"Oh?"
That soft, sweet voice slipped straight into Jiang Bai's heart, making his whole body go numb.
He turned around and saw a cute, sweet-faced girl looking up at him with big, sparkling eyes that seemed to shimmer with innocence.
"Uh..."
Jiang Bai was momentarily speechless. The words of rejection that rose instinctively got stuck in his throat the moment he met those lively, shining eyes.
He glanced at her ID — Xingchen Momo, a level 8 Priest. Behind her stood three other players from the Xingchen (Stardust) Guild.
"What do you need?"
"Nothing at all," Xingchen Momo replied with a sweet smile. "Our party has only four members. We saw you fighting alone, so how about joining us? We'll split the loot evenly!"
"Five people always fight faster than one!"
As she spoke, her moonlit eyes locked onto Jiang Bai's face, leaving him unable to say no.
"Uhh..."
It wasn't that Jiang Bai was some pervy type who couldn't walk straight when he saw a girl. It was just that turning down such a sincere invitation felt... mean.
"Unless... are you waiting for your teammates?" she asked, blinking her big eyes.
"Nope."
"Then what's there to hesitate about? Join us!"
Right on cue, a party invite popped up on Jiang Bai's interface.
To be honest, Jiang Bai instinctively disliked teaming up. After what happened with Xiaoyao Qingfeng and the others, he'd sworn off trusting anyone in the game.
"C'mon, man, just join us already," said Xingchen Xiaobei, the male Mage behind Momo, stepping forward impatiently.
"Ahh, I think I'll pass..."
After a long hesitation, Jiang Bai still clicked Decline.
He was used to being a lone wolf. And more importantly, he didn't have a great impression of guilds in general—thanks to his unpleasant experiences with Xiaoyao and Yuncheng.
"Why not?"
Xingchen Momo stared at him, eyes wide. "Is there some other reason?"
"Not really... I just need to log off soon. A friend's waiting for me."
Even Jiang Bai himself didn't quite believe his own excuse.
"Okay..."
Without another word, Jiang Bai dove back into the crowd, leaving Momo and her group standing in place, a little stunned.
"He's kind of weird..." Momo muttered, gazing at the spot where he'd disappeared.
"Hmph! That's a classic case of not knowing what's good for him," huffed Xingchen Dabao, the team's Warrior. "With our setup, others would kill to join our team! What, he thinks he's some god-tier player like 'EmptyDream' or something? Seriously... turning down our guild princess like that!"
"Come on, Dabao. Don't be so harsh..." Momo said softly.
As another ten minutes passed, the battlefield entered full-blown chaos.
Players had completely lost it. Die, revive, charge back in—again and again. Some had died so many times they lost count.
Meanwhile, the beast tide had gone full-scale. Every inch of the battlefield was now consumed by combat. From any angle, there was no escaping the war.
Some players got so into the fight, they even shed real tears when their teammates "died."
In that kind of atmosphere, it was hard not to get fired up.
Jiang Bai also noticed something strange—members of the Yuncheng and Xiaoyao guilds seemed to have it out for Xingchen.
They would intentionally steal Xingchen's monsters, especially ones that were nearly dead—cutting in just to deliver the final blow.
But since Xingchen was clearly outmatched by the combined might of the other two guilds, most of their members could only silently endure it. After all, the three guilds had technically agreed beforehand—no PvP during the event.
Still, Xingchen hadn't expected to get screwed over so hard by the other two.
Meanwhile, the [Demonic Invasion] mission progress was skyrocketing.
From 1000 to 2000...From 2000 to 5000...
The constantly jumping numbers were like a shot of adrenaline to every player's nerves.
At the 20-minute mark: 5000 kills.At 30 minutes: nearly 8000.At 37 minutes: 9000.
"Keep going, everyone! Just five more minutes and we hit Phase Two!"
Someone shouted in world chat, injecting new life into every player on the field.
But right at that moment, a system announcement popped up that stunned everyone:
"Congratulations to Starter Zone 101 for completing Phase One of [Demonic Invasion] and advancing to Phase Two!"
"WHAT?!"
"Damn! That fast?! Are they even human?!"
"C'mon, guys! Don't fall behind!"
...
Even Jiang Bai was stunned."That fast... I guess there's always a bigger fish out there!"
At this point, he no longer dared to slack off. He went full throttle, casting skills like a madman.
At 9300 kills, a second starter zone made it through: Zone 8555.
At 9500, a third joined them.
But no one was paying attention to the rankings anymore. All eyes were on their own counter—it was almost there.
9700...9800...9900...
And then, as the counter finally ticked to 10000, something unbelievable happened.
The horde of demonic beasts instantly vanished. The world seemed to freeze in that very moment.
Players stood there in stunned silence, not quite understanding what had just happened.
"Congratulations to Starter Zone 33856 for completing Phase One of [Demonic Invasion] and entering Phase Two. During Phase Two, player deaths will result in temporary lockout until the event ends."
The first half of the message was met with cheers.The second half made everyone freeze.
"Wait... so during the boss fight, we only get one life?!"
"What kind of cruel joke is this...?"
"Who'd dare to go in now? Everyone's just gonna wait and try to steal the last hit."
This rule caught even Jiang Bai off guard.Not because he was scared of dying—But because in this setup, whoever charged in first was basically signing their own death warrant.
But of course, what players think of, the system already had covered.
As a boss icon appeared in the top right of every player's screen, a line of small text underneath explained:
"In addition to normal loot dropped by the final blow, the system will issue bonus rewards based on performance rankings—damage dealt for DPS classes, healing done for healers, and damage taken for tanks. All participants will receive some level of reward."
"That's much more reasonable!"
Jiang Bai let out a long breath."This kind of system makes sense—if you want rewards, then go all out. Simple as that."
As for the final hit?Most players didn't even dream of it. That kind of thing would probably go to a major guild. With tens of thousands of players involved, trying to land that hit was borderline impossible.
Just as players were buzzing with discussion, the ground beneath their feet suddenly began to tremble violently.