Volume 1, Chapter 41: Trial Space, Fortress Colosseum

[You have entered the Trial Space, Fortress Coliseum. The regional chat channel is now unlocked, and the regional auction house function is now unlocked.]

[New Arena Quest Issued: Coliseum Survivor!]

[Stages, lights, cheering, and blood! Fortunate players who have survived until now, please strive to persist until the very end amidst wave after wave of hunting!]

[Current Remaining Arenas in the Fortress Coliseum: 20/20]

[Quest Rewards: Silver Coins x500, Experience Points x2000, Intermediate HP Recovery Potion x5, Intermediate MP Recovery Potion x5, Evolution Core (Blue) x1, Silver Treasure Chest x1.]

[Quest Penalty: None]

[Quest Time Limit: None]

This was a circular metal space with an area of a full thousand square meters. The walls, floor, and arched ceiling were all silvery-white, and four bright dome lights embedded in the walls served as the light source for this space.

At this moment, all the players were looking around in bewilderment.

Li Chuan carefully read the new quest issued by the system.

"The previous quest was Main Quest 1, so this one should be Main Quest 2, right? Why is it an arena quest instead?"

"What kind of nonsense is this damned doomsday game system pulling now?!"

Hunting? Are the players hunters or prey?

What does surviving until the end mean? And what does the remaining arena count of '20' mean?

There were many confusing points, but what puzzled Li Chuan the most was that he couldn't figure out how this arena quest was supposed to be completed.

Other players nearby were also discussing this newly issued quest.

"What does 'surviving until the end' mean, and what's the deal with the remaining areas?"

"I don't get it either. Why doesn't this arena quest state the clearance requirements?"

"Surviving until the end... if the place we are in is considered an arena, does that mean we can only complete the quest when the remaining arena count drops to one?"

"Is it that harsh?"

"Yeah. Hey, look! Is that wall over there cracking open?"

Just as all the players were confused and perplexed, Li Chuan was surprised to find that a crack had formed on one side of the circular wall. The crack grew larger and larger, revealing a pitch-black tunnel behind it.

Screech—

It wasn't just one spot; the wall directly opposite that crack was also splitting open.

Liu Haizhu frowned and said, "Something's wrong! This feels ominous."

Li Chuan and Lin Yaoyao exchanged glances, then tacitly and decisively stepped back.

Something being wrong was a given; it was impossible for two cracks to open in the wall and have two Santas rush out to hand out Christmas gifts to everyone one by one.

A player asked out of curiosity, "Hey? Is this a passage leading outside? Once we leave this place, we should figure out how to complete the quest."

As the player spoke, he walked closer to the passage.

Woof, woof-woof, woof-woof-woof!

Woof, woof...

The chaotic barking of dogs came from both cracks.

The next second, numerous clustered black figures suddenly surged in from the cracks!

They were massive dogs with bloodshot eyes and rotting bodies all over!

The player walking toward the crack screamed in terror and turned to run, but he was too close to react in time. He was instantly pumbled to the ground by several large dogs and shrieked as he was torn into bloody chunks.

Gao Han, standing amidst the crowd, immediately shouted at the top of her lungs, "Everyone, don't panic! We have nowhere to run anyway! These are just level-twenty monsters. Warriors, hold the line, we have a chance to win!"

However, apart from the dozen or so members of the Pantheon, the rest of the players had already scattered like startled birds, running frantically into the distance while pushing and shoving one another. Some even maliciously tripped others to save themselves.

The freckled girl by Gao Han's side was filled with panic. "Sister Gao, Sister Gao, what do we do? What do we do?"

Liu Haizhu drew his broadsword. "Let's fight these beasts to the death!"

Gao Han looked around and shouted, "Retreat toward the wall behind us! Warriors take the front! Archers, provide covering fire now! Don't be afraid, we have health potions and armor values, we'll be fine for a while!"

Woof, woof-woof, woof-woof-woof!

Woof, woof...

More and more large dogs poured into this space. From time to time, isolated players were pounced on by the hounds and had their flesh torn apart.

Screams, barks, and cries echoed endlessly.

Li Chuan and Lin Yaoyao had long since retreated to the wall furthest from the monsters.

"Wow. A stray dog cannibalism incident. If this were recorded, it could definitely trend."

Li Chuan silently rolled his eyes. "Is this really the time for that? Get ready for combat!"

Lin Yaoyao raised her left hand to the top of her head in a salute. "Yes, Commander!"

[Plague Hound: White]

[HP: 1000/1000]

[A mutated hound infected with canine distemper, driven by a virus to tear apart all beautiful creatures!]

[Lv20, Weakness Marked!]

"That living saint over there has established a combat formation, making it relatively safe. Let's break through toward them!"

"Understood, Commander!"

At this point, the cracks on both sides finally stopped pouring out plague hounds, but even so, there were at least several hundred to a thousand level-twenty plague hounds in this space.

As the saying goes, a multitude of ants can kill an elephant, and these monsters were far more formidable than ants.

Fortunately, Li Chuan and his companion were surrounded by other players who were being attacked by the plague hounds, so the two of them didn't have to face too many monsters at once.

Li Chuan took out his Frey repeating crossbow and aimed at a plague hound that was currently tearing at a female player's neck.

Fire Element Enchantment! Exploding Arrow!

[—175!]

The damage was substantial!

Li Chuan pulled the trigger continuously, firing all five bolts loaded in the repeating crossbow.

The plague hound's health bar instantly dropped by half, and due to the triggering of the bleeding effect, its HP continued to drain without stopping.

Swish!

Woof!

Suffering fatal damage, the plague hound instantly abandoned its harmless prey on the ground and bared its teeth as it charged toward Li Chuan.

Li Chuan sidestepped and rolled to dodge, quickly reloading his arrows.

Just as the plague hound was about to pursue him, a dark shadow instantly appeared by its side, landing three consecutive knife strikes, every single one piercing its neck.

Lin Yaoyao's three strikes also dealt close to two hundred damage.

Li Chuan performed two more sidestep rolls to widen the distance. "The weaknesses are the eyes and the waist, not the neck!"

The girl performed a flashy backflip to land behind the plague hound, stabbing her blades twice consecutively into the giant hound's waist.

[Weak Point Hit—*243]

[Weak Point Hit—*306]

The plague hound's health bar hit rock bottom, and Li Chuan finished it off with a tracking arrow.

[Ding, killed Lv20 Plague Hound (Common) x1, EXP +20]

Lin Yaoyao pouted. "Hey! You stole my kill."

Li Chuan: "Experience points are shared! What difference does it make who gets the last hit? Pick up the loot and come over."

The rescued female player looked at Li Chuan and Lin Yaoyao in shock. "So strong!"

After her exclamation, the female player hurriedly scrambled up from the ground and followed closely behind the two of them. She wasn't heavily injured; the damage she took from the plague hounds earlier had only depleted her equipment's armor value.

Li Chuan and Lin Yaoyao cooperated rhythmically to eliminate the monsters.

The plague hounds didn't deal very high damage, and their attack patterns were quite simple. After killing a few monsters blocking their way, Li Chuan and Lin Yaoyao gained a measure of confidence.

"You take left, I take right. There are quite a few monsters over here, let's make it quick."

As soon as Li Chuan finished speaking, he fired a stun arrow.

Lin Yaoyao's figure vanished, and the next moment she had already materialized right beside a plague hound.