Chapter 6: Nothing ventured, nothing gained —First Battle!”

‘Come to think of it, if the beta version is already this impressive… once this game is fully developed… It’ll definitely become an extraordinary world!’

Ye Lian still held a high opinion of Nightmare Space.

After all, it was the first ever god-tier game that allowed people to actually enter their dreams.

Its very existence was groundbreaking.

“The real question now is—how do we fight back against the dream invasion? Could it be that killing monsters and capturing zones will allow the real world to return to normal?”

No one answered his question.

Not even the [Savior] organization had an answer.

Only the players present could uncover the truth through exploration.

‘Whatever. For now, the goal is to get stronger and stay alive.’

Ye Lian clenched his fist, then opened his inventory and stored his spear.

Then, he closed his inventory—only to immediately open it again and retrieve the spear.

It was a strange and seemingly meaningless action.

But it wasn’t without purpose.

“Weapons stored in the inventory can be instantly equipped. No need to open the equipment panel separately. Perfect. That means I can hide my weapon and take it out at a moment’s notice.”

Ye Lian had understood from a young age that people couldn’t be trusted easily.

At this stage, most players didn’t even have proper weapons.

If he went around flashing his spear in front of them, it would be like a child walking down the street holding a gold brick.

Someone would try to steal it.

And in this game, real-world laws didn’t matter.

Might made right.

‘Also, I need to keep an eye on the other players who found easter eggs.’

Ye Lian stared at the spear, which was now faintly wrapped in wind-element energy, and muttered to himself.

He never once believed he was the only special one.

Others must have noticed the strange countdown on the system panel as well.

As for how many managed to find an easter egg…

Only the system knew for sure.

But Ye Lian was confident the number was small.

A large portion of the beta testers weren’t even real players.

Many of them had likely never played anything beyond mobile games.

They were just lucky enough to get selected.

That’s all.

“I’m a professional,” he said with a confident smile.

Holding the spear in hand, Ye Lian strode forward.

***

After a good rest, his mental state had clearly improved.

The two bottles of mental recovery potion the system gave him hadn’t even been used yet.

Following the footprints left by other players, Ye Lian advanced quickly.

He had a weapon.

He had potions.

Now it was time to hunt!

At this moment, he was fully in “player mode”—mind clear, focus sharp.

Before long, he encountered his first obstacle.

Up ahead was a massive chasm, with no structure connecting to the other side.

As he walked closer, all he could see was a pitch-black abyss—so dark it seemed bottomless.

Crossing in a straight line was clearly impossible.

With no other choice, Ye Lian carefully scanned the surroundings.

From this point on, the footprints became chaotic.

It looked like the players before him had disagreed on what to do and ended up splitting up.

Taking a detour would be time-consuming, but Ye Lian made his choice—he went left.

That area was lower in elevation.

If he was lucky, he might find a river.

And maybe… a bridge.

Following the trail for a while, Ye Lian arrived at a slope.

***

The slope curved downward, and faint sounds of running water could be heard from below.

It seemed there was an underground river at the bottom.

Gripping his spear tightly, Ye Lian cautiously began his descent.

The reason was simple the footprints here had become chaotic and disorganized.

‘The returning steps are deeper and more erratic. They must’ve run back in a panic. There’s likely a monster down there.’

Thinking this, Ye Lian felt both excited and nervous as he continued downward.

Even though he knew it was dangerous, he pressed on—clearly not a good habit.

One wrong move and it could cost him his life.

But he understood very well: if he didn’t take any risks, he’d never get what he wanted.

Compared to the [non-players], Ye Lian’s resolve was clearly stronger.

Entering the game itself was already a gamble with death.

If you win, it’s all smiles.

If you lose, your whole family joins you in the grave.

As an orphan, the only thing he truly cared about was the apartment building he called home.

The sound of running water grew louder, and the surroundings gradually darkened.

The trail ended there.

Ye Lian tightened his grip on the spear, held his breath, and softened his footsteps.

Every step he took was slow and careful.

BANG!

Just then, a dull thud echoed from a blind spot around the bend.

Ye Lian froze, instantly on alert.

BANG!

BANG BANG BANG!

The sound of something heavy striking the ground repeatedly grew closer and closer.

He swallowed hard, eyes locked ahead, fully focused.

Whatever had scared the previous explorers into retreat must be no ordinary creature.

After several tense seconds of waiting, he finally saw the monster.

It was a large gray crocodile!

Unlike normal crocodiles, this one had three massive, heavy tails.

With every step it took, the tails smashed against the ground, making deep, echoing thuds.

Ye Lian saw it—and it saw him.

Its eyes suddenly flared red.

It remembered similar prey approaching earlier, but they had escaped too quickly for it to catch.

Now, another one had arrived—and this time, it wasn’t letting go.

The gray crocodile lumbered forward with its powerful front limbs, its massive frame exuding terrifying pressure.

Fortunately, it wasn’t very fast.

Ye Lian slowly stepped back.

Holding the spear, he tried to gain the high ground—it would give him an advantage.

To be honest, he was more skilled with a sword or bare-handed combat.

But considering how dangerous this game was, he had chosen a spear for its balance between offense and defense.

And that decision had paid off.

As the gray crocodile approached, Ye Lian thrust his spear forward, piercing through what looked like tough scales on its back and drawing a splash of crimson blood.

A strange, guttural cry rang out.

“So sharp! As expected of a spear forged from Wind Crystals—cuts through armor like butter!”

With a successful first strike, Ye Lian’s nervousness instantly vanished.

What he had feared most was that his spear wouldn’t penetrate the creature’s defense.

Now, seeing the crocodile thrashing in pain like it was having a seizure, confidence surged in him.

This was a winnable fight!

Ye Lian didn’t hesitate—while the creature was wounded, he struck again and again, drawing more blood with each blow.

But the repeated injuries triggered the crocodile’s bloodlust.

With a furious roar, it charged at him, its body twisting as the three massive tails swept sideways.

“Nice try!” Ye Lian had anticipated the move and had already stepped back.

Even so, the wind from the sweeping tails nearly knocked him off balance.

If that blow had landed, it would’ve meant serious injury—maybe even death.

Quickly steadying himself, he thrust again—this time striking the creature’s unprotected left eye as it turned.

The pain exploding in its skull drove the gray crocodile into a frenzy.

Ye Lian swiftly pulled back, fluidly withdrawing his spear and preparing for a follow-up.

What followed was a vicious chase—he attacked, dodged, stabbed again.

Eventually, the gray crocodile collapsed and died on the slope.

***

[You have slain Grayscale Crocodile. You gain 100 EXP. Level up available: Level 1.]

At the same time, the system notification echoed in his ears.