Apocalypse: Everyone Levels Up, I Return to the Time Before the Server Opened - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Tiger Demon Massacre

“Heavenly Eye!” Ye Qiu activated Heavenly Eye.

Almost immediately, information about the massive creature appeared before his eyes.

[Rare BOSS – Deep Mountain Tiger Demon]

[Level: 15]

[HP: 12,000]

[Skills: Tiger’s Roar Shakes the Forest, Poisonous Miasma Ground]

[Preference: Various meats]

“So it’s this thing!” Ye Qiu instantly remembered.

In his past life, right after the game launched, a major event had occurred — the Tiger Demon Apocalypse incident!

A single Level 15 Rare BOSS had fought against a thousand players. And in the end, the Deep Mountain Tiger Demon remained unscathed, while all one thousand players perished on Tiger Mountain!

There was nothing they could do. The players were simply too weak at this stage.

Even if tens of thousands of players at their current levels gathered together, they wouldn’t be able to break through the Deep Mountain Tiger Demon’s defense.

At that time, Ye Qiu had been in a different novice village, so he hadn’t witnessed it firsthand. But the event was such a huge sensation that he had seen it all over the forums.

“Run!” Ye Qiu took off at full speed.

A person should know their limits.

Previously, he had only managed to kill the Level 10 Giant Lynx King BOSS because he had known its weakness and taken advantage of the terrain.

That was the only reason he had slowly worn it down to death!

As for the Deep Mountain Tiger Demon in front of him, that was a Rare BOSS!

In the game’s hierarchy, BOSS ranks from lowest to highest were:

Normal BOSS → Rare BOSS → Epic BOSS → Legendary BOSS!

And the difference between each rank was huge!

To put it simply, a single Rare BOSS like the Deep Mountain Tiger Demon was equivalent to 50 Normal BOSSes like the Giant Lynx King!

That was not an exaggeration.

Level differences also played a huge role in the power gap. It was completely unreasonable!

Ye Qiu kept his distance at the outskirts of Tiger Mountain, watching from afar just like the other spectators.

He had high Agility and could run fast, but not all players were that lucky, especially those caught in the center of Tiger Mountain, including Thousand Faces Gentleman and his team.

They had nowhere to run!

—

The Deep Mountain Tiger Demon unleashed its skill, Tiger’s Roar Shakes the Forest!

ROAAAARR!!!

A thunderous roar erupted, deafening, overwhelming!

Every player froze in place!

This was a unique sonic attack of the Tiger Demon!

The damage wasn’t particularly high, but at this stage, it was enough to one-shot most low-level players.

The worst part was the skill’s “Daze” effect!

Even enemies of the same level would be stunned. If their Spirit attribute was even slightly too low, they would be completely paralyzed! Unable to move!

Immediately after, the Tiger Demon used another skill, Poisonous Miasma Ground!

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, dark purple gas spewed from its mouth and body.

“AAAHHH!” Some players, just beginning to recover, touched the poison gas and immediately screamed in agony!

“Shit!” Thousand Faces Gentleman was among them.

He only had time to curse before the purple miasma engulfed him. His skin broke out in festering sores, and he died a gruesome death on the spot!

The slaughter lasted less than ten minutes.

All across Tiger Mountain, even in some parts of the outer area, player corpses were everywhere!

Thousands of them!

Mixed in with all the dropped equipment, it was a dense, horrific sight!

Some players didn’t even get the chance to drop items, they were simply eaten alive by the Tiger Demon. Three to four at a time!

Crunch, crunch!

As for the dropped gear, no one dared to pick it up.

Right now, anyone who approached would be throwing their life away!

Before long, Thousand Faces Gentleman and his group respawned and rushed back.

“My blue gear!!”

“Thousand Faces Gentleman, you better take responsibility for this!”

“I worked so hard to reach Level 1, and now I’m back to Level 0!”

“Pay up! Pay up!!!”

The recruited players surrounded Thousand Faces Gentleman, demanding compensation.

He quickly reassured them, “Don’t worry, this death still counts for payment. If your dropped equipment was damaged, I’ll reimburse you at market price!”

Immediately, the other players clamored.

“Thousand Faces Gentleman is the real deal!”

“Rich guy, you’re awesome!”

“I’m sticking with you from now on!”

The players instantly went from angry to overjoyed.

However, Thousand Faces Gentleman felt a deep ache in his heart but not because of the money. In the early stages of the game, everything was cheap.

This amount was nothing to him.

What hurt was that he had died once!

He had lost a ton of EXP. From Level 4, he was back down to Level 3!

Now he would have to put in extra time and effort just to catch up to other players at his original level.

As for the spectators who got caught in the crossfire? They could only grit their teeth in frustration!

Next time, they wouldn’t casually watch a fight again!

—

By the time Ye Qiu got back to the village, the sky had turned completely dark.

At the village entrance, there was still an endless line of players. It was a queue so long you couldn’t see the end of it.

Ye Qiu couldn’t help but sigh. It reminded him of his past life. Back then, he had been just like these players, waiting in line for hours just to receive quests!

In the end, he got so frustrated that he gave up and became a casual player instead.

Now, Ye Qiu pulled out the Coward’s Cloak and draped it over his head, concealing his face.

This orange-tier Epic gear hadn’t been appraised yet, so for now, it only functioned as normal clothing.

Then, under the shocked gazes of the queuing players, Ye Qiu walked straight to the front and spoke first to Elder Xu.

“Elder Xu, can you appraise this item?”

Before Elder Xu could respond, the players in line burst out laughing!

Some were amused. Others were mocking.

Because according to game rules, if a player cut in line, they would be struck by divine lightning as punishment!

And their NPC favorability would plummet!

From that moment on, they would never be able to receive any quests again!

In some cases, the punishment was even harsher. One mother-daughter duo, after too many violations, had their accounts permanently deleted!

“This guy must be a newbie.”

“Just wait. The NPC is about to curse him out!”

“If he doesn’t leave, the system will strike him down with divine punishment!”

“If he gets hit three times, his account will be erased forever!”

No one warned Ye Qiu.

In real life, if someone cut in line, people would explode in anger, maybe even start a fight.

But in the game, the system handled it.

Players were happy to watch someone get punished!

However, what happened next left everyone stunned.

Elder Xu looked at the hooded player, and instead of scolding him, he smiled warmly!

The players were dumbfounded.

They had waited in line for so long but never had they seen Elder Xu smile at anyone!

Some had even prayed for him to just not be angry.

After all, this game’s NPCs had real personalities. They behaved like real people!

But now…

This guy cut in line!

Where is the system punishment?

Where is the divine lightning?

Why isn’t he getting struck down?!

Instead, Elder Xu is chatting happily with him?!