Fuzzsir, on the other hand, was much more direct.
With a displeased expression, he said, “Do you even realize you’re treating us differently? We’re injured too. Why don’t you care about us?”
Hairry, however, didn’t seem to notice. Her eyes were frequently darting toward Luca, her gaze shining like starlight—beautiful and mesmerizing.
Donlow noticed this and, a glint of caution flashing in her eyes, subtly stepped a few paces forward, purposefully blocking her line of sight.
“These minor injuries are nothing; I can handle them myself,” Luca replied, somewhat taken aback by Drumph’s enthusiasm. He shivered slightly, his skin crawling.
He couldn’t help but wonder if the old man had some… peculiar habits.
As everyone’s emotions calmed down, Luca suddenly remembered something and turned to Donlow and the others. “Did you guys happen to see my father and uncle?”
According to the trio of Sini, Donald and the others should have been here on this defensive line, but Luca had just scanned the area and couldn’t spot them.
“Your father and uncle?” Hairry and the others exchanged glances, their faces showing confusion. They didn’t know who Luca was talking about, mostly because the scene earlier had been so chaotic that they hadn’t had the energy to notice anyone else.
Luca’s heart sank as a bad feeling began to rise within him.
Could something have happened to them?
At that moment, Donlow seemed to remember something. “Are you talking about the two big, tall guys?”
She then described the people she had seen to Luca, and instantly, Luca realized that these two must be Donald and Darabont. He felt a surge of excitement and immediately asked, “You’ve seen them? Where did they go?”
Donlow thought for a moment and replied, “They came over with weapons to help set up the defense line. Once the line was stabilized, they left together. I heard they were planning to go to the city center to check the situation.”
The mention of the city center made everyone’s faces change, including Luca’s. His brow furrowed with concern.
Right now, the city center of Celephais was the most dangerous place. With the population and buildings so dense, escaping would be nearly impossible. Donald and Darabont weren’t exactly powerful, and while they might manage to survive in the outskirts, going into the city center—wasn’t that just walking into certain death?
“This situation is in your hands now. I’m going to the city center,” Luca said, realizing it was no time for idle conversation. The most important thing was to find them quickly. If something went wrong, he wouldn’t have time to regret it.
Before the medics could arrive, Luca gathered his strength and leaped directly onto the rooftop.
“Stay in touch,” Drumph had time to remind him with a shout.
In the blink of an eye, Luca’s figure vanished like a nimble monkey, disappearing into the rooftop.
Donlow and the others wanted to follow, but they knew all too well that their strength was no match for Luca’s. Instead of trailing behind and slowing him down, it would be more effective to go help elsewhere, where they could make the most impact.
Drumph frowned and muttered, “That kid… I still wanted to ask him what happened in the game.”
Coarmy sighed and said, “He probably figured out what you were thinking. He doesn’t want to talk about it.”
Drumph shook his head and didn’t press the issue further. He simply said, “Let’s deal with the monsters in Celephais first. Once the situation here is under control, we’ll wait for guidance on what to do next, then proceed with the following plans.”
In times like these, ordinary people had no choice but to rely on themselves—or the country.
Fortunately, Summer Country had prepared in advance. Even though they hadn’t predicted the exact timing of the game’s arrival, they were able to quickly adjust their strategy based on the current situation, preventing everything from falling into chaos.
…
Thick black smoke billowed toward the sky, the city flickering with flames, as monsters rampaged through the streets, and cries for help echoed nonstop.
Luca’s figure quickly made its way toward the city center.
Along the way, he would rescue any people being pursued by monsters, but if there were too many monsters or civilians, there wasn’t much he could do. It wasn’t that he was indifferent to their plight, but his abilities were simply not enough. With his current strength, even dealing with Diamond-level monsters felt taxing, let alone leading tens of thousands of people out of a monster horde.
Instead of wasting time, it made more sense to find Donald and Darabont first and figure out a solution afterward.
Luca’s first destination was the Celephais Stadium. He had heard that there was a week-long outdoor concert being held there, featuring a major star on a national tour.
When the monsters arrived, all the concertgoers had been trapped inside, numbering in the tens of thousands.
However, since the stadium was located in the city center, surrounded by so many monsters, it was extremely difficult to attempt a rescue. Even now, Drumph and the others had yet to come up with a viable plan to free the people trapped inside.
Given Luca’s understanding of Donald and Darabont’s personalities, if they knew about this situation, even if they couldn’t help directly, they would definitely come. That’s why Luca had decided to make the stadium his first stop.
On the way, in addition to rescuing people, Luca had killed a number of monsters, and his level had risen to 39. He allocated all his free attribute points into his spirit stat and opened his character panel to take a look.
[Player: Luca]
[Level: LV38]
[Talent: The Person Favored]
[Main Profession: Demonic Rune Mage]
[Attributes: Strength 5174, Spirit 8719, Stamina 4385, Agility 1986]
[Skills: Magic Runes Drawing, Eye of Insight, Dream Manifestation, Fate Manipulation…]
…
His current level was roughly on par with Donlow and the others.
With his rich combat experience and skills, his real strength was likely comparable to a high-tier monster.
At the early stages of the game’s arrival, he was capable of handling most situations.
He closed the panel, passed through several streets, and soon saw the massive Celephais Stadium in the distance.
The stadium covered about 300 acres and was located near the Lakeside Park to the west of Celephais’s city center. From above, it looked like a cabbage growing from the ground.
As Luca got closer, he could see the plaza outside the stadium was in utter disarray, covered with bloodstains, garbage, and torn clothing scattered everywhere.
A few dark-furred demonic wolves were feasting on a half-eaten female corpse. One of them, seemingly sensing Luca’s approach, twitched its ears and looked up sharply.
“WOOO!!” It snarled threateningly at Luca, its sharp teeth glinting with streaks of flesh still hanging from them. The other wolves nearby also reacted, their eyes narrowing as they warily assessed this human who exuded an aura of danger.
Luca paid no attention to the beasts’ threats and continued walking toward the stadium.
Seeing him disregard their warning, the wolves immediately bristled with anger. They dug their claws into the ground, muscles tensing as they prepared to charge and teach this reckless human a lesson.
But before they could act, a few silver-white streaks suddenly flashed through the sky, accompanied by the sharp sound of something cutting through the air.
Thud! Thud! Thud! A series of sounds rang out as arrows pierced the flesh of the wolves. The beasts collapsed to the ground, each of them struck precisely in the left eye by an ice arrow. The cold, glimmering projectiles radiated an eerie chill under the sunlight.
[Ding! You have slain “lv40 Decaying Corpse Demonic Wolf (Normal)”, gaining 83,000 experience!]
The monsters that were about to charge froze in place.
They stared at Luca in fear.
This human… he seemed different from the ones they had encountered before.
Luca didn’t waste any more time on these beasts.
Luca stepped up to the entrance of the stadium and pushed the door a couple of times, only to find that it was locked from the inside. At the same time, a strong, pungent smell of blood reached his nose.
A bad feeling immediately stirred in Luca’s heart. Could it be that everyone inside was dead?
After focusing on his Perception, Luca let out a long sigh of relief.
There were still living people inside, and he could hear screams. It seemed like the situation wasn’t too bad after all.
Boom! After a brief pause, he kicked the stadium door with force. There was a loud crash, and wood splinters and debris flew through the air. The large iron door was sent flying several dozen meters, finally landing with a loud thud on the stands.
A massive dent appeared in the door.
At the same time, the scene inside the stadium came into view. In the center of the lush, green field stood a beautifully constructed stage. On the stage, there was a woman with delicate features, light makeup, and wearing a black long dress.
She was pale, surrounded by bodyguards and fans who were protecting her.
Luca thought she looked vaguely familiar, but he didn’t have time to think about where he had seen her before.
Around the stage, chairs were hastily arranged to form a defensive line. Crowds of spectators were packed around the stage, each holding weapons and fighting back against the attack of dozens of demonic apes.
But these people were no match for the apes. In almost every encounter, the apes tore through them, ripping their hearts and entrails out. Only a few strong ones managed to last for more than a couple of blows.
The noise Luca had caused was significant, drawing the attention of everyone inside the stadium, as well as that of the demonic apes.
“Someone’s here…” The woman on stage looked over with surprise. She had thought that help had finally arrived, but when she saw that it was just Luca alone, a look of disappointment appeared in her eyes.
Her despair deepened when she saw that the stadium door had been completely smashed open. Luca’s gaze swept across the crowd and paused briefly on the woman, still feeling a sense of familiarity, though he didn’t pay much attention to it. His eyes then fell on two men standing at the front of the crowd, and he froze.
Both of them were covered in blood, holding firearms, and upon seeing Luca, they too were momentarily stunned.
“What are you doing here?” Donald asked in surprise.
Luca sighed helplessly. “I should be the one asking you that. What are you two doing here?”
Darabont and Donald exchanged a glance, both of them giving an awkward smile.
The two big men wearing that expression left Luca somewhat confused.
He didn’t quite understand what was going on, but this wasn’t the time to dwell on it.
At that moment, more than ten demonic apes were already closing in on them.