Kapitel 14: Against a group

There hadn't been a single instance where a player encountered a group of Imps and managed to survive long enough to pass the tutorial. No matter how good Zeus was, Jason believed he wouldn't be able to survive this encounter. A bunch of comments sharing his sentiment quickly filled up the chat.

"He's triggered the greatest death flag in the tutorial," DragonSlayer123 commented.

"What do you mean by that?" GamerGoddess asked, curious.

"The route Zeus is on leads to certain death for the player. In the history of this game, no one has survived taking on a group of Imps in the tutorial. Even if he manages to take them out, he'll still end up dead," DragonSlayer123 explained.

"Why?" XtremeGamer asked.

"I don't know the exact reason, but I've seen it happen before. There was a streamer who got past this hurdle and took down all the Imps, but right after, a bone-chilling screech sounded, and his screen blacked out. He died without even knowing what killed him."

Of course, this scenario would only play out if Zeus managed to survive the Imps' onslaught. The only player who had ever taken down this group of Imps in the tutorial was the third best PvE player in the world and Zeus was a nameless nobody who no one knew about before today. It seemed like a ridiculous notion that Zeus could overcome this hurdle—a scenario that had spelled certain death for almost every player before him.

In the forest, twelve Imps stood around the young Sword Dancer, their sinister grins illuminated by the faint, eerie glow from the two moons high in the sky and the moss clinging to the tree trunks, which permeated the Darkwood Forest. Each one clutched a weapon, all eager and ready to taste blood.

Their beady red eyes glared at Zeus with ruthless intent, a cacophony of hisses and guttural sounds filling the air as they communicated amongst themselves, seemingly strategizing how to tear him to shreds and feast on his blood and flesh.

Any player would have felt immense tension in this situation, right? The viewers closely observed Zeus's face, wanting to see how he looked when he was nervous. But what they saw took them aback.

"Huh? What is this?" Many viewers muttered in confusion.

Viewers were hoping to see Zeus with a panicked expression, but all they saw was Zeus standing tall, his expression calm and unshaken as his gaze swept over the group that wanted to draw his blood. He seemed totally the opposite of a panic-stricken person!

"He's… smiling?!" DragonSlayer123 exclaimed in disbelief.

The odds seemed stacked against Zeus, but a faint smirk played on his lips.

"Twelve against me? Seems hardly fair…" Leon muttered under his breath, his eyes gleaming with ruthless intentions. "For them."

Despite being besieged by a group, Leon wasn't worried at all. This wasn't his first time fighting against a group, after all!

The viewers heard his mutterings and their eyes widened in surprise.

This... this was just too arrogant!

Cheep! Cheep! Cheep!

The Imps snarled in aggravation. Leon's lack of fear unnerved them, making them desire his death more than ever. Without further hesitation, they charged forward, weapons raised and voices screeching in a battle cry that echoed through the forest.

Three seconds later, the sharp swords of three Imps threatened to pierce his body.

Instead of retreating, he held his ground and activated [Slash (Lv: 2)].

The might of this skill was unleashed as seven rapid strikes in just one second, his swords becoming a blur.

The Imps were unable to react.

Their bodies froze mid-attack, and a moment later, blood sprayed into the air as their heads rolled off their shoulders and their headless bodies crumbled to the ground.

[System Notification: You have killed three Level 1 Ordinary Monsters: Imp Warriors. You gained 120 EXP.]

[You have killed multiple opponents simultaneously for the first time. Mid-tier normal Achievement Unlocked: Triple Kill. You gained 90 EXP!]

[Dragonslayer123]: "Damn, that was clean."

[XtremeGamer]: "If God King Zeus keeps this up, he will become the second one to pass this hurdle and establish himself as a little legend in the gaming community."

[CyberBlade]: "It's far from being possible."

[Dragonslayer123]: "Bro Blade, why are you being so negative?"

[GamerGoddess]: "He isn't being negative, he's being rational. Zeus has used his strongest skill to defeat them. Now it's on cooldown. Defeating the remaining Imps has become significantly harder for him. He might not survive the next ten seconds."

[Shadowstrike]: "I'm hoping he does."

Three out of the twelve Imps had died.

Nine more were left.

The remaining Imps quickly understood that a head-on charge wasn't going to work against Leon. They needed to be strategic, or they might all end up dead. They exchanged glances, hisses, and guttural growls, communicating their plan amongst themselves in their unique demonic language before looking back at Leon with a collective snarl.

Leon, unfazed, pointed one of his swords at them and said, "Come!"

Three more Imps rushed out this time.

The first Imp lunged straight at Leon, raising its dagger high before bringing it down. Leon stepped to the side, dodging the attack with ease, and then countered with a powerful slash of his sword. The blade bit deep into the creature's neck, cutting open its Carotid Artery and Jugular Vein.

[System Notification: You have landed a Critical Strike on the Imp. It has lost 90% of its HP.]

[System Notification: Status Effect Applied: Extreme Weakness and Major Bleeding. A low level monster suffering from these two status effects not only loses 2% of its maximum HP every second but is also unable to muster the strength fight).]

The Imp screeched in pain, stumbling back before collapsing into a bush.

Leon knew from the notification that it would die there in a few seconds even if he didn't take any further action. He didn't need to worry about it, not that he had the time to. He had fallen for their cunning plan, which was for one Imp to sacrifice itself to create an opportunity for the other two to flank him.

Cheep! Cheep!

Letting out seriously annoying cries, two Imps lunged at Leon from opposite sides, one from the left and one from the right, swinging their spiked clubs toward his body from directions that were hard to counter simultaneously.

A normal player would likely panic in this situation. Many would hesitate to act, leading to their quick demise. But Leon had a way to overcome it.

Leon activated [Guard (Lv: 2)].

*Clang! Clang!*

Two distinct metallic sounds rang out simultaneously as Leon's swords met the Imps' weapons with full force, deflecting them with ease.

[System Notification: The Imps have failed to meet the strength check.]

[System Notification: The secondary effect of [Guard (Lv: 2)] has come into effect. The Imps have been thrown off balance.]

[System Notification: Their vulnerability will end in 3 seconds.]

An opportunity had arrived.

Leon swiftly seized it. With a fluid motion, he extended his arms, holding his swords outstretched, and spun in a tight circle. His swords sliced through the necks of the imps close by, severing their heads from their bodies before they could regain their balance.

[System Notification: You have killed two Level 1 Ordinary Monsters: Imp Warriors. You gained 80 EXP!]

[System Notification: Achievement Unlocked: Double Kill. You gained 60 EXP!]

It might seem like a lot of time had passed, but it all happened in the blink of an eye.

A second or two later, another notification rang out.

[System Notification: An Imp Warrior has succumbed to injuries caused by you. You have gained 40 EXP.

The chat exploded with comments.

"He's reduced the group to half."

"At this rate, he's going to wipe them all out!"

"But what's the use of that? You know what happens after that, right? As per DragonSlayer123, he will not survive even if he kills them all."

[CyberBlade]: "Great comment. I also believe there's no way he can complete the tutorial now that he has triggered a death flag with a 100% fatality rate."

[YourNemesis]: "The famous Blade God is so confident. How about we make a bet?"

[CyberBlade]: "A bet? What's the condition?"

[YourNemesis]: "Simple. If Zeus dies and fails the tutorial, you win. But if he survives and passes it, I win. Let's make it interesting and put $5,000 on the line."

[CyberBlade]: "If you're so eager to throw away your money, who am I to refuse? You're on."

[YourNemesis]: "Great. I hope you won't act like a coward and back out."

[CyberBlade]: "I say the same to you."

[YourNemesis]: "Eve, start the bet."

Eve was the core of StreamNet.

She was an advanced artificial intelligence that managed the platform's various features.

StreamNet had a unique betting system that could be activated anytime during live streams. It could be triggered by either the streamer or the viewers. Once triggered, a betting pool would open up, and anyone could join through a link posted in the chat.

The betting system allowed users of the platform to place real money bets on live events happening in streams, with the potential to win or lose money depending on the outcome.

[Eve]: "What's the bet about, Lord Nemesis? Please specify the rules."

StreamNet's platform was divided into different ranks for streamers, with the top rank being Overlord and the second being Lord. The Overlord title was currently vacant; to achieve it, a streamer had to be the most watched and liked on StreamNet for three consecutive years, a feat no one had accomplished since the StreamNet platform went live. The lord title was considerably more easier to achieve. You just needed to be one of the most famous gamers out there. Many streamers had earned the Lord title, and when they interacted with Eve, she referred to them by their title. This meant YourNemesis was one of the top streamers on StreamNet. But CyberBlade didn't remember anyone with that name in the gaming community. He is probably using an alt, CyberBlade thought.

To register on StreamNet, you had to provide your national identity number, so even if you created an alt account, Eve would still know who you were, though other users wouldn't.

[YourNemesis]: "Zeus is in the middle of the tutorial. I'm betting $5,000 that he will pass it. CyberBlade is betting the same amount that he'll die before he completes it."

[Eve]: "Understood. A bet has been initiated between CyberBlade and YourNemesis. The betting pool has opened up, and others can now join in. The rules of the bet will be explained shortly."

As soon as this announcement was made, a prompt appeared in the chat for everyone watching, allowing them to join in on the bet made between the two StreamNet Lords.

[Eve]: "The odds will be calculated dynamically based on the number of people betting on each outcome. The more people betting on a particular outcome, the lower the payout for that option, while betting on the less likely outcome will offer a much higher reward."

"For example, if most viewers believe that Zeus will fail and die, the odds will heavily favor his death, making any bet on his survival much more lucrative if he manages to succeed. Conversely, those who bet on his failure would see smaller returns due to the safer nature of their bet."

"Bet at your own risk."

[ShadowStrike]: "Count me in. I want to bet on Zeus pulling through. Put me down for $3,000."

[GamerGoddess]: "I'm joining this fray too. A thousand bucks says he makes it through without a scratch."

Countless players jumped in on the bet, some wagering that Zeus would survive the death flag and pass the trial, others betting that he wouldn't.

The odds were 10:1 in favor of his death in the tutorial.

The chat buzzed with excitement and tension as the betting pool grew larger, with viewers of Leon's livestream anxiously waiting to see if their predictions would come true.

Leon had no idea a bet was being made. Even if he knew about it, he wouldn't have been able to join it. He had no money in his bank account.

His breath came in steady puffs as he focused on the remaining Imps.

'Six down, six more to go.'

Immense danger was lurking close by.

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