Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

For the people of Jernie, this day was a rollercoaster. After the initial total collapse, almost everyone desperately awaited death. But after the mysterious army arrived, everything changed rapidly.

”MT, keep it steady, Mage, AOE, Blizzard for slowing, where’s the Magician? Magician, summon Hellfire!!”

Soon, under the commander’s orders, the Mages raised their Magic Wands, and the roaring Blizzard enveloped the Contaminated Beast horde, quickly freezing those creatures solid.

Then, dark green meteors crashed down from the sky, transforming into giant fiery beings, launching attacks on the Contaminated Beasts before them.

”Hunters at the back, watch those flying creatures above, switch to shooting! Open Multi-Shot! Arrow Rain, shoot them down!”

”Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh———!!”

Numerous arrows and bullets flew towards the sky, promptly knocking those swarming Contaminated Beasts, seemingly like locusts, down to the ground.

”MTs at the front, hold them, don’t let them rush in, block this entrance, push them back!”

”Oh!!”

Warriors and Paladins roared furiously, raised their shields, and firmly blocked the Contaminated Beasts, even though their stature seemed smaller than the beasts’ open jaws. Hundreds of MTs were like a solid wall, successfully blocking the further assault of the Contaminated Beasts on Academy City.

”Where are the Priest and Shaman’s heals? Get the healing up! Team two, be ready for substitution anytime!”

Though this was the first battle in Another World, none of the players present were flustered. In fact, the Demon Beast World improved by Fang Zheng was no longer just a game, but a training ground for players. Unbeknownst to them, as they joyfully played, they had already deeply integrated those combat training and norms into their habits.

After all, the game world transformed by Fang Zheng had monsters with intelligence, unlike the original version that just foolishly charged to death without exploits. And during battles with these monsters, players gradually learned and understood the corresponding techniques and strategies.

Now was the time for all this to bear fruit.

While the battle raged at the front line, a group of dark Shadows quietly stealthily approached the edge of the Contaminated Beast horde from the outside of the mobile city.

”Is everyone ready?”

The leading thief ”Next Week’s Holiday” stared at his companions and inquired. ”Next Week’s Holiday” was a livestreamer and an excellent thief player. His forte was investigating clues through subtle hints and thereby initiating hidden tasks, which was a reason his streams were highly popular among players.

This time, the task naturally involved ”Next Week’s Holiday”, and he saw this as the first main quest in the new instance, where everyone aimed to shine!

”We have to know, our reputation with Azure Fleet is still friendly.”

He gestured to his companions and also explained to the audience in his livestream.

”I checked just now, Azure Fleet’s reputation doesn’t rise after reaching respected, and this task for us players is another assessment. Don’t forget, during Azure Fleet’s invitation, many were rejected. Although lots of players say Azure Fleet’s so-called assessment is just random selection, I believe it’s not like that. Because if it were strictly random, it would greatly impact players, but the truth is some new players were prohibited from entering the new version world, and even a few old players originally aligned with Azure Fleet faced the same. As for why, those frequently hanging around GNA have an idea.”

Although he didn’t finish speaking, everyone clearly understood his meaning. After the launch of the new version, some players, unable to enter, complained on GNA forums. Initially, many sympathized, but soon observant people discovered that many prohibited players didn’t have good reputations.

They included those who habitually killed newbies, loved stealing creatures, and even specialized in player slaughtering. In short, none were decent!

Although Azure Fleet didn’t issue a statement, and the game’s ”official” ignored these complaints, most players already had an idea.

”So we can assume, raising Azure Fleet’s reputation might not be like those tasks we did before, where completing a task automatically increased reputation. In other words, if we are going to do it, we must consider Azure Fleet’s interests. Because only in this way can we gain reputation increase, and now is our chance.”

At this point, ”Next Week’s Holiday” clenched his fists.

”Thieves have strong single-target damage, but in large-scale AOE battles, we lack presence. But did you notice the task requirement to eliminate Contaminated Beasts and their Motherbody? Yet, we haven’t seen the Motherbody yet, meaning it might be lurking somewhere. Our goal is simple: use the thief’s stealth abilities to locate the Motherbody of the Contaminated Beast and eliminate it! Only then can we secure maximum reputation and rewards!”

Hearing this, other thief players also lit up their eyes.

Indeed, the front battlefield was not a place for them to shine, but infiltration and behind-the-lines action was a thief’s expertise!

”Let’s move, search along the path the Contaminated Beasts came from, and whoever finds the Motherbody first, send a message immediately!”

With a command from ”Next Week’s Holiday,” the thieves instantly vanished into the darkness like ghosts, disappearing from sight.

As search experts, thieves were evidently adept at locating individuals. In fact, after leaving the mobile city and entering the underground crevices outside, it wasn’t long before ”Next Week’s Holiday” easily located a Contaminated Beast that was significant in size compared to others.

”Luck is good!”

Seeing the words ”Motherbody (Weakening Period)” displayed in front of him, ”Next Week’s Holiday” also clenched his fist. Then he immediately sent out a message.

”Everyone gather at my location, found the boss!!”

Soon, a group of people arrived beside ”Next Week’s Holiday”, and upon seeing this massive boss, all the players were taken aback.

”Whoa, it’s huge!”

This was a straightforward male player.

”So disgusting!”

This was a straightforward female player who hated cockroaches.

”Are we going?”

”Of course, remember to poison it, attack with Slice-n-Dice and bleed, check the situation first, if we can’t beat it, call for help.”

There were no objections from the players to ”Next Week’s Holiday’s” orders. After all, thieves were unlike warriors or Paladins, who couldn’t flee once the fight began. For them, disengaging mid-battle was quite routine. With this creature so big, logically speaking, a full thief team shouldn’t be able to take it down, but what if they can?

Then the experience and reputation for defeating this creature would be all theirs?

All thieves slowly approached the Motherbody under stealth while ”Next Week’s Holiday” clenched his dagger tightly.

”Listen to my command, 3, 2, 1... Start the fight!”

With a command from ”Next Week’s Holiday,” more than a dozen shadows suddenly emerged, and their daggers flashed with dark green Radiance as they slashed at the Motherbody, instantly leaving blood marks and causing fresh blood to spurt. The Motherbody let out angry roars accompanied by ”Next Week’s Holiday’s” furious curses.

”Who is the idiot who switched to Insight?”

Meanwhile, within Jernie, the Contaminated Beasts were also thoroughly cleaned up. The continually invading Contaminated Beasts were directly pushed back to the breach by the players. Watching this, students like Kalian were greatly astonished. They had never participated in battles before or witnessed such a scene. Watching these players fearlessly rush forward, seemingly unconcerned about the threat of being devoured by the beasts, gave Kalian a new understanding of the forces under Fang Zheng’s leadership.

”Keep charging, kill all those Contaminated Beast larvae!”

Looking at the task list showing the kill count, Dragon Roar World’s Guildmaster waved his hands excitedly. He was the first to ”defect” to the Azure Fleet faction with his guild and thus led his guild into Azure Fleet. Consequently, Dragon Roar World Guild was the first to enter this world, and the Guildmaster of Dragon Roar World Guild now intends to secure a leading position just like ”Next Week’s Holiday” by taking advantage of this ”new version,” aiming to climb to the top of the guild leaderboards!

However, at this moment, suddenly, the initially aggressive Contaminated Beasts stopped, showing no further reaction. Moreover, the larvae climbing up along the mobile city’s outer wall appeared to lose energy suddenly, dropping to the ground as dead bugs.

What’s going on?

Seeing this, Dragon Roar World’s Guildmaster froze, and simultaneously, information appeared before his eyes.

[Congratulations to players Next Week’s Holiday, No Thieves in the World, I’m My Sister, Kaidan, Edge Testing, _iL, Te Ara-chan for securing the first kill of the Contaminated Beast Motherbody]

”............”

Seeing this line of text, Dragon Roar World’s Guildmaster paused, then suddenly shouted.

”Damn!”