Samsara Space: They're all begging me to heal them one more time.

The procession continued onward.

With Huang Mao, this "human bulldozer," clearing the way, everyone became bolder.

Eight minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

As they cleared away the few scattered zombies along the way and were about to reach the sewer exit, the faint golden light that had been enveloping the blond-haired man flickered twice, and then—

It was completely extinguished.

"Um?"

The blond-haired man, who was swinging his axe in the air to get a feel for it, suddenly froze.

In that instant, he felt as if his spine had been ripped out. The fire axe, which had been as light as a feather, suddenly became incredibly heavy, and the surging, scalding heat within him vanished without a trace, replaced by a deep sense of lethargy and emptiness.

The feeling was like an eagle that was just soaring in the clouds suddenly having its wings broken and being thrown into a mud pit.

"What's going on?! Where's my power?!" the blond-haired man shouted in panic.

"Time's up." Zhang Yuan's calm voice came from behind. "The trial version is over."

"Then renew it! Add it now!" the blond-haired man shouted impatiently.

"roar--!!"

Before Zhang Yuan could answer, a series of dense roars suddenly came from the darkness ahead.

It seemed that the commotion caused by the blond-haired man's rampage was too great, because four or five zombies suddenly emerged from around the corner ahead! They were wearing work clothes that had turned black from being soaked in sewage, their grayish-white eyes fixed on the fresh meat in front of them, and they pounced on the meat with bared teeth and claws.

"Damn! It's just a few pieces of rotten meat, I'll still chop them down even without the buff!"

Although Huang Mao was feeling uneasy, he didn't want to lose face in front of his two cowardly teammates. He gritted his teeth, swung his axe, and hacked at the zombie in front.

"Die!!"

However, this time, there was no golden sheen, and no smooth, buttery texture.

"when!!"

A dull thud that made your teeth ache.

Although the axe blade struck the zombie's shoulder, it was held in place by the tough muscles and only penetrated three-tenths of an inch into the flesh!

[Battle Assessment: Attack Power 17 vs Armor 10] [Actual Damage: 7 points]

The zombie merely staggered for a moment, then let out a ferocious roar, its black claws slamming down on the blond-haired man's face!

Holy crap!

The blond-haired man was terrified and scrambled backward, narrowly avoiding the claw, but his cheek was still stinging from the force of the wind.

This is the gap between reality and expectations.

Having grown accustomed to overwhelming power, the psychological gap of returning to the ordinariness of a mortal was more devastating than the zombies themselves.

"Help!! Yuan-ge!! Help me!!"

Seeing the other four zombies surging up from behind, Huang Mao completely broke down. He didn't care about saving face anymore and shouted at Zhang Yuan with all his might.

The fat man and the bespectacled man were so frightened that they trembled and hid behind Zhang Yuan, too afraid to move.

However, Zhang Yuan remained standing there, hands in his pockets, his eyes cold as if he were watching a farce that had nothing to do with him.

In fact, his right hand had been clasped behind his back, already gripping the seemingly ordinary standard cross.

Zhang Yuan never gambles without being certain of success.

If the blond guy is truly hopeless, or if the zombies break through the defenses, he will not hesitate to cast [Weapon Blessing] on himself.

Under the blessing of that golden light, this wooden cross was powerful enough to smash the zombies' necks like an iron bar in an instant, or to shove them back into the dirty water of the sewer.

As a boss, personally doing manual labor not only lowers your professional standing but also creates dependency among your employees.

It was precisely because he possessed the "hard power" to protect himself that he had the confidence to negotiate a price with Huang Mao at this critical juncture.

"I told you, my mana is very expensive."

Zhang Yuan's voice stood out clearly amidst the cacophony of shouts, "Furthermore, the system does not support point transfers during the mission. Your promise to 'give me 100 points' is nothing but an empty promise."

"What do you want?! I'll give you anything!!" The blond-haired man was almost crying as he looked at the gaping maw of the zombie so close to him.

Zhang Yuan's lips curled up slightly.

The fish has taken the bait.

"It's very simple. You can keep the reward points for this mission, but all the [Story Keys] that can unlock special areas, [Loot Chests] dropped by elite monsters, and [Rare Materials] are mine to choose first."

Zhang Yuan speaks extremely fast, and his logic is frighteningly clear:

"The key can open the hidden armory, and only the treasure chest contains the skill books that can be taken out of the dungeon. As a support character, I have no self-defense capabilities and need these resources to exchange for survival items. That makes sense, right?"

In fact, Zhang Yuan was not just talking nonsense.

Back in the train plaza before entering the dungeon, he had personally witnessed a faintly glowing [Bronze Chest] at a veteran player's stall, priced at a whopping 1500 points. The stall owner had boasted, "I risked my life to get this from a troll!"

As a "veteran player" who was used to gathering intelligence, he kept this sentence in mind.

Since there are treasure chests, it means there is a "drop mechanism".

Since there is a key (as per the original Resident Evil setting), it means there is a "hidden area".

He had already secured the most valuable hard currency in the instance by taking advantage of the huge information gap.

On the other hand, Huang Mao had no idea what kind of elite monsters were in this mission, let alone what those "keys" and "treasure chests" meant.

Under the pressure of life and death, he felt that Zhang Yuan only wanted a few "possible" props, while keeping the real reward points for himself.

This is a great deal!

"Fine!! It's all yours!! As long as you keep giving me buffs, I'll even give you my underwear!!" the blond-haired guy roared hysterically.

"make a deal."

The contract is reached.

The indifference in Zhang Yuan's eyes melted away instantly, replaced by a holy radiance that made people feel as if they were bathed in a spring breeze.

He muttered something to himself and reached out to stroke the disheveled blond man.

"[Weapon Blessing]".

Om-!

The familiar golden light descends once again!

The explosive power that filled his entire body returned, and the blond-haired man was so moved that he almost knelt down before Zhang Yuan. He roared, transforming all his previous fear into a brutal killing intent, and turned around to chop off the head of the zombie that had been chasing him in a sorry state!

"Die!!"

puff!puff!

Golden light flashed, and blood and flesh flew everywhere.

However, there were still five zombies, and in the narrow sewer, the blond-haired guy was struggling to keep up.

Zhang Yuan frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping over the trembling fat man hiding to the side.

"Hey, fat guy."

"Huh? Huh?! Master... Oh no, Brother Yuan, I... I don't know how to fight!" The fat man looked at Zhang Yuan looking at him, his whole body trembling with fear, and he gripped the frying pan tightly in his hand.

"Who gave you permission to fight?"

Zhang Yuan walked up to the fat man and gently stroked the dark, black frying pan.

"Your flesh is the best shield. As long as you can push them aside, I can keep you alive."

"[Weapon Blessing]!"

A beam of golden light entered the frying pan and spread along the handle to the fat man's entire body.

[Spell judgment...Target: Frying pan (blunt weapon)]

[Strength +3.8 -> Revised to +4 (rounded up)]

The fat man felt a surge of heat coursing through his limbs, and the once heavy frying pan suddenly felt as light as a pool paddle. Seeing a stray zombie pounce towards him, he instinctively closed his eyes, and guided by that mysterious force, swung the frying pan and smashed it down!

"Get out of here!!"

"when--!!"

A clear, resonant metallic tremor, like the morning bell of a temple, echoed through the sewers.

The zombie that pounced was slammed into the ground by the pot, its feet leaving the ground and flying three meters away like a rag doll before crashing into the wall and being unable to get up for a long time!

The fat man opened his eyes, stared blankly at his hands, and then looked at the zombies in the distance.

"Holy crap? Am I that powerful?"

"Don't stand still! Push them forward! Push them aside and create space for blondie to attack!" Zhang Yuan calmly commanded. "As long as you obey, these zombies in the sewers are your easy scoring machines!"

At this moment, what was originally a disorganized mess, bound together by interests (points) and violence (BUFF), finally began to take the shape of a team.

Of course, it's the kind of "sweatshop" team that works themselves to the bone to make money for the boss.

Standing at the back, Zhang Yuan watched the constantly flashing kill notifications and the meager but steady stream of income from the "Tithe" account in the background, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

This is what playing games should be like.