Chapter 5: Primordial: Bonefire

Chapter 5: Primordial: Bonefire

“Constricting Serpent Coil.”

“Dual Viper Bind.”

“Triple Viper Entangle.”

…

After an hour of gameplay, Li Zheng and his companions had already mastered collaborative combat.

They steadily defeated several Cursed Soldier (Malevolent Entity) foes on the Ancient Battlefield, each earning enough experience to reach Level 2.

The six players who chose the Black-Scaled Serpent form grew from an initial one-meter length to roughly 1.3 meters. The two Hawk-Headed Demon players sported brighter wings and slight increases in stature. The Gargoyle form evolved the most—black crystalline sheen now shimmered across their bodies, flowing like liquid.

The deeper they immersed themselves in the game, the more awestruck they became by its realism.

The stat boosts from leveling up felt tangible—enhanced strength and speed weren’t just numbers on a screen. This made progression thrilling and fueled their anticipation for future upgrades.

Yet, the game’s hyperrealism had downsides.

The stench of rotting Cursed Soldiers was so pungent it made their eyes water. Worse still, the pain feedback system was active. Combat scrapes and bruises hurt. Real hurt.

“This Lunar Eclipse Clan guy’s a sadist!” someone cursed. “Why disable pain shielding? This is player abuse!”

[In reality, the pain adjustment feature exists in the system settings menu. Just because you didn’t check doesn’t mean it’s not there.]

“Why didn’t you say so sooner?!”

“You didn’t ask!”

Summoning the Function Panel, they located the pain regulation settings. To their surprise, the minimum threshold could only be reduced to 10%. Still better than full sensitivity.

With pain dulled, Li Zheng’s team tore through another Cursed Soldier. Exhausted, they prepared to rest when Starving to Eat Soil suddenly shouted a warning.

“Starving! What’re you screeching about? Think you’re a hawk now?”

“Three o’clock—massive energy surge incoming!”

They all turned toward the indicated direction. A three-meter skeletal warrior approached, its bones wreathed in pitch-black flames. Unlike ordinary Cursed Soldiers, this monstrosity oozed eerie, smoldering menace.

A status window materialized in their minds:

Bonefire (First Generation Primordial):
Hunting Tier: 9
Guide Analysis: Special monster wielding Primordial Power. Master of necrotic flame manipulation.
Note: Defeating Primordial Monsters automatically completes containment. Participants share substantial rewards.

“It’s a boss!”

Seeing the Primordial designation, the group practically drooled. In other games, bosses meant epic loot—a single rare drop could fund Li Zheng’s lifestyle for weeks.

Competition for bosses was usually cutthroat. This gift-wrapped opportunity? They’d be fools to waste it.

“Attack!”

The ten players charged as one.

“Constricting Serpent Coil!”

“Dual Viper Bind!”

“Triple Viper Entangle!”

…

They roared their custom techniques even before closing the distance. As Starving to Eat Soil often said: “Whether we win or lose, we’ll dominate the atmosphere!”

This time, however, their bravado backfired. Bonefire’s hollow eye sockets ignited with Inky Inferno. With a casual gesture, it hurled globs of black fire.

Li Zheng, Murderous Intent Stirred, and Leopardheadzerocharge—leading the charge—were hit first. Flames consumed their bodies. The searing agony made them writhe on the ground, but the fire refused to die.

The remaining seven vaulted over their burning comrades, lunging at Bonefire. Contact ignited their bodies too, yet they kept biting, pecking, carving cracks into Bonefire’s bones.

Within minutes, ash was all that remained of the ten.

As darkness swallowed their vision, a notification rang out:

[Challenger Alert: Character destroyed. 10 Sacrificial Power deducted (insufficient Sacrificial Power results in negative values, prohibiting purchases in the game mall). Character entering one-hour cooldown.]

Returning to the login interface, they immediately attempted re-entry—only to meet this prompt:

[Flesh Reconstruction In Progress… (Cooldown: 59 minutes, 49 seconds)]

Defeated, they exited the interface.

[Hardcore Gamers Chat Group (Online: 10)]

Starving to Eat Soil (Admin): What the hell?! Why’s there respawn cooldown? One more chance and we’d’ve had him!

Game Bricklayer: This Darklands realism’s a double-edged sword. Even 10% pain feedback nearly gave me a heart attack. Thought I’d be seeing my great-grandma.

Pay2WinBro: Gameplay’s addictive—stat boosts feel awesome—but damn the pain’s brutal. That Bonefire’s way too strong for Level 2s. Suggest we grind first.

Murderous Intent Stirred: Respawn cooldown?! My 100-level python build’s stuck now. I’m literally shaking.

Family Shared Godfather: Big trouble, guys. The benefactor left the group.

Starving to Eat Soil (Admin): Holy crap—our patron quit?! Probably scared of piracy issues. Everyone keep quiet. Don’t leak the download link or we’ll get him raided.

…

Unable to play during cooldown, the discussion shifted to the game world. Li Zheng suddenly typed:

Game Bricklayer: Thinking of joining an org?

Starving to Eat Soil: 100% agree. This game’s full of whales. Joining an org’s the easiest way to profit.

Family Shared Godfather: You guys lead, I’ll follow. Wherever you go, I’ll be there.

…

The group unanimously supported the idea.

“Org” referred to guilds or factions within the game. As Grindstone Workers (grinders), they’d always allied with mid-tier organizations in past games, offering services to whales for profit. This time wouldn’t differ.

Seeing universal agreement, Li Zheng typed his next message:

Game Bricklayer: I’ll hit the forums for recruitment. Wait for me, brothers.

The replies came instantly:

Patron, hurry back!

…

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end