Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Something’s Wrong! This is Too Strange!
"Something is too strange..."
Steve and his friends knew much more about the white-eyed monster than the other players, which is why they were the only ones sensing that something was wrong.
Seeing his friends' puzzled expressions, Steve asked, "You all feel like something's off too?"
The group nodded.
"It's normal for monsters in the game to have weaknesses, but for a creature like that, even if it had a weakness, it wouldn't show it so easily!"
"Exactly! Even if he's afraid of wolves, with his strength, he could easily kill them. Why would he need to run away?"
"Also, did you notice? When he attacked the city wall, he blew it up from four different sides. If he knew to target all four walls, why didn't he attack from all four sides at once? Wouldn't that have been much easier?!"
"..."
Hearing this, Steve nodded in agreement.
"Yes, I noticed that too. It was a mistake on my part not to defend all four sides earlier. I thought he might've overlooked it as well. But now… it feels like there's more to this."
Early on, when the white-eyed monster attacked the city, Steve had already sensed something was off.
At first, he assumed it was a mistake on the monster's part.
But after seeing how the creature fled upon encountering the wolves, Steve began to doubt his earlier assumption. It likely wasn't a mistake at all.
It might have been intentional.
And if that white-eyed monster truly wanted to win, the best strategy would've been to attack alongside the other monsters. With the creatures providing cover, the players would be overwhelmed, scattered, and unable to trace his movements.
That would have made it much easier to annihilate the players.
But instead, the monster let the other creatures in first, waiting until the players had defeated them before making his own move. Such a course of action defied logic.
Steve pondered this and became even more perplexed.
"With his strength, he could have wiped us out effortlessly. So why did he go to such lengths and deliberately lose?"
His friends shook their heads, equally baffled.
"Doesn't make any sense."
"Maybe he wanted to inflate our egos before crushing us?"
"But why bother? We're no threat to him. Why would he go through all this trouble…?"
No matter how long they speculated, Steve and his friends couldn't figure out the white-eyed monster's intentions.
One thing they did realize, though: they hadn't truly won this battle.
If victory was claimed, it was because the monster had let them win. At no point had they held the upper hand. The monster had been in control the entire time.
He decided the players would win, and only because he allowed it.
But why? Steve still had no clue.
The only option was to wait and see what the monster would do next.
If the creature had indeed planned this from the start, he'd likely make another move soon.
With that in mind, Steve shared his thoughts with his friends. Then he asked them, "I plan to stick around and see what happens. Why don't you guys go develop somewhere else?"
Steve knew full well that escaping now was the safest option. Regardless of the monster's motives, the players were bound to lose in the end. Their fate was already sealed in his hands.
Leaving would allow them to avoid being stunted by whatever the creature had planned.
Yet Steve didn't want to leave.
He understood that even if they escaped for now, they'd inevitably face the white-eyed monster again, as long as he existed in this game world.
Better to confront the problem now, when they had nothing to lose, and find a way to deal with him.
Steve's suggestion was out of concern for his friends' growth, and he wouldn't ask them to stay and face the danger with him.
His friends, however, shook their heads.
"We started this together, and you think we're going to split up now?"
"Come on, Steve. You know my curiosity. If I don't figure out what this monster's up to, I won't be able to focus on anything else."
"We can develop here too. Worst case, we bury our resources underground. It's no big deal."
Seeing his friends' loyalty, Steve was moved.
"Alright then. We'll stay here and see what game he's playing."
———
Within the city walls, Steve and his friends were probably the only ones still thinking clearly.
The other players were all caught up in the euphoria of victory.
"White-eyed monster, my ass! A few wolves scared him off! If he dares to come back, we'll have the wolves gnaw his bones to dust!"
"Now we've got a goal! Kill the white-eyed freak and train the wolves!"
"Do you think he'll be too scared to return? Wouldn't that be a waste of our effort?"
"If he doesn't come back, we'll take the wolves to him! I'm getting those supplies off him, no matter what!"
The live stream viewers were equally excited.
"Holy crap, I didn't expect such a strong monster to be afraid of wolves…"
"Something feels off about this. Wolves aren't particularly aggressive. They're neutral monsters, right?"
"Cats aren't aggressive either, but creepers still run away from them. Monsters having natural enemies isn't unusual."
"And here I thought this monster was something special. Turns out he's just… this?"
"Alright, folks. I'm heading over to join Steve's camp!"
"I'll start the trek once it's daylight. Killing that monster should yield some pretty good loot!"
In the live stream, a few players voiced concerns that something wasn't right.
But their opinions were quickly drowned out.
Most players only trusted what they saw with their own eyes.
After all, none of them had actually faced the white-eyed monster. They only knew of him through the live stream or word of mouth.
Sure, a lot of people talked about how powerful this monster was, but the players didn't really believe it.
Or rather, they didn't want to believe it.
Seeing the monster flee from the wolves had even stirred some sympathy.
Now that they had discovered his weakness, it was only a matter of time before they killed him.
Although the white-eyed monster had a weakness, his overall strength was formidable. The loot from killing him would likely be valuable.
And people had heard he was intelligent.
His lair might contain even better treasures.
Before long, a wave of player suicides swept the game, as players sought to respawn at coordinates close to Steve's camp.
One by one, they headed there.
The players at Steve's camp were thrilled to see so many players from the live stream wanting to join them.
The more, the better.
"Come on over, everyone! Let's grow stronger together and take down the white-eyed monster!"
"With so many people joining, we'll have to expand the walls again!"
"Just so we're clear, when we fight the white-eyed monster, it's every man for himself. No stealing supplies!"
———
None of the players realized that their words weren't just falling on friendly ears.
Hidden within a stone inside the city wall, Xu Yuan heard every word.
He hadn't actually left after escaping the city. Instead, he had concealed himself within the walls to observe the players' reactions.
From what he could hear, things were going well.
More players were on their way to the camp.
"Looks like the pieces are falling into place.".
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