I Just Want Players to Save Money, They Insist on Giving Me!
Chapter 170 - 81: Mantis Lord, Cardiac Arrest! Lao Ju’s Defense Break: Who Can Really Get Through This Game?_1

Chapter 170: Chapter 81: Mantis Lord, Cardiac Arrest! Lao Ju’s Defense Break: Who Can Really Get Through This Game?_1

It felt intentional, as if a challenging level had been designed specifically for players to hone their skills.

After this stage, the difficulty flattened out somewhat.

The smaller mobs were no longer so densely packed, usually appearing alone or in pairs.

Having gained a handle on the mechanics, Wang Laoju faced these bugs and flies with no fear at all.

He dispatched creatures swiftly with his blade and ventured throughout the sprawling underground world, constantly exploring.

Along the way, he learned the ability to heal himself in front of a crumbling monument; by accumulating Soul Quantity, he could use it to restore health on the spot.

In a corridor filled with sharp spikes, he mastered the Cut Down jump.

By swinging his nail and hitting the spikes, he could bounce back with force, allowing the little Knight to dance on the blade’s edge.

If the rhythm was right, a player could even float over a field of spikes without touching them once.

Wang Laoju also met a Bug Elder seeking his help, hoping the Knight would retrieve a precious grub taken away by an evil bug­—offering a reward in return.

There was also a middle-aged, portly mosquito humming tunes, who revealed himself as a cartographer upon conversation. His favorite pastime was to travel every region of the Holy Nest, recording the characteristics of each area with his pen.

For a certain amount of Geo, one could purchase a map of the current area from him.

Besides, there was a fly with large eyes and a tiny body, cloaked within a cape.

Unlike the fat flies called ’Gruz’ he’d slain earlier,

this one, claiming to be Sly, seemed to possess a will of its own, capable of conversation.

While incessantly complaining about his three pathetic disciples, he thanked the Knight for waking him from an eternal sleep within a dream.

He also mentioned he’d had enough of the foul air in the Holy Nest and would set up a small stall in Detmoth Town to sell useful items for adventurers.

As long as the Knight brought sufficient Geo, he would be generous.

When Wang Laoju returned to the surface, he indeed found two new shops had enlivened the previously dreary town.

One was run by the cartographer’s wife, where one could buy map-related charms like a compass and a quill.

The other shop, established by Sly, offered more combat-related charms, including one called Bee Swarm Rally which caught Wang Laoju’s eye.

In the exploration of the Holy Nest underground world, defeated monsters dropped Geo, but it exploded out on the spot, requiring the player to collect it from the vicinity of the creature’s corpse.

Sometimes, if Geo fell near hazardous terrain, it would end up in places out of the player’s reach.

The Bee Swarm Rally charm filled this gap perfectly—once worn, it acted like a magnet for Geo, drawing in any that fell in out-of-reach corners.

This was, without doubt, another layer in the enhancement of the player’s experience.

Beyond that, there were mini-bosses like Dragon’s Tooth and the Mother Gruz, similar to Elite Monsters.

And the final boss of the first area, the False Knight.

Their unique attack patterns forced players to flee in disarray, repeatedly facing death before slowly learning and mastering the rhythm.

Upon their defeat, a hefty amount of Geo or rare rewards like charms would spill forth, creating a sense of achievement that was eagerly claimed.

The game perfectly interpreted pleasure mixed with pain.

And it kept players deeply engrossed.

Before Wang Laoju knew it, two or three hours had flown by in the blink of an eye.

By then, he had cleared the second area, Verdant Path, dying nearly thirty times before finally repelling the area boss, Hornet Woman.

From her, he also learned the skill of dashing.

Advancing step by step, Wang Laoju found the gameplay experience to be nothing like the monotonous grind he had first anticipated.

Instead, it could be described in three words:

Opening treasure chests!

The journey felt like players were constantly opening treasure chests and uncovering surprises at every turn.

The intricate map was vast and incredibly easy to lose one’s way in.

But being lost often led to the collection of excellent items from the nooks and crannies of the terrain.

Even more so, certain special items might be overlooked if one never got lost.

Moreover, unlike games that dump a heap of settings or engage in long-winded, nauseating NPC dialogues,

which often bore players to the point of skipping over them just to rush into the action,

Hollow seemed to always strive for minimalism.

The whole game’s lore, the NPCs encountered, and the use of items and skills acquisition,

were all part of what was gradually gained along the journey.

When encountering NPCs, the conversations were usually concise and to the point.

Sometimes, when weary from battle, players found themselves wanting to rest with an NPC, yearning to hear them speak more.

By listening to Sly complain about his stupid Swordsman apprentices, it was evident that he used to be a famous Swordsman himself.

He would always tell the Knight, ’Our nail is an extension of ourselves, a tool for shaping the world around us. Keeping its edge sharp is a sacred duty... Hey, sorry. I shouldn’t ramble on like this. Let’s talk about Geo.’