Chapter Thirty-Three: The Chaotic Battle for the Banner

“If nothing unexpected happens, the price of copper coins should remain stable until midnight tonight. Tomorrow, when dungeon attempts refresh, it will definitely drop. So it’s best to sell them off quickly,” he said. “Yin, please divide these 1,600 copper coins among everyone. Consider this my final support to you all during the newbie stage.”

Huang Yunshuo placed the 1,600 copper coins in Yu Shiyin’s trade interface as he spoke.

Yu Shiyin laughed lightly. “What, are you worried about hurting our pride? Honestly, if you have something good, just give it to us. What’s wrong with all these girls living off your generosity?”

Huang Yunshuo rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t mind if you lived off me, but I’m not sure you’d dare.”

“Forget it, I’m afraid Piaoxue would block me.”

Yu Shiyin’s cheeks flushed faintly. She quickly confirmed the trade and ended the conversation.

The plaza was packed. At the entrance to the PvP event, players crowded densely, with people being transmitted in and out every second. It was obvious that everyone was feeling a bit frustrated.

“What kind of lousy event is this? Just here to torment us! Two level-ten guys grab the flags, and the rest of us might as well not exist.”

“You should be thankful you’re just a spectator. I was killed more than ten times in five minutes among the crowd. If not for getting one PvP point for fully participating in the flag event, I wouldn’t bother.”

“But luck matters too. Skilled players are still rare; grabbing the flag all depends on luck!”

Players discussed animatedly. When they saw Huang Yunshuo approaching with an imposing air, they quickly made way for him.

“That guy’s gear is enough to ruin everyone’s morale in the arena,” someone joked.

“No doubt. Any level-ten player who meets him will probably get chopped down in a few strikes. He’s already got three white-grade gear! Look at that iron sword—it must have at least ten attack points.”

Huang Yunshuo checked the PvP event participation restrictions: five attempts per day, with two extra purchasable attempts—first for 100 copper coins, second for 1,000.

“…All right, I’ll go grab the flag.”

He pursed his lips, and a flash of white light appeared before him. Suddenly, he found himself standing in a circular arena with a diameter of 100 meters.

Outside the arena, there were some shops and storefronts, but they could only be looked at; the arena was fully enclosed by a hemispherical shield, making escape impossible.

A thousand players were teleported in just one second. With an area of about 8,500 square meters, it was more than a little crowded; anyone who grabbed the flag was instantly swarmed and slaughtered.

“If you weaklings don’t want to die, step aside and hand over the flag. I don’t want to do any more killing,” a proud voice rang out.

Huang Yunshuo looked over. It was a level-ten player. With the newbie village’s Redemption PvE dungeon now open, there had been an explosion of players reaching level ten, though it was still the highest level currently attainable.

“What’s so impressive? There are so many of us; we can chop you down!”

A player shouted, “We can’t break his defense, but with forced damage of one per hit, all together it should be more than he can handle. With that cocky attitude, we can’t let him take the flag so easily.”

“Exactly! If you’re so tough, go clear the Disaster dungeon!”

“Disaster dungeon? I heard level-ten players need three-person teams to clear advanced dungeons. Going into disaster difficulty is suicide,” another player chimed in.

“I think you’re the ones looking to die,” the level-ten player sneered. Getting killed didn’t make him lose gear, only a bit of progress. For every death, he killed several ordinary players. Ideally, both flags would be his.

When Huang Yunshuo was teleported in, he stood in a corner where few noticed him.

The thirty-second countdown ended in the blink of an eye, and all players’ names turned red.

Two flags, one black and one white, descended from the sky, landing in the hands of two players.

“Die!” The crowd surged forward, newbie wooden clubs swinging in unison. The two flag holders didn’t even have time to run; they were instantly turned into white light.

The flags automatically flew to the players who landed the final blow. The new holders immediately tried to run, only to be killed moments later.

“This is ridiculously violent,” Huang Yunshuo mused, watching the chaos unfold. Truthfully, he didn’t feel much satisfaction from slaughtering low-level players without reason. It lacked any sense of achievement and only led to a warped sense of superiority.

“I’ll make my move in the last minute and grab both flags,” Huang Yunshuo thought to himself.

The level-ten player called Cold Eyes sneered, “Hand over the flags!”

He shoved aside the crowd with ease, his high strength allowing him to force his way to the black flag holder.

The black flag player was already under attack, his full health reduced to just a few points in less than three seconds.

-14!

Cold Eyes struck with his club, turning the black flag player into white light. The black flag landed in his hand.

“From this moment, the flag belongs to me,” he declared with a cold laugh, running around searching for the white flag and striking down any player who blocked his path.

-13!

-1!

-1!

…

-14!

Though Cold Eyes lost plenty of health, his speed and strength enabled him to carve a path through the crowd. Whenever he had a moment, he would immediately use a spray to recover health. The damage numbers above his head never stopped, but he stubbornly refused to fall.

Four minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Under immense pressure, Cold Eyes finally seized the white flag as well and let out a triumphant laugh.

Now all he had to do was maintain his health.

“What do we do? Can’t we kill him?” a frustrated player shouted. It made no sense—a thousand players, each striking him once, should be more than enough to kill him several times over. Yet he never died.

“There’s nothing we can do. Not everyone can reach him, and he simply knocks people aside when things go south. He’s fast and strong; you can’t even catch up to him. He seizes every opportunity to heal.”

The players grew increasingly anxious. If they couldn’t kill Cold Eyes within a minute, he would walk away with both flags!

Even though everyone knew that without Cold Eyes, they probably wouldn’t get the flags either, the feeling of helplessness gnawed at them.

Huang Yunshuo aimed at Cold Eyes' position and estimated the distance.

Cold Eyes was about twenty meters away, with a dense crowd of players between them.

“Move aside,” Huang Yunshuo said, pushing people away with his arm. With a strength stat of 90, he nearly sent people flying. Wherever he walked, the crowd parted instantly.

“Ten meters to go,” Huang Yunshuo smiled faintly.

Power Charge!

He erupted forward like a runaway vehicle, his speed tripling thanks to 53 agility and a 9% boost to movement speed—swift as lightning.

Swish, swish, swish, swish!

His battered iron sword struck all players along his path. Due to a 10% reduction in damage, only the first ten players suffered actual damage; the rest merely lost one point of health from forced damage.

-39!

-34!

-62!

…

-1!

-1!

Huang Yunshuo swept through like a storm. Being attacked was one thing; the main issue was his overwhelming strength, which sent players flying. One unlucky player triggered a critical hit on the third strike and was left nearly dead on the spot.