Chapter 52: Shocked Brother Niuzi and Brother Centimeter

When Lin Yu logged into the game again, it was already eight o’clock in the evening. The reason he chose to go online so late was because his current maximum online time was twelve hours. This meant his logout time would be exactly at eight the next morning, coinciding perfectly with the daily reset. At that point, he only needed to spend less than a minute logging back in to keep his total online time capped at twenty-four hours. Of course, this was merely a worst-case plan.

Under normal circumstances, Lin Yu would never delay this long. After all, the longer he waited, the greater the chance that new players in the novice village would come to assist, increasing unpredictability. This was also why he chose to act at night—during this time, most players and NPCs were resting, giving him the highest chance of success.

Upon logging in, the first thing Lin Yu did was hide his nickname. Then, he pulled out a black cloak and wrapped himself tightly from head to toe. Now, even those closest to him would not recognize him. Having done all this, he took advantage of the growing darkness and headed toward the resurrection altar in Novice Village 331.

Along the way, Lin Yu encountered many players. However, their eyes were filled with confusion because his outfit looked so bizarre. Many whispered among themselves, wondering if he was so ugly that he had to cover himself up completely. "Divine Demon Continent" was the first holographic scanning game, and the first to use players’ real faces as references. Although character appearance could be tweaked by about 20% during creation, Lin Yu’s complete concealment was hard not to be misunderstood. But he couldn’t be bothered with their speculation. Let them laugh now—they wouldn’t be laughing for long.

As night deepened, the number of players in the novice village visibly decreased. Most were using only game helmets with an eight-hour online limit, so this was the typical logout time for the majority.

At the resurrection altar, two warriors stood healing their health. As their health slowly restored, smiles of relief spread across their faces. Not because of anything else, but because the healing felt like a blissful massage from the town’s spa girls.

“Brother Centimeter, who’s the jerk that bought all the potions from the shop? Now every time we fight a few monsters, we have to run back here to heal. What a waste of time!” A warrior player named "Please Suck My Bull" grumbled irritably to his newly made game partner. He was wearing ragged gear and carried a mountain-splitting axe at his waist. If it weren’t for that scoundrel who emptied the potion stock, they wouldn’t have to come back here every half hour to heal.

“Who knows? Probably some rich newbie who thinks buying all the potions makes them invincible. Ridiculous,” replied "I Really Have Twenty Centimeters," known as Brother Centimeter, still enjoying the soothing feeling from the resurrection altar without even opening his eyes.

In his view, people like that were typical clueless rich kids. “So what if they have money? If I catch that bastard, I’ll beat the crap out of him...” Please Suck My Bull snarled, but then suddenly elbowed Brother Centimeter and said, “Hey, Brother Centimeter, why’s that guy wrapped up like a dumpling? Can’t be that he’s too ugly to show his face, right?”

Curious, Brother Centimeter opened his eyes and saw a figure ahead, completely shrouded in a black cloak with only their eyes visible.

“Could that be the guy Old Li and the others ran into earlier?” he wondered. He’d heard about this strange character from friends but never expected to meet him himself.

“Truly a weirdo. Maybe he’s so ugly he wants to get plastic surgery. Haha!” Please Suck My Bull burst out laughing like he’d found a source of endless amusement.

“Maybe. Too ugly might affect the town’s image,” Brother Centimeter chuckled along.

But their laughter quickly died out when the strange figure suddenly drew a large knife, clearly targeting them.

“Brother Centimeter, do you think he heard what we said?” Please Suck My Bull’s smile stiffened, his face darkening as he glanced nervously at Brother Centimeter.

“Probably not,” Brother Centimeter replied reluctantly, stopping his mockery. The way the man wielded that long blade didn’t look like someone to mess with.

Before he could finish, a terrifying scene unfolded: the cloaked figure charged at them.

“Holy crap, he’s really coming for us!”

The two were instantly terrified, with Please Suck My Bull leaping and clinging exaggeratedly onto Brother Centimeter. After all, who wouldn’t panic when someone suddenly charged with a huge cleaver?

“Swish, swish, swish, swish!”

Just as they trembled in fear, four red slashes flashed past.

Nearby, two level-10 village guards protecting the resurrection altar collapsed silently without a sound.

“!!!!”

Brother Centimeter and his companion were stunned speechless. Level-10 NPCs wiped out just like that? If they weren’t mistaken, the blade had dealt over six thousand damage in a single strike. Six thousand! If that hit them, they’d be dead ten times over.

While they were still in shock, the cloaked figure, having killed the NPCs, advanced toward them again. So their earlier assumption was right—the real target was them. The previous attack was just a warning.

Faced with this, Brother Centimeter and his friend nearly cried with panic. Death itself wasn’t scary; the waiting for it was.

“Great hero, spare us!” They both dropped to their knees, legs trembling uncontrollably.

Ordinary players like them already struggled to level up. Being killed near the spring multiple times would be catastrophic.

Yet the masked man ignored their pleas and swung his blade again toward them.

“No way!”

They were so terrified they closed their eyes in despair, regretting their careless words.

But just when they thought it was the end, no harm came to them. Instead, the sound of clashing steel echoed in their ears.

“Huh?”

They quickly opened their eyes and saw something that made their minds reel.

What on earth was happening?

The cloaked figure wasn’t attacking them but was instead striking the resurrection altar itself!