Chapter 308: Chapter 308: Stop Here

Translator: 549690339

The system notification rang three times in a row, making sure every player noticed it.

Every online player felt the previous vibrations emitted from the ground, so naturally, they wouldn’t ignore the cheerful system message.

“Imperial Dragon Demon Palace? What is this stuff? Is it another secret place similar to a duplicate world?” Song Jian muttered to himself.

NPCs often refer to these duplicate worlds as ‘secret places,’ which, depending on their access requirements, are rated as first level, second level, third level…

“Bloody Underground Fight Dungeon” Song Jian established early, was a level- one secret place. Even though the minimum level to enter was five, many players only dared to try the regular difficulty dungeon after they became full- fledged professionals, as they only had one life after all.

Song Jian hesitated for a moment before dashing in the direction of the green pillar of light. After all, this was a location announced by the system to be worthy of exploration; surely, there must be some good loot.

Shortly thereafter, Song Jian arrived at an abandoned factory where plenty of players had already gathered. Through the many shadows, Song Jian saw numerous NPCs, their faces filled with excited smiles.

At the abandoned factory, a dormitory building was split open right in the middle, revealing a large hole in the ground from which the green pillar was rising.

“Imperial Dragon Demon Palace, who would have thought it would appear here? What fantastic luck!” The eyes of a Minotaur-like NPC twinkled with excitement as he muttered to himself.

“Why would the Imperial Dragon Demon Palace appear here? Isn’t it supposed to be in larger cities and controlled by the big forces? A weakling like us doesn’t even have the chance to approach it without being chased away…”

“It’s a great opportunity, we must seize it!”

“But there are too many God’s Chosen here, they are quite annoying!”

“Hehe, the God’s Chosen may have great potential and improve quickly, but most of these present are only just becoming professionals. They pose no threat to us, so if there’s a treasure later, let’s not hold back!”

Most of these NPCs were transported here from elsewhere in the game, some with missions, some as combat trainers, and some seeking to trade with the God’s Chosen. Their presence in the game is solely to enhance players’ enjoyment and serve their needs.

However, at this moment, these NPCs began to gather around the Imperial Dragon Demon Palace, forming a loose alliance. Although their levels were higher than the players’ levels, they were heavily outnumbered.

Some players had noticed the strange behavior of the NPCs but were powerless to stop it. They could only huddle together according to their own alliances. Those who had not joined any alliances were loosely scattered around. From the surface, it appeared that the NPCs had the upper hand.

Just then, a trio of players tried to approach the cave but were stopped by an NPC.

“What are you doing?” A player brandished his weapon at one of the NPC elves in anger.

“Stay back, round-ears. This is not a place you humans can approach. Don’t risk your life!” The elf NPC dismissed the trio with a cold glance.

“Damn, an NPC is so arrogant! Just a level 15 runt daring to block our path? He’s got a death wish!” One of the three players, wielding a submachine gun and dressed in combat gear, glared at the elf NPC. Before his comrades had a chance to stop him, he aimed his gun at the blocking NPC and pulled the trigger.

Dada dada~

Bullets fired in a continuous stream towards the elf. However, when they got within a foot of the elf, it was as if they hit a wall. Their kinetic energy depleted, they dropped to the ground. A wave of ripples fluttered through the air as the elf NPC flippantly retrieved a short spear from his back and thrust it at the gun­wielding player.

The spear traced an arc in the air. The throw seemed slow, but the spear was incredibly fast and made a rushing sound as it flew toward the player’s chest.

Before the two companions could react, the gun-wielding player was sent flying, his chest splattered with blood and directly dropping into a near-death state.

All the players were startled. Having the strength to instantly kill a level-10 professional, such an attack far exceeded the strength of a level-15 elite boss.

“Stop fighting, let’s get out of here!” One of the companions shouted immediately. The elf NPC, not wishing to cause any more harm, snorted coldly, took back his spear with a wave of his left hand, and dismissed the three players with a glance.

They had bitten off more than they could chew. The two companions quickly revived the near-death player, and the trio skulked back towards the back of the crowd.

The remaining NPCs glanced at each other and began to chase away players, securing the entrance of the cave that emanated the green light pillar.

Although the move infuriated the crowd of over a hundred players, they didn’t dare to complain. Each of these NPCs had a strength exceeding that of a level- 15 elite boss. Some even had levels as high as twenty. Even if all the players at the scene teamed up, they wouldn’t stand a chance against these NPCs.

“These NPCs are too domineering! They took all the good spots!” Complained a player who was moved to the back.

“Right, they’re just in-game NPCs! Wait until I level up and I’ll slaughter them all!”

“Quiet, this is probably part of the game plot. When the time comes, we’ll just follow behind them!”

“Yeah, it’s probably part of the game plot. I mean, you see, they dare not even kill; at most, they’ll severely wound…”

Song Jian quickly arrived at the abandoned factory. He scanned the crowd and saw that there were hundreds of players gathered. His eyebrows creased in confusion.

What was odd was that he couldn’t spot a single acquaintance. He didn’t even see Luo Tianyu, who he had just encountered. Did they not have any curiosity? Did they not want to partake in a storyline task announced by the system?

Song Jian slowly walked towards the cave. The players at the scene were taken aback by the sight of Song Jian, a level-15 player, and led a path for him.

“A high-level player is here!”

“Look at the armor he’s wearing. Although he’s hiding the glow, you can tell from the pattern and design that it’s definitely a silver-grade item.”

“Why is his hand empty? Is he a boxer? But that doesn’t make sense either, boxers usually have a pair of gauntlets, so what’s his profession?”

The players speculated amongst themselves, while Song Jian, seemingly oblivious to their comments, continued towards the mouth of the cave.

At this moment, a dwarf NPC gave Song Jian a glance. He somehow detected a distasteful aura from him, causing him to subtly signal his cohorts.

Three level-15 dwarf warriors armed with war hammers, immediately stepped forward to block Song Jian with cold voices, “Halt!”