Monsters Are Coming-Chapter 4 - Monster World

Summon the functional panel and open the game map.

A translucent golden scroll unfurls before the eyes, with "Emperor Tomb Mountain Range" printed at the center, most of the area shrouded in fog.

The upper right corner shows a map exploration rate of 0.001%, with a small note below: Waning Moon (Low).

"Guidance, are there no missions available in the game?"

Close the map function, Li Zheng looks towards the floating Guiding Water Ball beside him and asks.

[This game triggers missions randomly, there are no specific NPCs to accept tasks from, as Challengers, your most important mission is to explore the Monster World, hunt and contain Primordial Monsters, each successful containment brings substantial rewards.]

"Contain Primordial Monsters? What does that mean?"

[The background of this game narrates that the Supreme God of Monster World, Emperor Zhao, over ten thousand years ago, in search of the unknown secrets of life, dispersed his powers across the Monster World, evolving into various types of Primordial Monsters. Today, ten thousand years later, the Monster World faces the scourge of the Horror Black Tide, and the world is on the brink of collapse. Gifted with the power bestowed by Emperor Zhao, you need to battle the evil spirits brought by the Horror Black Tide and simultaneously, by hunting and containing Primordial Monsters, gradually restore the slumbering Emperor Zhao's power until he fully awakens.]

[Simply put, the more Primordial Monsters you contain, the stronger your backing Emperor Zhao becomes, providing you with more game functions.]

[When you initially entered the game to create your character, the blue crystal wall you saw is located underground in Imperial Tomb Village, it's the Primordial Containment Wall; each player eliminating a Primordial Monster adds one more Monster Form option in the containment section.]

Listening to the explanation of Guidance, Li Zheng becomes more puzzled:

"So, we can change our initial Monster Form later on, right?"

Guiding Water Ball nods upon hearing:

[Of course, you can change your initial form, moreover, you can master various Monster Forms and abilities, and freely switch through the Star Vein function; each Monster Form will provide you a special ability and the corresponding form's attribute enhancement.]

[And the Body Refining Level allows you to inherit the attribute enhancements of the monsters even in your Main Form, as well as use the abilities of various Monster Forms.]

Saying this, Guidance gestures forward with a wave of their hand, and suddenly a huge screen emerges ahead.

The screen shows the title "Ability Demonstration."

A man with ordinary features stands in the display, with three monster silhouettes floating behind him.

Guidance points towards the screen, and suddenly the man's attributes appear:

[Challenger Name: Test 1]

Main Form: Human

Body Refining Level: 3 (able to inherit all attribute bonuses of three Monster Forms)

Star Vein Inlay Level: 3

No.1 Embedding Position: Black Armored Snake Life Soul Lv30 (Trait: Fierce Poison)

Second Inlay Position: Thorny Ball Soul Lv30 (Trait: Stabbing)

Third Inlay Position: Sky Soul Lv30 (Trait: Flight)

...

Guidance points to the screen and explains:

[Test 1's Body Refining Level has reached 3, even without transforming into Monster Form, the persona can simultaneously inherit all attribute enhancements from three Monster Forms and can also use the special abilities of the three monsters.]

As Guidance explains, Test 1 in the screen moves.

Monsters resembling worms appear in front of the character, and after Test 1 conjures a pair of wings behind, he soars, swinging his arms forward, and instantly numerous steel spikes rain down on the worms.

Above all worms hit by steel spikes, a green "Poisoned" indicator appears.

"I get it, different monster traits can be mixed and used in the Main Form. Black Armored Snake Life Soul's trait makes every physical form of attack induce a poisoning effect, while Thorny Ball Soul's trait releases area effect physical damage; combining these traits can cause area-wide poisoning effects on targets."

[Correct.]

"How many Monster Forms can a player have at most?" Li Zheng continues to inquire.

[No limit, Star Vein Level and Body Refining Level can be endlessly increased, in the later stages you can master hundreds of monster traits, and combine various interesting skill sets in the Main Form, provided you've contained enough Primordial Monsters and have enough Monster Life Souls to choose for inlay.]

[Of course, at the early stage when Body Refining Level is zero, the Main Form can't inherit monster attributes, so it's recommended to switch to Monster Forms for combat.]

Hearing this, Li Zheng and others understand the message Guidance wants to convey.

Initial form can be modified, and each player can master various Monster Forms, each with a unique special ability.

"This is a very interesting setting!" Killing Intent nods at this point in the team:

"So, can I interpret it this way: containing Primordial Monsters is a world-level main quest shared by all players, and the player completing the containment not only enjoys substantial individual rewards but also brings shared Monster Form options for all players."

[Correct.]

"By the way, what does the Waning Moon shown in the top right corner of the map mean?"

[The moon phases vary in different regions of the Monster World, from low to high intensity ranked as Waning Moon, Waning Crescent, Waxing Moon, Full Moon, Evil Moon—five levels. Lower intensity areas spawn lower-level Evil Life, higher intensity areas spawn higher-level Evil Life, but the strength of monsters isn't affected by moon phases, they can move freely across areas with different moon intensities. A scene during Evil Moon might contain low-level monsters, and a scene during Waning Moon might also contain high-level monsters...]

Guidance's detailed explanation helps Li Zheng and others initially understand the game world background.

This is a crumbling world invaded by the Horror Black Tide, where large numbers of Evil Spirits descended with the Black Tide, bringing chaos to the Monster World.

The primary life forms of this world are divided into three types.

They are the Primordial Monsters, Monsters, and Evil Spirits respectively.

Among them, Evil Spirits are malicious entities that followed the Black Tide to the Monster World. Their movements are influenced by changes in the moon phases, and high-level Evil Spirits only manifest during intense moon phases.

Whereas Primordial Monsters and Monsters are indigenous life forms of this world, they are not affected by moon phases.

Among these three types of life forms, Primordial Monsters are the most significant for players. Once defeated, they can be contained within the Primordial Containment Wall beneath Imperial Tomb Village, becoming a form all players can choose.

"Let's go, it's time to level up."

After a preliminary understanding of the worldview, Li Zheng led his team of nine other players toward the direction of Emperor Tomb Mountain Range.

At the foot of the mountain range lay an Ancient Battlefield.

Tattered flags, shattered armors, broken weapons... piled up into mounds on the ground.

Having walked less than a hundred meters, Li Zheng and his companions encountered an Evil Spirit.

A two-meter-tall Bone Soldier slowly rose from a pile of bones, its tattered armor slipping to the ground as it turned its head towards Li Zheng and his comrades, flames of ink-black color suddenly igniting within its dark skull.

The overly realistic environment, coupled with the sudden appearance of the monster, scared Li Zheng and his companions.

As their focus sharpened, analytical information about the Bone Soldier surfaced in the minds of Li Zheng and the other players.

[Curse Soldier (Evil Spirit)]:

Hunting Level: 3

Target Description: A life form infected with the corrosive power of the Horror Black Tide. It was a devout believer of Emperor Zhao in life, and after death, it was transformed into a Curse Soldier under the influence of the Black Tide power.

...

"It stinks!"

Too poor to eat anything, he covered his nose with his hand, his expression filled with disgust:

"It's too realistic, the smell is making me dizzy."

"Stop complaining, let's level up through monster farming first." Li Zheng took the lead, thinking quickly, his body instantly transformed into the Black Armored Snake form, he shot forward, opening his gigantic jaws aiming directly at the Curse Soldier:

"Evil Snake springs from cage!"

Seeing Li Zheng's action, a team member "Zero Charge" decisively bared his teeth and followed suit, switching monster forms, roaring:

"Two Snakes Leave the Cave!"

"Three Snakes Rise from Water."

"Four Snakes Pounce and Bite!"

"Five Snakes ... never mind, roar!"

Players from the Liver Emperor Group also switched to monster forms, shouting as they pounced on the Curse Soldier, surrounding and launching a ferocious attack.

After a brief bout, finding that biting could not break through the Curse Soldier's defense, Li Zheng and other players decisively changed their combat strategy, attempting to defeat the Curse Soldier using constriction techniques.

"Big Snake Entanglement."

"Two Snakes Follow."

"Three Snakes Also Follow."

This tactic proved effective; six Black Armored Snakes simultaneously coiled around the Curse Soldier, their bodies tightening until the sounds of shattering bones resounded continuously, and with a thundering crash, it fell to the ground.

The other four players weren't idle either.

Two players who chose the stone-statue ghost form used their claws to tug on the Curse Soldier's lower limbs from two directions, limiting its ability to rise, while two players who chose the Eagle-Headed Demon form hammered their sharp beaks fiercely into the ink-black flames in the Curse Soldier's skull.

In a moment, the Curse Soldier was viciously disassembled by the players, turning into a pile of bones.

At that moment, a black mist emerged from the deceased Curse Soldier's skull, flying toward one of the players in the team and seeping into their body upon contact.

Immediately, a message popped up in the team channel:

[Challenger Tips: Player "Family Shared Godfather" kills an Evil Spirit: Curse Soldier, earns life evolution points+30, sacrificial power reward: 5]

Amidst the astonished expressions of Li Zheng and others, Family Shared Godfather's body visibly swelled in size, with a fleeting Level+1 prompt appearing above his head.

"Ah, I think I leveled up, it seems only killing gives rewards, can't share." Seeing his brothers grinding their teeth, the expression of Family Shared Godfather was a bit awkward.

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"You thief, stealing my growth fortune, take a bite from me."

"You've truly disappointed your father, watch my family law serve you."

"Although you didn't do it on purpose, hogging benefits is wrong, we agreed to grow stronger together, yet you betrayed us by advancing to level 2 early. Without pecking you once, I can't quench the anger in my heart, die for me!"

Faced with brothers closing in with unfriendly expressions, Family Shared Godfather promptly admitted defeat, but what came was his brothers' relentless punches.