T0 Gaming Guild Saves the World.

Chapter 62, Section 61: [The Shadow of Nightmare]

What was found in the bed was a doctor with a bird's beak. Dressed in black, he stood in the shade of the hill. When the boundary between reality and illusion approached, he immediately took off his top hat and bowed gracefully.

"Guiding Stars, at your service."

Everyone also noticed the prominent star and bonfire icon on his chest.

Realizing that it was a doll, Jiang Heyi lowered her guard a little.

He stepped forward and asked, "What kind of services can you provide?"

"It seems that Mr. Cyber ​​Potato has not yet met my other companions. Compared to them, I have one advantage."

The bird-beaked doctor clapped his hands lightly, and a spotless white blanket and a dazzling array of medicines appeared out of thin air.

"We have all the medicines you need; there's bound to be one that will satisfy you."

"Everything you could want?" the jailer retorted. "Then give me a potion that can cure all the players except us. How about that? Do you have one?"

The bird-beaked doctor laughed, a low, sinister laugh.

"Have."

No, you really have it?
"How do you obtain it?" Jiang Heyi asked immediately.

"Wait until you have accumulated a certain number of points before asking how to obtain them. Right now, you have nothing."

Besides being necessary for advancement, points are also the currency required to purchase services from these guides in guild wars.

Aside from the potion that can wipe out all players on the map, the bird-beaked doctor also provided some interesting information.

The prices of goods provided by the guide are divided into two types: fixed prices and dynamic prices.

For example, Jiang Heyi once considered a scoring table function that displays the real-time points of each guild. It only requires 5 fixed points and can be unlocked at any guide.

Regarding the dynamic pricing of goods, Dr. Birdbeak used the function of reviving a companion as an example. Currently, it only costs 200 points to buy back a companion, but as the guild war progresses, this price will become increasingly higher.

"How many points will I get if I kill you?"

The jailer performed as expected once again.

This question made everyone wary of the bird-beaked doctor.

Fortunately, the bird-beaked doctor was neither angry nor hostile; instead, he smiled and offered advice.

"It is dynamic, but I suggest that you do not easily challenge the guide."

"Among the guides, there are special individuals whose combat power is extraordinary."

The most urgent task is to get 5 points to unlock the scoreboard function.

Just as he was about to leave, Jiang Heyi suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He turned around and asked, "Can the spoils be exchanged for points?"

The bird-beaked doctor readily replied, "Of course, now."

"Then..." Jiang Heyi took off the [Trialist Gloves] given to him by the system and tossed them over, "How much are these worth?"

"0.5."

As expected, they won't bring it up unless you ask.

Having worked with his own puppets for many years, Jiang Heyi is very familiar with this style.

Ask more questions, and you'll always find surprises.

Everyone gave their gloves to Jiang Heyi to exchange for points. Together with Jiang Heyi's helmet, Orange Tea's hat, and shoes, they made up a total of 5 points.

Opening the scoreboard, the [Calcium Oxide] guild is currently in first place with 50 points.

Among the 30 guilds, Virtual Boundary, along with the other 17 guilds, is in the same boat, ranking last with 0 points.

After walking through the dense forest for quite some time, Jiang Heyi started to sweat a little as he looked at the lush, towering trees around him.

No, isn't that strange?

Where are all the NPCs that the little fire sparrow mentioned?
Why has it been so quiet all the way here? Not to mention monsters, we haven't even seen a shadow of a wild animal.

"If you don't encounter monsters or NPCs, you won't encounter danger. In a sense, that's a kind of good luck."

Zhong Zemo's words amused everyone.

Those watching from the sidelines were also very excited. During this period, other guilds in the same arena had all gained points, achieving a breakthrough from "0".

The leading group is beginning to take shape. With Calcium Oxide as the leader, six guilds have been fighting monsters one after another and helping NPCs complete tasks. Some have unlocked class skills, and some have obtained equipment with blessing attributes. They are on the right track.

The only boundary between reality and illusion was that after accumulating 5 points at the start, they spent them all and earned nothing more. The entire team wandered aimlessly through the dense forest like headless flies.

From God's perspective, the only advantage of the virtual-real boundary is that the surrounding area is no-man's land, so there is no need to worry about encountering other guilds.

The disadvantage is also obvious: a countdown number appears in the upper right corner of the projection.

There was a line of small print on the side: "Resource depletion."

The outermost edge of the map will enter a state where NPCs and monsters will not spawn, and only some special units will remain in the area.

Over time, no projects that directly award points will be available here.

You can choose to play defensively, but the final result will inevitably be being eliminated by other teams advancing towards the center area.

Here, it's a matter of either moving forward or falling behind.

When the leading guild had accumulated 600 points, the "good fortune" at the boundary between the virtual and real worlds finally took a turn for the better.

The blankets skimmed across the swamp like dragonflies skimming the water, startling a series of bubbles as the "mud balls" emerged from the soil.

It's a swamp slime, these elemental-friendly darlings who roll themselves into mud balls, relying on the dual elements of earth and water to conceal their presence.

With the perception of the boundary between the real and the virtual, it is impossible to detect them even when they are right next to you.

If it weren't for his exceptional driving skills while driving under the covers, perfectly drifting and pulling monsters away so they could only see his cloak fluttering in the wind, then a barrage of elemental orbs would have caught them off guard and reduced his numbers at the boundary between reality and illusion.

This unconventional dark elf unintentionally performed a great service. "I can't take it anymore, I'll chop you to pieces!"

Having been unable to start killing for so long, the original-flavored fries, who had been itching to unleash their [Bloodlust Frenzy], suddenly jumped into the swamp and hacked away wildly. A red light caused the mud in the swamp to shoot straight into the sky like a fountain.

The slime, intimidated by her terrifying aura, ran into Jiang Heyi and his group, who were equally ferocious.

Plain fries were craving something, and so were they.

When Zhong Zemo raised his shield, he forcefully smashed a slime into a flat puddle of jelly.

When Orange Tea summons a wind spirit in an attempt to blow a slime high into the air, it falls and dies.

You should know that these swamp slimes chose the worst possible time to appear at the boundary between reality and illusion.

The thirty-odd slimes lurking in the swamp became the warm-up appetizers for everyone. Amidst the surge of magic, even the most powerful giant slime was chopped into eight pieces by Jiang Heyi, Original Flavor Fries, and Blanket, who came up under the pretext of finishing off the slime.

With 53 points, the boundary between reality and illusion has finally opened after being stuck at 0 points for so long.

This wasn't enough for Plain Fries. She carried a knife and panted heavily as she searched for prey near the swamp. These monsters weren't enough!

Jiang Heyi was genuinely curious. Given her true nature, she still chose the berserker class. She decided to change her persona and start a new role—after all, playing the same character for too long can get boring.

The first character is a deep diver, and the second is a cold and aloof older sister.

Now, playing Berserker transforms you into a somewhat insane, bloodthirsty berserker...

It was determined to be from playing Berserker.

Many viewers who had been closely watching the boundary between reality and virtuality finally breathed a sigh of relief. After all, it had been incredibly unlucky that there hadn't been a way to earn points for so long.

It's good that it's open for business; once it opens, it will open again.

"Is this the boundary between reality and illusion? It looks like a chaotic mess with no strategy."

The dream master always manages to make some discordant noises when everyone is immersed in the movie, pulling them out of the story.

"You're right, but the Dream Lords are a guild that can be easily defeated by a random, unpredictable attack, like a 30-man solo run."

Amidst the commotion, a sparrow engulfed in flames slowly appeared on the projection.

"Why is it blocking the center of the projection?"

Is it a bug?

"Where's the administrator? Admin, please help!"

The fiery sparrow transformed into a ring of fire, and in the center of the ring, a disc-like object gradually appeared.

The pointer of the burning flames finally settled on a blurry black shadow.

At the same time, the same voice echoed in the ears of the players in the competition.

"Stars [Reversed]"

"Starlight has illuminated an unknown destiny..."

"【Shadow of Nightmares】has been added."

"Be careful, night is about to fall."

Under the gazes of the players, a mixture of doubt and shock, the bright midday sun was veiled by a shadow, and boundless darkness surged from all directions toward the center of the sky.

The bright moon hangs high in the sky, while the starlight is dim.

In an instant, the sun and moon changed.

Jiang Heyi quickly looked down at the system notification bar, but found no useful information, only the words "[Shadow of Nightmare] Trial" displayed.

"what!"

The bed, which had been excitedly racing shadows as night fell, suddenly slammed on the brakes and hopped backward like a rabbit.

Following the direction she pointed, a figure walking slowly came into view.

He covered his face with his hands, making it impossible to see his features.

It sounded like sobbing? Faint cries lingered in the air.

A familiar image subconsciously popped into Zhong Zemo's mind: "Witch?"

The prison guard was eager to try: "Is there any way to charge up a big fireball and headshot someone instantly?"

Jiang Heyi rubbed his eyes. Was it just his imagination? Why did he see the staggering figure as if he were seeing a double image?

The next second, he was stunned to see a phantom "fall" out of the body.

The perfectly synchronized movements suddenly became flawed. As the movement progressed, the phantom surpassed the original, swaying and approaching the boundary between reality and illusion at a speed one or two seconds ahead of the original.

It was almost like a soul separated from its body, pulling at a soulless shell...

The change happened in an instant. The spirit body, ten meters away from the boundary between reality and illusion, changed shape without warning. After turning into an amorphous black mist, it trembled violently and in the blink of an eye transformed into a fierce tiger that pounced straight at Zhong Zemo.

"A hallucination?" Zhong Zemo murmured, but the giant shield in his hand made a loud "bang".

The powerful force made Zhong Zemo's whole body go numb. He subconsciously made a pushing motion, trying to disrupt the opponent's center of gravity and break the attack.

But this force pushed through empty air.

By the time he squinted and finally saw the monster towering above him amidst the shouts of the others, he was drenched in sweat.

The tiger's neck stretched nearly 5 meters, winding its way over the giant shield, hovering in the air and looking down at Zhong Zemo.

Its neck was as thin as a noodle, resembling the mythical flying head demon, while its fierce and majestic tiger head transformed once again into an amorphous black mist.

Not far away, the weeping figure still covered its face, emitting faint sobs.

　Wait a minute

　　
　
(End of this chapter)