C19 Playing with the Ghosts
The ghost continued to scratch at the window with glee.
Oddly enough, why didn't the host use the Spirit Beads to level up, opting instead to channel them into replenishing the room's mana?
That seems like a huge waste of Spirit Beads.
You all thought the host was still on the ground floor? Think again—he's operating at stratospheric levels!
If you've grasped that, then you're definitely a pro gamer.
But it's still a mystery what the host is actually up to.
He stumbled upon another small creature, a diminutive Snail Darter.
Bound by the Shadow Ribbon, the Snail Darter slowly began to disintegrate.
Spirit Bead count: +10
Xiao Hao continued to reserve 90 Spirit Beads for emergencies, using the fresh batch of 10 to boost the room's mana.
Those 10 beads could infuse 1000 L of mana.
Glancing at his phone, with an hour left until dusk, Xiao Hao resumed his hunt for solitary wild monsters.
On this occasion, Xiao Hao encountered three new small monsters.
They were bugs the size of a palm, and if not for the alerts on the live feed, Xiao Hao would have completely missed them.
It's peculiar—what are three Golden Pinworms doing here?
Such creatures shouldn't be found in Beginner Village.
Golden Pinworms are social creatures; the presence of just three suggests they've somehow become separated from their swarm and ended up here by accident.
If that's the case, the host's luck is downright terrible!
Hmm, if they've drifted here, the host, having ventured beyond Beginner Village, is bound to run into them.
From what I've seen in other streams, the wild monsters players encounter are pretty standard. But in the case of streamer number 869, the difficulty level seems to have ramped up significantly.
Golden Pinworms make for decent troops, but it's a shame a player can only bind with one type of creature.
Still, they're not quite on par with the Shadow Hippocampus, a wild monster not native to Beginner Village. Their eggs ending up here suggests a plethora of formidable wild monsters lurk just outside.
No sooner does one challenge subside than another arises.
The ghosts within Beginner Village are already a headache for Xiao Hao, but outside, even more twisted wild monsters await.
The live feed has given its warning, so it's time to hunt down these three pinworms.
The golden pinworm shimmered with a golden hue, its armored carapace a clear testament to its formidable defense.
As darkness enveloped the area, the Shadow Hippocampus was quick to perceive the change. At level 8, ordinary monsters stood no chance of detecting its domain skill.
The dark seabed, when paired with the Dark Domain, rendered the skill nearly undetectable in such an environment. Yet, the monsters just outside Beginner Village somehow took notice.
Simultaneously, three pinworms lifted their heads, each no larger than a palm, but sporting a ghastly face. The grotesque visage, small and contorted as if flesh were bunched together, featured a gaping maw that occupied half its face, with bristly antennae and limbs that sent shivers down Xiao Hao's spine.
The asymmetry of the ghostly face was unsettling, with tiny, erratically rolling eyes set as though a child had haphazardly scribbled them on. It boasted two slender tails, akin to a cockroach's antennae, while its actual antennae resembled hairy, branching fingers, each with six digits.
All ghost faces turned towards Xiao Hao, their six chaotic eyes glaring intently at him.
In an instant, the three pinworms lunged at Xiao Hao with incredible speed, catching him off guard.
Luckily, Xiao Hao had preemptively summoned his mantis shrimp.
A single stroke was all it took—one swift cut to dispatch three bugs.
The pinworms were blasted into the earth, kicking up a cloud of dark red dust. Yet, Xiao Hao's game panel remained silent, no notification of the wild monsters' demise.
Undeterred, the three pinworms emerged from the crater, their jaws parting to reveal a dense array of golden needle-like teeth. This time, the mantis shrimp had successfully drawn their ire, facing their onslaught from various angles.
But the mantis shrimp wielded more than just an Emerald Sickle. The massive mantis scythe swung into action, repelling two pinworms and impaling the last one through its ghostly face, pinning it to the ground.
Spirit Bead +150
A level 5 monster.
Xiao Hao had never seen one before.
The remaining pinworms attempted to flee the scene, only to be ensnared by the Shadow Ribbon.
Two were left—Xiao Hao couldn't afford to let them escape.
The golden glow dimmed, leaving Xiao Hao with a sense of discontent as he collected the 450 Spirit Beads.
These were merely the wild monsters lurking outside Beginner Village.
And they were insects, no less!
It was common knowledge that the sheer number of these creatures could drive one to despair.
Yet, these were the least of the threats.
Xiao Hao had been constantly shadowed by another creature from Beginner Village, the notorious Shadow Hippocampus. He knew all too well the bugs associated with it.
Struggling to steady his emotions and avoid dwelling on what lay ahead, Xiao Hao managed to quell his anxiety.
At this juncture, his priority was clear: confront the ghost that was sure to reveal itself with the coming night.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the crimson Sickle Finger quivered as scalding bubbles burst forth incessantly.
It had clawed at the window all day long.
The sporadic Spirit Beads indicated that the player was on the brink of defeat.
Throughout the day, it had reveled in the gradual ruin of the Shellfish House, only to be infuriated by the replenishment of Spirit Beads.
At the brink of collapse, the magic of the Shellfish House was nearly depleted.
In a surge of dark energy, the ghost conjured a massive purple-black claw, intent on shattering the Shellfish House in one fell swoop.
But before the claw could strike, it vanished—thwarted by another accursed card.
The ghost's rage was palpable, yet it was abruptly met with the sight of a rejuvenated Shellfish House.
The adversary hadn't even leveled up; he had simply refilled it with a copious number of Spirit Beads.
It was as if he was taunting the ghost, flaunting his abundance of Spirit Beads and his penchant for 'walking the dog.'
Realization dawned on the ghost—it couldn't keep this up any longer.
The moment had arrived.
The buff from the dark energy left it seething with frustration.
It had been outplayed once more!
The opponent's tactic of gradually replenishing magic power was a ploy to make the ghost believe it was on the verge of victory, prompting it to persist in scratching the window, weakening its state.
Foolishly, it had scratched all day, suffering injuries from the Shellfish House's counterattacks. This strategy was designed to prevent the ghost from taking advantage of the dark energy's nighttime boost.
The specter let out an enraged howl, its piercing soprano echoing across the seas.
It was fuming to the point of bursting!
No matter what it tried, it seemed to inevitably fall into his traps!
His combat skills were hardly intimidating, yet he was merely a novice! A greenhorn who had just started playing, clueless about the game!
But with sheer intellect, he managed to run circles around it!
Cracks appeared to form around the hollow eye sockets of its skull. The specter gazed at its scorched arm, the dulled heat of its Sickle Finger, the scorched skin from the Shellfish House's light, and the bones shredded by the energy claw.
Its battered body throbbed with relentless pain.
It swore revenge; it would not let him off the hook!
It vowed to slowly tear the flesh from his bones when he was most alert, turning his skeletal remains into a display!
Seething with anger, the specter departed. From behind the Shellfish House, a shadow slithered forth, slipping through the door's crack into the room.
Xiao Hao's lips curled into a slight smirk, the first phase of his counterattack plan a success.
The game's chat was ablaze with commentary.
Goodness! That explains why the streamer didn't upgrade the Shellfish House!
How many times has the streamer outsmarted the specter?
Countless times. Since the first hide-and-seek in the cave, the specter has repeatedly watched the streamer slip away.
To be reduced to such a state, the Beginner Village boss is truly pitiable.
Is there a class rep who can give a rundown? I'm new here and clueless about how the specter's been duped.
Well... The first time was hide and seek, the second a diversion, and the third... Never mind, it's too many to count. The streamer has fooled it over and over, and after all this time, who can keep track?
I've stumbled upon this streamer before and regret not following...
Amidst the lively chat, Xiao Hao found no useful information, so he decided to take a shower and rest for the night.
With a final showdown with the specter looming, Xiao Hao needed to be well-rested.
