2026-04-09 05:56:00Li Ming woke to the first gray light creeping over Qingyun City. His back ached against the fountain stone, but the short rest had cleared his head. The global timer blinked in the corner of his vision.
[First Monster Tide: 12 minutes until arrival.]
He stood, stretched, and checked his stats one last time.
Strength: 15
Agility: 16
Vitality: 13
Intelligence: 14
Mana: 9
Luck: 8
Skills:
• Knife Proficiency (Passive Lv.1)
• Street Brawler’s Instinct (Passive Lv.1)
• Scuttler Carapace Fragment (Passive Lv.1)
• Basic Leatherworking Fragment (Passive Lv.1)
• Crude Bat Mastery (Passive Lv.1)
• Basic Cooking Skill (Passive Lv.1)
• Desperate Survival Instinct (Passive Lv.1)
• Basic Sprint (Active Lv.1)
• Fear Resistance (Passive Lv.1)
• Scuttler Venom Resistance (Passive Lv.1)
• Group Coordination Fragment (Passive Lv.1)
• Brutal Intimidation (Active Lv.1)
Twelve small pieces, but it would be enough to survive the opening wave if he played it right. He swapped the rusty pipe for the better dagger he’d looted and tucked three healing pellets into his pocket. Then he moved.
The residential park was too quiet now. He needed a place where people would gather and die, somewhere the monsters would hit hard but not instantly wipe everyone out. The old commercial street two blocks over. It had narrow lanes, abandoned cars for cover, and enough survivors who thought barricading shops would save them.
Li Ming reached the edge of the street with eight minutes left. Already a crowd of thirty or so had formed. Some had makeshift weapons. Others just looked terrified. A few had formed loose groups, shouting orders like they knew what they were doing.
He picked a second-floor balcony on an empty noodle shop, climbed the fire escape, and crouched behind the railing. Forty meters from the main cluster. Edge of his range. Perfect for watching, not just that, it was also close enough to harvest.
The sky cracked wider overhead. Black shapes poured through faster now, dozens of scuttlers, bigger wolf-like things with glowing red eyes, and a few hulking brutes like the one he’d seen earlier. The tide had started.
Screams ripped through the street.
Li Ming stayed low and watched.
The first wave hit the barricades. Monsters slammed into the crowd. A man with a baseball bat went down swinging. Two women tried to run and got cut off. Bodies fell fast.
The absorption pulls came in quick pulses.
[Throne Absorption triggered.]
[Absorbed: Basic Club Mastery (Passive Lv.1)]
[Absorbed: Adrenaline Rush (Active Lv.1) – 30-second boost to Strength and Agility, 5-minute cooldown.]
[Stat bonuses: +1 Strength, +1 Agility]
Li Ming’s lips pressed into a smile. Good skills. He activated Adrenaline Rush immediately to test it. Power surged through his arms and legs. Stronger. Faster. He’d save the rest for when he needed it.
Down below, the four loudmouths from the park had joined the crowd. Their leader was yelling, bat swinging, trying to look like a hero. Two of his guys died in the first thirty seconds, clawed apart by a wolf-thing that lunged from the side.
Li Ming felt the stronger pulls from the closer deaths.
[Throne Absorption triggered – close range.]
[Absorbed: Pack Hunter Instinct (Passive Lv.1) – Better awareness of group enemy movements.]
[Absorbed: Crude Shield Bash (Active Lv.1) – Stun chance with blunt weapon.]
[Stat bonuses: +1 Vitality, +1 Intelligence]
He was building fast now. The range was working exactly as planned. Stay on the edge, let the chaos do the work.
A bigger brute, level 9, smashed through a shop window right under his balcony. Three survivors tried to fight it. They lasted ten seconds. Li Ming leaned over just enough to stay in range.
[Throne Absorption triggered.]
[Absorbed: Brute Hide Fragment (Passive Lv.1) – Minor blunt damage reduction.]
[Stat bonus: +1.5 Strength]
His body felt heavier, more solid. He checked the timer again. The first wave was ending, but the system message warned a second, stronger one was coming in twenty minutes.
Below, the loudmouth leader was still alive, covered in blood, screaming at the others to follow him. Only two of his original group remained. They started retreating toward the end of the street, straight toward Li Ming’s building.
He cursed under his breath. Not ideal. If they spotted him, they might drag him into their mess.
But they were also bringing deaths with them.
A fresh pack of scuttlers and two wolves chased the group. The leader swung wildly. One of his guys tripped and got swarmed.
Li Ming stayed hidden as the body fell twenty meters away.
[Throne Absorption triggered.]
[Absorbed: Basic Tactics Fragment (Passive Lv.1) – Slight improvement in reading battlefield flow.]
[Stat bonus: +1 Luck]
The other was panicking now. The leader looked up, eyes wide, and spotted Li Ming on the balcony.
“You! Kid! Get down here and help or we’ll drag you down ourselves!”
Li Ming didn’t answer. He just watched.
The leader cursed and charged the wolves with the last guy. He died in the next clash. Absorptions hit clean and fast, more passives, more small stat bumps. Li Ming’s Strength hit 18. Agility 18. He was starting to feel dangerous.
The leader was the last one standing. Bleeding badly, bat broken, he backed up against the wall directly below the balcony. Thirty meters.
Li Ming stood slowly. No point hiding now.
The final wolf lunged at the leader. The man screamed and swung a weak punch.
Li Ming dropped from the balcony, landing with a roll thanks to the new agility. He activated Sprint and closed the last distance in a blur. The dagger flashed once across the wolf’s throat. It dropped.
The leader stared at him, eyes wide with shock and relief. “Holy shit, kid, you’re fast. Join us...we can...”
Li Ming looked at him coldly. The man was at death’s door anyway. Bleeding out. No healing pellets left.
He stepped closer. Ten meters.
The leader tried to smile. “We’ll rule this city...”
Li Ming activated Brutal Intimidation.
“Shut up.”
The shout hit like a hammer. The leader froze for two full seconds, stunned.
Li Ming drove the dagger into his chest. Clean. Quick.
The man gasped once and slid down the wall.
[You have killed a Player (Level 7).]
[Experience gained: 210]
[Basic Loot: 45 Copper Coins, 2x Minor Healing Pellets, Leather Vest (low quality).]
[Throne Absorption triggered – point blank.]
[Absorbed: Leader’s Command (Active Lv.1) – Temporary minor morale boost to nearby allies (useless alone).]
[Absorbed: Full Bat Mastery (Passive Lv.2)]
[Major stat bonuses integrated: +3 Strength, +2 Vitality, +1 Agility]
Li Ming felt the power settle into him like cold steel. His stats jumped noticeably. He looted the body without emotion, then dragged it behind a car.
The second wave was starting. Bigger monsters now. More screams from farther down the street.
He checked his new stats.
Strength: 21
Agility: 20
Vitality: 17
Still not strong enough to fight the tide head-on. But strong enough to keep harvesting.
Li Ming wiped the dagger clean and moved deeper into the chaos, staying on the edges, always within fifty meters of the dying.
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The Price of Growth
They walked for two full days through the outer crimson wastes, avoiding main patrol routes. Li Ming led the way with Zhao Feng watching the rear, while his parents stayed close in the middle. The journey was slower than he liked, but necessary. His father’s wounds still ached with every step, and his mother tired easily in Floor 1’s heavier atmosphere.During a short rest under the overhang of a shattered obelisk, his mother handed him a piece of dried meat from their dwindling supplies.“Eat,” she said firmly. “You’ve been giving most of the good portions to us.”Li Ming accepted it without argument. “We’ll find more soon. There are smaller ruins ahead that aren’t heavily contested.”Zhao Feng wiped sweat from his brow. “Boss, the outer regions… what’s waiting for us there? More monsters like those wolves?”“Worse,” Li Ming replied. “But fewer organized factions. We can train safely. My parents need to get stronger quickly. The Vanguard won’t stop looking.”His father straightened a
Weight of Blood
The crimson night pressed heavy on the hidden camp. Li Ming sat motionless on a high ledge inside the ruins, short sword balanced across his thighs, eyes scanning the darkness beyond their crude wards. Below, in the main chamber, the soft glow of a muted crystal lantern illuminated his parents resting on makeshift beds of scavenged cloth and padding.He hadn’t slept.Zhao Feng’s quiet snores drifted up occasionally, but Li Ming’s mind refused to quiet. Having his family here on Floor 1 felt both right and terrifyingly wrong. Every instinct screamed that he had just painted a massive target on the last people he cared about.A soft footstep behind him made him turn.His mother approached carefully, clutching a thin blanket around her shoulders. Her face still bore the bruises from Floor 0, but her eyes were clear and determined.“You should rest, Ming’er,” she said softly, sitting beside him. “You’ve been fighting non-stop.”“I’m fine,” he replied, voice low. “The penalties are still a
Through the Gate
The Central Plaza was a battlefield of shifting alliances and desperate screams. Factions clashed over control of the Ascension Gate while scattered monsters from the lingering tide still prowled the edges. Li Ming crouched behind an overturned bus, supporting his father with one arm while his mother pressed close on the other side.“We’re too exposed here,” Li Ming muttered, eyes scanning the chaos. “The Gate is two hundred meters ahead, but three factions are fighting over it right now.”His father grimaced, trying to stand straighter despite the pain. “Then we wait for an opening, son. You’ve kept us alive this far.”His mother touched Li Ming’s bloodstained sleeve. “Ming’er… you’re hurt too. That penalty you mentioned — is it making things worse?”Li Ming shook his head. “It’s manageable. Just stay behind me and run when I say. No hesitation.”A massive explosion rocked the plaza as two rival guilds collided near the Gate. Li Ming saw his chance.“Now!”He surged forward, half-car
Descent
The Ascension Gate spat Li Ming out onto the blood-soaked ruins of Qingyun City’s Central Plaza like an unwanted memory. The moment his feet touched Floor 0 ground, the penalties slammed into him like a physical blow.His body felt heavier. Slower. Weaker.[Floor Descent Penalty Active: All Stats -15% for 72 hours. Throne absorption quality -60%. Cross-floor range further restricted.]Li Ming staggered for half a second, then forced himself upright. The familiar cracked blue sky overhead looked almost comforting after the oppressive crimson of Floor 1. But there was no time for nostalgia.He moved.The plaza was still a graveyard of the Second Tide. Piles of monster corpses rotted under the sun while survivors picked through the remains. Li Ming kept the Shadow Veil Cloak active and his head low, slipping through the chaos like a ghost. Even with the penalties, his base power was still far above most Floor 0 survivors.He headed straight for the residential block, heart pounding harde
Echoes from Below
Zhao Feng winced as he leaned against the rocky outcrop, clutching the fresh bandage Li Ming had tied around his torso. The crimson sun hung low, casting long bloody shadows across the wastes. They had been moving for hours, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the collapsed cave.“You should have left me,” Zhao Feng muttered, voice rough with pain. “I was dead weight back there.”Li Ming scanned the horizon before answering. “Dead weight doesn’t complain this much. Save your strength. We still have a long way before we can rest.”A weak chuckle escaped Zhao Feng. “You know… when you first saved us, I thought you were just another strong loner looking for cannon fodder. But you pulled me out. Twice now.” He paused, studying Li Ming’s face. “Why do you fight like this? Most people with your power would’ve built a big group by now. Ruled something.”Li Ming remained silent for a long moment, eyes distant. “Big groups attract attention. Attention brings betrayal. I
Fractured Alliances
Zhao Feng slammed his axe into the ground, still buzzing from the latest ambush. “Did you see their faces when the wolves hit? Lin Mei looked like she wanted to kill her own men!”The group had gathered in their newest temporary shelter — a shallow cave system hidden behind a collapsed tower. A small crystal lantern cast flickering red light across their faces. Su Ling was bandaging a cut on one man’s arm while the others counted loot.Li Ming leaned against the far wall, arms crossed, listening.“We’re actually doing it,” said a wiry man named Guo Wei, grinning as he weighed a pouch of Floor Coins. “Three supply convoys in five days. They must be bleeding resources by now.”“Keep your voice down,” Su Ling warned. “We got lucky today. If that wolf pack hadn’t shown up—”“Lucky?” Zhao Feng laughed. “That was the boss’s timing. He always knows when to strike.”All eyes turned toward Li Ming. He met their gazes steadily but said nothing at first. The praise felt hollow. Praise often prec
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