Chapter 59 - Battle to Protect the Campsite

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“I really got screwed this time!”

Meng Yang was annoyed by the players’ actions, but this was not the time to think about that. He quickly summoned the elf and started to assign a mission.

[Protect the Campsite]

[The careless adventurers have lured out a powerful Anjanath, bringing about grave danger to the survivors’ campsite. The most dangerous time has now come. All players, please chase the anjanath away from the campsite.]

[Award: All players will gain an extra 100 reputation points if the mission is completed. Note: if players fail to complete the mission, all players will be deducted 100 reputation points. Reputation points of players who lured the anjanath into the campsite will be cleared.]

After Meng Yang assigned the mission, all players, no matter if they were by the entrance of the campsite or inside it, were confused.

Especially those who had just entered the game as they had not yet gained an understanding of the details. It was after they accepted the mission when they were abruptly woken up by the massive commotion outside the campsite. Everyone flocked to the walls surrounding the campsite quickly.

At the entrance of the campsite, the anjanath’s attention was on Phoenix’s bow and arrows. At the same time, the players started to attack the behemoth, swarming to it like a horde of ants.

After Meng Yang assigned to them the mission, more and more players ran out from inside the campsite and started to attack the anjanath. Those who had weapons wielded them while those who did not managed to get by with stones.

Players were all like that. They might be reckless all the time, but they would all be ignited with passion when they had something they needed to protect. They would sacrifice their lives to complete the mission.

The hanging bridge to the campsite had already been put down so that the resurrected players could quickly run out from the campsite and into the battlefield. Against beasts as massive as the anjanath, those wood bridges, being merely several meters tall, were completely useless.

Some people noticed this group mission after it was assigned, but some did not and were astounded by the scene unfolding in front of them.

Everyone was highly strung and excited when faced with this monster attack on the campsite. All of them were thinking about how they could put this colossal beast down.

Some players were unarmed. It seemed that they would not be able to contribute like that, and so a few of them put this massive wooden pole planted near the campsite, originally intended as a component of a blockade around the walls, on their shoulders and lifted it up together. They pointed the sharp end at the anjanath and dashed toward it like medieval soldiers breaking open the city gates.

The anjanath did not respond to the players’ actions, given that it was easy for the monster to send a great number of players up to the air with a stomp of its foot. Before the wooden pole had come near it, it swung its tail and sent the players flying.

“Heal!”

As the players were sent toppling, the injured players—not including those who had died and were resurrected immediately—instantly felt a dim, green layer of light surrounding them. Their injuries were instantly healed or had started worsening slower.

“We have a healer!”

“The healer has arrived!”

“All hail Miss Hera!”

“Miss Hera, I love you!”

Many of the players yelled and bolstered.

Some players who had arrived during the second beta testing and were attacked by the gnolls were among the most excited.

Hera had already rushed to the campsite. She was not too strong in battle, but her natural healing ability brought to many players a newfound motivation.

…

The anjanath was solely focused on Phoenix. It pursued after Phoenix relentlessly. Among the many little ants here, only Phoenix had caused it an almost infinitesimally small amount of trouble.

Phoenix remained calm and collected. She had encountered quite a number of monsters before, but it was her first time standing so near to a second-order anjanath. She was not afraid, though. She was agile as always against the anjanath’s manic pursuit. She always took the chance to retaliate after dodging the monster’s attacks.

The anjanath looked huge, but it was much more agile than what everyone expected when it began to adapt to the flow of the battle. It twisted its body left and right. Both its huge head and thick, long tail would kill a huge number of players with a single swish.

Growl!

Phoenix rolled on the ground and shot another arrow. It landed in the anjanath’s massive nostril. This arrow stuck into flesh that was softer compared to the thick armor outside, making the monster furious.

It was angry, but it seemed that it did not have plans to leave the campsite. Phoenix’s attacks on it had attracted its attention momentarily, but it soon turned back, seeming to be more interested in the campsite in front of it.

The anjanath might have sensed the innate tendency of living beings to protect their home. It knew that they would have to face it as long as it did not leave the campsite.

Thanks to the hard work of Phoenix and many other players, the situation came to a standstill.

“Weapons made with magic crystals can injure the anjanath.”

Meng Yang came back to his senses. He noticed that the players were not able to cause any damage to the anjanath no matter what weapons they used—knives, swords, or axes. Unexpectedly it was Phoenix’s magic crystal arrows that injured the anjanath in some crucial spots.

This was also angering the anjanath more and more. It went around and around the campsite, attacking left and right. Dust and pebbles flew everywhere. Some heroic players surged forward and attacked, but they could barely hold their own for more than a minute against the monster.

“Gussa! Gussa, where is he?”

Meng Yang suddenly remembered that Gussa had enchanted some weapons that were supposed to be mission rewards and that they had not handed them to the players yet, so he quickly looked around for him.

“Leader Meng Yang, I am here.”

Just as Meng Yang was looking everywhere for Gussa, a tall, white-haired man ran toward him hastily. He was carrying a rectangular, cloth-wrapped package on his shoulder.

“Mr. Gussa, how many weapons have you enchanted?” Meng Yang asked hurriedly.

“Two axes, a steel sword, and four staffs.”

Gussa tossed the package on his shoulder onto the floor, revealing the weapons inside. The handles of those weapons looked ordinary, but their blades glimmered with a bluish light.

While he spoke, Gussa took an axe into his hands casually. “I will join the battle now.”

“Wait, Mr. Gussa, you don’t need to do that now.”

Meng Yang raised his head to look at Gussa and refused the latter’s request to join the battle. Meng Yang did not want a close-combat fighter to join the battle recklessly.

“But…” Gussa turned to look at the commotion outside the campsite, his face taking on a stern expression.

He knew of the anjanath but had not encountered one before. Not only was it a second-order Extraordinaire, but it also had a massive frame. Both of that combined made it possible for the monster to sweep an entire campsite.

“Mr. Gussa, I need to enchant more weapons. Do you still have any more staffs with you?”

“Three or four,” Gussa answered.

“I’ll have to trouble you, then. We need magic crystal-enchanted weapons.” Meng Yang continued. There were only that many weapons at the campsite. Aside from some which he had distributed to the players, a lot more were collected from elsewhere.

“Yes, I understand!” Gussa nodded. Without hesitation, he left the campsite quickly.

An idea started to hatch in Meng Yang’s mind at the sight of those weapons. He hauled those weapons to a spot beside the hanging bridges and waited for those players who would resurrect.

Soon, among those resurrected players, he spotted some familiar people—Huang Da, Mao Ming, Hua Yu, and Guan Xiong. Meng Yang hated those dudes with a passion, but players were expendable resources at this point while enchanting professionals like Gussa only had one life.

These four players had awakened their Extraordinary Seeds, and so were the strongest. The biggest reason why they had not caused any damage to the anjanath was because of their weapons. The bone sword Guan Xiong had bought from Liu Chuanfeng with 200 bucks was also of bad quality compared to enchanted weapons.

After lending those weapons to the four players, Meng Yang distributed the rest among several outstanding players. His tactics were always simple. Players could be expended, but the survivors inside the campsite, including the elderly, children, and women, had to be protected.

He had no time to consider anything else now at this crucial moment. The task he had to complete now was to kill the anjanath or drive it away from this campsite.

This situation led Meng Yang to fully understand the fickleness of those players. It was probably impossible to control them just through missions.

This world was only a game to those players. They could fight and battle, but they could also summon powerful entities easily and bring on their own destruction.

“Huh? What are they doing?”

As the battle outside the campsite intensified, Meng Yang suddenly noticed that some of the female players were still busying around inside. Some of the elderly survivors had not evacuated either.

Meng Yang saw someone familiar in the midst of the crowd, commandeering those people.