Chapter 83-1: Weak Point Breakthrough (1) |
“Huff, huff, I can’t go on anymore.”
“Hang in there, the mission reward is waiting for us. You punk, hold it together, don’t drag us down.”
On the mountainside of a snow-covered peak.
Li Zheng and the others were struggling to climb, their legs trembling, clearly at the limits of their physical strength.
Behind them, the combat instructor Mad Sand watched them coldly.
“If you can’t endure, you can choose to quit.”
Hearing Mad Sand’s emotionless, indifferent warning, Li Zheng and the others gritted their teeth and picked up the pace.
Once everyone had gathered in the morning, they began their preliminary physical training.
Before this, Mad Sand had handed out suppression bracelets to each of them. After putting them on, the bracelets would automatically adjust the restraints based on their physical strength.
The first phase of the assessment was already proving too much to bear.
In modern society, humans had long been freed from manual labor. All heavy physical work was handled by robots controlled by AI cores. When had they ever suffered like this?
But thinking of the rich rewards awaiting them upon completion, they encouraged each other to press on.
Looking up towards the mountaintop, most of the alien reserve trainees were already close to the summit.
Behind them, only Instructor Mad Sand floated in the air with arms crossed, following them effortlessly.
“I really don’t understand what Broken Star sees in your fragile willpower, actually using the Celestial Rune race’s quota to send you into the first-phase training camp.”
Li Zheng and the others did not respond, silently enduring Mad Sand’s occasional taunts.
From Mad Sand’s words, they inferred that in order for them to enter the training camp, the God of Wealth had paid some sort of price.
This was one of the reasons they chose to keep pushing forward.
Half an hour later, the alien members who had reached the summit began their descent.
As they brushed past Li Zheng and the others, the contempt in their eyes was undisguised.
Just as Broken Star had said, the training camp revered the strong and looked down on the weak. In all disputes, fists were the only valid explanation.
“A bunch of trash.”
As Ghost Eye passed by Li Zheng and the others, he directly called them trash right in front of Mad Sand.
“Brother Li, I can’t take it anymore, I’m going to beat him up!”
“Do it!”
Provocation after provocation.
Even Li Zheng, who usually suppressed his emotions, finally snapped and lunged at Ghost Eye. The others, including Dirt Poor, immediately followed.
Ghost Eye sidestepped to dodge, then kicked Li Zheng in the chest, sending him flying. Using the momentum from twisting his hips, as his left leg landed, his other leg swept out horizontally.
Smack!
Dirt Poor, who had charged in from the side, was also kicked away.
However, under the suppression bracelet’s restraints, Ghost Eye’s physical strength was limited. Before he could react to the remaining members of the Grind Kings Player Chat Group, Murderous Intent Rising tackled him to the ground.
Thud!
Murderous Intent Rising landed a heavy punch squarely on Ghost Eye’s left cheek.
“You bastard, you really think we’re that easy to bully?”
But before Murderous Intent Rising could land a second punch, a side kick from the right struck him, sending him flying.
At that moment, Ghost Eye’s racial kin joined the brawl.
This instantly fired up the livestream viewers, who flooded the screen with comments and outside advice.
Both sides clashed violently, but in terms of combat technique, Li Zheng and the others were completely outclassed. Before long, they were lying on the ground, bruised and unable to get up.
“Brother Li, we couldn’t win, but we’ll definitely get revenge (wipes tears).”
“My head hurts, feels like I got a concussion, (fat nerd crying).”
—
Hearing his brothers sobbing in the voice channel, Li Zheng gritted his teeth and said.
“I’ll remember this grudge. I swear I’ll pay it back!”
The ten trainees of the Four-Eyed race weren’t feeling great either, their clothes disheveled and their bodies scraped.
Mad Sand had watched the entire fight coldly, only speaking once the fight was over.
“Training continues.”
The Four-Eyed race trainees continued descending the mountain, while Li Zheng and the others lay on the ground resting for quite a while before they had enough strength to get up and resume their grueling climb.
6 PM.
Filthy and exhausted, Li Zheng and the others finally completed the test. Just in time for dinner, they were led by Mad Sand to the training camp cafeteria.
Starving, they were immediately captivated by the rich aroma upon entering.
The first thing that caught their eyes were the variously styled food trays, rows of colorful fresh fruits and vegetables carefully arranged on them. Scanning the information revealed that these foods were all spiritual plants of level 2 and above.
Their gaze shifted to the other side of the dining counter, where all kinds of monster meats emitted an enticing sheen and fragrance.
Clear Spirit Pearls, Spirit-Washed Fruit, Star Ocean Shellfish, Iron Lizard Meat… a variety of seafood, monster meat, and fruits and vegetables were neatly laid out, making Li Zheng and the others swallow their saliva unconsciously.
The intense training had left them famished, and their appetite was thoroughly ignited.
“Instructor, can we eat as much as we want here?”
“Dinner time lasts for another 9 minutes. Eat as much as you can handle.”
Hearing this, Li Zheng and the others cheered and immediately rushed to the food counter, grabbing plates and piling on food.
In their eyes, consuming food imbued with spirituality would increase their body tempering experience. Free food was no different from being gifted sacrificial power.
Their previously suppressed moods were completely lifted in this moment. Each of them loaded up a full plate and sat down at an empty table.
All their dissatisfaction with the training camp vanished as they devoured the meal.
“This is delicious! So delicious! I’ve never eaten anything this good in my entire life!”
“It feels like every kind of food has tiny particles of energy dancing inside it. The flavor feedback system in this game is incredible!”
Tasting Monster World’s cuisine for the first time, Li Zheng and the others were completely won over.