Chapter Twenty: The Ferocious Battle in the Cellar

Receiving the system prompt, Stone of Three Lives was overjoyed. Although Liu Shengkui had told him that Wang Wu was injured, given that the opponent was the renowned Wang Wu, he hadn’t been confident about completing the mission. Now, with the system indicating the targets were players, and knowing this cellar couldn't hide many people, Stone of Three Lives, having brought over forty experts, considered this mission all but assured.

Chen Hao, too, was exhilarated by his system prompt. He’d thought he was up against government NPCs, never expecting the opposition to be players. In the game, two-way missions only generated when there was a conflict between player quests; during such missions, killing a player would grant 5% of their current level’s experience. Wang Wu had said that quite a few players were on their way, and to Chen Hao, they were simply walking bags of experience.

Chen Hao believed no player currently surpassed him in combat skills. The cellar was cramped, with only one entrance—a classic case of being easy to defend and hard to attack. As long as he held the entrance, even if Stone of Three Lives had brought 400 people instead of just over forty, they would be hard-pressed to do anything against him.

In truth, this mission was unfair to Chen Hao. When the system generated two-way missions, the number of participants on each side was roughly balanced. On Stone of Three Lives’ side, only he had actually accepted the mission—this was supposed to be a duel to the death between him and Chen Hao. But Stone of Three Lives brought many helpers, which the system wouldn’t interfere with, as Chen Hao could also seek his own reinforcements.

If players not on the mission participated in the two-way battle and died, the killers could still gain experience. At this point, Chen Hao was trapped in the cellar with no time to find allies; he could only face over forty players alone. But there was an upside: killing these players would grant him a hefty sum of experience.

Two of Stone of Three Lives’ men descended into the cellar. As the leader, Li Yunfei, set foot on the ground, Chen Hao cleaved his neck with the horse-chopping saber. Li Yunfei’s combat stat was only sixteen points—less than half of Chen Hao’s. Coupled with Chen Hao’s ambush from the shadows, striking a vital point, Li Yunfei was instantly killed.

“Player Chen Baxian, you have killed level 5 player Li Yunfei in a two-way mission and gained 5% of his current level’s experience.”

“Player Chen Baxian, congratulations on reaching level 4; your rank is now Sergeant.”

Chen Hao received two system prompts in quick succession, filling him with satisfaction. Having high combat stats truly made two-way missions the fastest route to leveling up. After killing Li Yunfei, another player stepped down. Not giving the enemy any chance to react, Chen Hao’s saber again struck the neck, killing the opponent in a single blow.

Stone of Three Lives called down twice, but the cellar remained silent. He frowned and muttered, “How many players are actually in this cellar? Wang Bing and Li Yunfei were killed before they could even speak.”

A burly player beside him said, “Boss Zhou, this cellar is about the size of the Earth God Temple—it can’t hide many players. Our two were killed mainly because the enemy is hiding in the dark while we’re exposed, and there’s only one entrance, making us easy targets. We just need five brothers to go down at once, with the best fighters in the lead, and we’ll be fine.”

Stone of Three Lives nodded, “That makes sense. Alphabet, your combat stat is 28—top tier among players. You take the lead.”

The burly player, whose game name was Alphabet, had allocated all 20 attribute points to combat, just like Chen Hao. After joining the game, he learned a couple of martial arts moves at a dojo, gaining 1 point, and wielded an iron rod that gave him another 2 points. At level five, Alphabet already had 26 combat points, making him an elite fighter in the early game and a core leader in Stone of Three Lives’ team.

Without hesitation, Alphabet chose four high-combat players to enter the cellar. Chen Hao waited at the foot of the stairs; when Alphabet came down, he struck with lightning speed. Alphabet, whose combat stat was just under ten points below Chen Hao’s, sensed the attack and jerked his neck back, dodging the fatal blow.

Chen Hao’s seemingly certain strike missed. Once on firm ground, Alphabet swung his iron rod at Chen Hao. Now at level four, Chen Hao had 24 combat points, which, combined with basic saber techniques and the horse-chopping saber’s 5-point bonus, gave him a slight edge over Alphabet. More importantly, he had a close-quarters combat skill, Bloodbath, boosting his melee combat by another 20%, bringing his effective combat stat to about 35 points—enough to maintain the upper hand.

Alphabet held off Chen Hao’s attack, and the other four players quickly entered the cellar to join him. The presence of such a formidable opponent was unexpected and made Chen Hao anxious; if Alphabet kept him occupied while the others found Wang Wu in the corner, he’d be in real trouble.

“Catch! Use this against them!” Wang Wu’s voice suddenly boomed from the darkness.

Though the cellar was pitch-black, Wang Wu accurately tossed his great saber to Chen Hao. Chen Hao had no time to check its stats—after planting his horse-chopping saber in the ground, he wielded Wang Wu’s great saber against his foes. The new weapon was far more powerful; with a single swing, Chen Hao shattered Alphabet’s iron rod and, without losing momentum, slashed his shoulder.

Caught off guard, Alphabet took a heavy blow and quickly received a system message: “Player Alphabet, you have been wounded by a saber. Your combat stat is reduced by 5 points.”

When players are injured, the system reduces their stats according to the severity. Alphabet’s shoulder wound wasn’t fatal, so the system only deducted five points from his combat. Had his arm been severed, the stat drop would have been at least half.

Now, weaponless and with his combat stat reduced to 21, Alphabet was at a severe disadvantage. Chen Hao, with his new saber and his Bloodbath skill, had combat well over 40 points. Alphabet, now barely at half Chen Hao’s level, was dramatically weakened. Chen Hao seized the opportunity: after parrying attacks from the other four with basic saber techniques, he swung the great saber in a broad arc at Alphabet. With no weapon left to block, Alphabet had no choice but to retreat, forgetting the cellar’s limited space—and was killed in a single blow.

With Alphabet dead, Chen Hao could focus on the remaining four, each with only about 20 combat points. He cut through them swiftly, felling all four in short order.

All five players, including Alphabet, were level five, and the 5% experience from each was impressive—enough for Chen Hao to reach 50% of the experience needed for level five. After picking up the copper coins dropped by the players, he collected two iron rods and stowed them in his satchel, then looked warily toward the cellar entrance.