33: Version 2.0 Public Beta Launched! The First Batch of "Mages" Arrive

The white light dissipated.

There was no nauseating smell of sulfur.

Nor were there rotting severed limbs everywhere.

In their place was the scent of green grass, so sweet it was almost cloying.

"Holy crap..."

A player who had just logged in took a deep breath, his expression as intoxicated as an addict's:

"This air... its sugar content has at least three pluses!"

"Look at the sky! What's that? Jellyfish? Flying jellyfish?!"

"This grass! This texture! Is every single blade of grass modeled with independent calculations? Did that old scoundrel Su burn his graphics card as a sacrifice to the heavens?"

A thousand players, wearing tattered novice cloth armor and holding various "physical staves" (steel pipes, wrenches, entrenching shovels), stood like a crowd of refugees just entering a city, staring in a daze within the edge teleportation array of the [Forest of Arcane and Truth].

It was too beautiful here.

Giant ancient trees pierced the clouds, with glowing vines hanging from their canopies. Floating peaks loomed in the distance, and several wyverns let out long screeches.

Compared to that Wasteland where one dared not touch this (radiation) or eat that (viruses).

This place was simply paradise.

"Uh... I want to try..."

A player with the ID "Shennong Tastes a Hundred Grasses" stared at a plant by his feet that emitted a faint blue glow—looking like both a mushroom and a flower—and swallowed hard.

"Brother, this is a magic world," a teammate beside him advised. "What if it's poisonous..."

"Fear my ass! I have resurrection coins!"

Brother Shennong, without a word, pulled up the blue plant and stuffed it, roots, soil, and all, directly into his mouth.

He chewed.

He swallowed.

The area fell silent for a second.

"What does it taste like?" someone asked.

"A bit like mint, and a bit like..."

Before he could finish his sentence.

Brother Shennong fell straight backward.

He thudded stiffly onto the grass.

**[System Notification: Player "Shennong Tastes a Hundred Grasses" has accidentally consumed "Faint Blue Datura (Sapling)."]**

**[Status: Full Body Paralysis (Duration: 3 hours).]**

"..."

After a brief silence.

No one came to his rescue.

No one even showed sympathy.

Click! Click!

The surrounding players instantly swarmed him, snapping screenshots frantically, with some even posing with peace signs for a photo.

"Awesome! The first wipeout of the server launch!"

"Is this the 'Forest of Truth'? You can find the truth as long as you court death?"

"Quick! Post his coordinates on the forum! This is our landmark now!"

The commotion finally attracted the attention of the forest's masters.

Rustle, rustle.

The bushes shook violently.

A dozen creatures with sickly green skin, pointed ears, and crude wooden spears emerged.

They weren't tall, only about 1.2 meters.

But that didn't stop them from wearing expressions that looked at the players like they were trash.

The leader wore a robe clearly sewn from some beast's fur and held a wooden staff embedded with a cloudy crystal.

**[Gruul the Broken-Tusk (Goblin Priest - Elite)]**

**[Rank: Lv.8]**

"Humans?"

Geluu narrowed his eyes, a glint of greed flashing in his cloudy eyeballs.

Although these humans looked poor, lacking even decent iron armor.

But with this tender skin and flesh... they were barely qualified to be today's dinner or an offering to the great deity.

"Kill them!!"

Geluu waved his staff, letting out a sharp roar:

"Skin them!! Turn them into totems!!"

If these were Wasteland zombies, they would have charged brainlessly by now.

But these goblins actually knew how to coordinate.

The shield-bearers in the front raised their wooden shields, while the spear-throwers in the back raised their javelins in unison.

The Killing Intent blowing toward them made the laughing players snap to their senses instantly.

"Red-named mobs!!"

"Holy crap! These goblins use tactics!!"

"Where are the mages?! Didn't a batch of players change classes to mages?! Go get 'em!!"

The crowd parted automatically.

Li Qiang (ID: Also a Ruthless Person) strode forward.

He was still wearing his signature racerback tank top, but he wasn't holding his favorite sledgehammer.

He was empty-handed.

His Face wore the confidence of a "peerless master."

"Everyone, stand back."

Li Qiang extended his right hand, pointing his index finger at the Goblin Priest opposite him with a disdainful gaze:

"Let me show you what it means to be a noble... Arcanist."

In his dream last night, he had actually conjured a ball of fire.

Even if it was only the size of a lighter's flame.

But as long as his will was strong enough... "Burn... for me!!"

Li Qiang's eyes widened suddenly, veins popping on his forehead; he looked more strained than if he were constipated.

He held his breath.

He held it even more.

Poof.

A sound like a fart.

A tiny, weak flame—barely enough to light a cigarette—trembled as it emerged from his fingertip.

It flickered as the wind blew.

"..."

The goblins opposite him were stunned.

The

players behind him were also stunned.

Gruul the Broken-Tusk blinked in confusion at first, then burst into a piercing laugh.

"Gah gah gah!!"

"This is human magic?!"

"Are you here to light our campfire? You idiot!!"

Humiliation.

Blatant humiliation.

Li Qiang's Face instantly turned the color of pig liver.

"Laughing?!"

"You damn well dare to laugh at me?!"

The irritable "fourth calamity" genes etched into his bones instantly overwhelmed his vanity of wanting to be a Mage Lord.

Screw your casting bars!

Screw your Arcane!

Clack!

It was the crisp sound of metal chambering a round.

Li Qiang reached into his backpack and pulled out that big, dark thing with cloth wrapped around its stock—

**[Modified S1897 Shotgun]**.

But he didn't fire immediately.

Looking at the tiny flame on his fingertip that hadn't gone out yet, a wicked idea struck him, and he pressed his finger directly onto the cold barrel.

Sizzle!

**[Skill Triggered: Elementary Fire Enchantment (Self-Created).]**

The originally black barrel instantly glowed with an ominous dark red layer.

"I'll give you something to laugh about!!"

Li Qiang took a step forward, the muzzle almost shoved against Geluu's nose:

"Eat this!!"

BOOM!!!

This wasn't a gunshot.

This was a cannon blast.

The buckshot, infused with fire elements, turned into a fan-shaped firestorm the moment it left the barrel.

Geluu didn't even have time to raise his staff.

Its mocking expression was still frozen on its Face as its entire upper body was turned into a honeycomb.

And a roasted one at that.

The smell of burnt flesh instantly overwhelmed the scent of green grass.

"Gah?!"

The remaining goblins were dumbfounded.

Their pitiful brain capacity couldn't comprehend why that black iron tube could spit out something more terrifying than a Fireball spell.

"Is this... a Magic Swordsman?"

The players behind him swallowed hard, looking at the smoking muzzle as their eyes gradually lit up.

It was the light of an Epiphany.

"So that's how it is!!"

"Who says mages have to stand still and cast spells?!"

"Enchanting bullets with fireballs... enchanting entrenching shovels with frost spells..."

"Brothers! I've realized it!!"

Wang Wei (ID: Luban No. 7) pushed up his glasses and pulled out several homemade grenades from his backpack, drawing strange talismans on them:

"Since magic can enhance physics..."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

He suddenly pulled the pin and threw the grenade engraved with "Explosive Runes" into the goblin crowd:

"For science!! Send them to the sky!!"

Rumble!!

If Li Qiang's shot just now was the signal.

Then now, it was an asymmetrical slaughter.

"Charge!!"

"Snatch the shield from that goblin! It's wood, it can be used as firewood!!"

"Don't kill the one with the javelin! I want his loincloth! It's linen! The tailor shop's buying price is 5 points!!"

How was this a confrontation between two armies?

This was clearly a swarm of locusts that hadn't eaten for three days rushing into a buffet.

The goblins collapsed.

Their proud javelins were blocked by players using door planks (just torn down).

They tried to engage in melee combat, only to be pinned down and grinded into the dirt by a group of incredibly strong men (developed from hauling bricks in the Wasteland).

"Ice Spear!!"

A cold, feminine shout.

Finally, a mage with a normal style made a move.

Lin Xiaowan (ID: Rich Woman Hungry) stood on a giant rock, the [Frost Queen's Sigh] in her hand emitting a dazzling purple light.

She didn't need to hold her breath like she was constipated like Li Qiang.

The guidance function of her pay-to-win equipment allowed her to simply wave her staff elegantly.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A dozen crystal-clear ice spikes fell from the sky, accurately pinning several goblins trying to escape to the tree trunks.

"Wow! Rich Woman is awesome!"

"Look at those special effects! Each ice spike must cost several bucks, right?"

Lin Xiaowan brushed her hair back, not yet having time to enjoy the crowd's praise.

"Stop posing!!"

Wang Wei's voice came from ahead, carrying a feverish tremble:

"Quick, come help!!"

"The tribe is right ahead! That pillar... that totem pole!!"

"The energy circuits on it are alive!!"

Wang Wei was currently sprawled over a giant wooden totem pole, stroking the coarse patterns like a pervert, while the laser cutter in his hand buzzed:

"Dismantle it!!"

"We must dismantle it completely!! If we reverse-engineer this thing, we might be able to make infinite energy batteries!!"

Ten minutes later.

The battle ended.

The originally peaceful and quiet goblin tribe now looked like a ruin ravaged by a tornado.

Hundreds of goblins had either turned into experience points or Materials in the players' backpacks.

Even several floor tiles had been pried up and taken.

That unlucky Elite Priest Geluu, though not yet dead (being an elite mob with high HP), was not far from it.

It was tied up securely and hung from a tree.

Its robes were gone.

Its staff was gone.

Even the bone chain around its neck had been snatched away.

Only a tattered loincloth remained, fluttering in the wind.

It looked at this group of humans arguing over the uneven distribution of loot, and cloudy tears finally flowed down.

**"Demons..."**

**"You are the... demons..."**

...Ten thousand meters above.

On an invisible airship.

Su Mu held a glass of red wine, watching the scene below through a holographic screen.

He fell silent.

Although he had long known the nature of these players.

But seeing them rob a goblin tribe—originally set as a "novice tutorial level"—until not even a mouse hole was left within ten minutes... was still quite shocking.

"I originally..."

Su Mu rubbed his temples, his tone complex:

"Wanted them to come here to learn the elegance and profundity of magic civilization."

"The result?"

"They turned this place into a bandit's den."

The System's cold notification sounded at the right time:

**[Server-wide Achievement Unlocked: Goblin Slayer (Elementary).]**

**[Novice Village (Goblin Tribe) Occupied.]**

**[Warning: The players' high-intensity looting has attracted the gaze of certain beings deep within the Arcane Forest.]**

**[Warning: The Green Dragon of Emerald Lakeside is awakening.]**

Su Mu glanced at the warning message.

The helplessness at the corner of his mouth slowly vanished, replaced by a mischievous grin of someone who loved watching the world burn.

"Green Dragon?"

"I hope they'll show it some Face."

"After all..."

He looked at Wang Wei and Li Qiang on the screen, who were holding saws and preparing to saw the base of the totem pole.

"These guys would squeeze two taels of oil even out of a stone."

"A Dragon?"

"Isn't that just a mobile treasury covered in 'purple gear'?"

Su Mu took a sip of red wine and lightly tapped the Void Realm:

"Since they love dismantling so much..."

"Then let's issue a new quest."

**[Server-wide Announcement:]**

**[Congratulations to the players for capturing the outpost! The second stage of the main quest has begun:]**

**[Objective: Establish the "Truth" Defense Line.]**

**[Description: Heard that the neighbors deep in the forest aren't very friendly to us? Then let's use our passion (firepower) to say hello to them.]**

**[Also: Buying Dragon Scales, Dragon Blood, and... Dragon Eggs at high prices.]**