Chapter Seven: The Rampaging Black Ape, Bloodthirsty Frenzy

Very quickly, Chen Ling finished browsing through all the menu options—monster compendium, dungeons, and the like—gaining a solid understanding of each. Ten minutes was neither long nor short; under the GM’s announcement, everyone gripped their weapons. This time, having learned from the awkward predicament of running out of bullets, everyone purchased cold weapons just in case. Kukris, cruciform swords—various weapons appeared in the players’ hands, some of which Chen Ling had never even seen before. Someone even spent a hundred black coins on a silver Japanese katana, wielding it with impressive flair.

“Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Survive!” The GM’s loud proclamation seemed to celebrate the impending carnage and bloodshed.

“Yaaahhhh—howl—!!” Strange roars echoed through the square, filling the air. This time, after countless battles, the girls no longer screamed as they had at the beginning, but still clutched their pistols, trembling. Chen Ling worried they might accidentally shoot themselves. Among the remaining girls’ team, only the captain had taken the constitution-enhancing potion, upgraded to level one with battle spirit, and picked up a rifle.

The rest still held pistols. By this point, there was little room for macho bravado; survival depended on their own efforts. Chen Ling himself certainly wasn’t feeling charitable.

“They’re coming! Get ready to fire!”

After the previous fight, the teams had developed a certain understanding. A command from a captain carried much more weight—at least nobody objected aloud.

Chen Ling gripped his rifle, waiting for the zombies to appear.

The sprinting zombies burst out of the darkness, materializing before Chen Ling’s eyes. A prompt flashed: “Ravager Zombie—Threat Level: Low. Passive Skill: Bloodthirsty Rampage—Extremely sensitive to the scent of blood. Upon detecting or consuming fresh blood, speed increases dramatically!”

“They’re here! Attack!” At Chen Ling’s shout, everyone started feeding the zombies a sumptuous meal of bullets.

Gunfire rattled, zombies fell. As the number of dead zombies increased, the Black Ape Beasts arrived!

A three-meter-tall black gorilla appeared in the city gate passage, standing upright and beating its chest. Chen Ling fired several rounds into the Black Ape Beast, but the damage was so low it was painful to watch.

“Black Ape Beast—Threat Level: Medium. Passive Skill: Fury—When taking sufficient damage, attack power increases.”

At the sight of the beast, most people quickly shifted their fire toward it. Everyone wanted good rewards. For bosses, the last hitter claimed the loot, but for common monsters, the last hitter only got all the coins; battle spirit (experience) was distributed based on damage dealt, and dropped items were free for anyone to pick up. Battle spirit was vital for leveling up—who wouldn’t want it? And if equipment dropped, everyone had a chance.

This greed, manifesting at the wrong time and place, led to disaster for the group.

While most focused their fire on the Black Ape Beasts, some sharp captains pulled their teams back, while others foolishly kept attacking. With eight or nine tenths of the firepower concentrated on five Black Ape Beasts, there wasn’t enough left to stop the frenzied charge of the Ravager Zombies.

“Wei Zi, Xiao Long, Xing Ye, fall back!” Chen Ling also chose to retreat. The teams still firing realized their mistake only when they saw him withdrawing.

“Retreat! Retreat! Hurry up and fall back!” Orders to pull back rang out one after another. But some teams were too late, ensnared by the Ravager Zombies.

“Help! Hel—” A slow-moving player was grabbed by the right ankle and pulled to the ground. Bloodthirsty zombies swarmed over him. In about five seconds, the player was devoured, not even the outstretched arm left behind.

“Damn it! You son of a—! Yaaahh! Aaaahhh—!” A burly man, close to the devoured player, rushed back, unleashing a wild storm of rifle fire. Luckily, the zombies were too focused on their prey to notice him, and his teammates managed to drag him back. “You bastard! How could you die? Your wife and daughter are still waiting for you to come home! Ahhh!! Huuuuhuuu…” The man sobbed as he was pulled away, voicing his grief for all to hear, leaving those around with aching hearts.

Others began blaming those who had shifted their fire to the Black Ape Beasts.

“If it weren’t for you, this wouldn’t have happened!”

“We just wanted to take down those big monsters! How can you blame us for everything?”

Arguments broke out, the group completely ignoring their dire predicament.

“Everyone! This isn’t the time for sorrow or blame. We’re facing ruthless zombies! Pick up your guns and make sure those damned things stay dead!” Unexpectedly, it was the girls’ team captain who said this, firing up the group’s determination.

Of course, if everyone had just wallowed in grief, comforted, argued, or played peacemaker, the group would have been wiped out long ago.

Chen Ling and his three companions had no time for sentiment; survival was their only concern, not helping a bunch of idiots survive.

While the others argued, the zombies had already finished their meal—and activated their Bloodthirsty Rampage skill. The Black Ape Beasts, enraged by the players’ attacks, also entered Fury mode. Now they were in for it.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The rifle spat out serum bullets nonstop. Two bullets were enough for a Ravager Zombie, but the Black Ape Beasts were far more troublesome.

Thanks to the strategy of using battle to replenish supplies, no one had run out of ammo yet. The girls’ team, guided by their captain’s wisdom, had suffered no casualties.

Chen Ling and Zhang Long’s group employed a dispersal and mobile skirmish tactic, spreading out and reducing the number of zombies each had to face.

Soon, only ten minutes remained until the boss’s arrival. The group had dwindled to about thirty members. Chen Ling had just one grenade left—he’d used the other two to take down two enraged Black Ape Beasts.

The rewards for killing the Black Ape Beasts were far less than Chen Ling had hoped: ten battle spirit points and three black coins—barely enough to cover the cost of grenades. The Ravager Zombies were hardly any better than the lower-ranked ones.

The last Black Ape Beast fell to a barrage of gunfire. As expected, the GM announced, “Congratulations, players, for holding the square! You now have three minutes to rest before facing the final boss, ‘Worldburner’! Don’t get wiped out! By the way, you’ve been sharing experience despite not being in a party or group—this is a newbie benefit! That’s all, good luck!”

At the GM’s prompt, everyone exhaled in relief.

Three minutes passed quickly. Chen Ling restocked on grenades and serum bullets, and also prepared to test the power of his cards.

Silence. An eerie, oppressive quiet. Not a single monster’s roar or the rumble of footsteps—the sort of sounds everyone expected—could be heard. Chen Ling sensed trouble; this boss would not be easy.

Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet began to tremble. The spent shells on the ground started jumping wildly.

“Everyone, stay alert!” Chen Ling raised his left hand, signaling his teammates to watch their step.

The tremors intensified, and some careless players lost their footing and fell.

Even Chen Ling, now a level two Card Wielder, had to steady himself.

Suddenly, the earth began to bulge, as though something monstrous was about to break through.

Two cards appeared in Chen Ling’s hand. He was ready to use his only skill—Double Card Strike.

Once again, I ask for collections and votes…