Chapter 687: Mr. Chen's Malice? It's Nothing! (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

After a brief chat with Song Ren, Zhang Yi's apprehensive heart calmed down slightly. He couldn't always scare himself.

He refocused his attention on the game, performing a double jump and advancing little by little along the cliff. The bottomless cliff made Zhang Yi quickly avert his gaze.

He had to admit, despite having experienced such high-altitude scenes in many games, every time he saw them, it still made his heart pound.

He passed through the steep cliff, stealthily moving through the nearby reed bushes, and eavesdropped. From the dialogue of the small mobs nearby, Zhang Yi quickly understood his situation: he needed to find the Wolf's young lord, Kuro, and rescue him.

Zhang Yi clearly felt that this section was still a new player tutorial, as most areas required climbing and double jumping to reach. It wasn't very long, only about a minute's journey, and he slipped through a room that resembled a dog hole.

Zhang Yi then saw Kuro sitting there, reading.

“This little boy is quite delicate and refined-looking.”

Glancing at Kuro in the game, Zhang Yi smacked his lips. Then, the game plot triggered, and he received a healing gourd and his own weapon, Kusabimaru, from Kuro.

“Healing gourd…”

Looking at the gourd in his hand, and seeing his health replenish by half after drinking from it, Zhang Yi fell into a moment of silence. Why was this sense of déjà vu for Souls games getting stronger and stronger?

Thinking about his recent conversation with Kuro, that lack of a clear mission objective UI interface, only simple text descriptions. Then, looking at the empty gourd in his inventory that didn't disappear after use, Zhang Yi's heart was already thumping.

He searched the second floor and found a healing pill, but he didn't consume it. Zhang Yi quietly controlled the Wolf in the game to push open the large door.

Seeing the Shinobi Execution prompt pop up, Zhang Yi's heart trembled slightly again. This reminded him of backstabs in Dark Souls and Visceral Attacks in Bloodborne.

Attracting the attention of the mobs, Zhang Yi didn't make any attack or defense moves, because he wanted to test something. The mobs outside the door saw the Wolf emerge and immediately turned, assuming a blocking stance, but didn't attack immediately; clearly, their aggressive intent wasn't strong.

After standing still for about two or three seconds, the mob soldier in front of him finally swung his katana at the Wolf. One slash, two slashes, three slashes… The Wolf, who originally had only half health, instantly fell. A gigantic, blood-red artistic 'DEATH!' appeared in the center of the screen.

He then respawned in Kuro's room, but his previous low health was now full, and the gourd was refilled. The Wolf's regeneration power from the previous promotional video didn't show up; he didn't know if it was because the conditions weren't met or for some other reason.

But at this moment, Zhang Yi no longer paid attention to this detail. He was completely dumbfounded!

This damage, this health, and this familiar 'DEATH!' screen. The flavor was just too strong! This was a Souls game!

“Old Song, did you feel it? This is a Souls game, damn it!” Zhang Yi called out to Song Ren, a little distraught.

“I’ve already died 4 times,” Song Ren’s voice came from the other end of the call.

“How did you die so many times? Is it that hard?” Zhang Yi was astonished.

Even though it was a Souls game, they had played Bloodborne and Dark Souls, and were both high New Game+ players. Zhang Yi felt that while Song Ren’s skill might be a bit worse than his, it wasn’t by much. But in this short time, he died 4 times? Was the game difficulty that high?

“It’s not just high difficulty; you haven’t experienced the combat system yet, have you? You’ll know once you play it, and this game has a Discouraging Boss right at the main entrance; dying is very efficient,” Song Ren replied.

Combat system? Zhang Yi was curious as he hung up the voice call. He knew Old Song well, and thinking about the previous videos, this Wolf certainly looked different from Dark Souls and Bloodborne.

Once again, he pushed open the large door, controlling the Wolf to charge forward. Before the opponent could even turn around, a red dot appeared in Zhang Yi’s field of vision. He decisively attacked.

The Wolf in the game instantly rushed behind the opponent, then pierced him through with a sword, blood gushing out like a fountain. At the same time, the small mob soldier at the bottom of the steps also noticed the Wolf. Zhang Yi controlled the Wolf to run forward and slashed once or twice, immediately filling the opponent’s posture bar, and the red Shinobi Execution dot appeared.

“This is a bit satisfying!”

Zhang Yi looked surprised. The usual rule for Souls games was that the initial mobs weren't very difficult. But when playing Dark Souls and Bloodborne, killing such mobs didn't feel particularly special. In Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, however, Zhang Yi felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

And the most crucial point was that without the restriction of a stamina bar, attacks felt much smoother.

“So how did Old Song die four times? It feels like without a stamina bar, the game’s difficulty shouldn’t be as terrifying as I imagined?”

Zhang Yi, having just killed two guards, felt his confidence soar, and he was also a bit puzzled. However, he soon took some damage from the third mob.

Unlike the previous mobs that would trigger an execution point after two slashes, this mob wore light armor and calmly blocked the Wolf's attacks. Moreover, when it attacked, this mob seemed to have hyper armor and could also retaliate. He accidentally got hit once, but according to the prompt, just like Perfect Guard and Gun Parry, using Kusabimaru for a perfect parry in the game significantly increased the enemy's posture bar, and once full, a direct Shinobi Execution was possible.

For this kind of mob, one perfect parry was enough for an execution, so it wasn't too difficult. After taking down two small mob soldiers, Zhang Yi quickly reached a stone staircase. There were two paths: a large gate and a small path leading to the back mountain.

The large gate was tightly locked, but at the entrance to the small path, Zhang Yi saw a samurai leader named Yamauchi Shikibu Toshikatsu. He seemed to be a mini-BOSS.

“Is this the Discouraging Boss Old Song mentioned? But it looks like I don’t have to fight him?”

Generally, in Souls-like games, BOSS battles usually seal off all surrounding paths during combat. But here, Zhang Yi noticed that there was no white mist or similar element next to this samurai on the small path, indicating that players could directly pass.

“So this is a monster that players can’t defeat early on, just like the big-butt demon in Dark Souls Prequel!”

A thought struck Zhang Yi, and his eyes lit up. He attracted aggro, but Zhang Yi didn't get entangled with the samurai in front of him; instead, he ran directly towards the small path. From a dead branch, he jumped to the city wall beneath the bridge, with the BOSS and mobs, who had been aggroed but were helpless against him, following behind.

“As expected! I don’t need to fight him!”

A feeling of wisdom triumphing spontaneously arose. He had been underestimated; he wasn't someone who blindly charged head-on! Chen Xu's malice? It's nothing! This was experience honed over thousands of hours in Souls games! The trap had been broken through!

(End of Chapter) <>