99: Abyssal demons? To players, they're just roasted meat!

The launch of "Void World" V3.0 was like pouring a vast ocean into a parched land.

Millions of new players flooded in, instantly making the dozen or so Newbie Villages Su Mu had opened become overcrowded. On the forums, thousands of new posts were born every second, ranging from exclamations of "Holy crap, this game is too realistic" to humble requests like "Is there a big shot who can carry me? I want to ride a Dragon."

Su Mu lay on the sofa in his villa, watching the online player count and energy reserves soar vertically like a rocket on the back-end interface, a look of harvest joy appearing on his face.

"The leeks are growing beautifully," he remarked, taking a satisfied sip of his cola.

However, alongside the joy, a new problem emerged.

There were too many players, and not enough monsters to grind.

Even though he had adjusted the monster respawn rate in the Newbie Villages to the limit, it still couldn't withstand the consumption speed of this locust-like swarm of players. On the forums, a post about "two guilds coming to blows over a Rank 1 Wasteland Cockroach" had already been pushed to the trending section.

If this continued, the players' enthusiasm would soon be ground down in meaningless internal friction.

"It's time to give them some excitement."

Su Mu's finger swiped across the virtual star map of the Tinder Core, and countless plane coordinates flashing with different lights flowed before his eyes. Each of these coordinates represented a real world, and each was a future "dungeon" for the players.

His finger finally stopped on a coordinate emitting a dark red, chaotic, and ominous aura.

[Coordinate No. 734: Abyss Plane (Outer Layer)]

[Danger Level: Low-Medium]

[Plane Characteristics: Chaos, Evil, Sulfur, Fire]

[Primary Species: Low-tier Demons (Imp, Lesser Demons, Horned Demons), Abyssal Worms, Flame Goblins...]

"It's you then." A wicked smile curled at the corner of Su Mu's mouth.

The demons of the Abyss Plane had tenacious vitality, were full of aggression, and were ugly to boot—born with the face of a villain, they were perfect for use as monsters. More importantly, the strength of these low-tier demons was right in the range that new players could reach if they put in a little effort.

A perfect Newbie Advancement Map.

Having made up his mind, Su Mu immediately switched to his "Game Designer" persona, his hands clattering away on the keyboard.

A minute later, a red-highlighted pinned official announcement appeared on the homepage of the "Void World" forum.

[Server-wide Emergency Event: Rifts of the Abyss — Home Defense War!]

[Announcement Content: Dear warriors of 'The Calamity,' monitoring has detected an extremely unstable space-time rift appearing on the Wasteland located at the eastern coordinates (XXX, XXX) of the 'Scavenger Camp.' The other end of the rift connects to an evil plane known as the 'Infinite Abyss'!]

[Warning: A massive amount of 'High-Experience Monsters' emitting an evil aura are invading our world through the rift! They are bloodthirsty and brutal, attempting to pollute every inch of the land beneath our feet!]

[Task: Take up your weapons and defend our home! Killing Abyss monsters will not only grant massive amounts of experience and Contribution Points but also carries a very low probability of dropping rare 'Abyss Enchanting Materials'!]

[Warriors, for the Horde... er, no, for our world! Charge!]

This announcement was like pouring a ladle of cold water into a boiling pot of oil, instantly causing the entire forum to explode.

"Home Defense War? Holy crap, a World Boss this early?"

"High-experience monsters! Brothers, this is the key point! The devs are handing out freebies!"

"Coordinates received! Assembling now! Anyone want to join? Forming a hundred-man raid to go exploring!"

The new players who had just been fighting tooth and nail over a cockroach instantly found a new goal. Their eyes turned red as they stared at the bolded and red-highlighted "High Experience" in the announcement. Fear? What was that? Was it edible? Could it be traded for Contribution Points?

In an instant, players in all the Newbie Villages were like they'd been injected with chicken blood, howling as they swarmed toward the coordinates given in the announcement... East of the Scavenger Camp, upon the charred Wasteland.

The sky darkened without warning.

It wasn't the darkness of dark clouds blocking the sun, but a kind of darkness as if something had been forcibly torn open in the sky, revealing the deep and desperate Void Realm behind it.

A massive crack hundreds of meters long, like a demon's hideous wound, spanned across the horizon. Dark red flames burned at the edges of the crack, with purple lightning occasionally darting through it.

A thick, pungent stench—a mix of sulfur, charcoal, and rotting meat—gushed out from the rift, making the players who had just arrived on the ground involuntarily cover their noses.

"This... these special effects are too top-tier! I feel like I can actually smell the stench!"

"Why do I feel a bit panicked? Can this game actually affect your emotions?"

Just as the new players were still marveling at this "realistic" cutscene, countless ear-piercing roars filled with hunger and violence echoed from within the rift.

In the next second, like a bursting dam, countless dark shadows poured out from the rift.

They were monsters with hideous visages. Most were only half a person tall, with dark red or greenish-black skin, twisted limbs, and sharp claws. Some had tattered bat wings on their backs, while others had curved horns on their heads. What they had in common were their bloody maws, with thick, foul-smelling saliva hanging from the corners, and pairs of crimson eyes filled with a thirst for blood and slaughter.

[Imp Rank 5]

[Lesser Demon Rank 7]

These low-tier cannon fodder from the Abyss were at the bottom of the food chain in their own world. But for a group of "Void World" newbies whose average Rank did not exceed 3, the pure, chaotic evil aura they emitted still brought a massive visual and psychological shock.

"Oh my god! So... so ugly!" a female player cried out, her face pale with fright.

"This thing... is it really something we can fight?"

After a brief, dead silence, there was a mountain-shaking wave of panic. The players in the front turned to run, and the whole scene instantly became a chaotic mess.

Seeing this, the Abyss demons let out even more excited roars. What they loved to see most was their prey in fear, screaming and fleeing in all directions.

They brandished their claws, spat small fireballs, and charged into the chaotic crowd.

A player named "King of Foodies" was currently experiencing the most desperate moment of his life.

He was a typical foodie, and he played the game to experience various delicacies. As a result, as soon as he entered the game, he was stumped by this desolate Wasteland world—forget delicacies, he couldn't even find a mouthful of clean water.

Right now, he was being chased by three drooling Lesser Demons. He was running out of breath when his foot slipped, he tripped over a rock, and fell flat on his face.

The three Lesser Demons surrounded him with sneers, their sharp claws raised high.

"It's over..." King of Foodies felt a chill in his heart as he looked at his empty health bar.

However, in the final moment before death descended, a surge of anger originating from the depths of a foodie's Soul overwhelmed his fear.

"Damn it! I just entered the game and haven't even had a single hot bite, and I'm going to be killed by you ugly freaks?"

"If I'm going to die, I'm going to die! But before I go, I'm going to take a bite out of you! Let's see what you taste like!"

With the intent of mutual destruction, King of Foodies suddenly leapt up from the ground and opened his mouth wide—not to attack, but to use all his strength to bite down hard on the thigh of the Lesser Demon closest to him!

*Squelch!*

A sulfur-flavored, fishy, and tough texture exploded in his mouth.

The Lesser Demon shrieked in pain, unable to understand why this seemingly weak Mortal didn't beg for mercy or run away, but instead chose to bite it.

However, King of Foodies could no longer hear its shriek.

Because on his retina, a golden, shimmering System notification he had never seen before slowly popped up.

[Ding! You have consumed 'Lesser Demon Leg Meat (Raw)'!]

[Strength permanently +0.01, Physique permanently +0.005, gained slight Fire Resistance (1%).]

[Warning: This ingredient contains trace amounts of Abyss toxins. You have entered the 'Indigestion' state, which may cause diarrhea, lasting for 30 minutes.]

King of Foodies was stunned.

He stared blankly at this System notification, then looked down at the black-red piece of meat still twitching slightly in his mouth, his mind a complete blank.

I... I didn't lose health?

And... it added permanent attributes?!

After a brief moment of stagnation, an unprecedented ecstasy, like a volcanic eruption, instantly crushed his reason.

He didn't even bother to kill the few Lesser Demons who were also in a state of confusion; instead, with the fastest hand speed of his life, he screenshotted that System notification, opened the forum, and posted it with a title enough to make all servers tremble.

[——HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP!!! MAJOR DISCOVERY!!! The monsters in this game are edible! Eating them adds permanent attribute points!!!——]

This post was like a depth charge, instantly setting off a monstrous wave in the already chaotic forum.

At first, no one believed it.

"Is the OP crazy? Eating monsters? And raw? It's good enough if you don't lose health, but adding attributes?"

"Photoshoped, right? If you can level up by eating monsters in this game, I'll livestream myself doing a handstand while having diarrhea!"

But as more and more people clicked on that incredibly clear screenshot with the System watermark, the entire forum fell into a deathly silence.

Immediately following was a volcanic eruption of fanaticism.

"Holy crap! It's real! Permanent attribute points!"

"Strength +0.01! This is more than I get from a whole day of hauling bricks!"

"What's diarrhea? In the face of becoming stronger, diarrhea is just an opening act!"

"Is this a monster invasion? This is clearly a walking buffet!"

Fear? It no longer existed.

Before the magic of the words "Permanent Attributes," the pitiful deterrent power of the Abyss demons seemed so pale and weak.

The style of the Wasteland battlefield underwent a 180-degree shocking reversal at this moment.

A player who was being chased by a Imp just a moment ago suddenly stopped his footsteps. He whipped around and looked at that Imp; there was no longer fear in his eyes, but instead... a kind of fervor a chef has when looking at pork belly on a cutting board.

The Imp was stunned by his gaze and subconsciously took half a step back.

"Hehehe... little darling, don't run..." That player drooled as he pulled a newbie wooden club from his backpack. "Let grandpa taste which part of your meat is the chewiest!"

"For the attribute points! Charge!"

No one knew who shouted first.

All the players who were still fleeing slammed on their brakes, then turned around and charged back with a fanaticism a hundred times greater than when the demons had charged.

Their slogans were uniform, but the content was chilling.

"This Horned Demon's leg is mine! No one snatch it from me!"

"That Lesser Demon's wings look good! I wonder how they taste grilled!"

"Brothers! Catch them alive! Raw ones add attributes, so cooked ones definitely will too! Maybe we can even make a nourishing soup!"

The originally terrifying and bloody battlefield instantly turned into a bustling... fresh meat market?

A life-skill player, after smashing a Imp to death with a brick, didn't bother to pick up the copper coins it dropped. Instead, he pulled a simple barbecue grill from his backpack on the spot and skillfully took out jars of cumin, chili powder, and other seasonings.

He placed a Imp leg over the fire, muttering while he grilled: "Abyss creatures have firm meat and are rich in fire elements; the texture should be similar to spicy rabbit legs. When grilling, you must watch the heat; it shouldn't be too high, otherwise it's easy to char and destroy the energy structure within..."

Beside him, another player had somehow produced a large pot acquired from the Celestial Realm and was directing several teammates to throw butchered demon remains into the pot.

"Put it all in! More water! Add some Radiant Grass (a Celestial Realm specialty) to get rid of the gamey smell! Let's make a 'Abyss Medley Stew'! See if we can brew a Great Nourishing Soup!"

There were even scholarly players holding small notebooks, conducting an "ingredient analysis" on a captured Lesser Demon.

"According to observations, the meat fibers of Imp are coarser, suitable for long-time stewing; Lesser Demon wings are rich in collagen, suitable for grilling or deep-frying; as for this Horned Demon, its keratin layer is too thick, so it should probably only be used for grinding into powder as a seasoning..."

As he spoke, he even wrote down the name of a book—"On the 108 Cooking Methods of Abyss Ingredients."

On the other side of the Abyss Rift.

An Abyss Captain responsible for supervising the battle was looking at the scene before him in confusion.

The demon vanguard under its command had already charged into the Mortal encampment. But... the expected screams, flying flesh, and desperate wails didn't appear at all.

Instead, it was a... bustling scene of activity?

It saw one of its bravest Horned Demon warriors being pinned to the ground by a dozen Mortals, one of whom was holding a massive hammer and smashing it against its forehead with a "thud thud," while shouting: "Don't break the horn! That thing can be sold as a collectible for money!"

It saw dozens of Lesser Demons it had sent out for scouting being caught in a large net that fell from the sky, and then a group of Mortals surrounded them drooling, excitedly discussing: "Steamed or braised? That is the question!"

It even saw a Mortal chasing a Imp, shouting while he ran: "Buddy in front, don't run! Let me borrow the tail on your butt! I'm just missing a skewer for my meat kebabs!"

The Abyss Captain was completely bewildered.

Its brain, which had been filled with chaos and evil for billions of years, crashed for the first time.

This... what is the situation?

These Mortals... why aren't they afraid of us?

Why is the look in their eyes when they see us more greedy than when we see fresh Souls?!

Are we... aren't we here to spread fear and destruction?

Why... do I feel like we are the ones being hunted?

It looked at the battlefield shrouded in bonfires and cooking smoke, smelling the strange aroma of meat wafting through the air that made even a demon's mouth water, and a thought that overturned its entire demonic life arose spontaneously.

Are we... here... as stock?