500 experience points for this? Liam's frown deepened. "So this happens in every puddle? You guys are all leveling up in this way?"
"Yes! Yes! Isn't this brilliant?" Mei Mei proudly bobbed her head up and down.
He looked at Derek, who also seriously nodded.
"Alright. How long have you guys been doing this?"
"Four days now! Isn't our leveling speed amazing? If only these tadpoles showed up faster, we could speed up even more!" Mei Mei clicked her tongue in disappointment.
Sigh. Liam bitterly smiled and turned to look at Yessika. "Can you sense where the monster is?"
"Huh? What monster? Brother, you are being paranoid! There is really nothing here. See." Mei Mei shrugged and jumped into the puddle, going up and down in the muddy mess and the soggy land.
Liam did not bother talking to the little idiot anymore and grabbed her to pull her back. "Yessika?"
"My Lord, the beast slumbers under the land."
"Can you sense how strong it is?"
The dark elf closed her eyes for a second, but she instantly revealed a startled expression.
"MY LORD, it is stirring awake! My probing disturbed it… It is a very powerful beast. I am not sure even if I would be able to handle it. My Lord, it's best to leave from here."
"Huh? Brother, what is she-"
However, Liam did not allow Mei Mei even to finish her sentence. He instantly grabbed her and jumped onto Luna. "EVERYONE LEAVE NOW! GET ON YOUR MOUNTS! FAST!"
Liam, Mei Mei, and the dark elf climbed onto Luna, who quickly lifted up into the air. The others as well did not dare question or doubt Liam.
They followed his command like their religion, and everyone was in the air, on their bat mounts.
"DON'T STOP. DON'T SLOW DOWN!" Liam shouted. Luna zoomed forward, and the other bats hastily flapped their wings, following behind them.
Only after reaching a safe distance, everyone stopped. They all landed back on the ground again.
Luna was not panting, but all the other mounts were breathless and gasping. They had really run out of that place at full speed, though they had no idea why.
All eyes turned to Liam to see if he would explain, but suddenly a loud roar reverberated from a distance. Giant explosive sounds echoed, and they could feel the tremors on the ground from where they were standing.
"We should keep moving. That should be the beast."
Everyone gulped. This was where they had been leveling for the past few days. This was… living on the edge.
Only after putting some more distance between that spot and their group everyone slightly relaxed.
However, if one really really focused and paid close attention, they could still hear the beast. It had to be at least Level 100 or maybe even 200! Just how many dangers were lurking in the nether realm?
"It's fine. There is no need to worry. I doubt the beast would have attacked you guys. After all, you have been there for four days. Maybe you guys could have really got away with it." Liam reassured everyone.
What he said was not false, but he left out the part where everyone was standing on thin ice that could crack beneath their feet at any second.
"Putting this matter aside, I don't want you all to focus purely on leveling. Don't go for these shortcuts."
This was a familiar trap that many people in his life had fallen into. There had been some leveling maniacs in his time that occupied the top spots on the leaderboard.
Some of them did not even belong to any guilds and still outshone most players and became huge celebrities. However, in the end, all of this did not matter.
When the apocalypse launched, they had to start from scratch, and at that time, they were left behind in the dust as mere weaklings. Blindly gaining levels was not going to do anything.
"Think about it," Liam explained. "Not everything from the game is reflected in the real world."
"We become weakened if we die a lot of times, but we are not becoming stronger outside if we are stronger inside the game."
"So we should keep our priorities straight. We should focus on improving our skills and learning how to fight as if this was the real world. Leveling up is only secondary."
"The only thing I would suggest for you all to be open to is anything related to your soul."
"Soul fighting techniques, soul strengthening items, soul weapons, spirit weapons that bind to your soul, spirit beasts that bind to your soul."
"Luna here is also a spirit beast."
"I don't know more to explain it to you guys further. I am trying to figure things out just like you all. So I hope you can all listen to me and focus on the important things first."
"I know it's time-consuming, but try to explore more places, fight more beasts. After you are comfortable fighting a group of beasts, move on to the next location. If you finish exploring it, move on to the next location."
"Keep moving and exploring, and keep challenging yourself. Our survival might depend on it." Liam patiently advised, giving everyone a lot to think about.
He then called over Derek, Shen Yue, and Mei Mei aside. "Derek, you should log out and make your move now."
"Yes, Sir." Derek nodded. He did not ask any questions and immediately logged out.
"Eh? What move? What?" Mei Mei blankly stared at the empty spot where the big macho man was previously standing.
"Right. I need to inform you girls about this. You should log out in a bit and stay offline. We have guests coming to our house."
"Guests? We have relatives?" Mei Mei innocently tilted her head to the side.
"Heh. Why don't you find out for yourself?" Liam chuckled. "Log out in another 5 hours. That should be good enough. Maybe order some food etc."
"Eh? Why this suspense?" Mei Mei crumpled her nose and rubbed it with a cute pout. However, Liam had already turned to talk to Yessika.
Shen Yue chuckled, watching this. Liam loved to tease his sister and always did it. "Mei Mei, I think Derek might be coming." She pitied the girl and told her whatever she had managed to gather from the conversation.
"What? Are you serious? Derek is going to come to our house?" Mei Mei was shocked.
Shen Yue nodded, her expression also turning serious. "This should be why we purchased so many supplies. Remember. I think maybe the time for all that is coming soon."
"Right." Mei Mei nodded. The two looked at Liam for a few seconds and then quickly left to work on the mob they had spotted earlier, a couple of miles away.
The others also quickly began doing the same. Liam's words were eye-opening. He had said similar things before, but this time they also knew about the deaths worldwide because of the game.
They had seen this with their own eyes. Things were no longer just a conjecture. So they did not dare take it lightly. Everyone started working hard, paying attention to the fighting techniques.
***
Mass Release Part 1 Chapter 1~
Please thank Matthias_Schmidt for sponsoring this mass release!
