Zongman, Rebirth of the Heaven-Defying Kirito

But there was no time to dwell on that now. The buzzing sound behind me was getting closer and closer, and the cockroach was like an inescapable shadow, following closely behind.

The girl with the long spear suddenly remembered something and hurriedly shouted, "That cockroach is only level 2! You are all level 40+ players, can't you find a way to kill it?"

"There's no other way but to run away!" The swordsman refused without hesitation, his steps not slowing down at all.

To get rid of that cockroach means stopping and swinging a knife at it.

There are only two possible outcomes to doing this: you might just get lucky and split the cockroach in two.

But the second possibility is more likely: you miss your target with a knife and get pounced on by a cockroach!

Just kidding, it's better to run away than to gamble your luck on a single slash.

The longsword player shook his head repeatedly, his face filled with terror: "Oyster! Oyster!"

"Seriously! I was such an idiot for thinking you guys were reliable!" the girl with the spear cried out, but she ran even faster.

In Cheese Valley, an absurd chase is unfolding.

A level 2 cockroach chased after three level 40+ players, leaving a trail of messy footprints in Cheese Valley.

The three of them ran for a full two kilometers before suddenly remembering the 'logout' option.

"Quickly log off!" The girl with the long spear was the first to react, clicking 'Exit Game' on the virtual panel as she ran.

The katana users and longsword players were instantly enlightened: There's such a way?!

Because of the situation just now, there was no time to think, and the only thought that came to mind was to escape, so no one expected that they could log off directly.

The two immediately did the same, and a series of white lights flashed, and the three figures disappeared from the spot in an instant.

The cockroach in the air lost its target, circled twice in place, and then slowly landed on a cheese hill, continuing to gnaw on the food dropped by other players who had killed monsters.

In the real world, the three players sat up almost simultaneously from their game pods, pale-faced and panting heavily.

Even lying on my own soft bed with my eyes closed, the image of that cockroach waving its antennae and spreading its wings still floats into my mind, and the lingering fear lingers for a long time.

The girl with the long spear slammed her fist on the pillow: "Planner, you deserve to die!"

......

Such a scenario has occurred more than once on the 25th floor of SAO.

The Biscuit Forest is a forest-like scene created by sticks of biscuits, cookies, crescent moons, and other shapes of biscuits, all the size of trees, stuck upside down on the ground. Hence, the place was named as such.

At this moment, a small team of fifteen people is hunting in the Cookie Forest.

They were dressed in various adventure outfits and carried different weapons, yet their movements were coordinated, clearly indicating that they were a long-standing, well-coordinated team.

Since the 25th floor opened, it has become the preferred hunting ground for many guilds.

As the current highest level, the monsters there provide far more experience points than those in the previous levels, making it extremely attractive to players aiming for higher levels.

"Surround it! Don't let it get away!" The burly man at the head of the group raised his giant axe high, his voice booming.

He is the squad leader, named Barton, and is the highest-ranking member of the squad with extensive combat experience.

At his command, five melee players wielding shields and longswords immediately stepped forward, forming a semi-circle around the monster.

That's the [Magic Puppet Dessert Maple Syrup Sheep], its body is fluffy and covered in golden maple syrup.

Although this guy looks cute and clumsy, he's actually not that strong.

"Attack!" Patton ordered.

The four players surrounding the sheep attacked simultaneously, their longswords slicing through the air and precisely targeting the Maple Syrup Sheep's weak points.

Before the maple syrup sheep could even utter a complete bleat, its health bar was reduced to zero by everyone.

The monster fell to the ground, turning into golden maple syrup that flowed across the surface.

Barton stepped forward, brushed aside the debris with his giant axe, and a relaxed smile appeared on his lips: "Why do I feel that the hunting difficulty on the twenty-fifth floor has actually decreased compared to the previous floors?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the team members around him immediately echoed his words.

"Boss, I think so too!"

"These dessert monsters look flashy, but they're actually slow-moving and have simple attack patterns, making them much easier to deal with than the monsters on the previous floors!"

"Yeah yeah!"

"Same feeling!"

The team members all expressed similar feelings, one after another.

After listening to everyone's words, Patton made up his mind.

He waved his hand, his tone bold: "But that's fine too. Although the difficulty is a bit lower, these are still the monsters from the newest level, so the experience points they give are still there. Brothers, let's give it our all and try to level up today!"

"Okay!" the team members responded in unison, their morale soaring.

At this moment, the team members who had previously scattered to hunt in the surrounding area also gathered together.

The fifteen players stood together, standing out conspicuously in the empty biscuit forest.

Looking around them, the ground was already covered with all sorts of food scraps.

Bread crumbs, chocolate chips, and solidified maple syrup were piled up haphazardly on the cookie floor.

Looking at the debris scattered on the ground, a young team member scratched his head, feeling somewhat apologetic: "Captain, should we clean this up?"

As soon as he said this, laughter erupted from the people around him.

"Hahaha--"

"Are you stupid? This is SAO, the scenery is just something the administrator can refresh at will!"

"Exactly, exactly. We were just grinding monsters normally, what's there to feel guilty about?"

The young player blushed with embarrassment after being told off and fell silent.

Barton waved his hand casually, "Never mind that, killing monsters is the priority. Let's go, next location, let's continue hunting!"

The group set off again, heading deeper into the Biscuit Forest.

While passing through an area piled high with bread crumbs, one player remarked thoughtfully, "Come to think of it, the monsters on this level leave behind food scraps after being defeated. Maybe this was intentionally designed by the developers?"

His words were like a pebble, stirring ripples in the hearts of the team members, and everyone began to seriously consider the issue.

It seems... that's indeed the case!

Why do monsters on other levels disappear immediately after their health bars are reduced to zero?

Why do the monsters on this floor leave behind food after they are defeated?

And why are the monsters on this floor so weak?

When all of this is put together, it seems that only one answer makes sense.

Barton looked at everyone: "Do you think this level might just be a 'bonus level' for the players?"

The moment the word "welfare barrier" was uttered, the team members' eyes lit up, and they all nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, lowering the monster difficulty so we can quickly gain experience, isn't that a bonus level?"

"That makes sense. This explains all the strange things!"

Just as everyone was excitedly discussing the welfare level, the young team member suddenly spoke up timidly: "Since it's a welfare level... do you think we can eat the food that falls on the ground?"

The team members looked at each other, their eyes filled with curiosity.

Barton was also stunned. He had a lot of experience in killing monsters, but he had no clue about this kind of thing.

He looked around at his teammates and found that everyone was waiting for his answer.

"Well..." Barton stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and then said, "How about someone tries first?"