Magic, Evil Gods, and the Fourth Calamity

What is this?

Eileen frowned, and then a flood of information rushed into her mind, slowly unfolding the connections between players, quests, and heroes.

So that's how it is. The Lord uses these things to control the hero's actions, and now I possess that power too...

Why did He give me this power?

Eileen turned to look at the statue of the God of Light behind her, her emerald-green eyes filled with confusion.

Honestly, Eileen couldn't understand this being.

However, upon closer reflection, this is quite normal.

After all, how can mortals possibly understand gods?

As Hua Kaifugui led Caesar away, he inadvertently turned back and unexpectedly saw Eileen kneeling in front of the statue of the God of Light, her hands clasped together in front of her chest, praying something very devoutly.

"..."

Has something happened in the story background, or was Irene's refusal to kneel before the God of Light simply a game bug?

After a moment's thought, Hua Kaifugui put the question aside for the time being, intending to return to it after the exploration of the Orc Empire was completed.

On the morning of the second day in the game, the thousand-strong exploration team split into several hundred-person squads and set off from several different directions to explore the orc city.

This time, the players' goal is not just the orc city itself, but also the surrounding geography and even the distribution of power.

However, the players preparing to head to that orc city were not limited to the thousand-strong team led by Huakai Fugui.

Many other player-organized groups are also following closely behind the thousand-person exploration team, ready to find an opportunity to intervene in world quests and see if they can get a share of the pie.

After all, the players learned through their own means that the exploration team had a mission that would allow them to advance to the next life level.

……

In the dense forest, Huang Tian galloped across the sky like a tiger running through the woods.

"Boss, are you sure we don't want to join the exploration team?"

Zhang Houtu followed closely behind Huang Tianzai and finally couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

"Joining the thousand-person team is pointless. Those guys are all previous closed beta testers, and most of them are already at the current level cap. If we beta testers go there, we'll only be cannon fodder."

Huang Tian expressed his thoughts, which made Zhang Houtu feel somewhat resentful.

"But we discovered Little Caesar, so how come he's now with that Azure Dragon Group's exploration team?!"

"It's alright. In terms of potential, our Starry Sky Legion is in no way inferior to that Azure Dragon Group! Once our overall strength improves, we'll eventually get Caesar's next mission."

As Huang Tian spoke, he looked at the dozen or so Starry Sky Battle Group members around him and nodded with satisfaction.

These players are all employees recruited by Huang Tian in the game under the name of a real-world company.

I have signed a labor contract and am covered by the five social insurances and one housing fund.

Their job was simple: to play games with Huang Tian.

Yes, the boss of HJK, one of the creators of "Under the Stars," actually paid someone to play games from other companies with him.

There's no way around it, the game "Otherworld Online" is just so fun!

Of course, Huang Tian wasn't just playing around; he was also studying and keeping a close eye on his family's affairs.

Previously, Huang Tian was worried that "Otherworld Online" would steal market share from his own "Under the Stars" and resorted to dirty tricks.

Now, Huang Tian has completely let go of his worries.

After all, the two games have different themes and different levels of technology.

Are you worried that the world champion in the sprint competition next door might steal your city-level sprint championship title?

In Huang Tianzai's eyes today, his "Under the Stars" can indeed be called a groundbreaking game, just like the Sai Yulian series from decades ago.

However, "Otherworld Online" is just like its name suggests, becoming a real second life.

Aside from the fact that you can't truly die and that there are supernatural powers, the experience in this game is really not much different from Blue Star Online.

"Boss Huang, there's some noise up ahead!"

Suddenly, the leader of the leveling team, who was scouting ahead, issued a warning, and the entire team stopped at Huang Tian's command.

Soon, the leader of the leveling team who was scouting ahead posted a video in the guild's communication group.

In the slightly shaky footage, a group of small green creatures, each about one meter tall, appear.

These little green creatures have pointed noses and ears, are equipped with dilapidated weapons, and exude a sleazy aura.

"Goblin!"

At a glance, people recognized the creature, as it appears quite frequently in countless fantasy works on Earth.

The leveling team leader typed in the guild chat, "Boss, what do we do? Kill him?"

"No rush. These guys seem to be on patrol. Let's follow them and see if we can find its lair," Huang Tian replied.

"OK!"

After the leveling team leader replied, he shared his coordinates with the rest of the group.

Then he closed the game panel and, taking advantage of the Ranger's stealth abilities, quietly followed behind the group of goblins.

Before long, he followed the group of goblins through a large circle in the forest, and finally arrived at a dilapidated village.

"A village overrun by goblins?"

With that in mind, the leader of the leveling team cautiously sneaked into the village to investigate its situation.

He arrived at the roof of a wooden structure that looked relatively intact and seemed to have been frequented by goblins, and peered inside through a large hole in the roof.

Then he saw several human girls in the room, tied to wooden boards, their eyes lifeless and naked.

Some of them had their chests and abdomens cruelly opened by these goblins, exposing their organs, which had turned dark red from exposure to air.

Some of them appeared to be alive, while several goblins stood beside them, holding rusted blades, looking at them as if they were lambs to the slaughter.

These goblins are eating people.

The leader of the leveling team raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but curse the game's official team.

"Are you sick in the head? Why are you doing something so extreme?!"

The game's realistic blurring feature allowed the leveling team leader to calmly accept the scene before him, but his human consciousness made him feel uneasy.

At the same time, a surge of anger rose within me, a desire to curse the game's official parents and to kill all those goblins.

He took a deep breath, then took the three-section staff from his lower back, combined them into a spear, and jumped off the roof, leaving the goblins who had been watching him in awe.

Then he fired a shot from behind, making the goblins look like they were catching candied hawthorns.

"Human bastards, male human bastards, kill! Kill!"

The sudden appearance of humans startled the goblins, but they quickly grabbed their weapons and started blowing their cow horn flutes, causing the entire village of goblins to swarm towards the leveling team leader.

There were about fifty or sixty goblins in this group, most of them were low-grade Black Iron, only five or six were mid-grade Black Iron, and there wasn't a single high-grade Black Iron.

As a player at the upper-tier Black Iron level, the leveling team leader was completely unafraid of these goblins, wielding his spear with the agility of a dragon or snake.

Although he was injured by goblins due to some operational errors, he still managed to kill them so badly that they fled in disarray, abandoning their armor and weapons.

However, when the goblins tried to escape, Huang Tian and his Starry Sky Chapter arrived at the village and began to exterminate the goblins without saying a word.