Chapter 361 - 345: [Regional Event Announcement: Demonic Invasion]
Looking at the regional announcement that just appeared, several players with the [City Guard] tag who were rushing over couldn’t help but complain along the way:
"You’ve got to be kidding me. Someone’s causing trouble in *this* location? Our performance review for today won’t be affected, will it?"
"Sigh, it probably won’t... Speaking of which, I’m actually pretty jealous of that post. You can just go AFK. The only downside is no performance points, unlike us, who have to run around grinding."
But as soon as they reached the city gate, the scene before them left them stunned.
The player tagged [Gatekeeper Grandpa] had been turned into a desiccated corpse and was being devoured by several men in black. At the same time, the [Gatekeeper Grandpa] player himself had already begun his "corpse run" to respawn, shouting in the [Anhe City] regional channel.
[Gatekeeper Grandpa]: "Evil Cultivator invasion! Evil Cultivator invasion! We’ve got a situation here!!"
But the few City Guards who witnessed this scene with their own eyes had a strange reaction—they were actually a little excited!
’What the hell is this? Resident Evil? A new event is definitely starting!’
As they took a closer look, they saw information and a red health bar instantly appear above the enemies’ heads, since they weren’t trying to hide: [Demonic Evil Cultivator · Qi Refining Stage]
Simultaneously, several red dots representing hostiles appeared on the minimaps of all official personnel.
Immediately after, a regional announcement flooded the vision of every player within the [Anhe City] area.
[Regional Emergency Event · Anhe City Region — Demonic Invasion]
Warning: Demonic forces have begun their invasion of your birth city! The battle to defend Anhe City has officially begun!
[Event Background]:
Demonic Evil Cultivators see mortals as nothing more than grass to be trampled and food to be consumed. They intend to slaughter everyone in Anhe City. As someone born in Anhe City, you will not escape this calamity if the city falls. To avoid becoming a pariah like a stray dog, to protect the land of your birth, take up your arms and fight to the death!
[Event Rules]:
Closed Battlefield: Effective immediately, all external communication is prohibited within the Demonic Mist formation in the Anhe City region. Logging out will be considered as forfeiting the event, and you will be unable to log back in until the event ends. Note: You cannot change your cosmetic outfits within the event area.
Delayed Death Penalty: During the event, players will not lose levels or experience upon death and can respawn indefinitely.
If the city defense ultimately fails, the respawn points within Anhe City will be destroyed, and all accumulated death penalties will be applied at once! At that time, all players whose spawn point is in or near Anhe City will be forcibly changed to the [Vagrant] class!
Warning: Negative statuses associated with the [Vagrant] identity
[Stray Dog]: Lose household registration protection. You will not be protected by the law anywhere within the Daqian Dynasty. Being killed by an NPC or player will not result in a red name for the attacker.
[Despised by All]: All attributes decreased by 20%. Unable to enter any official cities. Most NPCs may refuse to trade with you.
[Worthless Life]: Death penalty doubled, and respawn time increased.
[Victory Conditions & Reward Settlement]:
Survival > 90%: Great Victory! All participants’ contribution points × 300%!
Survival > 60%: Pyrrhic Victory. All participants’ contribution points × 200%.
Survival > 30%: Barely Held On. Base contribution points retained.
Survival
[Kill Drops]:
Cultivation Split: After killing a Demonic Evil Cultivator, 50% of their Cultivation will be converted into universal experience points [Cultivation/Inner Strength], to be divided among all participants in the kill. The one who lands the killing blow will receive a double share.
Rare Drop: A very small chance to drop an [Incomplete Demon Cultivation Skill].
[Note: While Demonic Cultivation Skills allow for faster progress, they often come with severe side effects and hidden dangers. Cultivate with caution.]
[Leaderboard Rewards]: Top Rank, 1st Place: Reward: [Random Orthodox Cultivation Technique Introductory Fragment] ×1!
2nd-5th Place: Reward: [Random Martial Arts Secret Manual] ×1!
[Post-War Activation: Contribution Store]
Activation Condition: Successfully defend Anhe City.
Exchangeable Items: Martial arts manuals, special titles, limited-edition cosmetic outfits, pet eggs, etc. Can be exchanged using contribution points + copper coins.
[Special Perk] The store’s daily refresh has a very small chance of stocking an [Incomplete Cultivation Technique], which requires a massive amount of contribution points + a large sum of Spirit Stones to exchange.
[Special Notice: Daqian Tax]
As Anhe City is currently a territory of the [Daqian Dynasty], all exchanges and material transactions are subject to an additional 35% [Daqian Tax] paid to the imperial court! This tax cannot be paid with contribution points!
...
Before the players could even digest the massive amount of information from the first regional announcement, a second, exclusive announcement for personnel within the Anhe City system was slapped right in the faces of these "player-officials."
[Anhe Government Office · Wartime Emergency Mobilization Order]
The current situation has triggered one of the conditions of >, initiating a derivative city defense quest from the Government Office.
"You who eat the people’s grain must bear the people’s worries. As an official, you must lead from the front! Those who retreat from the enemy or fail to save those in peril are not fit to hold office!"
[Quest Objective]: As an organization established to carry out Miss Su’s will, please use your authority and power to become the first line of defense for this city!
[Target Personnel]: All temporary council members, all enlisted City Guards.
[Official Position Exclusive Privileges]
1. [Global Command System]
Red Dot Sharing: Break through the fog of war! Once an enemy is spotted by any friendly official unit, their coordinates will be displayed in real-time as a red dot on the minimaps of all officials.
Green Dot Protection: All civilian NPCs in danger will be highlighted as green dots, allowing officials to prioritize their rescue.
2. [High Returns]
Double the Fun: During the event, all contribution point acquisition for officials is boosted by 200%! After the event, those with high contribution have a chance to receive Spirit Stone rewards.
[Wartime Discipline]:
[Zero Tolerance]: Anyone judged to be avoiding battle, maliciously hiding, slacking off, or deserting will be dismissed from their post on the spot without warning. They will also receive a red name in the Anhe City region and their affinity with Miss Su will drop drastically!
[Battlefield Promotion]: If an official is dismissed, the vacant position will be filled immediately by the ordinary player with the highest current contribution points who is not on a dismissal cooldown, in accordance with the >.
...
After reading these announcements, the entire player base of Anhe City erupted.
The players with the "temporary council member" status reacted the fastest. They immediately began issuing various logistical quests to mobilize all sorts of life-skill players—crafting bows and arrows, allocating supplies, dispatching healers, and organizing evacuations—trying to get everyone moving while also preparing to rush to the north gate to lead the charge!
Meanwhile, the other combat-oriented players swarmed toward the northern city gate.
"Close the gate! Don’t let them break in!"
Shouting, the crowd scrambled to close the heavy city gate. Seeing the Qi Refining-stage Evil Cultivators rushing toward them in the distance, players in the back surged onto the city walls, nocking arrows to their bows, ready for battle.
At the same time, many players used megaphone-like items to shout in the streets, organizing an evacuation: "All non-combatants, the Evil Cultivators are attacking the city! Hide if you don’t want to die! Don’t you dare come out here and feed them kills!"
However—just as the players thought they were going to hold the line behind the high walls, the earth suddenly began to tremble violently!
BOOM—!!!
Following several deafening explosions, a large section of the north gate’s wall instantly collapsed!
Rubble shot through the air amidst a cloud of billowing dust.
The players who had been standing on the battlements, preparing to fire arrows from above, suddenly felt the ground give way beneath them. Before they could even process what was happening, they tumbled down with the collapsing masonry, completely disoriented. Some of them lost half their health instantly and even received a crippling debuff.
Amidst the swirling dust, the players who had been preparing for a last stand at the gate stood stunned, their mouths twitching as they stared at the defensive fortifications that had been reduced to rubble in an instant.
’Seriously, where did my huge wall go? Are you telling me they can just destroy the fucking terrain?’
’Screw it! For the Cultivation Techniques! For contribution points and Spirit Stones! Charge!!!’
...
Meanwhile, the leading Qi Refining-stage Evil Cultivator saw that the other cultivators behind him had actually breached the city for them, which saved them some effort. He had expected the now-unprotected mortals to scatter and flee.
Instead, he saw that the crowd of mortals showed no sign of panic. On the contrary, they were howling like predators spotting prey as they charged right at them.
???
’Wait, isn’t your reaction a little... off?’