Chapter 52: Facing Strong Enemies

"Tsk tsk tsk, this oil painting style opening, you can tell that Haxxor Bunny is really serious about this game, and this style is obviously more realistic than fantasy. Another important point is that this game is categorized as 12+, so children should watch the livestream with parental guidance."

Welt reminded the audience while watching the opening CG, indicating the game contains bloody content that may make young players uncomfortable.

This point was mentioned at the beginning, but the reminder was quite subtle.

[Okay okay, I've called my parents!]

[The epic feeling of this opening, truly worthy of Haxxor Bunny, perfectly grasping the players' emotions.]

[Skip! Skip!]

Ignoring some of the comments, Welt felt the same epic sensation.

Because of that oil painting style, the details were abundant, and the music, symphonically played, created a grand feeling, quickly immersing people into the game.

"It seems that those people introduced earlier are likely the enemies we will face in the future. Okay, our game has started. Actually, I've had many collaborations in the gaming industry. I participated in the Homu series and the Arahato series. And this beginning, making us go on a mission to become the Elden Lord, this heavy mission becomes the players' initial and most important motivation, It's very good."

The character is on a church.

In a corner of the church, a corpse lies on the ground, with a message and an item left behind.

"Furlcalling Finger Remedy? Used to write messages and spread them to other worlds... So this is the online aspect of the game?"

[What does it mean? Other players can see messages written on the ground?]

"Pre-ordered players are here, this finger is used like this, to write messages on the ground, but they can't be too detailed. However, other players can like the messages, and the likes received can restore a bit of health and mana to the player."

[Wow, is this an online mode? So amazing!?]

"So this is a novel way of online play, leaving messages and then helping each other. In this unknown world, countless players help each other and then clear the game. It's really worthy of Haxxor Bunny to come up with such gameplay."

Saying that, Welt pushed open the doors of the church and saw a vast expanse in the distance.

"The Chapel of Anticipation? It seems we are anticipating it after all. From the beginning, we have been given a great mission, and in the future, we will be the kings of this land! Look at that distant golden tree, that is probably our goal."

A haze covered the distance, but soon new messages appeared on the ground.

"Hidden obstacles ahead, Jump."

"I didn't expect us to encounter messages left by other players so soon. This ID... Haxxor Bunny? How come someone else took the creator's name? But there are hidden obstacles ahead, did someone know so quickly? Maybe it's really the game creator."

[Jump! Jump quickly!]

"Will there really be hidden obstacles? Yeah, this is indeed a bit suspicious... Wait, there seems to be more bloodstains around!"

Just as Welt was hesitating whether to jump or not, bloodstains began to appear around him.

Upon closer inspection, he found that the bloodstains could be interacted with.

When he pressed confirm, Welt saw a red phantom appear at the cliff's edge, hesitating for a long time before finally leaping!

The phantom disappeared.

"Is this a message left by other players after they died? And this one?"

Similarly, another player, after leaping, spun back as if there was something tangible below, but soon he fell off the cliff.

[Hahaha!]

[I didn't expect there would be death messages too. Once you lose face, it will definitely be seen by others, right?]

[Poor player, the ground is covered in blood, why are the likes for the message so high?

There are thousands of likes!]

"High likes might be due to that kind of mentality, like after experiencing this game together with Haxxor Bunny, players would want to recommend this game to others, watching others suffer like themselves."

[That's true, can't stand to see only oneself jumping down, right?]

[But what if?]

[Yeah! What if there really are hidden obstacles?]

When this "what if" was spoken by the audience, the situation took on a different flavor.

"Yeah, what if there really are hidden obstacles? Then wouldn't it be a loss?

...as if! Indeed, the person who left this message must be a very, very bad person. They accurately grasped the players' indifferent attitude towards character death, completed their prank, and to spread such a mentality. I won't fall for it!"

After adjusting his glasses, Welt started controlling his character to walk up the stairs.

But then he turned back to check his surroundings. He circled around the church and found a locked door.

So he could only turn back near the cliff.

"Could there really be hidden elements there?" Welt's brow furrowed as he looked around, realizing this place wasn't just a simple starting point or a newbie village. They would return here in the future, meaning, according to the game developer's logic, there might indeed be hidden elements here!

[Perhaps we need to progress further in the plot to come back? Anyway, I haven't found the way back yet.]

[If we look at it logically, there might indeed be hidden elements here?]

The wind shifted.

And Welt shifted his focus to the edge of the cliff. "The only possible hidden spot is that small platform below, but I don't know what will happen if I jump down."

[Jump!]

[Jump quickly!]

Amidst the crowd urging him on, Welt indeed jumped straight down. Then the screen went black, and his character returned to the Chapel.

[Hahaha!]

[It's over, went crazy right from the start.]

[Since we can still refund now, should we?]

"No, my mindset isn't shattered. I just didn't expect Haxxor Bunny, the producer, to teach me another lesson. Originally, I thought the messages were for mutual help in finding paths and clearing the game. I thought it would greatly shorten the game process, but I didn't expect it to be like this. I overestimated human nature, and Haxxor Bunny understands human nature too well."

Turning back, he immediately liked the message.

The meaning was left for other players to experience it themselves.

Then Welt looked at other death messages, finally understanding the mindset of the players who jumped back then.

It was interesting, truly very interesting.

Despite being a simple yet rough player interactions, it was like the white space in a landscape painting, seemingly crude but actually quite exquisite, sparking endless imagination within.

"Alright, now that we understand this interactive mechanism, we need to be more careful in the future. Let's move forward."

Descending the stairs, he arrived at an open area.

A massive statue stood there, but soon, there was another scene transition.

"Oh! What's this! Grafted Scion? Is this the first boss we encounter? It's a monster with many hands!"

Welt began rolling and attempting to counterattack with his shield.

But the Grafted Scion's desire to attack was strong, and its frequency was fast. The clumsy protagonist was completely overwhelmed from an attribute perspective and winning on the first encounter was almost impossible.

"Blocking with the shield consumes stamina, and rolling attacks also consume it. It seems this stamina bar determines what we can do and how much. No, it hurts!"

Welt cried out in pain, feeling immense agony without any healing potions.

But at a critical moment, Welt raised his shield as the Grafted Scion attacked, producing the sound of metal collision.

"Is this... Oh, it seems to be parrying and counterattacking?

If successful, it can give the opponent a significant stagger time, but if this is meant to be a tutorial, it's too difficult..."

Welt hurriedly began attacking, but the Grafted Scion quickly recovered and resumed its frenzied attacks.

Under the intense assault like a storm, the screen went black.

"It was a scripted death. But considering that we'll come back in the future, we'll definitely get revenge. So, revenge will have to wait until later. Just wait, I'll take him down! But that monster, its design is quite interesting, with its body composed entirely of arms, yet adorned with a luxurious cape and golden weapon, representing its noble status. Are all the nobles in this world so eccentric?"

[So, this world needs a protagonist to save it!]

[To place such a monster at the entrance of the Waiting King's church, and a noble at that, what does it imply?]

[I see, it's actually a struggle for the throne!]

"Is it really a struggle for the throne? It seems there's a bit of meaning behind it. Alright, we've obtained blood vials and mana potions. It seems each item has a lot of descriptive text, but we won't look into it now. Let's officially start the game!"

However, soon another specter began coaxing Welt to jump into a pit.

Fortunately, this time he could see how deep the pit was, and he also avoided the messages left by other players on the side.

As a result, he jumped in, and true game guidance and newbie tutorials began.

The overall process was very simple, and finally, they fought a fully armored soldier.

Seeing the comments left by a group of people at the exit of the newbie dungeon, "It's actually a soldier," Welt smiled knowingly.

"The map design is quite interesting. Although it seems to twist and turn over such a long distance, it turns out to come back. It seems the dungeon part will be the focus in the game."

[Are you a great prophet?]

[Don't be silly, the broadcaster is also a seasoned veteran player. How could they not understand this?]

[The stone sword key is used to unlock the dungeon. Looking forward to the first dungeon.]

"Is the stone sword key really used for this? Well, it doesn't matter. Let's move on. The game officially starts now. I've had enough of this gloomy underground."

Having learned how to execute and how to use skills to create staggers, Welt felt confident that he could at least have a fifty-fifty chance against the Grafted Scion next time.

After resting at a blessing point and obtaining an item for multiplayer use, he rode an elevator and opened a door.

Then everything became clear.

[Limgrave]

"Wow, it seems the trailers are all true. The mountains, the grass, these details, and this time there's a beam of light as guidance. It seems our tasks ahead are very simple, just follow the light all the way."

The livestream room exploded.

After all, this game truly had no false advertising, which means those who pre-ordered the game and downloaded it would get to experience the fantasy world of swords and magic earlier!

What about those guys setting the hate rhythm earlier?

They're no longer important now. What more is there to say at this point? Is Haxxor Bunny out of ideas?

No, Haxxor Bunny's time is just beginning. In less than a year, they've produced such a game.

What's next?

"Alright, I've stopped listening to that masked man babble on for half a day. Now I understand the background of this game. If I want to know the full story, I'll have to search for it myself. Let's follow the Light of the Grace to reach the next target!"

Welt grew a bit impatient with the white-masked man's excessive settings.

He ridiculed Welt right from the start, saying he couldn't possibly become the Elden Lord.

But who is he?

The protagonist of the game. If the protagonist of Elden Ring can't become the Lord, who can?

To avoid breaking the storyline, Welt ultimately didn't attempt to attack the man in front of him but chose to move away from the area and follow the guidance to the next location.

The map was large, and wandering aimlessly wouldn't be a problem.

But as the CG said, there are horses, so if they relied only on their legs, who knows how long it would take?

But if they got a horse, then they could go wherever they wanted, regardless of the guidance!

However, in the direction indicated by the grace, there was a huge golden knight wandering around.

Welt hesitated.

"Um, is it normal to have such a guy on our path?"

[Such a big knight!]

[Now that you're a seasoned veteran, why don't you prove yourself by defeating this knight!]

[The boss at the entrance of the newbie village shouldn't be too difficult, right?]

Indeed, Welt also estimated that the boss's difficulty wouldn't be too high, considering they were still in the earliest stage of the game.

"Then let's give it a try. This knight's design is quite interesting, with a body covered in golden armor and equipment. He looks like a holy knight."

[Tree Sentinel]

The Tree Sentinel spotted Welt and then charged at him on horseback, wielding a spear the size of a pillar.

"I'll dodge!"

Welt, as a Herrscher, couldn't possibly fail to dodge such an obvious charge, right?

But after dodging, Welt suddenly realized an embarrassing fact that he couldn't catch up to the knight. There was no chance for a counterattack.

[You died]

After finally catching up and landing a couple of hits, who knew the knight would disregard fairness, raise his shield with both hands, and slam it down hard on the ground, with an incredibly wide range of attack!

Then Welt returned to the Site of Grace with a baffled expression, and then looked into the distance at the cliff.

The golden knight seemed to look like as if nothing had happened, It was still wandering there. And at this moment, there were other players' messages on the ground.

[Tough enemy ahead, long way around.]