Gamers of the Underworld

Dragonborn crept behind a hill slope, followed by several Humans with poor quality equipment.

“Did you see the Dire Wolf ahead?” Dragonborn turned his body and asked the members of the For that night with Sherlock Guild who were behind him.

Dragonborn was referring to a Dire Wolf that was sniffing around behind the slope.

Those Human gamers nodded.

“You will only need two gamers with Weapon Level 1 to deal with such a creature. First of all, you’ll need a Shield.”

Dragonborn raised his Shield and said, “Remember, it doesn’t matter what weapons you’re using or whether you’re using Mana Skills, always bring a Shield to absorb damage!”

Dragonborn grasped his Short Sword tightly and said, “Attract the attack of the Dire Wolf using your Shield, then counterattack. Don’t be greedy for damage. We don’t have Healing Potions, so if you’re bitten, you’ll have to kill yourself to revive. Don’t be greedy for damage.”

Dragonborn reminded them many times and said, “The defense of the Dire Wolf is poor, unlike the Underground Spider, and normal weapons will deal fatal blows since its body is full of vulnerabilities. Let me demonstrate.”

Dragonborn stood up and moved slowly towards the Dire Wolf. It noticed him and gave off a low, threatening growl before charging towards him viciously.

Dragonborn raised his Shield to fend off its brainless attack. While the Dire Wolf was recovering from its attack, he thrust his Sword forward.

The Sword penetrated deeply into the Dire Wolf, and Dragonborn lifted his weapon, flipping the Dire Wolf to the ground.

After convulsing and moaning for a short while, the Dire Wolf became motionless—it was dead.

“Awesome, awesome!”

“The entire process was smooth and slick!”

“This game is really hardcore, it’s awesome!”

…

While the gamers of Victoria City were chatting, on the other side of the slope, a group of Gnomes was charging over. A gamer detected the Gnomes and alerted the rest, who panicked and fled towards their outpost.

Dragonborn also fled, not even having the chance to bring along his loot.

Before long, they arrived at the Victoria outpost. The Gnomes had no intention to pursue any further as they would be killing themselves and giving up their equipment.

Similar incidents occurred throughout the wilderness. The gamers of Eternal Kingdom gained the upper hand due to their superior equipment and combat experience.

While the Ogres and Eternal Kingdom were engaged in a chaotic battle, Lancelot led the gamers of Victoria City to attack. They were annihilated. The gamers of Victoria City had to risk their lives to carry Lancelot back safely.

Within a short period of time, the gamers of Victoria City were unable to compete with the gamers of Eternal Kingdom. They had to develop their combat power while avoiding conflict.

Fortunately, the Underworld monsters were closer to the Victoria outpost, and the gamers of Eternal Kingdom had to fight the monsters at the entrance of the Victoria outpost. Therefore, if there was a conflict between the two factions, based on the advantage of a closer Revival Point, the gamers of Victoria City had an advantage.

Even if they couldn’t win the fight, they could flee to their outpost!

“It’s pathetic, we’re being beaten by those green-skinned creatures,” TakeASpearHit said angrily, patting his thigh while the Gnomes retreated.

“It’s only temporary. According to experiments by many gamers, based on the attributes of the races, the Humans, Fairies, and Elves of Victoria City are better than the Goblins, Gnomes, and Houndhead Men. The inferior Elves have greater Mana affinity and capacity than the Houndhead Men. Some gamers tried out the wind-related Mana Skills and found that Fairies are able to release twice the number of spells as the Houndhead Men.”

SealHeadLingChong chose the beautiful Elf race and equipped himself with a Shield, Bow, and an Axe.

He only managed to kill friendlies with his Bow instead of monsters.

Even with Bru’s aiming assistance, the situation didn’t improve.

“Wait, where did you get the statistics?” TakeASpearHit asked in surprise.

“From the discussion forum. There are many related experiments in the discussion forum. If you do a search, you’ll find them.”

TakeASpearHit lay down to rest. He was going to the discussion forum to study the Strategy Guides.

Dragonborn wasn’t bothered by the statistics, he had to make use of the time to train other Guild members into competent fighters.

…

In the captain’s cabin of the Airship, which was moored at the Eternal Kingdom outpost outside the Ogre Fortress…

A bed was placed in the middle of the cabin. Sherlock looked tired as he lay on the bed, only covered with a thin blanket.

“Lord Sherlock, your plan is effective. The death toll of Eternal Kingdom’s gamers has breached 100,000. Pardon my frankness, but I’m worried about your health.” Bru’s voice rang by Sherlock’s ear.

“Don’t worry. If it’s more than 100,000, I’ll have 2,000,000 Magic Stones in my account. I can still work!”

Sherlock sat up and pondered before saying, “If there are too many deaths, Nicholas may not have the money to pay. I’ll have to consider long term gains… Assign the mission, Bru. Game time is over, it’s time to work. We’ll follow our chosen Plot! I’ll send a letter to Lilo.”

“Yes, Lord Sherlock!”

Sherlock sent a burning letter to Lilo before he walked out of the Airship and proceeded to the Eternal Kingdom outpost.

Whether the gamers were at Eternal Kingdom, outside the Ogre Fortress, or in Winterfell, they received the same mission:

[Mission Title: Attack the Ogre Fortress!

Mission Description: We have completed our preparation. Prepare to attack the Ogre Fortress! Assemble at the Eternal Kingdom outpost with Sherlock before the final invasion!

Mission Objective: Follow Lord Sherlock and invade the Ogre Fortress. Eliminate the Ogre threat.

Mission Reward: Ogres’ equipment, based on capability.]

The gamers of Victoria City received the same mission, but they would assemble with Duchess Lilo.

The gamers assembled at their respective outposts. When Sherlock arrived at the assembly area, there were thousands of gamers.

“Warriors of Eternal Kingdom!” Sherlock shouted loudly.

“The Ogre Fortress is right before us. The battle will be fraught with danger, but we won’t cower. We will die today, but our spirit will be remembered by all Underworld creatures! Warriors, let’s set off!”

The Airship slowly rose up while Yoda gave a thumbs up to Sherlock. There were tens of Mana Engineering apprentices on board the Airship, all of whom were familiar with its operation.

The gamers cheered wildly when the Airship flew up, but before the cheering ended, the Airship wavered violently and emitted rumbling noises. Immediately after, it crashed.

“Boom—!”

The bow of the Airship collided with the ground, landing on its side and creating a large cloud of dust and sand.

It was fortunate there were no explosions, but the Airship couldn’t fly anymore.

Sherlock looked back at the Airship and then gazed at the Ogre Fortress. Frowning, he said, “It seems that the enemy has attacked us first. Warriors, we are unable to obtain support from the Eternal Kingdom’s Air Force. Follow me, we have to take down the Ogre Fortress!”

Sherlock shouted loudly, and the chattering gamers charged towards the Ogre Fortress.

Many gamers went ahead of Sherlock to clear the monsters and scout for Ogres.

“Lord Sherlock…”

Bru’s said to Sherlock with concern, “It was a large area of Mana Negation that disabled the Airship’s Core. Is there such a powerful entity inside the Ogre Fortress?”

“Previously, no, but now there is. How’s Yoda?”

Sherlock was composed. It was as though he was already mentally prepared.

“Brainiac and the gamers have rescued Yoda, and Brainiac is now healing him. From his injuries, it’s not dangerous,” Bru replied quickly.

“Hmm, that’s good.”

Sherlock nodded and looked at the Victoria outpost to his side. They had also set off towards the Ogre Fortress.