Monsters Are Coming-Chapter 8 - The Second Batch of Players

Human Clan Federation, Yelan City.

Fishing and Hunting District, 5 AM.

The sky begins to lighten with the dawn, accompanied by the sound of horns as a large number of fishing boats return. Lights interweave outside the window, presenting a lively scene in the fishing harbor.

Rubbing his sore and swollen eyes, Jiang Zhou shifts his gaze from the window back to the computer desktop.

A pop-up in the top right corner shows that the zip file has finished downloading.

He has a deep hatred for internet scammers because he has been a victim of online fraud himself.

Originally, after the preschool director kicked the Benefit Officer out of the group and was about to delete the scam link, he stopped the director.

He believed that reporting it was the correct way to handle it.

Perhaps his action could save many innocent youths who would have been deceived.

But before reporting, he needed to gather information related to the scam link.

The federal net police deal with a large number of reports and complaints every day, and submitting organized evidence could alleviate their workload, allowing scam cases to be processed faster.

He clicks on the shield icon on the computer desktop, and the computer enters a network protection mode.

Then he uses the "Security Shield" to perform a virus scan on the downloaded zip file.

To his surprise, there were no viruses in the zip file.

"Could it be a prank?"

As for the zip containing a cracked version of Dark Land, he could never believe it.

The scammer's intentions were too obvious.

Not only did they reveal their thoughts after just a few exchanges, but the web address behind the link was also very rudimentary, it didn't even bother to download a webpage template, completely amateurish.

And the powerful network technology of the Moon Eclipse Clan couldn't possibly be breached by any technique.

With doubts, he opens the zip file and begins to extract the content.

In less than a minute, the extraction is complete.

Since the content requires a virtual gaming pod to open, Jiang Zhou transfers the files to the connected gaming pod and presses the compatibility key.

Soon, the game compatibility is complete.

Jiang Zhou stands up and enters the gaming pod.

After the neural connection hoses automatically dock with various parts of his body, Jiang Zhou's vision gradually becomes shrouded in darkness, and when it clears, he is before a virtual desktop.

The desktop has 16 game icons, each one carrying a segment of growing memories, though he had abandoned most of them.

At the very bottom of the desktop is the game downloaded through the link, with an icon of a monster enveloped in flaming crimson fire.

Although the game was virus-free, Jiang Zhou still activates the protection function as a precaution.

This feature traces back to when the Moon Eclipsing Clan first arrived on Earth, bringing about an era of technological explosion with advanced virtual technologies.

With the emergence of new technologies, a surge of virtual games appeared, including horror games.

There was once a horror prank game created using the "Virtual Engine Library Materials" disclosed by the Moon Eclipsing Clan, resulting in a player downloading it and dying suddenly of a heart attack.

Since that incident, all virtual gaming pods must install a safety detection device, capable of judging the player's condition through changes in body hormones and heart rate. In the event of an emergency, the built-in safety alert system immediately sends help to the nearest medical station.

Clicking on the game icon, an image of a burning crimson Array emerges in Jiang Zhou's mind.

This is followed by a strong sense of dizziness, as if an invisible vortex is devouring and pulling at his consciousness.

Once the feeling of weightlessness disperses, the scene before Jiang Zhou's eyes leaves him stunned.

The sky full of black cracks, continuously erupting fiery mountains, monsters roaming the earth... The smell of scorched earth and sulfur in the air enters his lungs through his breathing, bringing a slight burning sensation.

The swiftly advancing high-altitude overview is incredibly realistic, immersing him instantly.

The terrifying apocalyptic scene also causes his heart rate to suddenly accelerate.

At this moment, his vision suddenly plunges downward, towards a dilapidated village on the ground.

Under the intense feeling of weightlessness, Jiang Zhou can't help but cry out in surprise.

Just as his vision is about to hit the ground, darkness engulfs him.

Then, what appears before him is a huge grid-like blue Crystal Wall, extending endlessly to both sides and piercing the sky above.

Most of the wall's space is empty, but in the bottom starting grid, three grotesque monsters are imprisoned.

A prompt then resonates in Jiang Zhou's mind:

[Welcome Challenger to Monster World, please begin creating your initial character.]

At this moment, Jiang Zhou completely loses his composure.

It felt like he was about to reluctantly taste something disgusting, but unexpectedly discovered that it was a delicacy he had longed for in his dreams.

The immense disparity makes Jiang Zhou's emotions surge dramatically, leading him to exclaim:

"Holy shit, what the hell!"

...

15 minutes later.

[Preschool Group Passionate Chat Group (Online: 32 people)]

Little Class - Black Ball: Actually, I think the arrival of the Moon Eclipse Clan is a good thing for us humans. Their base is set up on the Moon and doesn't affect our living environment, which is much better compared to the chaos caused by refugee forces like the Red Flame Clan.

Little Class - Tie Chui: Yeah, the arrival of the Moon Eclipse Clan brought us a lot of innovative technologies that improve our quality of life. They've never oppressed us humans either, making them a very friendly Alien Race force. It's just that their pricing really sucks!

After being away for a long time, Jiang Zhou returns.

Little Class - Zui Nai: Guys, something bad happened!

Little Class - Cute Baby replied to Little Class - Zui Nai: Did you get scammed again because you didn't turn on the security protection?

Little Class Tie Chui- replied to Little Class - Cute Baby: Is there a possibility that Zui Nai downloaded the official game (funny.jpg)

Faced with the teasing from the group members, Jiang Zhou immediately types a line of text and presses enter:

Little Class - Zui Nai: I really downloaded the official "Dark Land," the game is indeed 100% virtual reality as advertised, the experience is super realistic. You guys hurry up and download it, so we can start the game together once you're all set up.

Seeing Zui Nai's reply, group members responded with funny emojis.

Little Class - Pebbles: Do you believe what Zui Nai said, or believe that I am the reincarnation of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (funny.jpg)

Tie Chui replied to Pebbles: Of course, I believe you are the reincarnation of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, I'll pay you 50 later, and whatever you want to appoint me as depends on your mood (funny.jpg)

Faced with the group members' distrust, Jiang Zhou types another line of text:

Little Class - Zui Nai: I swear with my baby brother, I'm not tricking you this time, go download it, we can finally have fun together again.

Seeing Jiang Zhou's repeated assurances that the game "Dark Land" really could be downloaded, the group members' attitudes changed slightly.

Little Class - Cute Baby: Holy shit, could it really be true?

Little Class - Tie Chui: Knowing Zui Nai, he probably isn't joking about this.

Although it was hard to believe, they chose to trust their old friend and started clicking the link to download the game.

...

Half an hour later.

Various @ messages to group members and many "Holy shit" flooded the chat.

Because the link provided by the Benefit Officer indeed allowed downloading the official "Dark Land".

At this time, Tong Xin, the group's owner and still asleep preschool director, was awakened by the continuous @ notification sounds.

Reaching under his pillow to grab his phone, the groggy Tong Xin started flipping through the chat content.

"Director, wake up, something big happened!"

"Director, at this hour, how can you still be sleeping..."

Feeling more and more awake, Tong Xin suddenly got up and hurried to the computer, waking up the screen, and clicking the pinned web link.

The page redirected to the download page, he clicked "Download" without hesitation.

At that moment, a popup appeared:

New n𝙤vel chapters are published on novelbuddy.cσ๓.

[Game downloads have reached the limit set, the distributor has not enabled new download permissions, unable to continue downloading.]

This popup completely shattered Tong Xin's composure.

He immediately inputted a line of text in the chat:

Preschool Director: Guys, why is this link limiting download times, it's not letting me download anymore.

Little Class - Zui Nai: Not sure, but a moment of silence for you.

Little Class - Black Ball: Hahaha, that's what you get for continuing to sleep, you missed the free benefits of 128888, I can imagine you gnashing your teeth in front of the computer.

Little Class - Tie Chui: Sleeping is an error, we should be staying up at our age. Look, we all got the staying-up-late benefits, except you.

Little Class - Cute Baby: Director, only the Benefit Officer can save you now, go bow and apologize.

Preschool Director: You guys are really killing me... I'm going to find the Benefit Officer and beg for forgiveness.

Feeling on the verge of a breakdown, Tong Xin decisively opens the system message list, finds the Benefit Officer who has been kicked out of the group, and selects to add him, a prompt box pops up:

[Would you like to add "Benefit Officer" as a friend?]

Below the prompt is a comment box.

After some thought, he entered hundreds of words of apologies in the comment box to express his remorse towards the Benefit Officer, sincerely hoping the Benefit Officer would forgive and forget, being magnanimous.

Tong Xin felt that he never wrote essays with as much sincerity during his schooling days.

After modifying the wording multiple times, he sent the request filled with hope.

The next second, a prompt popped up:

[Benefit Officer has enabled the function to block strangers from adding, friend request failed!]

Seeing the text in the prompt box, Tong Xin completely lost his composure and punched the desk:

"Fuck!"