C25 On the Eve of the Holidays

Before he had a chance to check out the rewards, the screen was completely swamped by a barrage of bullet comments.

Ahhhhh!

My mom asked me why I was kneeling while watching the live stream...

Help! Why is the streamer so good-looking!

Oh my god! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!

Defeating an enemy above your level is one thing, but taking down one from a higher tier is just mind-blowing!

Has anyone from your race ever defeated an enemy from a higher tier?

No.

Neither has ours.

The players from our race just barely scrape by. Forget about higher-tier enemies; by the late game, even monsters of the same level are tough to beat.

Regardless of the type of wild monster, each tier above us means their attack, defense, health, and so on are at least ten times stronger!

Sure, there was some trickery involved, but not every player can pull that off.

I remember someone in the chat betting the streamer would eat sh*t if he didn't die this time. Where are they now?

I just checked; they've deleted their account. Probably just here to troll us.

This new player is something else. When the ghost was herding the wild monsters, he just stayed inside observing and figured out a solution. Then he poisoned the wine, extracted information, bought time, and in the end, he made a swift and decisive kill without any dilly-dallying.

Holy smokes, the big shot has arrived!

It's the Mercury Man's top player!

Hey boss, could you break down the streamer's moves for us? Give us some pointers!

Yeah, that's it, give us some tips!

The streamer's gameplay seemed effortless, almost like poetry in motion. It looked easy on the surface, but the real challenges were kept out of sight. It's like the saying goes: "A minute on stage takes ten years of work offstage." Just by how he handled the situation in the house, you can tell his observational skills are extraordinary.

Next, about the poisoning of the food. We all know slipping in a bit of poison is no big deal, but the real question is, who had the poison? Where did it come from? We're not in ancient times where you can just find poison lying around, and you certainly can't trade for it. If I'm not mistaken, the streamer must have combined two harmless substances to create a chemical reaction, resulting in a poisonous effect.

In the final counterattack, it appeared that the card played a major role, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that his strategy was built around the card.

It's common knowledge that the variety of cards and items is vast, and the draw is completely random. You can't expect the card to fit your plan; your plan must adapt to the card. Crafting a strategy within these constraints to maximize the card's potential is key, and this newcomer excelled at that.

Wow, I was so caught up in the spectacle that I missed all the intricate details!

The big shot's insight is spot on, as always.

I might as well throw in the towel on learning this...

The mere thought of poisoning the ghost to mess with its psyche is something I doubt I could ever master.

At last, someone new has slain the ghost. I declare myself a hardcore fan from this moment forward!

Ghosts are the most bothersome of all the wild monsters! Even in death, they won't let you rest in peace!

Exactly, some jerks get lucky and end up as ghosts, only to continue causing trouble for themselves and others!

...

Xiao Hao was taken aback as he looked at the game panel.

This time, even those who had beaten the game were tuning into his live stream?

He was dying to ask about other games that might be in store, but he managed to suppress his curiosity.

If gamers discovered he could see the chat, who knows if the game developers would patch this bug.

If it were patched, he'd be kicking himself forever.

So, to keep on reading the chat, Xiao Hao had to keep it a secret that he could see it.

My apologies to my fans from Alien Land.

Should I be fortunate enough to survive and complete the game, I'll find a way to thank you properly.

While scanning the chat, Xiao Hao stumbled upon a crucial piece of information.

The ghosts were actually transformed from deceased players!

He had assumed they were just a type of monster with high intelligence, never imagining they were once players themselves!

This meant the ghost race was intimately connected to the netizens of Alien Land, perhaps even their kin.

The ghost race...

Isn't this a gathering of players from different races?

Damn!

This means the ghosts have an endless array of skills and secret weapons! They've got the players all figured out, while the players are in the dark about them!

Exhausted, Xiao Hao closed his eyes and quietly processed this bombshell.

It took him a moment, but Xiao Hao eventually snapped out of it.

The chat was still buzzing about Xiao Hao's slick moves from the previous night, but his focus had shifted to the rewards for his monster slaying.

Spirit Beads +6000

Just as you'd expect from a big boss, the loot was a whopping thousand Spirit Beads!

He checked his total: 6400 beads.

He had so many he couldn't possibly use them all. With the next game update, he was set for a mega upgrade!

But the big boss had more to give!

A Ghost Ring

Equipment drop!

Defeating monsters could yield equipment, though the chances were slim according to the forums, and Xiao Hao couldn't help feeling a bit envious.

He'd taken down four lesser bosses, and even the mantis shrimp—a hidden boss—had only dropped Spirit Beads, not a single piece of equipment.

He harbored a silent bitterness.

His gear had come from looting and trading up to this point.

He owed a debt of gratitude to the ghosts for that. The Shadow Mask and Do-over Gloves were gifts from them, and even the Bouncing Martin Boots he'd traded for were thanks to the ghosts' cultivation of soul tonic herb.

And now, this fourth piece of equipment was also a ghost drop.

All his gear was courtesy of the ghosts!

Shadow Mask! Do-over Gloves! Bouncing Martin Boots! Ghost Ring!

The loot from the big boss was bound to be special! Xiao Hao couldn't wait to check out the Ghost Ring's specs.

The Ghost Ring: Capable of forming the Deep Sea Phantom's Reaper's Scythe Fingers. The ten Sickle Fingers could be manipulated in size to some degree, allowing for attacks on the enemy.

Xiao Hao slipped the ring onto his left middle finger.

With a mere thought, his fingers elongated into ten razor-sharp sickles, indistinguishable from those of the Deep Sea Phantom!

Moved by an impulse, the Sickle Fingers expanded, morphing into a colossal Reaper's Scythe as tall as a man!

Wielding the Reaper's Scythe, Xiao Hao didn't feel the slightest bit of fatigue! The energy he expended was no more than if he had thrown a punch. With his Immortal Body unlocking bodily potential and Shadow Vanishing as his fallback, plus Sickle Fingers for offense and Jade Armor for defense, he was well-equipped for any challenge. He had everything he needed!

Xiao Hao eagerly scanned the game notification. He recalled that a prompt had appeared when he was fending off the ghosts, but he had only glanced at it in haste.

Game Notification:

1. The beta server will shut down and go on a 7-day hiatus. After this period, the open beta will commence, with beta players retaining their progress.

2. The player count for each survival game category will expand to 10,000.

3. A terrifying resurgence is coming to the real world. Enjoy the thrill of the game's authentic experience merging with reality!

Now, poring over the notification, Xiao Hao felt a twinge of concern. The real world was on the brink of an apocalypse. Unless something unexpected happened, the players might become the last hope for salvation. The increase in player numbers could be a double-edged sword, given the high mortality rate among players.

The message was clear — "scum." In the face of overwhelming resentment, players could potentially transform into ghosts, turning from allies to adversaries.

Xiao Hao reviewed the notification once more. As he was about to exit the panel, his eyes locked onto the second point. "Every type of game?" he wondered. Were there multiple survival games? But shouldn't game changes only occur with updates? Why were there multiple categories?

Surely the host had caught on. With such an evident hint, the host's keen observation skills would have picked up on it. The survival games were varied, and the host had been selected for just one of them.

When it comes to the most harrowing survival games, I believe the Nightmare Survival Game tops the list, with the highest player fatality rate. Mist Survival and EverNight Survival are terrifying in their own right... But no, I think Space Survival is the ultimate challenge — imagine surviving without gravity!

As Xiao Hao watched the barrage of comments stream across the screen, he was utterly dumbstruck.

Were there really that many variations of survival games?

Well, no matter. After today, the game would be on break. Once back in the real world, all the games would be revealed, one by one.