Monsters Are Coming

Bright Star Sea Area, Dream Island.

Liu Yi sat by the coast, and beside him, crabs with white shells were crawling on the sand, raising their claws high.

In the upper-right corner of his vision, a chat group information panel floated.

On it was the bounty task he had posted.

[Bounty Task: Kill the Ink Shield Beast.]

Task Description: Go to Tiger Stripe Island and kill the underground monster in Tiger Stripe Clan's mining area.

Task Level: F-Level (70-75 Hunting Level difficulty).

Task Progress: Order accepted.

Accepting Player: Phaseslayer.

Task Reward: 19274 points sacrificial power (5% task commission).

...

This trip to Tiger Stripe Island, he had a conversation with the priest of the Tiger Stripe Clan.

He wanted to help the Tiger Stripe Clan clean up the underground monsters in the mining tunnels, but this time it required paying the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce.

The conversation went smoothly.

The Tiger Stripe Clan's priest, already distressed about how to kill the monster, immediately expressed willingness to pay a certain reward as long as the monster could be killed.

Regarding the price, considering it was the first business deal with the Tiger Stripe Clan, Liu Yi did not press for more.

After some back and forth, he settled for a batch of Spirit Ores, with a market value of 19274 points sacrificial power.

Upon returning from Tiger Stripe Island, he posted the bounty task in the "Assassin Delivery Alliance."

Initially, he hoped that multiple people would accept the order and go together, letting the competitive players split the bounty.

But after Phaseslayer understood the hunting target's level, he claimed the first task for himself alone.

Regarding this request, Liu Yi decided to oblige.

His gaze moved from the group chat to the central video light screen, which was broadcasting Phaseslayer.

For this first bounty task, Liu Yi decided to keep track of its progress in real-time.

At this moment, Phaseslayer in the live broadcast was still on his way to Tiger Stripe Island.

His ride was a seemingly very crude small boat, sailing slowly, like a dry leaf, swaying on the boundless sea surface.

The fierce waves battered against the boat's sides along the way, and each time the bow broke through the waves, it would splash mist, refracting rainbow-like glitters in the sunlight.

Phaseslayer stood at the bow, arms crossed, with his figure as steady as a rock, his clothing fluttering wildly behind him in the sea wind.

The rise and fall of waves and the roaring of wind could not shake him a bit.

This scene made Liu Yi feel very picturesque, choosing to screenshot and save it.

The proudly standing Phaseslayer and the crude small boat formed a sharp contrast in the picture, like a solitary king.

Yet in his heart, he couldn't help but mock that the leader of the competitive party had such an unimpressive ride.

It fits well the stereotype of competitive players among the player community.

Players of this faction generally refuse to spend their sacrificial power on anything beyond improving their own strength.

Vehicles, delicious Spirit Food, technological weapons... are all outside their spending range.

Especially vehicles, which are costly, and the competitive faction is generally unwilling to invest funds in this area.

As for the reason, he has seen forum players analyze it.

It states that competitive players strive for "Body Sanctification," and in their future vision, they themselves can fly, sneak, and traverse the seas with their powerful bodies.

So vehicles, inevitably to be obsolete in the future, are unnecessary to them.

Although vehicles can be decomposed, decomposing incurs service fees, and the saved fees put into self-investment will only make one stronger.

During the wait, Liu Yi took out unfinished grilled skewers from the Space Bag to continue enjoying.

This itinerary probably won't arrive anytime soon.

With this small boat traveling at roughly 40 knots, the 223 nautical miles journey, still requires another 5 hours.

As time reaches evening, the sunset's afterglow sprinkles over the sea, coloring the waves with gold-red hues.

The sea breeze gradually becomes gentle, occasionally some seabirds sweep across the sky above the small boat, chirping crisply.

Having seabirds indicates that the island is near.

Finally, as night was about to fall, the live broadcast image showed an island outline at the sea's end.

The live broadcast camera followed the small boat's navigation closer, revealing the island's full view.

The front of the island's shallows held many hidden reefs, making Phaseslayer's small boat difficult to continue forward.

At this moment, he leapt from the bow, releasing Gang Qi from his body, enveloping himself, landing steadily on the water surface, ripples of red energy and water spreading underfoot.

The small boat automatically decomposed into pixel blocks, attaching to his body.

The live broadcast footage followed Phaseslayer's vision to land on the island.

Tiger Stripe Island did not look large but had rugged terrain, surrounded by towering cliffs, the cliff faces covered with various depths of grooves, like stripes on a beast, with thick vegetation atop the cliffs, vines hanging down swaying in the wind.

By the beach were black rocks covered in moss and algae, showing signs of being washed by waves over the years.

The camera followed Phaseslayer's steps, advancing into the island.

Behind the beach lies a dense tropical jungle, its leaves interwoven, filled with sounds of chirping insects and birds, occasionally accompanied by low roars from wild beasts.

Just then, a figure moved quickly through the dense forest, approaching swiftly.

Phaseslayer's reaction was fast too, turning to look in the direction of the approaching figure, his body emitting blood-colored ripples.

The Blood Reflection Attribute poised to counter any attack at any moment.

"Player Clan?" Orıginal content can be found at novelFɪre.net

At this moment, the figure suddenly stopped, reached out to push aside the branches blocking the view, revealing his head.

The arrival was a man of the Tiger Stripe Clan, his height close to two meters, hefty build, skin an ancient bronze color honed by years under the sun and sea breeze, full of wrinkles and scars, his square face appearing slightly comical, looking quite rugged.