I Became the Blacksmith NPC

"Could it be that Little Liu still hasn't died?" All information about the Void Space had been passed down to the villagers through ancient books handed down through generations. Over the long stretch of time, because the friends mentioned in the books had never appeared, many people weren't clear on the specifics of what lay within. But the ancient books were certainly not fake — they contained detailed descriptions and characteristics of these friends, a fact that had been confirmed just recently.

Still alive? He glanced at the time — nearly 24 hours and 7 minutes had passed since the first level-18 player appeared. One lifespan point was deducted every second, and one lifespan point equaled one year of life! Was Liu Dameng some kind of long-lived tortoise?

"Let's wait a little longer. If there's still no announcement in another thirty minutes, we'll head to the back mountain to pray to the gods." The Village Chief's expression was grim; he didn't even have the heart to collect money. If something went wrong with the Void Space dungeon, and the village's friends were already at capacity, things could go very badly if this dragged on.

The moment those words left his mouth, the long-awaited announcement finally arrived.

"Starter Village No. 0113's dungeon, Void Space, is now open. All players who meet the entry requirements may proceed to challenge it."

At the same time, a quest was automatically added to every player's quest log.

Proceed to the Void Space and slay the boss: Void Lord (Replica)!

"Void Lord? Is that the final boss of this dungeon? Though this quest is interesting — it says it cannot be abandoned, meaning it must be completed?"

"Woohoo, it's finally open! I wonder if there's any compensation..."

"Master Liu, open up! The dungeon's open — why won't you open the door?! I've been punching monsters all day and my hands are nearly broken. I used to think your equipment was too expensive, but I'll never complain again — those scalpers are selling at ten times the price! Come out and save us, please!"

"This guy's an idiot. The shop closed at 5 — what's the point of knocking? Come on, I've got a stone longsword here, practically brand new, lightly used by a female college student. I'll take a small loss and sell it to you for 40 silver coins..." As he spoke, he pulled out a stone longsword with only 17 durability remaining.

Liu Kongkong had of course made it back alive — he just wasn't in great shape at the moment.

He stood there in a daze, staring blankly at his character panel.

Name: Liu Dameng

Class: Apprentice Blacksmith (Level 14)

HP: 1/1

Mana: 1/1

Strength: 1

Constitution: 1

Agility: 1

Intelligence: 1

Spirit: 1

Available Points: -274

"After all that work, I end up owing 274 attribute points?!" Liu Kongkong felt like he couldn't breathe. He pinched his philtrum and steadied himself. And this was after the points earned from Path of Samsara over the past day had already been deducted.

But complaints aside, he didn't really care about the points right now. In the Void Space, every ten players who died would earn him one attribute point — two or three hundred points was just three thousand lives, after all.

"Path of Samsara peels off a layer of skin, but this dungeon rips out the bones!"

Liu Kongkong was quite confident in the dungeon he'd built. Of course, it was far from perfect — time had been tight and the task heavy, so he hadn't been able to go all out. Still, he genuinely hadn't expected the attribute points to go negative; he'd assumed they'd bottom out at zero at worst.

But even with negative points, he couldn't log off right away. At the very end, he'd discovered that the dungeon still required a key item to be placed: the Transit Stone.

So the Starter Village really is an independent space. The moment he read the item's description, Liu Kongkong realized his earlier guess had been correct — only by carrying this item out of the dungeon and activating the village's teleportation array could all players travel to the Xingye Continent!

So he'd had no choice but to rack his brain, place the item properly, and run through the dungeon one more time — which was why he'd wasted so much time. That's right: he'd already finished building the dungeon within the allotted time. Those extra minutes had been spent entirely on the Transit Stone!

"Phew — I'll generously give this dungeon a 6 out of 10." Liu Kongkong sat down on the spot. He couldn't log off yet, of course — with his current attributes, he probably couldn't even climb out of the Game Pod. Better to wait until the first wave of players went in and died, collect the attribute points, and then log off.

"Shouldn't take long, I'd think."

Because of the quest, a large crowd of players quickly gathered at the entrance to the Void Space dungeon, guided by the quest marker. Many had already formed parties in advance, knowing when it would open.

"The dungeon cap is 30 players. We've assembled 21 teams. What about you?" Night's Gentle Chill stood at the dungeon entrance without rushing. A 5-player dungeon required racing against the clock, but a 30-player dungeon was a different story.

"About the same — one more team than you." Over the past day, Path of Samsara had been run into the ground. Even with experience decay due to level differences, each run still yielded seven or eight hundred EXP, letting many players level up rapidly in a short time. Among them, 60 players who hadn't participated in Village War II had already reached level 19. Those who hadn't arrived yet were mostly level 15 to 17, so more players would be entering the dungeon soon.

"Then let's let our hands do the talking?" Night's Gentle Chill was confident in his people. The five Bear brothers, who had achieved the first clear of Path of Samsara, were in his party — a strange bunch, but clearly capable when it came to clearing dungeons.

"Sure. Fair competition." Big Dumb Duck nodded, then led his group into the dungeon first.

Fair? Fair my ass!

The moment the dungeon opened, both of them had checked the drop list and spotted the Guild Establishment Permit — their breathing had quickened at the sight of it. Right now they were just pretending to be calm.

Once inside the dungeon, Night's Gentle Chill pulled a weapon from his inventory — none other than the Sword of Radiance that Big Dumb Duck had dropped!

"With this weapon, my damage output is absolutely insane!"

But the smile froze on his face after just a few seconds...

"This style, this map layout... Don't tell me this dungeon was made by the same stupid moron who built Path of Samsara?!"

Upon entering the dungeon, the first thing that greeted everyone was a familiar long corridor — unlike Path of Samsara with its red curtains and wedding decorations, this one was completely bare. Not that Liu Kongkong hadn't wanted to add horror elements; there simply hadn't been time.

"Everyone hold on. I know this style — move forward with extreme caution!" Night's Gentle Chill's expression turned serious. In the glow of the Sword of Radiance illuminating the otherwise dim corridor, every detail became clearly visible to all.

Ye Weinuan seemed to still not have recovered from the trauma of Path of Samsara, and was walking with her head tilted back — even though there was nothing above her this time.

"Boss, why don't you take the lead? That flashlight of yours is way too bright — it's hurting my eyes. If you're up front, you can also see what's ahead more clearly." Big Bear said quietly.

Me, take the lead? Night's Gentle Chill didn't mind, except that Ye Weinuan was clinging tightly to him — if he moved up front, she'd have to come along too.

"Big sis-in-law, leave her to us! Don't worry, Big sis-in-law, don't be scared — if it comes to it, I'll carry you on my back!" Seeing Ye Weinuan's hesitant expression, Big Bear immediately stepped forward, patted his chest, and declared he was ready to take the burden off Night's Gentle Chill!

"Uh, no need — I'll just walk up front with you then." Ye Weinuan laughed awkwardly. But the moment those words left her mouth, a faint crackling sound suddenly came from all around them.

Monsters? Or had someone triggered a trap?!

The already-tense crowd immediately scanned their surroundings. The next second — a tremendous boom! Everyone suddenly felt the ground vanish beneath their feet! Night's Gentle Chill reacted with lightning speed, frantically stuffing the Sword of Radiance back into his inventory mid-air!

The next second, the scene shifted. All 30 players appeared neatly outside the respawn point of the Starter Village.

Because there had simply been too many people inside... there was no room left to stand.

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