Chapter 833: A New Wife Has Appeared!

Chapter 833: A New Wife Has Appeared!

As a Souls-like game, the 'in-game messages' left by players serve as a kind of player-written instruction manual.

Song Ren had always been very meticulous, adopting a precise and formal style of writing.

But when he thought about it carefully, players who followed his approach were probably as countless as hairs on an ox.

In that case, how could newcomers possibly find their messages among so many in-game messages?

Besides, players would eventually grow tired of reading these formal-style messages and wouldn't bother to like or comment on them.

In contrast, after seeing Old Zhang's message, it was like the clouds parted and he saw the blue sky.

So this is how in-game messages could be this dirty! So bold and so risqué!

Especially the part about that buttock being useful, combined with the corresponding body movement—he couldn't hold back anymore.

Honestly speaking, when faced with such a message, could he really resist giving it a like?

He asked himself three times, and each time came to the same conclusion: absolutely not! He couldn't resist!

Yet after his感慨, Song Ren didn't follow the 葫芦画瓢 and copy Zhang Yi's method of leaving a message.

After all, judging from Zhang Yi's case, having your message become too popular wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Moreover, compared to offline mode, online mode was slightly more interesting—you could see messages left by others.

You could see other players' white phantoms, and feel that in this world, you weren't alone.

But even more importantly, you could see the bloodstains on the ground.

Why had he been able to challenge the Tree Sentinel for two straight hours?

On one hand, as a Veteran Player of Souls games, he was already used to the feeling of continuously dying, learning from mistakes, and eventually defeating the final boss.

On the other hand, it was the countless red bloodstains on the ground that gave him confidence.

Just looking at the hundreds of bloodstains scattered across the ground, Song Ren felt an indescribable mixture of exhilaration and discomfort.

He wasn't fighting alone!

How many Tarnished had died beneath this Tree Sentinel? Thousands? Millions!?

He definitely wasn't the worst among them!

Gradually growing familiar with the boss's attacks, Song Ren also became smarter through repeated battles.

The knight class started with three weapons: a sword, a halberd, and a medium shield.

If you equipped the halberd, your load would become heavy, making your rolling slow and clumsy.

The Tree Knight's attacks could deplete a full stamina bar in just two hits, and up close, there was even a chance he'd use Iron Mountain Tackle, which could instantly drain your shield stamina bar.

As for Perfect Guard, Song Ren had only succeeded two or three times out of ten attempts so far.

So after some reflection, Song Ren now switched to dual-wielding the halberd, becoming a disciple of the poking faction.

After attacking the Tree Sentinel, he'd immediately Create Distance and wait for an opening in the boss's attacks.

Believe it or not, this tactic worked incredibly well.

Being cautious and not getting greedy, combined with the knight's starting armor and high health bar, even the second phase's shield slam wouldn't instantly kill him as long as he wasn't hit directly in the center.

Counting the Golden Seeds he started with, the total of five Flasks of Crimson Tears provided a very high margin for error.

For nearly ten minutes, he danced with the Tree Sentinel across the open field, and finally, the boss's health was nearly depleted.

"Die!"

Song Ren thrust his halberd into the Tree Sentinel's body, draining the last sliver of its health bar.

As he watched the newly acquired weapon—Golden Halberd—enter his inventory, Song Ren was filled with a deep sense of accomplishment.

This was the greatest joy of Souls games: the satisfaction that came from repeated deaths and finally overcoming an overwhelmingly difficult boss.

Without hesitation, he took a screenshot and silently sent it to Old Zhang.

Even though Zhang Yi had already beaten the boss earlier according to their previous conversation, that wasn't by his own skill.

So Song Ren felt fully justified in flexing a little.

"Heh heh, not saying anything now?"

Although Zhang Yi hadn't replied in their friend list, Song Ren clearly knew that Zhang Yi had seen his message.

He quietly opened his item menu and sent the stats of the boss-dropped Golden Halberd.

Though judging from its attributes, Song Ren suspected this item would likely become just a toy-like weapon later on, right now it was still worth showing off—after all, it was the honor of having defeated the Tree Sentinel.

After sending two screenshots, Song Ren stopped bothering with the feigning-death Zhang Yi and continued advancing his progress.

After all, judging from the still-unexplored sections of the map, this Souls game's world was simply enormous.

As for the Dragon-Burnt Ruins that Zhang Yi had mentioned earlier, he still had no idea where they were.

But he didn't plan to wander aimlessly. Instead, he decided to push forward along the main quest first—ideally finding the Fire Keeper. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to level up, and dying once would mean losing all the Runes he'd collected, which would be a huge loss.

The saddest thing in Souls games wasn't being brutally defeated by a boss.

It was dying before spending your money.

Though in the late game, losing hundreds of thousands or even millions of souls might not hurt.

But losing several thousand or tens of thousands of souls early on could absolutely make a player heartbroken.

"Hmm, this game also lets you collect materials to craft items?" At the Site of Grace in the ruins of the Church of Elleh after defeating the Tree Sentinel, Song Ren felt a surge of curiosity upon unlocking this new feature through conversation with a merchant.

This mechanic wasn't uncommon in traditional ARPGs, but it felt quite novel in a Souls game.

Still, he didn't dwell on it too much.

Instead, he continued progressing through the game. Following the light radiating from the Site of Grace, Song Ren soon reached the second Site of Grace—beside the ruins before the Storm Gate.

Each ruin had a Site of Grace nearby, and these ruins were roughly equivalent to outposts in most open-world games. Inside each ruin was a catacomb containing either a boss or a treasure chest, and defeating or opening it would grant special rewards.

"This part isn't much different from most ARPG open-world games, except for the team composition..." Song Ren winced as he recalled the previous scene.

When he had just entered the ruin, the guarding mobs had spotted him.

Regular guards charged straight at him with their swords, but torch-bearing guards pulled out a large horn from behind their backs.

Blowing it toward the sky, enemies all around the ruins suddenly rushed toward him like dogs seeing... no, like spotting a great treasure.

Wolves, regular soldiers, elite soldiers with shields—it was a full lineup.

He was forced to flee in panic, but luckily this was an open-world game, and he could freely run across the map.

After running far to disengage, the enemies didn't pursue him.

"What the hell? Since when did a Souls game feel like Assassin's Creed!?" Crouching, Song Ren stealthily assassinated each mob one by one, quickly locating the ruin's catacomb and retrieving a 'Storm Foot' Ash of War from a treasure chest inside.

"Besides weapon-specific weapon arts, you can now replace a weapon's weapon art using Ash of War!?"

Staring at the newly unlocked feature, Song Ren was astonished.

As a Veteran Player who had played through Dark Souls, he'd always viewed weapon arts as nothing but Flashy and Gaudy.

Even in Dark Souls, weapons were mostly just for slashing and stabbing. Hardly anyone ever used weapon arts.

But from the Ash of War system in Elden Ring, Song Ren sensed something different—was it possible that weapon arts would play a more significant role in this game?

However, this thought didn't last long, because something else in the game quickly caught his attention and shifted his focus.

After igniting the Site of Grace before the Storm Gate, the thing Song Ren had been hoping for finally appeared.

From the darkness, a mysterious woman in a black cloak emerged.

"O thou who wouldst cross the fog..."

"My name is Melina..."

"I would speak with thee of a condition."

She slowly approached Song Ren, and the black hood covering her face slipped down.

The moment he saw her face beneath the hood, Song Ren understood one thing immediately.

A new wife has appeared!

Pink hair—bonus points. Her left eye closed, adorned with a petal-like pattern—added mystery, bonus points. Her gentle voice—bonus points. And her strikingly beautiful appearance—definitely bonus points.

"Too bad. I still prefer white hair over pink," sighed Song Ren.

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