The Boss Behind The Game

After Emily the Black Lily logged into the game, the opening animation greeted her.

She had a sweeping view of the scenery from above. There were abandoned buildings and barren lands, everything in her sight looked completely decimated.

Then the scene zoomed in. Vicious beasts prowled the land and lava erupted from the ground as screeching black gales whipped around her.

Numerous creatures were in a killing frenzy, murdering each other…

The scenery made her feel a sense of apocalyptic chaos.

Then, the title appeared...

[There is no peace in this world but an endless massacre, only the strong will survive!]

Roar!

A deafening growl boomed and the fonts of the title shattered into fragments, before falling away. In the background, a huge crack split the earth to reveal an enormous arm made up of lava and rocks, violently smashing toward her.

Since these scenes were too realistic, she broke out in cold sweat as the hand appeared to crash down on her.

Then, the animation suddenly switched scenes. This time, she found herself on an intergalactic starship.

When she was scanning her surroundings, a hologram at the main control panel was activated. It was a figure of a blonde woman.

"Commander, the Naraka Star, our previous home, is right below us. The war has decimated it but we've discovered the latest technology to rebuild it. It's time for us to return and reclaim our homeland from these creatures!"

What should I do? She touched the control panel and felt its cold metallic finishing. Black Lily's heart itched with curiosity now.

Also, she was surprised to find her numbed right leg had regained its sensitivity.

Everything in this world awed her.

"I've prepared three mech battle suits for you, please select one!"

As the artificial intelligence's voice tapered off, the hoverboard beneath Emily's feet activated and brought her inside the spaceship's mech warehouse.

Swoosh!

Three sets of different colored mechs slowly emerged from the floor.

The introduction for these mechs followed shortly after:

[Lightsaber Mech (1 Star Difficulty)]:

Mech Details: Uses Lightsaber as the main weapon and suitable for close combat. It is equipped with a laser dagger and small-caliber ion gun.

Mech Specialty: Close combat, very high maneuverability.

Mech Upgrade Trend: Protective armor strength, lightsaber strength.

[Rechargeable Mech (3 Star Difficulty)]:

Mech Details: Ranged attack mech that can utilize various rechargeable weapons, ammunition depot, and equipment depot available in the mech warehouse.

Mech Specialty: Close, mid, and ranged combat, lower maneuverability, wide variety of weapons.

Mech Upgrade Trend: Ammunition depot upgrade, weapons upgrade (ammunition depot upgrade increases internal ammo damage and inventory space)

[Auxiliary Mech (1 Star Difficulty)]:

Mech Details: Auxiliary Mech, able to produce auxiliary tools such as Nano Mech Repairing Ball and control fields (Gravity Field, Repulsive Force Field, Mech Repairing Field), equipped with a lightsaber and small-caliber ion guns.

Mech Specialty: Well-balanced attributes, capable of close and ranged combat, mainly focused on providing support in combat.

Mech Upgrade Trend: Mech strength, portable production factory.

"Commander, please select your mech suit!" the spaceship's AI requested.

Emily inquisitively inspected the three mech suits as her eyes skimmed across them. Soon, her eyes focused on a weapon strapped behind the Rechargeable Mech.

The silver, intricately-carved rifle shone with the colors of a rainbow under the light. It had a diamond-shaped scope that could focus accordingly based on the pupil's activity, while criss-crossed black stripes decorated the barrel.

A cold primal feeling washed over Emily, as she had fallen for this mysterious sci-fi weapon at first sight.

Under Emily's observation, the Rechargeable Mech began to turn so she could get a better look.

"This is the one!" Emily made a quick decision.

"Are you sure, Commander? You cannot change after selecting!"

"Yes!"

After Emily made her selection, the other two mech suits descended back into the warehouse while the Rechargeable Mech was elevated even higher. The surrounding platforms broke apart, as mechanical arms shot out to dismantle the mech.

"Lord Commander, please stand in the central loading zone, we will assemble the mech soon!"

Emily stood at the designated location, as the mechanical arms whizzed to life around her, busily attaching mech pieces on her. Then, a new menu floated before her.

[Please select the Basic Mech Transformation Options. Since you have selected the Rechargeable Mech, which is a ranged output, starting damage is sufficient, armor is recommended. It can prioritize the strengthening of maneuverability and mech strength, and follow up with weapons and ammunition depots!]

Emily was deep in her thoughts as she read the menu in front of her. It stated that it had 50 spiritual ores strength with more strengthening options below.

She had never played any games before and didn't know where to start. However, she was a sniper in reality, so the strengthening option seemed pointless to her.

Her eyes swept past the other strengthening options such as power sources and mech strengthening, before finally landing on the weapon strengthening option.

She clicked on it and the menu glowed in response to show the details of the strengthening.

[Dream Eater (Level 1 Growth Sniper Rifle)]:

Weapon Details: Made with Stellar Clan technology, this is a ranged combat weapon that can consume spiritual ore. Default shooting range 2.4 miles, total length 50 inches, rifle weight 15 pounds, rifle barrel 24 inches, attached with Stellar Diamond-shaped Aiming Scope (with night vision available), RRS sniper tripod, and 10 rounds of bullet capacity.

Default Weapon Specialty: Converts bullet heat to energy (increases damage by 10%)

Weapon Growth: Excellent

[Dream Killer (Level 1 Growth Machine Gun)]

[Desperation (Level 1 Growth Pistol)]

...

The menus of three different weapons appeared.

After some consideration, Emily clicked the strengthening button of the Dream Eater sniper rifle.

Light rays shimmered and the Dream Eater was upgraded to Level 2, making the body of the gun seem even more graceful.

After she witnessed the weapon's change, Emily was in high spirits. So, she clicked strengthening again.

"Commander, are you sure you want to level up the weapon again? Naraka Star is in danger, in the beginning stage..."

Emily ignored the AI's advice and wanted more strength. She only had eyes for this captivating Dream Eater now.

After continuous strengthening, her new Dream Eater had reached Level 5. Suddenly, the system showed a notification, "Insufficient spiritual ore, strengthening of weapon has failed!"

The Dream Eater had undergone a total transformation from its original appearance. Now, the rifle looked like a spitting venomous snake. No doubt, Emily's eyes sparkled with excitement.

At the same time, the AI's voice resounded again, "Commander, your mech is fully assembled and default strengthening is completed. Preparing to enter the battlefield, I wish you good luck!"

Just then, the hatch of the spaceship opened. A sense of weightlessness overcame Emily as she rapidly descended.

Her body zipped through clouds and nebulas, speeding up with each passing moment.

When she approached land, the boosters on her back activated. Flames shot out to slow her descent. After she had landed safely, the booster immediately detached itself.

[Blue Valley Ruins]

The name of her location appeared, before quickly fading away.

[Main Quest: Development of the ruins]:

Quest Details: Clear out every clan in the Blue Valley Ruins and use this zone as the first development center.

Quest Notification: Before dominating the Blue Valley Ruins Zone, respawn after death would be in a random location within the ruins.

[Server Launch Challenge Quest: Deadly Hunter]

Quest Details: During this quest, Hunting Points will be rewarded for each creature killed within the Blue Valley Ruins. The Top 1,000 players with the most Hunting Points in the server will be the winners of this quest.

Quest Notification: Amount of Hunting Points will be given based on the creature's strength.

Quest Reward:

1st place: Awarded the title (Deadly Hunter), 600 soul coins, 100 spiritual ore strengthening points.

2nd-10th place: Awarded 500 soul coins each, 50 spiritual ore strengthening points.

11st-100th place: Awarded 200 soul coins each, 20 spiritual ore strengthening points.

101st-1000th place: Awarded 100 soul coins each.

Remaining Quest Time: 9 days, 3 hours, and 29 minutes.

Beside the quest details was the real-time leaderboard of the players' Hunting Points.

Emily suddenly realized that this game had just launched its server less than a day ago when she looked at the Quest Notification menu.

Nothing was more important, though, than the realism of the game that had captivated Emily's heart.

She unconsciously took a step forward.

Although she wore a mech suit, her movements were not restricted. It was as if the mech suit was an extension of her body.

Just when she wanted another attempt, a noise from nearby attracted her attention.

She was standing on a small hill now, while the noise had come from below. She walked a few steps forward and saw a player in a black mech suit running for his life, with more than ten wolf-like creatures in hot pursuit behind him.

The player in the black mech suit held a lightsaber and appeared helpless against his pursuers. He occasionally turned back to slash at them, but the wolf pack was too aggressive. Whenever he stopped, they would immediately swarm him.

After some curious observation, Emily reached for her Dream Eater on her back.

As she touched the weapon, a circuit of light streamed through the stripes on the barrel.

The diamond-shaped scope shot up automatically.

"Cool!" Emily was beyond satisfied with this sniper rifle.

She lifted the sniper rifle and aimed at the evil wolves below.

The rifle scope worked just like how it was described in the introduction. It began to automatically adjust itself based on her eye movements, giving her an enlarged view of the faraway wolf pack in mere seconds.

Bang!

A bullet shot out from the barrel but Emily only felt the slightest tension from recoil.

In the distance, a bloody bullet hole suddenly caved in on an evil wolf's forehead as it was chasing after the player. Instantly, it collapsed onto the ground and ragdolled for a short distance.

Emily grinned. She widened her stance and rested her cheek on the buttstock to aim again.

Bang!

Bang!

...

One shot, one kill!

Emily, with her leveled-up sniper rifle, showcased her vicious killing prowess.

The hunt had awakened a predatory lust deep inside her. She was drunk and completely immersed in her sniper mode.

Over ten wolves were wiped out in the end, without a single missed shot.

Even the player who was being chased was terrified.

He looked at the limp bodies of evil wolves on the ground and was dumbfounded to find a bloody bullet hole through all of their foreheads.

"Damn, this accuracy is unreal!"

What surprised this player more was, other than the remarkable accuracy, the shockingly high damage that was inflicted.

This server was barely a day old and the players had to use all their power to defeat a single evil wolf. Even the weapon with the highest damage had no records of single-shot kills in the forum.

The player averted his eyes to the hill, only to see Emily strapping the sniper rifle behind her back as she turned to leave.

What a professional player!