Leveling Up by Executing Monsters

Chapter 121: Chapter 121: This Difficulty Is Over the Top, Isn’t It?

Lloyd had originally planned to observe for a while longer, to be careful with the only two points he had.

But the moment he heard someone mention Spiritual Contamination, he couldn’t sit still. He took advantage of an empty lane, walked over, and reached out to touch the Crystal Ball.

A line of text immediately appeared before him:

"Please choose a codename for yourself—"

Lloyd thought for a moment. He’d originally wanted to pick a common name from his time on Earth, like ’Mongolian Top Laner,’ ’Your Daddy’s Here,’ or ’Hackers’ Moms Should Die.’

Then he thought they were a bit too aggressive and decided to go for something gentler and more loving.

Something like ’Gretel’s Husband,’ ’Funina’s Dog,’ or ’My Mouth is Clara’s Shoe.’

But then he felt they were too cringey. Maybe something cooler and more unique?

For example, ’K State’s Saint of Deceit,’ ’Human Race Emperor,’ or ’Dragon City Tyrant Young Master’?

’Forget it... Too embarrassing...’

After much deliberation, he finally chose the codename ’Newbie’.

It was quite fitting. It stated his identity and showed his humility, making it easier to earn others’ goodwill.

But as Lloyd listened to the chatter around him, he felt that something wasn’t quite right.

"Newbie? What does that word mean? It’s weird..."

"Maybe it means ’novice’? But why did he pick difficulty 7?"

"Have you guys seen this guy before? No? Then why would he dare pick such a high difficulty? Is he crazy? Even a master like the Magic Bullet Hunter wouldn’t dare choose that."

"Shh! Keep your voice down, don’t scare him. I’ve never even seen what difficulty 7 looks like..."

At that, nearly the entire audience gathered around, wanting to see how this ’Newbie’ would tackle such a rarely seen difficulty level.

In truth, Lloyd hadn’t wanted to choose this difficulty. As a mature, steady, and down-to-earth young man, he would have definitely picked a low difficulty to rack up some points first.

But the Crystal Ball had locked the difficulty directly at level 7, giving him no chance to choose for himself.

This made Lloyd feel like he’d been tricked...

’Oh well, I’m already here,’ he thought. ’Might as well play along. Farming some Madness Value is a decent consolation prize.’

As for the specific gameplay, there were templates for traditional bowling, golf, archery, shooting, and so on for him to choose from.

Beyond those, there was also a ’Scene Construction’ function?

After selecting this function, a player could imagine their desired game scene in their mind. However, it couldn’t be too complex—the simpler, the better—and it couldn’t violate the fundamental gameplay of ’target practice’.

At the same time, one had to eliminate all distracting thoughts, not have a single superfluous idea, and repeatedly envision the scene in as much detail as possible, or the construction would fail.

’Seems kind of interesting?’

Lloyd gave it a try. He imagined a scene of himself piloting a giant robot, a targeting reticle in front of him locked onto the heads, arms, and legs of several enemy mechs, ready to shave them down to limbless torsos.

As expected, the construction failed...

Lloyd then settled for second best, imagining himself as a counter-terrorist operative defending a missile base. He was on the third floor, holding a classic Desert Eagle, aiming at a terrorist below who was planting a bomb.

The construction failed again...

’Why can’t I even manage a Reduction of these scenes that are practically etched into my DNA?’

Lloyd was speechless.

Just then, the crowd of players started getting noisy, chattering all at once:

"Why hasn’t he chosen a specific game mode yet? Is he really a rookie who doesn’t know anything?"

"He’s probably trying ’Scene Construction,’ right? Just be patient."

"’Scene Construction’? Isn’t that just making it harder for himself? Those fancy, over-the-top scenes are often harder than the traditional ones. Besides, this is difficulty 7. I can’t even imagine what he’ll face..."

"Yeah, only a master like the Magic Bullet Hunter dares to play with ’Scene Construction’. But even he admitted he’s failed several times in his own constructed scenes. He doesn’t recommend it for ordinary players. It’s better to start with the more basic events..."

"Huh? It’s happening? Did that guy really construct his own scene?"

Amidst the crowd’s discussion, Lloyd’s third attempt at constructing a scene finally succeeded.

And the scene he constructed was completely unexpected.

"Uh... why is it this cartoony style? It’s got a certain childish charm, I guess?"

"Hm? What’s that forked wooden post? Is he supposed to use a slingshot like a little kid?"

"Pfft... Look at his targets, haha! Are those zombies? Why is one reading a newspaper? And there’s one with a bucket on its head?"

Lloyd also hadn’t expected the scene he constructed to turn out like this.

Before him was a giant, cartoon-style slingshot. In his hand was a red, bird-shaped plushie—fluffy, round, and soft.

And the targets he needed to hit were a horde of cartoon-style zombies.

That’s right, the target wasn’t a single one, but the entire horde. He had to eliminate all twenty-some cartoon zombies within three minutes. Miss one, and all his efforts would be for naught.

But he only had this single, toy-like piece of ammunition...

Moreover, the zombies weren’t just standing still. They were pacing and turning in place at a normal human speed. For all he knew, they might even take off running the moment he attacked.

At the same time, a wave of Spiritual Contamination was washing over him.

[DING~ Madness Value +5]

[DING~ Madness Value +2]

[DING~ Madness Value +3]

DONG~

Following an exaggerated sound effect, a wooden sign popped up in front of Lloyd, swaying slightly. It displayed a countdown:

2:59

2:58

’So this is difficulty 7? It’s really something else...’

Lloyd endured the Spiritual Contamination while kneading the bird plushie in his hand, contemplating his strategy.

’There’s no way I can win this round with this toy ammunition. I need to pull off something big.’

Even the spectating players could feel the absurd difficulty and started getting anxious for Lloyd.

"How is this even possible to play? It’s impossible, right?"

"If there were more ammo, maybe he’d have a chance, but it looks like he only has one?"

"The key is the time! It’s too tight, and there are too many targets. Even if he could exchange for a pile of ammo, what’s the point if he can’t finish them all? Those cartoon zombies will definitely run everywhere. After all, in this game, even the golf holes run around."

"What about locking on with inspiration?"

"How could you even suggest that? It’s emitting Spiritual Contamination over there. Do you have any idea what your inspiration would touch?"

After a round of discussion, someone turned to ask the master who was also in the crowd:

"Master Magic Bullet Hunter, what’s your take on this situation? How would you solve it?"

The Magic Bullet Hunter, dressed in his hunting gear, rubbed his chin. After half a minute of contemplation, he finally spoke:

"It’s difficult. Nearly impossible... If there were no Spiritual Contamination, there might be a chance. You could lock onto all the zombies with inspiration, then use an ability to enhance the ammo’s power and lethality. Abilities with high destructive power like [Veto] and [Manifestation] would be best...

But the Spiritual Contamination makes it troublesome. Without guidance from inspiration, power is just a headless fly."

After his analysis, the master shook his head and fell into a thoughtful state again, probably considering how he would handle this challenge himself.

Time ticked by, and soon, only thirty seconds remained on the countdown.

Lloyd, who had been standing frozen as if contemplating his strategy, finally moved. He walked up to the enormous cartoon slingshot.

A player beside him exclaimed:

"He’s moving! He’s starting! Go, go! If you can solve this, I’ll call you the strongest!"

"No way. Even a master like the Magic Bullet Hunter said it’s impossible."

"Let’s wait and see. Don’t jump to conclusions."

"I’m a professional player in this game. I make my living off this. You think I can’t make a judgment call?"

In truth, Lloyd hadn’t thought of a good strategy either. For someone playing this for the first time, this difficulty was indeed a bit high.

But it didn’t matter anymore. In two and a half minutes, he had absorbed a ton of Spiritual Contamination, which, combined with his previous accumulation, had let him level up twice. No matter what happened next, it was a net gain.

So, Lloyd’s mindset relaxed. He squeezed the endearingly clumsy bird plushie in his hand. ’Does this count as a cold weapon?’ he wondered.

’Whatever. [Extraordinary Swordsmanship], activate!’

Then, he activated the [Twist] system and deliberately shouted loud enough for others to hear:

"In the name of Veto!"

[Blessing Distortion], activate!

He then placed the bird plushie on the slingshot, pulled it taut, and infused the power of [Blessing Distortion] into it.

"AIYOWAYA!"

The little bird plushie actually cried out, just like Lloyd remembered.

Lloyd aimed symbolically. His inspiration had already spread out and firmly locked onto the twenty-some cartoon zombies, which was why his Madness Value had risen so much.

Finally, he let go.

"YOOOOOOO!!!"

The bird plushie let out a cry, tracing a parabola through the air. Flapping its short wings, it flew out slowly.

It looked like it was just there to be cute...

Seeing this, some of the veteran players in the crowd shook their heads.

They didn’t sense any overwhelming or incredible power from the plushie-like ammunition.

Judging from the ’Newbie’s’ earlier declaration, he was probably an Extraordinary Being of the [Veto] system, but his Tier was likely not high.

This kind of flimsy power couldn’t possibly solve this problem.

The master, Magic Bullet Hunter, also shook his head, it was unclear if in disappointment or because he saw no solution.

After flying leisurely for a moment, the bird plushie finally smashed into the bucket on a zombie’s head with a dull ’THUD’.

Then, it burst with a ’BANG’, scattering a few feathers.

That zombie didn’t even flinch. Instead, the other zombies were startled. Just as expected, they began to scatter and run at an exaggerated speed that didn’t match the art style.

But as they ran, their upper bodies suddenly rotated 180 degrees and broke in two...

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