Chapter 20: This is simply a nightmare!

What kind of hellish world is this?

After being killed for the nth time, Fang Zheng sat by the bonfire, speechless.

At this moment, he had felt the deep malice this world had towards him.

Initially, Fang Zheng thought this was a seemingly ordinary world, but now he no longer believed that. If the first time he was killed by the knight could be considered carelessness, then the subsequent times, even though Fang Zheng had prepared thoroughly, he would still be ruthlessly beaten to the ground by the opponent. However, these efforts were not in vain; after several attempts, he found that the "Bounce Back" skill, which he previously thought was useless, was unexpectedly effective. After mastering this skill, he successfully blocked and countered the knight's attack, then seized the opportunity to plunge his sword into the opponent's chest.

Originally, Fang Zheng thought it was all over, but before he could pull out his sword, he saw a pitch-black, eerie liquid appear behind the knight, then twist and coalesce into a giant creature with a snakehead, which lunged at him with a bite.

At that moment, Fang Zheng's heart shattered.

At first, he thought this was an ordinary wasteland-like world.

Then, he thought it should be an ordinary world with strong combat capabilities.

But now...what kind of monstrosity is this!!

Does he have to rely on swords and knives to fight such huge, inhuman creatures?

This world is too despairing!!

Although there are creatures in the Dark World, at least they have skills for protection!

And here, I can only roll, block, and slash? No skills, no magic, no divine artifacts, and not even any teammates?

His mindset was about to explode!

This is simply a nightmare!

Luckily, Fang Zheng remembered that he came to this world to train his swordsmanship and awareness; otherwise, he would probably choose to commit suicide. Surviving in such a world requires more than just a big heart.

But fortunately, in this grim world, there was also a small sanctuary. After a hard-fought battle against that knight, Fang Zheng passed through a gate and entered a place called Firelink Altar, where he met a girl wearing a blindfold - she called herself the Fire Keeper. From the Fire Keeper, Fang Zheng learned about this world's situation.

This world was originally a realm of Chaos, but one day, a fire known as the Primordial Fire was born. Humans found the King's Soul near the fire and used its power to defeat the Ancient Dragons. After that, the age of fire began, and humanity built a glorious civilization. But the fire would eventually die out. To maintain the flame, powerful heroes sacrificed themselves as Firewood to keep the fire burning.

However, all of this has reached its end.

The inherited flame had already extinguished, the bell tolled, awakening the ancient Kings of Salary who were in slumber.

But they had abandoned their thrones.

His duty was to defeat these Kings of Salary and reignite the remaining flames.

After talking with the Fire Keeper, Fang Zheng finally understood the general "setting" of this world. It's like a bonfire that once burned, bringing light and warmth. But now, it was a pile of ash. His job was to find enough wood and relight the bonfire... otherwise, everything would be lost.

This really was a hopeless world.

But fortunately, there was at least the soft-hearted Fire Keeper to soothe Fang Zheng's ravaged soul, much better than the muscular blacksmith and the old witch. Compared to her, those two were like trapped Undead—oh, and that guy sitting on the steps holding a sword, mumbling all day long.

Initially, after surviving that tough battle, Fang Zheng thought he had mastered the skills to survive in this world, so he confidently followed the Fire Keeper's guidance and teleported via the bonfire to the walls of Lothric, planning to start his next adventure. In fact, the creatures on those walls did not pose much of a threat to Fang Zheng at first. Even those Undead wielding giant axes were easily countered and executed by Fang Zheng.

This inflated Fang Zheng's confidence...well, not entirely, but at least he felt he had grasped the essence of combat.

Until he encountered a guy called the Lothric Knight.

This guy, like the knight he faced before, was dressed impeccably but was non-communicative. The moment he saw Fang Zheng, he immediately charged at him, roaring.

Fang Zheng was no longer as surprised as before. He had realized that besides the few at the Firelink Altar, everyone else he encountered outside seemed like unreasoning beasts that immediately attacked upon seeing him. So Fang Zheng decisively moved forward, wielding his shield, ready to counter and execute again.

But to Fang Zheng's surprise, after the Lothric Knight charged, he raised his shield and slammed it down, knocking Fang Zheng out. Before he could regain his senses, he saw the knight raise his sword...swish, the world went silent.

Fang Zheng finally realized that with cold weapons, he was still a rookie.

Previously, he defeated Shi Dong relying on the unique effects of Royal Cross Swordsmanship and Skybreaker. Although Shi Dong later pointed out Fang Zheng's lack of deep understanding of swordsmanship, Fang Zheng had been somewhat dismissive. He thought that maybe he hadn't used all his combat skills; if he had started with an invincibility spell and then launched a Divine Storm at Shi Dong, the opponent would have suffered more...

Not to mention, even if he encountered strong enemies in the future, he still had the Soulstone.

But now, in this world, Fang Zheng realized for the first time how powerless he was without the Soulstone enhancements and unable to use Paladin skills.

From the time he arrived at this high wall until now, how many times had he died?

Sitting by the bonfire, Fang Zheng frowned tightly. If previously he had enough confidence in his abilities, his experiences in this world made him realize how weak he truly was. Thinking back, during his first battle after being reborn into this world, he escaped death relying on the power of the Soulstone. In the Dark World, he also depended on the Soulstone to kill Magda. These were granted by the system but were not entirely his own strength; it was the system providing him with cheats.

Had he been somewhat lost before?

Initially, Fang Zheng came here with the intention of training, but now he began to seriously reflect on whether his previous thoughts were correct. Should he rely on the system's help for his entire life? The system might indeed provide considerable assistance, but if he himself did not become stronger, wouldn't it all be in vain?

"Still too careless…"

Shaking his head silently, Fang Zheng bitterly smiled as he stood up. Before his rebirth, he wasn't a warrior; although he had received some training, he had never experienced brutal combat. He originally did not see this as an issue, but now he realized what he lacked.

Perhaps, this was why the system chose this world for him.

As he thought about this, Fang Zheng gripped his longsword again, stood up, walked to the edge of the platform, and looked out over the already ruined city below. He could hear the howling wind, and everywhere there were hoarse, ominous growls and heavy footsteps; those zombie-like creatures continued to wander the city, wielding their weapons and trying to kill everything in sight.

Fang Zheng didn't know who they originally were, what they had done, or why they fought, but now, there was one thing he understood clearly.

Those standing in his way were his enemies.

With this thought in mind, Fang Zheng gripped his longsword tightly and strode down the stairs.