Online Game: Me, with Unparalleled Comprehension

While waiting for the food to be served, Wu Feng habitually unlocked his phone.

My thumb swiped across the screen and I first clicked into the "Jianghu Supplies Exchange Group," which was always bustling with activity.

Information scrolled by rapidly, with messages constantly rolling out about buying and selling gold, seeking to purchase equipment and materials, and calling for team members.

He swiped quickly, his eyes keenly scanning the repeated acquisition announcements that flooded the screen:

"140/100 coins, unlimited payments, instant arrival, guaranteed reputation!"

"Long-term, stable purchase of copper coins and silver, 140 exchange rate; negotiable for large quantities!"

"140 for gold, as much as you want, all payment methods accepted!"

The price of gold has risen again. It has increased from 138 to 140 yuan per 100 coins.

Wu Feng raised an eyebrow. The increase wasn't huge, but the steady upward trend was clear.

He scrolled down and found that besides the money collection information, there were also some complaints and discussions.

"Damn it, the gold I farmed in Sichuan and Chongqing, I wanted to sell to a boss in Jiangnan, and just the cost of using the post stations for shipping it there was five taels of silver! And that doesn't even include the possibility of being robbed along the way!"

"The post stations are for the wealthy and in emergencies. Ordinary people should rely on their own two feet or rent a horse-drawn carriage, which is even slower..."

It appears that the vastness of the game world and the extremely dispersed distribution of players have led to high costs for face-to-face gold coin transactions, which has further supported the price of gold.

After all, not everyone can easily pull out a few taels or a dozen taels of silver to ride in a fast-transfer post station carriage.

For most ordinary players, trading gold coins across regions is a time-consuming, laborious, and risky activity.

Wu Feng shook his head and turned off the noisy group chat.

The price is good, but he's not in a hurry to sell, and there aren't any noteworthy new developments in the group.

He casually opened the "Jianghu Dream" official forum app.

The moment the icon lights up, the eye-catching online user statistics at the top of the homepage immediately catch the eye:

[Current concurrent online players in the China region: 12,000,000]

Nine million three hundred thousand.

Wu Feng's eyelids twitched. This growth rate was like a snowball rolling downhill.

With nearly ten million concurrent users in less than a month since its launch, this is beyond just being popular; it's a phenomenon among phenomena.

But on second thought, compared to the enormous virtual world constructed by "Jianghu Dream," this number of people might really be nothing.

He recalled his journey over the past few days since he descended the mountain from Wudu. The official road was long, the wilderness was vast, and the villages and towns were often far apart.

If more than nine million people were thrown in and scattered across the country, many places would probably still remain sparsely populated.

The map of this game world feels comparable to the real world, and with the addition of many martial arts-themed mountains, dangerous places, and hidden sects, the actual explorable area may be even larger.

"With this many people going in and spreading out, it's not actually that many," he muttered to himself, his finger continuing to swipe across the screen, browsing the hot posts on the forum's homepage.

Suddenly, a post that had been pushed to the top of the homepage and whose title included the words "[Live Stream] [Dali]" caught his attention:

[A True Account of Our Suicide Attempts! Live Broadcast of Our Challenge to the Crocodile God of the South China Sea, One of the Four Evils! Watch How We Get Tortured! (Video Included)]

The poster's ID is "Brave Cannon Fodder," followed by a flame icon, and it's quite popular.

Wu Feng tapped his finger, and the post opened. The main post was short and full of self-deprecation:

"Brothers, as the title says, our team refused to believe in bad luck, thinking that those who died before were either unprepared or too weak. Our team has three top-tier third-rate fighters, two of whom have reached the pinnacle of their martial arts, and we felt we had some strength. Today, while scouting near Cangshan, we actually ran into the lone Crocodile God of the South Sea! The process... watch the video. I can only say, the martial world is indeed treacherous. He's resurrected and is currently drinking alone. (Video link)"

The comments section exploded, with some offering comfort, some mocking, and many more urging viewers to watch the video.

Wu Feng clicked on the video link.

The video started to shake a bit, and the perspective seemed to be from the first-person view of one of the team members.

The background is a rocky area at the foot of Cangshan Mountain. A short, stocky man with a strange scissor-like weapon (with the red name "South Sea Crocodile God Yue Laosan" above his head) is facing away from the camera, seemingly searching for something.

A hushed discussion could be heard in the video: "He's the only one! Our chance! Go for it!"

Then the screen shook violently as three players burst out of their hiding place, swords in hand, and pounced on the South China Sea Crocodile God from three directions. Their movements looked quite methodical and their speed was not slow.

What happened next made Wu Feng shake his head.

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, the South China Sea Crocodile God didn't even turn his head, and with a backhand, he delivered a simple, unadorned sweeping motion with his enormous crocodile-mouth scissors.

It moved at an astonishing speed, creating a sharp, whistling sound.

The player at the front, wielding a knife, seemed to be trying to block, but just as he raised his knife halfway, the blade of the alligator scissors slammed into his chest.

A muffled thud, accompanied by the clear sound of bone cracking.

The player was like a bull being struck; he was sent flying backward, his health bar instantly dwindling to zero, turning into a white light.

Sold out instantly.

The other two players were clearly startled by the thunderous attack, and their movements faltered noticeably.

The Crocodile God of the South Sea then turned around with a grotesque laugh, revealing a ferocious face: "Where did this little bug come from, daring to disturb your grandfather-in-law? You're asking for death!"

With a stomp of his foot, the ground trembled slightly, and his short, stocky figure lunged at the sword-wielding player on his left with extraordinary speed.

The player hurriedly thrust his sword straight forward, his sword technique was standard, but in the eyes of the South Sea Crocodile God, it seemed to be full of flaws.

With a twist and a pull, the alligator snips snapped the iron sword in two!

Then, the scissors tip was thrust forward, easily piercing the player's leather armor and protruding from his chest.

Another white light.

The last remaining player, a palm-wielding expert, was completely panicked and turned to run. The South Sea Crocodile God grinned maliciously, stuck the crocodile-mouth scissors into the ground, and pounced with his bare hands, his large, fan-like hands grabbing directly at the back of the opponent's neck.

The player turned around and struck out with his palm, the wind from which whistled.

The Crocodile God of the South Sea neither dodged nor avoided the blow, letting the palm strike his chest. He only swayed slightly, while one of his hands firmly gripped the other's neck.

A crisp "crack" sound.

The video ends here, with the last scene showing the South China Sea Crocodile God shaking his hand, cursing, and walking back to his original spot, pulling out the crocodile-mouth scissors as if he had only swatted a few flies.

Wu Feng turned off the video, now fully aware of the situation.

These players are definitely not very good. They haven't even mastered third-rate martial arts, and their attributes are probably just barely passing.

Facing a seasoned second-rate master like the Crocodile God of the South China Sea, who possesses rich combat experience, overwhelming attributes, and bizarre and ruthless martial arts, is like a strong adult beating a kindergarten child.

It's not just a difference in attributes; combat awareness, reaction speed, and timing are all inferior.

"His skills and combat awareness are not up to par with others," he muttered in a low voice.

This gap cannot be bridged by sheer enthusiasm or sheer numbers.

After seeing this, he felt relieved.

It seems that there won't be a situation in Dali where a large army of players will overwhelm the BOSS for the time being.

With these brave cannon fodder constantly testing the waters and discouraging others through their painful experiences, those who still want to join in the fun will become more and more cautious, and fewer and fewer people will remain.

After all, the death penalty in this game is too severe.

Resetting your level is a minor issue; you can always train again.

But losing one level in all martial arts proficiency is the most damaging.

If a martial art that you've painstakingly mastered falls back to a lesser level, the loss of attributes is not insignificant.

It can be said that dying once will significantly reduce overall strength, and it will take a lot of time to recover.

Without sufficient certainty, or without seeing a clear benefit far exceeding the loss of life, most people would hesitate to take on those tough challenges.

After closing the post detailing his suicidal act, Wu Feng browsed the forum again.

Discussions about the "Four Evils of Dali" remain very popular, with various analytical posts, rants, and tearful posts emerging one after another.

But looking at them, most of them were just there to deliver food; there was almost no truly valuable information about the villains' specific martial arts styles, weaknesses, or information that could trigger special missions.

Even like in the video just now, very few can even hold their own against the South China Sea Crocodile God; most are gone in a single exchange, so there's really nothing to see.

On the contrary, some other posts suddenly became popular.