Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 53 - 49 Casualties

Chapter 53: Chapter 49 Casualties

Du Gang watched from a distance, his emotions a bit mixed.

He couldn’t help but admit that the scene before him was bizarre!

The oppression exuded by these demons was indeed intense, seemingly able to directly impact a person’s spirit. He could feel a growing sense of fear burgeoning within him.

If it were up to them, even with the use of firearms, the situation would doubtless be perilous.

But what about the players?

At first, they indeed had been caught off guard, and Du Gang thought they were going to be defeated.

Yet unexpectedly, the players quickly regrouped. They not only successfully resisted the attack of the Eastern Barbarian raiders but grew stronger as the battle progressed!

Moreover, they seemed to be utterly unaffected by any mental strain, and even injuries didn’t seem to concern them; they continued fighting with utter rationality.

In fact, some of their actions could not even be described as "rational."

It was as if they had adopted a gamer’s mentality, completely disregarding life and death!

In such a state, the players were ferociously incredible, especially when their combat memories were quickly activated and their coordination improved. The Eastern Barbarian soldiers soon fell one by one under the players’ combined assault.

However, just when Du Gang sighed in relief, a sudden shout echoed through the arena.

One of the soldier players thrust his longsword into the chest of an Eastern Barbarian soldier, and then, energizing his legs and shifting his weight forward, tried to pin his enemy to the ground!

The players had noticed that these Eastern Barbarian raiders possessed stubborn vitality.

Under normal circumstances, a regular person stabbed or shot would quickly lose the ability to fight and wouldn’t last long.

But these raiders were different; despite being stabbed twice, they were still as lively as dragons, showing no sign of falling.

Clearly, this was a special ability granted by demon control, with both vitality and injury endurance significantly augmented.

Thus, the players got smarter and hit harder.

Just like this soldier player, who, after stabbing with his longsword, did not withdraw it. Instead, he blocked the raider’s blade with his shield in his left hand, continued pushing forward, and pinned the attacker to the ground!

This allowed the others to move in for the kill.

Although these demon-controlled Eastern Barbarian raiders were tough, they could still be hacked to death under the flurry of blades. This method might have appeared clumsy, but it was the most effective strategy.

Yet this soldier player was too engaged in the fight, completely unaware of the rapid hooves charging towards him from behind.

"Watch out!"

Someone warned, but it was already too late. The Eastern Barbarian General’s cross-spear, driven by the momentum of his charging horse, pierced right through the soldier player’s back!

Although the soldier had armor and was buffed by the bard, it still couldn’t stop the spear.

The Eastern Barbarian General lifted the player violently off the ground with his spear and then flung him far away!

With a loud crash, he fell heavily.

The players all froze for a moment, as this was the first player casualty since the battle began.

The scene was all too real, whether it be the effect of hitting the ground or the blood spattering out, casting a brief shock over the players.

The soldier player only felt a chilling sensation in his back, followed by the onset of pain, which he could still discern clearly despite the suppressed pain receptors. Then, he found himself flying, the world spinning around him.

A red warning light appeared at the edge of his vision, soon filling his entire view, followed by a message: "You are dead. Please exit the battlefield!"

"This... am I dead?

"Did I get one-shot??"

The soldier player was dumbfounded. He was deeply engaged in the fight, and suddenly it was GAME OVER?

He stood frozen in place, perplexed.

However, at that moment, the Eastern Barbarian General turned his horse around and charged at him again!

The two eyes peering out from behind the Eastern Barbarian General’s blood-red ghost mask were also filled with bewilderment, seemingly confused as to why this person, clearly speared by him, could still stand up unscathed.

This charge terrified the other players.

"What’s happening? Is the game bugged?"

"Isn’t it said that death means exiting the game? Why is this boss still attacking a corpse?"

The players felt utterly lost, not knowing what the consequences of being attacked by the boss after dying might be. Some wanted to go rescue, but they were too far away.

The cross-spear struck at the soldier player again!

Yet to everyone’s surprise, the spear passed right through him as if piercing the illusion of a water surface, creating ripples in the air that quickly dissipated.

The soldier player remained unharmed.

"Phew, that scared me. For a moment, I thought I was really done for."

The soldier player let out a sigh, thinking that the game was too realistic, so realistic that it was almost hard to distinguish it from reality.

Since he was already in soul state after dying, there was no need to stay on the battlefield.

He reluctantly left the battlefield and approached Du Gang and other "staff members."

"Can I take off the helmet now?" he asked.

Du Gang hurriedly shook his head, "If you take off the helmet, you won’t be able to watch the game anymore, so you can’t remove it now. You have to wait until the fight is over to take it off with the other players."

The soldier player thought about it and realized that was true, if he took off the helmet, wouldn’t he be unable to see the fight in the game?

Then he would only see a group of players with MR helmets flailing at the air in the field, which isn’t very exciting.

Better to keep it on and focus on the fight inside.

Seeing the soldier player safe and sound, the other players were reassured.

For a moment, they even thought that people could actually die in the game!

But now it seemed that all these were just special effects of the MR game, the Eastern Barbarian General was just a fictional character in the game, and his lance could only harm players in the game, not physically hurt players who had already died and left the battle.

It could be said that making the game too realistic was also problematic, as it made people a bit confused between the game and reality!

The other players regrouped their spirits, the fear that had instantaneously arisen was now swept away.

However, the players’ fighting style had become more cautious because, in this event, each person only had one life, unlike in instance trials where they could respawn indefinitely. If they died, they could not fight anymore, and could only watch from the sidelines.

As the Eastern Barbarian soldiers fell one by one, the players turned their focus towards the two Eastern Barbarian Shadow Servants and the Eastern Barbarian General.

Clearing the minor enemies before fighting the boss was common sense in games.

The Eastern Barbarian General’s attacks were still lethal, but the players raised their vigilance, taking turns to draw aggro and leading him around the field, so even though four players suffered fatal injuries and left the battle, such losses were still within an acceptable range.

"This Eastern Barbarian Shadow Servant is mine, you guys focus on attacking the General!" Zhao Haiping said loudly while entangled with one of the Eastern Barbarian Shadow Servants.

The players initially wanted to deal with the General last, but quickly realized that wasn’t effective. Because the Eastern Barbarian Shadow Servants were too nimble and had various hidden weapons or tools, a group attack was difficult and might even lead to an ambush by the Eastern Barbarian General.

Therefore, the players naturally divided, with three or four of the most skilled players dealing with the two Eastern Barbarian Shadow Servants, while the others began trying to take down the General.

In the frontline were the shield-bearing soldiers and agile rangers, along with some soldiers who had abandoned their shields and spears for longbows to shoot from a distance.

In the soldier’s trials, there was a talent for skilled archery, and after passing the trials, these players had mastered their archery skills to some extent. They found that clustering together made them easy targets for the General’s spear, so they simply changed roles on the spot, from close-combat shield bearers rolling around to long-distance bowmen.

As for the scholars, they had finally figured out their combat style and stopped yelling randomly, instead using the Righteous Qi purposefully.

For example, they used "Share My Fate" to share some of the damage when the soldiers and Ranger players attracting aggro were about to be hit by the Eastern Barbarian General.

The Eastern Barbarian General had targeted the scholars several times, but the players were very conscious of protecting their backlines, immediately starting to desperately attack, throwing spears and shields to pull the aggro back.

Chuge shouted, "Shoot the horse first! Hit his horse!"

For a moment, various spears and arrows were madly directed at the Eastern Barbarian General’s warhorse.

Although the warhorse was also covered in armor, its defenses were clearly much weaker compared to the armor on the General himself, and it soon became covered in spikes.

This time, the Eastern Barbarian General was truly enraged. Though his warhorse was as resilient as the soldiers, after so many attacks, it was at the end of its tether.

In his anger, he spurred his horse’s flanks and brandished the great cross-spear once again charging towards Chuge!

The players were startled and hurriedly attacked the warhorse once more, but this time the Eastern Barbarian General seemed determined to kill the commanding scholar, charging forward regardless!

The scholars had experience now and immediately scattered and ran, with Chuge sprinting away, his movements comical like those of a 100-meter sprinter at a school sports day, his scholar’s robe flapping comically as he ran.

Obviously, he was no match for the four legs of a warhorse.

Chuge looked back and saw that the Eastern Barbarian General’s spear point was getting closer and closer, feeling that he was about to leave the battlefield.

But just then, that familiar figure appeared again!

Meng Yuan charged at the Eastern Barbarian General again with his Longsword and, facing the spear, suddenly rolled!

Chuge’s eyes widened.

Could it be... he would dodge the spear at the last millisecond and then slash the Eastern Barbarian General off his horse?

However, reality proved Chuge too imaginative.

Meng Yuan did dodge the spear point, but was promptly sent flying by the horse’s flank.

Chuge was speechless.

"What exactly am I fantasizing about?"

In such a realistic game, there was no "invincibility frame" when rolling. So charging head-on, even if he was lucky to dodge the spear point, he would inevitably be hit by the horse.

But the next moment, Chuge saw an incredible scene.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, although Meng Yuan was hit, his swinging Longsword fortuitously slashed across the horse’s leg, leaving a deep, bone-visible wound!

The warhorse let out a painful, loud neigh, losing balance and collapsing forward!

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