At this moment, by a riverside not far from Hope Village, a group of people were resting.
Ever since the Doomsday Game began yesterday, most of them learned how to fight Demon Beasts amidst their frantic escape, and had managed to obtain a fair amount of supplies dropped from the beasts, enabling their survival.
But the supplies didn't include water, so they had to search for water sources during migration.
As for why they kept migrating, it was naturally because they hadn't yet found a safe place. Whenever they settled somewhere and cleared out nearby Demon Beasts, after a while, more beasts would come for them, as if drawn by their scent.
There was no other way—they had to run and rest whenever and wherever they could.
During migration, they would occasionally encounter scattered groups and generally let them join their team.
But numbers both increased and decreased.
After all, when Demon Beasts attacked, everyone could only look out for themselves. Those who ran slower became victims beneath the beasts' claws.
They desperately wished to find somewhere safer, but after the world had become the game, all around them was wild, barren land—what place could possibly be safe?
Thinking this, a sense of drifting rose uncontrollably in their hearts—they had no idea when they could ever feel secure again.
Just then, some people fetching water by the river suddenly froze mid-action.
[You have entered Hope Village's jurisdiction. You may proceed to Hope Village.]
[Note: Villages, towns, and cities can resist Demon Beasts of different Levels based on their defensive power.]
After reading the notification a few times, someone spoke up.
"There's a safe place now—we can fend off Demon Beasts there."
"I knew it, this game wouldn't leave us without a path to survive."
The speaker's eyes reddened instantly, tears streaming down, and many others had similar expressions.
Thrown from peaceful comfort into primitive survival, they had suffered too much!
After their emotions calmed a bit, they quickly regrouped and rushed in the direction of Hope Village marked on the map.
Unlike before, they now felt a surge of hope.
But just as they'd walked a short distance, disaster struck.
A pack of Demon Beasts suddenly emerged from the surroundings, enclosing them completely.
Those who had leveled up couldn't help but check the beasts' stats.
[Demon Beast: Shadow Demon Dog]
[Level: **]
[Introduction: Pack hunters, move like shadows—a "Jungle Scavenger". Beware: it will leave nothing behind of you.]
[Attributes: **]
Obviously, these Shadow Demon Dogs were all above them in level, which was why they couldn't see their Level or Attributes.
But just from a few lines of introduction, they knew this was likely a death sentence.
Seeing the greedy look in the Demon Dogs' eyes, many people felt their spirits nearly collapse.
Still, thinking of their fragile lives, many gripped their weapons and aimed straight at the beasts.
But to the Shadow Demon Dogs, they posed no threat at all; with a low growl, the beasts charged to attack, ready to feed.
The Demon Dogs were intelligent—they immediately targeted those in the group with the weakest aura.
True to their name, they came and went like shadows, leaving wounds on many, and in moments, they'd pinpoint a target, sink their teeth into someone's neck, and drag them off without hesitation to devour.
"No!"
"Help! Somebody help!"
The scene was full of screams, the crowd in chaos.
Some couldn't bear the shock and tried to break away and flee.
But the Demon Dogs had already deemed them as prey, so there was no escape—those who tried to run were slashed on the leg, making escape impossible, and the beasts turned to "live prey" again.
Zhou Zhengping and Li Xingteng led their team onto the scene, only to witness this bloody massacre.
They knew Demon Beasts and humans would turn into light orbs soon after death and vanish, but they hadn't realized that before that, Demon Beasts could eat human flesh and, after finishing, level up.
Just moments ago, they'd seen a Shadow Demon Dog go from Level 3 to Level 4 after devouring a person.
That was when they realized why Demon Beasts were so sensitive to their presence—why they pursued humans so ferociously.
Humans saw Demon Beasts as tools for leveling and loot, but the beasts saw humans as food for their own level-up!
The arrival of Zhou Zhengping and Li Xingteng immediately rekindled hope among the survivors, especially since their gear and weapons looked extraordinary.
"Please save us, we're begging you!"
Without a second thought, the group grabbed their weapons and jumped into the fight.
They'd encountered plenty of Demon Beasts along the way and practiced on them, becoming familiar with the Long Spear's operation; compared to close-range weapons like the Iron Axe, the spears were actually safer.
The Long Spears poked new marks into the Shadow Demon Dogs, and as those marks appeared, blood bars popped up over the beasts' heads.
For Level 1 and Level 2 Shadow Demon Dogs, the Long Spear's 60 points of damage meant that two to four quick attacks would finish them off.
But against Level 3 and Level 4 dogs, they could dodge—some attacks missed, and fighting them was much tougher.
More than that, the Level 4 dogs were obviously smarter; seeing Zhou Zhengping's group wasn't easy to mess with and their numbers were large, the leader began to howl loudly.
With its cry, the other Demon Dogs abandoned their prey and rallied around the Level 4 dog, charging on its behalf to break through and escape.
But Zhou Zhengping and Li Xingteng weren't about to let them have that chance; sharing a glance, both dropped their Long Spears and switched to Iron Axes for close combat, and the other guards followed suit.
Even as the Demon Dogs left bloody gashes on their bodies and their Life Values dropped, they didn't stop hacking, knowing that it was kill or be killed.
Thanks to their numbers, the Demon Dogs took blow after blow, their blood bars shrank, and one by one, they died.
[Congratulations, Host, you have killed lv.4 Shadow Demon Dog, gained sharp teeth*4, Shadow Boots*4, Experience Points*40, copper coins*40.]
With the death of the leading Shadow Hound, the crisis quietly ended.
They had been saved!
The rescued survivors soon realized this, collapsing limply to the ground, unable to move.
Those whose family had died in the Demon Dogs' jaws looked at the bloody remains and were inconsolable.
Even though the flesh would later vanish as refreshed by the game, the shadow left in their hearts would never disappear.
Zhou Zhengping saw all of this and sighed inwardly.
Just moments ago, they'd suddenly received a quest—to go to a designated point and rescue refugees—so they'd rushed over according to the map's instructions.
But still, they'd been too late!
Li Xingteng stepped forward to comfort everyone: "We're the Hope Village Guard Team. Gather your things and let's head to the territory. The territory can resist Demon Beasts; once we get there, you'll be safe."
The word "safe" stabbed deeply at their raw nerves.
One by one, they pulled themselves together, ready to follow the guards away.
The wounded were helped by others.
After the world became a game, their bodies seemed data-like—when injured, their Life Value dropped, but with timely Healing and passage of time, Life Value would gradually recover, and as it recovered, wounds would heal.
So long as nobody died, no one would be abandoned.
The whole group followed Zhou Zhengping's team toward Hope Village, a glimmer of hope in their eyes.
Elsewhere, Zhou Bai watched the dozens of little green dots moving toward the territory, feeling a slight relief.
She'd just gotten notice that refugees had entered the territory, and instinctively checked—after seeing red dots surround the green ones, she immediately assigned the rescue mission to the Guard Team.
Thank goodness they made it in time. But Zhou Bai noticed that quite a few green dots had disappeared, which made her heart heavy.
In this Doomsday Game, human life is just too fragile! If she hadn't been lucky enough to get the Lord Token, her family would be in danger too.
"Is everything okay now?" Ding Qiurou watched Zhou Bai's shifting expression and asked with concern.
"It's fine now. They're on their way back, but quite a few died before they arrived," Zhou Bai said flatly.
Ding Qiurou's face held sadness as she listened, though she still comforted Zhou Bai: "You've done what you could. Don't dwell on it too much."
"Mm." Zhou Bai knew, in this Doomsday Game, thinking too much only made things harder. Instead of mourning the dead, it was better to focus on building the territory, to shelter herself, her family, and others.
She then turned her attention to the Lord Map.
The little green and red dots were incredibly useful—she needed to use them well!
Also, she had to make sure people outside the territory knew there was such a place—so they'd have somewhere to go, and so her territory could gain new sources of fighting power.