Pig only increased the pressure even further.
No sooner had he finished speaking than a dark shadow suddenly burst out from the blind spot at the edge of the firelight.
It was a pretty pig with a pinkish-red body and an upturned nose.
Its pair of degenerated, bow-shaped little wings on its back were flapping wildly, adjusting the angle of its charge like stabilizers.
The whole roasted lamb was hit head-on by this brute force. Even though it was prepared, it was still sent flying like a cannonball and crashed heavily into the muddy ground.
"Ouch... my ribs are going to break!"
The whole roasted lamb let out a mournful cry, clearly feeling its strength instantly waning.
Taking advantage of the moment of impact, the little snail acted decisively, gripped the tin stick tightly, and smashed it down on the head of the Floating Pig.
My hands are shaking so badly!
The pretty pig, in pain, also let out an extremely sharp howl.
At the same time, the pair of small red bow wings on its back vibrated wildly. Although they couldn't lift its heavy body, they acted like some kind of spoiler, allowing it to drift almost 180 degrees on the muddy ground.
A tank drifting in place? That's terrifying!
"Aim for its eye!"
The little snail frantically waved its torch, trying to use the flames to distract its target.
This is no longer a relaxing and enjoyable snail-tapping game, but a true, primal hunt.
The agent, under the command of the little snail, took advantage of the pig's stiffness after the collision and rolled behind it.
He used all his strength to forcefully strike the iron edge of the wooden stick at the pig's excrement opening.
"Awooo!!!"
With a wild beast's mournful scream, the Floating Pig lost its balance and plunged headfirst into a pile of rocks.
After all, even Ultraman couldn't withstand a single blow to that area.
"Finish him off! Quickly!"
The three of them worked together, smashing the frantically struggling body in the darkness. The sound of the metal sticks hitting the bones was particularly eerie in the silent night.
The fighting ended a dozen minutes later.
The three of them collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, surrounded by the remains of three flower mushrooms and a bloodied, mangled floating pig.
"Didn't I just tell you to aim for his eyes?"
"No, aren't you talking about that eye?"
"No problem."
"Despicable."
Before the three agents could catch their breath from the pyrrhic victory, a sharp, urgent bark pierced the thick fog.
It's George.
George, who had been absent until now, suddenly darted out of the forest, carrying a broken piece of wood that reeked of stench in its mouth.
In the firelight, the piece of wood twitched slightly like an insect, and what flowed from the break was not tree sap, but thick, dark green blood.
Lynn appeared at the edge of the firelight at some point, his eyes darkening as he looked at the spoils George had brought back.
"Well done." Lynn walked over to the carcass of the bouncy pig and examined it.
He thought to himself, "These three are really something. Last month, he tried to take on Piao Piao Pig one-on-one and almost died on the spot."
He turned his head and looked at the three players, their hands cracked and their bodies covered in mud, his tone softening slightly:
"Take them back. Tonight, you'll not only get your spots, but you'll also have a decent barbecue."
"Woof...Woof! Woof!"
George stopped in front of Lynn. Instead of wagging its tail to please her as usual, it paced around anxiously, urging her with an almost growling sound.
It released its grip, and the piece of black wood fell to the ground. Before anyone could see it clearly, it suddenly picked up the wood again and frantically gestured in the direction it had come from.
"It's... telling us to follow it?" The little snail wiped the blood off its face and looked at Lynn hesitantly.
Lynn nodded in George's direction: "Let's go, follow them."
The group followed George deep into the dense forest, where the trees were twisted and gnarled.
As George led the way deeper into the area, a strong, almost tangible, stench of blood wafted into everyone's nostrils on the evening breeze.
"Holy crap, this smell..."
The whole roasted lamb gagged and instinctively gripped the tin wooden stick in its hand.
George stopped in front of a fallen bush. He dropped the wood in his mouth, proudly raised his head, and placed his two front paws on a moss-covered boulder, like a triumphant general.
Lynn raised the torch to examine it.
In that instant, the four of them almost simultaneously stopped breathing.
"Holy shit..."
Three enormous corpses lay sprawled on the rocky beach at George's feet.
Those were the corpses of three drifting pigs, their deaths extremely bizarre—their throats were precisely ripped open, and their genitals were bitten to pieces.
All four of them simultaneously tensed up in their lower bodies and subconsciously performed a set of Kegel exercises.
The worst-looking pig had its eyeballs bitten off.
These dwarf pigs showed no signs of blunt force trauma; the marks were purely from wild, tearing bites.
"These... these were all done by George? He had a twig in his mouth just now, did he also kill a wood sprite?!"
The whole roasted lamb trembled as it stepped forward and nudged one of the pigs with a wooden stick.
The body was still warm.
"One against three?"
The agent was so shocked his eyes almost popped out. "This dog probably couldn't even beat my cat in real life! Is the AI giving it a cheat code?"
At this moment, deep within Lynn's consciousness, the energy level on the system panel was like an out-of-control fuel gauge, rising wildly:
[Energy Points: 500...700...900!]
The final value was 900.
[The current energy level has reached the second phase goal, and new slots can be recruited at any time.]