Conquering OtherWorld Starts With a Game

"It's already dark."

Wagner looked up at the sky, quietly touching his cuckoo flower lapel badge. He forced himself to stand up and, as per Yang's request, shouted to the disorganized undead who were doing their own things, "Undead friends, it's time for battle! Please assist—"

"Finally, it's starting!"

"Charge!"

"Yah-hoo~"

The scattered undead all around jumped up and down like springs as they ran joyfully toward Lakeside Village like exuberant wild horses.

The veins on Wagner's forehead were on the verge of bursting. "—Stop right there!"

The undead lagging behind were already several dozen yards away, and none of them paid any attention to Wagner, who was left behind.

Wagner sucked in sharply…

Indeed, he shouldn't have expected anything from these undead bastards!!

A black-faced Wagner glanced at his own men and roared through gritted teeth, "Form up!"

When Wagner, with a face as dark as the bottom of a pot, led the soldiers to the vicinity of Lakeside Village, he was astonished to find that the undead hadn't rushed into the enemy ranks and caused chaos. Instead, they gathered and formed up properly in the cornfield outside the village.

However, the situation wasn't much better than the worst-case scenario Wagner had anticipated.

The cornfield where the undead were gathering and forming noisily was less than 200 meters away from the village.

Between the cornfield and the village, on the compacted yellow soil used for drying grain, there was a temporary camp surrounded by wagons drawn by huge six-legged lizards.

Around the blazing campfire, numerous armed mercenaries and caravan guards were staring in astonishment at the cornfield less than a hundred meters away.

Wagner felt the urge to puke blood again—apparently, these undead were drawing up their tactics and formations in front of the enemy as if it were a usual tradition!

So… what was the point of Yang telling them to attack at night? Did he have no idea what his undead were like?!

These undead clearly didn't care if they were revealed to the enemy or not!

"Sergeant Pitt, are we heading over?" A soldier crouching in the grass alongside Wagner asked cautiously.

"Wait… for now." Wagner forcibly swallowed the bile in his throat. "Let's wait until the undead engage with the enemy."

His men all nodded. The undead wouldn't die, and they could fool around as much as they wanted. They, the living, couldn't afford that, especially since they had neither heavy armor nor mounts.

At this moment, the undead, who had been deploying formations right under the enemy's nose, suddenly started arguing.

"Slightly over ten healers already isn't enough to go around, and you two want to be in the same team?!"

"We'll team up with our own friends. It's none of your business!"

"If you're so damn good, lead your own team for quests. What's the point of joining a raid group like this?!"

"Looking for trouble, huh? Whether we join the big group or not is none of your business. Who do you think you are managing so much?!"

"Screw you!"

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you guys doing? Let's speak nicely and not fight!"

"Damn it! Even if you guys have a disagreement, can't you guys not cause trouble at this time? Have you guys no shame when 200-over people are watching you quarrel?!"

"Come on, guys, give some face! Everyone wants to complete the quest. Can't we settle our differences later?"

Suddenly, the conflict intensified, and one irascible skeleton even drew his knife and swung it toward another's head. Several other skeletons around quickly intervened to stop the fight.

Wagner watching from the shadows: "…"

He turned away, rubbing his temples. He couldn't bear to watch on.

If these undead were his soldiers, at least half of them would have been dragged out to be sacrificed before the battle.

After about 15 minutes of this ruckus, the reactions of the enemies in the makeshift camp shifted from shock to confusion. They huddled together, pointing fingers at the disorganized undead who had just managed to form some semblance of a formation.

And then… Wagner saw a skeleton shout, "Brothers, follow me!" The undead troupe, which had barely assembled any formation, rushed headlong toward the enemy camp.

The soldiers in the tall grass were left dumbfounded, and Wagner stared in disbelief at the sight.

Once he returned to his senses, Wagner had to pinch himself for cursing out loud. What was the point of all that fuss about formations if they were just going to charge into the enemy's midst?!

The enemies in the camp were equally baffled, but they reacted quickly, shouting to one another and swiftly forming defensive formations.

In general, the most effective outdoor cover was created by the thick-skinned six-legged lizards and the giant wagons loaded with goods. As long as the caravan guards and mercenaries held this defensive line, even a band of bandits several times their number would find it challenging to break through and inflict significant damage.

This caravan, belonging to the Ilik family, had experienced fighters among its ranks. The Sea Lions were also a well-known mercenary group. Although they were misled by the unusual combat style of the undead and missed the best opportunity for a preemptive strike, they managed to quickly form a defensive shape and seal off the side facing the undead, making it impenetrable.

However, under the astonished gazes of Captain Kenn, leader of the Sea Lions, and Wagner, who was waiting for an opportunity in the shadows, the undead showed no intention of using the correct tactic of concentrating their forces to break through. Instead, they scattered like water splashing on a flat surface, rushing chaotically in two different directions.

"Staying together and fighting will definitely cause problems. We might accidentally attack each other before completing the quest. It's better to spread out and fight separately."

Overall commander of the undead, Unceasing Entropy, said to Blossoming Strokes.

"This is the only way." Blossoming Strokes sighed. "We can only do so much with so little people. If only we had more."

"Where there are people, there are bound to be conflicts. The high immersion of this game leads to stronger emotions. I'm headed to the left battlefield; you keep an eye on the right," said Unceasing Entropy, waving her hand as she headed off.

"I'll do my best," Blossoming Strokes replied.

Sweating profusely from dealing with the chaos caused by the disorderly players, Captain Kenn of the Sea Lions shouted loudly, "Spread out and defend! Don't let any undead get through!"

Fortunately, the mercenaries of the Sea Lions had experienced several instances of being attacked by bandits who scattered and surrounded them during their jobs. After a brief moment of confusion, they quickly adjusted and dispersed in various directions, facing the undead attempting to breach the defensive line of wagons and carriages head-on.

The players' agile skeletal bodies made it easy for them to climb onto the six-legged lizard-drawn wagons, but their bone frames were indeed fragile. Many players who jumped onto the roofs of the wagons had their skulls knocked off or were completely dismantled.

There was no need to elaborate on players that completely shattered; they disappeared in a flash of white light.

Players who had their heads knocked off were slightly better off. They quickly jumped down and searched for their skulls. Players who had advanced to more than 70 Potential had longer "health bars" compared to when they first entered the game. The damage from having their heads knocked off wasn't enough to deplete their health bars entirely.

"Ahhhhhhh—!"

The mercenaries could bear this horrifying sight, but some members of the caravan screamed at this.ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ NovelEnglish.net

"These darned monsters hit so hard! I almost got killed!" Players who had recovered their heads also got quite a fright and hurriedly sought out healers nearby to restore their health.

"Don't rush to the front if you don't have a helmet! These monsters know how to target our weak points!" Unceasing Entropy shouted loudly. "Those with good equipment, be the vanguard!"

The players who had initially intended to climb onto the carriages quickly retreated, giving way to knight and warrior players.

Due to the release of the undead horse at the start, warriors were in short supply, while knights were numerous. The knight players, who had fallen behind because of their heavier equipment, quickly surged forward.

One knight player leaped onto a carriage, brandishing his sword and shield. He elegantly blocked a mercenary's attack with his shield and retaliated by swinging his sword toward the mercenary.

Using a shield for a blunt force strike might seem straightforward, yet one that heavily armored knights in this world mastered to perfection. The mercenary who stepped up to obstruct the path had encountered such moves before and wasn't particularly concerned, continuing to swing his longsword firmly.

The small, round shield (larger ones were too heavy for the undead to lift) struck his shoulder. The burly and rugged mercenary couldn't help but silently ridicule the feeble force behind this lightweight attack. However, in the next moment, he felt a sudden heaviness in his head, and his vision started to dim.

This mercenary, also hailing from the Sokri Empire, stared with wide, bewildered eyes, unable to comprehend what had just transpired…

A knight's shield strike was considered a purely physical attack and, given the undead's physical strength, shouldn't have posed much of an issue when it landed on a large person.

However, the skills of these knight players were based on Earth's online gaming abilities and modified using alchemical puppet runes. While it appeared as a physical attack, its essence was more of a mental strike.

To execute the Shield Strike skill, knight players needed to expend a certain amount of available mental energy. Once it landed a direct hit (ineffective if it struck a heavily armored area), regardless of the force or size of the target, as long as the target's mental value remained within the player's attack range, the target would invariably experience the effects of a mental assault and fall into a brief state of dizziness.

The warrior players' Charge skill operated on the same principle. Otherwise, how could Yang Ying, with her character and equipment weighing less than 35 kilograms, have possibly halted Wagner, who, with his armor, gear, and steed, weighed close to a ton?

During the brief period when the mercenary was incapacitated by the shield strike, several players hiding under the carriage swiftly took action. They skillfully disarmed the unfortunate mercenary in less than two seconds, expertly removing his weaponry, securing him with nylon restraints, and then dragging him away with determined grunts.

Mercenary captain Kenn who witnessed this scene: "??"