Kill The Old Ones!

--

Ren didn’t even get the chance to celebrate the fact that he got 100,000 merit points before the world dropped the other shoe onto everybody.

**

[Announcement!]

[Monster Horde Crisis! ]

— You all have had seven days to adjust to this realm. That was more than plenty. You need to be reminded that you aren’t here for a vacation. This is a trial—a test to see who’s the best.

This monster horde is the first among the few weekly disasters you’ll need to face.

At high noon, the monsters of this secret realm will enter a berserk mode and will actively survive. They will instinctively know where people are and will attack ferociously regardless of whether you’re alone or with your fellow teammates.

This state will last for six hours.

Your goal is simple. Surivive the horde. You can run, you can hide, you can work together, you can go alone, and of course, you can fight, but you cannot escape the noses of these monsters.

Note: Disasters like this will occur on a weekly basis. As this is your first week, this is relatively tame. Don’t expect the next one to be this easy.

Note 2: By the end of your first month—since your arrival—a natural calamity will be set upon this whole realm. You have to survive that too, along with the week’s disasters.

Good luck.

**

This was a system message that was heard by every single participant of this Imperial Ranking War.

Those who were already awake, or just woke up, were shocked. It even awakened those who were still sleeping when the announcement began.

The message was timed. It happened just as soon as the first rays of the sun started appearing.

Ren, Lily, and Diana had just gone back to the camp when they received the same announcement, and they shared annoyed and exasperated looks between each other.

"Damn, so this is the play, huh?" Ren laughed in an irritated manner, brushing his hair back as he walked to the center of the camp.

Lily felt bothered and worried, while Diana also looked mildly annoyed.

Diana then rose to the air and made a couple of loud sounds that echoed across the camp. Those who were still gobsmacked and in disbelief at the sudden announcement were awoken from their stupor by the loud sound.

"Everybody out! We must convene for a strategic meeting! We don’t have much time before noon; we need to think of a way to survive this as soon as possible!" She shouted at everybody.

And maybe it’s because of her prestige, or because of the situation, or both; everybody went out of their tents to attend the meeting.

When Diana landed next to Ren, she heard him mutter, "Good thing we killed that demon before this announcement occurred."

Diana felt chills all over her body when she heard that. She nodded, whole-heartedly, in agreement to what he said.

If the Nightmare Fog Demon had lived until the monster horde occurred, it would’ve had a lot of food to eat and would eventually break out of its cage. It could’ve been the end of them had that happened.

Diana shook her head. Refusing to think about such a nightmare. That wouldn’t happen, and she made sure of that when the last traces of fog disappeared shortly after Ren killed the demon. They even stayed behind longer just to be extra sure there were no chances of that demon being revived.

It didn’t take long before all 51 of them were gathered at the center of the camp.

Everybody’s faces were worried and anxious. None of them have expected this. Although they have adjusted fast into this new world of theirs, it still hasn’t been long enough for them to get comfortable.

And now, they have to face a disaster and worry about a natural calamity by the end of their first month here.

"So? What’s the plan?" Ren asked, getting straight into it as soon as everybody was gathered.

"We need to immediately reinforce the defense of the camp," Diana began with this. "Those wooden fences and stakes will not hold up against a horde. They would just topple those down with a light sneeze."

"We also need to set up a med bay. People will undoubtedly be injured and will need treatment. Those who know how to heal should stay gathered and prepare for that."

"We only have crude weapons." She looked at everybody’s arsenal as she said this. "Well, not all, but most of us only have crude weapons. We can’t rely on those completely against the upcoming monsters. If those crude weapons eventually break or shatter, I’m afraid we’re going to have to rely on our limbs to fight instead."

"Some people will die," she added, "let’s already assume that before anything even happens. The good thing is that most of us still haven’t used our free resurrection. But I’m afraid that in this crisis, some will die a couple times in a row."

"Long story short...this camp is extremely insufficient to deal with a monster horde." Diana sounded depressed when she admitted this.

"Yes, I agree."

Everybody looked at Ren when he said this, not expecting him to say that at all.

"What can I say? I’m an honest man." He shrugged. "But I’m also not the type to dwell on problems, so let’s talk about solutions to the points you raised."

"Let’s skill the med bay and healers; I’ll leave that to you guys to arrange."

"First, the defenses. I can help with that. While I can’t magically turn this camp into a damn fortress—as much as I’d like to—what I can do is to raise walls and funnel the horde."

He fetched a stick and began drawing on the soil.

"I can raise walls with winding paths that would funnel and slow down the advance of the horde. I can’t guarantee that it’ll work perfectly, but not all monsters are intelligent. This will give us breathing room to work with."

"Of course, some monsters have wings, I understand, but we can take care of those. Besides, avian monsters should be rare. I haven’t seen any within 5000 miles after I killed the Sky Demon Hawk on our first day."

"Yes, most of us only have crude weapons. But we’re not stupid. We can make traps, we can work together to bring down a tough enemy, we can strategize, and if push comes to shove, I’ll just lose my shit and kill every monster on site. No big deal."

"Dying’s fine. For now, at least. I don’t assume that the cost of resurrection will be static; that’s too easy. But the first couple of ressurections shouldn’t be too expensive. We’ve all accumulated enough merit points, so some of us should be able to afford it."

"If not, them borrowing from others should work. But that should be noted and be paid once the disaster ends."

"You guys continue talking; I’ll start on raising the walls."

Ren didn’t wait for anybody’s words. He stood up directly and disappeared from their sight.

Before they knew it, they heard him letting out a loud grunt, which was then followed by an earthquake.

Some of the curious ones looked over, and to their horrified awe, they saw him punching the ground and forcing out large earthen—and mostly uneven—walls out of the ground. Sometimes, he’d even hurl giant rocks and boulders to fill the gap.

And he’s working around the camp, creating tall walls with winding paths to confuse and funnel the incoming monsters.

Ren was doing the work of hundreds of people all by himself, and he’s doing it much faster than they could.

Compared to his efforts to defend the camp, the rest felt unqualified and underserving, therefore, feeling restless and wanted to contribute too.

Diana felt this energy too, so she immediately began taking actions and relaying orders.

The wooden stakes and fences were ordered to be reinforced. They will become the last line of defense for this camp; therefore, they must be strengthened immediately.

This is where Diana’s pedigree as an imperial heir shone. She knows how to be authoritative without sounding overbearing. She was efficient and thorough, and people didn’t hesitate to follow her orders.

While she worked, Lily was also doing something...

She didn’t hesitate to spend all of the merit points she accumulated during the past couple of days to buy a defensive formation from the shop, which she immediately brought to Diana, asking her to include it in the final line of defense.

Lily also helped to set up the med bay. She was no healer; it’s her boyfriend who was, but he’s busy with something else, and he’d surely be one of the main defenders of the camp. But this doesn’t mean that she’s useless.

She will help in what little ways she can, especially in an emergency like this.

And when the monsters come, she will raise her weapon and fight too. She wouldn’t allow Ren to fight alone. Not while she still stands.

She’s scared, worried, and doubtful if her skills will be enough. But that’s no reason to be idle. Especially not in a time like this.