Doomsday Forbidden Zone

Within Shalin City in the Great Taliro Desert. "Buying dragon materials!" "Need a powerhouse to carry through the desert wyvern nest!" "Adult green dragon scales, premium materials! Originally twenty-nine silver dinars each, now practically giving them away at clearance prices—just nine silver dinars apiece! Limited stock, first come, first served!" "That expensive? Aren't you just ripping off clueless newbies? Heh, dragon scale prices tanked ages ago after the battle at the Great Rift. Twenty-nine silver dinars was the going rate who knows how long ago. Come over to my stall, folks! Only six silver dinars each—way cheaper than this scamming crook!" "What? Short on cash? Can't even afford one? Here, hand over your bank card, and I'll help you secure a ten gold dinar loan. Our Imperial Bank is a legitimate institution certified by the imperial authorities, with an annual interest rate of..." "Hiring experimental specialists for the Machine Cult's Sect of Life with generous compensation! Three silver dinars per death! Spots are limited to just three people, don't miss out!" "Call that hiring experimental specialists? You're clearly just looking for test subjects!" Players gathered across the central plaza, some setting up street stalls to hawk their wares, others discussing the war situation, laughing, cursing, and arguing. Their presence filled the city with a bustling clamor, exuding a vitality starkly different from the era of the Cult of the Dragon's oppressive rule. To the local Seleucians, even though these imperial northerners acted strangely and bore certain dragon-like traits, they rarely humiliated or oppressed them like the Cult of the Dragon cultists had, let alone tore their families apart. After the Battle of the Locke Great Rift, these players from afar had not immediately returned. Instead, most remained behind in Seleucia—a land ripe for rebuilding and overflowing with opportunity. They sought to explore, earn gold and experience, and claw their way up from the bottom to become elite players in the game. Right then, a player cried out in shock, "Look, everyone! A new quest just dropped!" Instantly, the crowd across the plaza erupted into a stir. Nearly every player brought up their interface to inspect the latest war quest. "Now this looks interesting—'Explore the Doomsday Forbidden Zone.'" "Speaking of which, what kind of place is this Doomsday Forbidden Zone? Sounds pretty high-tier." "Did the damn developers finally find a conscience and drop a new dungeon? There really aren't enough mobs to grind. With the Empire packing such insane firepower now, I barely get any experience from these war quests. All I can do is trail behind and pick at the scraps." "Holy crap, look at that! The rewards are ridiculous!" *** [Explore the Doomsday Forbidden Zone] [Quest Description: Kazul, the "Crimson Cinders," has awakened from his long slumber, bringing an earth-shattering disaster in his wake. This great wyrm has reduced hundreds of miles of fertile plains to scorched earth, creating a natural barrier against the Empire's advance—the catastrophe known as the "Doomsday Scourge."] [Now, you must explore this scorched wasteland left behind by the disaster and seek a method to lift the curse spread across this land.] [Note: "When magma covers the earth and ash cloaks the sky, the Mother of Evil Dragons shall descend upon the world, annihilating the old era and ushering in a new epoch..."] [Quest Rewards: Current exploration progress of the Doomsday Forbidden Zone is at 0%. For every point of exploration progress gained, you will receive a massive amount of Faction Contribution and experience. Players ranking at the top of exploration progress will receive one Legendary Bloodline Potion Type Alpha.] [Side Quest: Kazul's Favor] [Quest Description: Kazul once founded an enormous cult, and his chosen walk the earth spreading their lord's glory. Capture or kill Kazul's chosen.] [Quest Rewards (Choose one of the following):] [Legendary Equipment: Heart of the Ancient Dragon Armor Set; Legendary Bloodline Potion Type Beta; key advanced-class item: Scroll of the Dragon Pact; Vegitas Dragonscale Marine modification surgery...] *** "There's actually a Legendary Bloodline Potion? That's premium stuff even elite powerhouse guilds struggle to get their hands on! To think the devs just threw it out like this!" "A legendary-tier armor set forged from ancient dragon scales! It can cast an eighth-tier abjuration spell and offers insane magic resistance! Put that on, and you can practically ignore enemy mages!" "Holy shit, isn't that the crucial advancement item for Dragon Pact Sorcerers? That's the strongest caster class right now!" "If you ask me, the most valuable thing has to be the Dragonscale Marine modification surgery! Dragon-skinned absolute tanks, the vanguard blades of the Cinder Emperor, with each unit costing tens of thousands of gold dinars to produce." "The Machine Cult's biological modification tech is no joke. Even a total newbie with zero class levels and no combat experience could easily reach level seven or eight after undergoing over a dozen complex surgeries. That's pure raw stat-monster territory..." Players chattered excitedly, their imaginations running wild, as if already visualizing themselves strutting proudly after claiming the rewards. "Anyone forming a team for the Doomsday Forbidden Zone? Need level eight or higher! No wild magic sorcerers, no rogues!" "LF a wizard! School of Divination preferred, School of Abjuration works too!" "Doomsday Forbidden Zone dungeon run! Elite squad recruiting online! Requirements: class level ten or higher, rich combat and exploration experience, and restricted to T1 or above classes from Singo's tier list!" "Newbie looking for a carry! No real perks other than being a hardworking meat shield who doesn't fear death and brings top-tier emotional support!" "Guys DM me, girls stay independent!" "Wait, bro, what the hell is wrong with you?" "That's just how we Elezerg players roll—everyone's a musclehead." "Damn it, where did all the cleric players go? Any clerics left? Preferably Life Domain! Our team just needs a healer and we're ready to roll!" In a shadowy alley tucked away in a corner of Shalin City, a weathered-looking man wearing a long robe with a sword at his waist stood with his arms crossed. He stared at the quest notification before him, his eyes burning with absolute determination. Gritting his teeth, he muttered, "Hmph, that Vegitas Dragonscale Marine modification surgery—it's mine! So what if they're powerhouse guilds? So what if they're pro players? The humiliation you dealt me back then, I'll pay back a hundredfold!" As he spoke, his eyes turned bloodshot, and veins bulged along his clenched fists. Indeed, this man was no native NPC, but a player whose displayed name was Luan Shi Fu Sheng. He was the very commoner fighter who had been repeatedly trounced by various professional players and guild aces during the qualifiers of the Imperial Gladiator Tournament. Moments later, several players of various classes and similar levels gathered behind Luan Shi Fu Sheng, chiming in one after another: "Right, Big Bro! We can't let them keep looking down on us commoner players! We'll show them that ordinary folks can become powerhouses too!" "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—do not bully the young just because they're poor!" They were the Mortal Guild. Led by Luan Shi Fu Sheng, their ranks consisted primarily of commoner players of ordinary strength but towering ambitions, determined to rely on their own strength to surpass the powerhouse guilds and pro players. Meanwhile, the "grind slave quartet" led by Singo also rushed to the scene at the earliest opportunity. Mantou said anxiously, "Let's hurry up and enter the quest! The damn devs actually grew a conscience and gave out such insane rewards. Plenty of people are going to fight over them—snooze and you lose!" Singo wagged a finger, unhurried. "No rush. High risk means high reward. Given my understanding of the imperial faction's typical playbook, if they're willing to pay this steep a price, this quest is definitely not going to be a walk in the park. Trust me, internal reports leaked from the Redscale Garrison long ago. Several powerful and experienced Redscale Conqueror scouts vanished without a trace inside that forbidden zone. If you go barging straight in, your fate will be even worse than theirs." Tian Sheng Zhan Kuang rubbed his polished bald head, flashing a grin of bright white teeth. "Heh... let's head over and scout the situation first. Let the others pave the way for us." Xiaye Qiuyu nodded slightly as well. "Indeed, that makes sense. We don't fight unprepared battles. We'll follow behind them." "Move it, move it! First come, first served!" "The flesh is weak, mechanical ascension!" "Kazul's chosen belongs to Wangquan! This time, nobody gets in our way—not even the Machine Cult!" Before long, teleportation gates leading toward the Doomsday Forbidden Zone appeared across the city. Players jostled and scrambled to surge into the portals, arriving at the southeastern border of the Empire's occupied territory—the threshold of the forbidden zone. Yet upon catching sight of the scene on the other side, the players froze in shock, cries of awe and dismay bursting from their lips. "Is... is this the place?" "Holy crap... 'Doomsday Forbidden Zone' truly lives up to its name." At the border, a broad river of molten lava flowed sluggishly, bubbles bursting across its surface with crisp popping sounds. Dense, choking smoke reeking of sulfur drifted above the river as though welling up from the depths of the underworld. Scorching gales swept across the land, whipping up endless flurries of gray ash. This river of lava cleaved the world in two: on one side lay the fertile, prosperous North Seleucian Plain, and on the other, a doomsday forbidden zone far more wretched and extreme than purgatory itself. The mere sight of it was enough to send a chill down one's spine. The elite powerhouse guilds reacted the fastest. Players of the Machine Cult launched basketball-sized metallic spheres across the river. As the metal spheres sailed through the air, they unfolded, transforming into several mechanical wyverns with eyes flashing red. They measured less than half a meter in length, yet their silhouettes differed little from genuine wyverns. "Command received—exploring uncharted zone. Evaluating environmental parameters..." "Current ambient temperature: 55°C. Concentrations of sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen sulfide in the atmosphere severely exceed safe levels. Human respiratory systems will be unable to function..." Cold, emotionless synthetic voices emanated from the mechanical wyverns. Hovering in midair with their heads angled downward toward the scorched earth, their mechanical eyes whirred and rotated, emitting beams of red light as they scanned the terrain. The surrounding players craned their necks, staring at the flamboyant mechanical wyverns, unable to suppress a flurry of chatter filled with equal parts envy and resentment. "As expected of the Machine Cult. Truly filthy rich." "Doesn't this count as cheating?" "Their dungeon exploration is practically an industrialized assembly line. Looks like us commoner players really don't stand a chance..." Just then, right beneath the gaze of countless onlookers, the mechanical wyverns suddenly convulsed violently. Crackling electric arcs wound across their metal hulls, thick plumes of black smoke poured from their joints, and their speakers erupted into erratic static. "Unknown magnetic interference detected... Connection lost... Control system error..." "Initiating self-destruct sequence..." *Boom! Boom!* Several mechanical wyverns exploded in midair like dazzling fireworks, their charred fragments trailing black smoke as they rained down onto the earth. "Holy crap, they just blew up like that?" "Hahahahaha! Rest in pieces!" "What can I say, man!" Players' eyes widened in sheer disbelief, gasping in shock. The Machine Cult operator simply adjusted his blue-tinted tactical visor, furrowed his brow, and spoke into his comms: "This region is blanketed by an unknown force field. Almost all of our instruments malfunction inside, completely severing external communication. Large-scale unmanned scouting is unfeasible. Requesting support from the Dragonscale Marine Legion." Meanwhile, amidst another round of gasps, a stone golem deployed by the Magic Coin guild collapsed into a heap of disordered rubble the moment it crossed into the Doomsday Forbidden Zone. "Spell turbulence? This place is seriously wicked..." Charlotte stowed her staff, her brow deeply furrowed as she stared out at the cursed land choked with ash and coursing with magma. Mingyue, the vice-guildmaster of Magic Coin, was already gathering guild members, organizing squads, and drafting tactics to prepare for a dispersed exploration. "Are we going in or not?" "Let's wait and see. Even the powerhouse guilds haven't moved in yet. If we barge in now, won't we just end up as cannon fodder?" "Yeah, looks like I made it out to be way too simple. This dungeon is hardcore..." For a time, the previously enthusiastic players all began to get cold feet. Not a single person dared to take the plunge first, terrified of being used as stepping stones for others. Just then, a resolute, resonant voice rang out from the crowd: "Hmph! Those selfish elite guilds have long lost their pioneering spirit. All they know how to do is hoard the lion's share of resources and lounge in their comfort zones!" The crowd turned their heads in unison. There stood Luan Shi Fu Sheng, leading the commoner players of the Mortal Guild as they stepped forward, his eyes surveying the surrounding players with brimming confidence and imposing swagger. "Who's that?" "Damn, this bro really knows how to put on a show..." "He looks kind of familiar. Oh, right, I remember now! Isn't he the star of that viral forum post: *The Winless Myth of the Qualifiers! Luan Shi Fu Sheng Gets Thrashed Three Times by Pros!*?" "Poor guy." "Hahaha, so it's that unlucky bastard! No wonder he's acting so chuunibyou—he must've suffered serious mental trauma." Hearing the snickering and whispering, Luan Shi Fu Sheng's face flushed bright red. Yet he held his ground, threw his chest out, and retorted, "All that is in the past! A man destined for greatness does not linger over a couple of past failures!" "A golden carp is not a creature bound to a pond; once it meets the wind and clouds, it transforms into a dragon!" "Today, I shall prove to you all that ordinary players are the true future of Elezerg! Watch as I lead the charge, daring to go where none have gone before!" "As expected of Big Bro!" "Brothers of Mortal, move out! The time to make our mark has come!" And so, this band of commoner players from the Mortal Guild, whose average level did not even reach level seven, became the very first explorers to set foot into the Doomsday Forbidden Zone.