The monsters of the first round were completely wiped out through the respective struggles of the players.
Aside from a few players who were confused at the start and failed to react in time, losing their lives, the majority of the players fought with all their might to survive.
The current number of surviving players in this battle steadily remained at 29. Most players had sustained minor injuries, but none were fatal.
The most relaxed group was Yun Shanwu's team in the Central Great Plain. Under the attack of the Purple Card turret, the monsters never even had a chance to get close, with over twenty monsters perishing more than ten meters away.
As the last monster of the first round was eliminated, the monsters of the second round followed closely behind. Judging solely by the number, there were significantly more than before; it was estimated that each surviving player had to deal with at least one more monster.
With the experience from the first round, the players handled things with much greater skill—fighting when they could win, running when they couldn't, kiting the monsters to wear them down, and slowly dragging them out until they died. Relying on the advantage of their base speed of 2, the players were just a fraction faster than the base monsters' speed of 1.
As long as the players were willing and their stamina held out, the monsters could only wail helplessly behind them.
That was what the players thought during the first two rounds, but when the third round required each person to face an average of 7 monsters, most of the players could no longer laugh.
More people fell, and they could no longer get back up.
The current number of surviving players in this battle was 22.
Three rounds had passed, and the wild-playing players without high-tier weapons or strongholds were having their stamina pushed to the limit. With nowhere to hide and nowhere to rest, they could only run for their lives and kill monsters. With hands hacking and slashing, their minds were no longer clear and had turned to mush, leaving only the belief in survival supporting them in their hearts.
Yun Shanwu's team remained as calm and composed as ever, sitting back to watch the wind and clouds rise.
Protected by the turret, the four people whose energy had originally been overdrawn slowly recovered their stamina. Mo Guanye happily watched the others struggle; he had always enjoyed watching such combat scenes. The intense physical collisions were precisely what he liked to watch, often stirring up the excited desires in his heart. Unfortunately, such scenes could usually only be watched abroad, but now he had regained his joy.
"Look, that player with the ID Wolf Mountain is using a big iron hammer to smash the monster in front of him—how vicious! It even squirted juices," Mo Guanye smacked his lips, excitedly saying to Lin'er, "Wow, look at that woman, the woman named Yan Huinan, her figure when running is actually quite curvaceous."
Lin'er frowned and turned her head away, feeling deeply uncomfortable not only with the bloody scene before her, but also with Mo Guanye's words.
She had just woken from a deep sleep. The turret had protected her, and she was still alive, but upon waking up once more, the world had changed.
This was a slaughter game, a game between humans, and between humans and monsters. Lin'er had not yet adapted to the current situation in the battle since waking up.
Being ignored by Lin'er, Mo Guanye instantly felt displeased, his tone sour: "Hey, turning your head away now, are you? If I hadn't persuaded you to join the team and follow the big shot, would you have this chance to sit here comfortably?" What kind of look was this woman giving? If he hadn't persuaded her at the start, she might already be lying motionless on the ground right now, yet she was putting on a stinking expression instead of thanking him.
"We are able to sit here and rest not just because of your credit alone." Hearing this, Lin'er frowned and corrected the error in his words. This man really loved to gild his own lily. Yun Shanwu and the others provided the cards and they provided the hard labor so that they could sit here and rest; not a single person was sitting here for free.
Lin'er still clearly remembered the feeling from just moments ago when her energy had been overdrawn and she was in pain to the point of almost dying; she did not want to experience that kind of pain dictated by death ever again.
Rebuked, Mo Guanye grew so angry that he raised his hand, wanting to slap her just as he usually did at home. But the conversation between the two had now attracted the gazes of others, and Yun Shanwu's eyes also looked over, causing Mo Guanye to raise his hand only to put it back down.
He glared fiercely at Lin'er. This woman didn't know what was good for her. Fortunately, he hadn't agreed to go on that blind date with her before; she was probably just another wasteful thing who didn't understand gratitude.
Unaware of Mo Guanye's thoughts, Lin'er only felt a chill all over her body as he looked at her, as if she were being watched by some sinister and vicious entity.
Dealing with the three waves of attacks, Song Shimiao's three-shield squad lost one shield; the wooden shield's durability was exhausted and it directly shattered. Under Song Shimiao's command, Shield Soldier 1, having lost their wooden shield, retreated to the second line, no longer participating in defense and solely responsible for offense. Defense was left entirely to Shield Soldiers 2 and 3, who swapped to take turns at the front.
This increased the difficulty of Song Shimiao's control. With one fewer shield to rotate, she had to calculate the shield-swapping time more precisely, while also calculating the recovery speed of the shield soldiers after they retreated from combat.
Moreover, the recovery time of the wooden shield was compressed; it couldn't fully recover its maximum value before returning to the battlefield, and if she wasn't careful, the second shield would also be destroyed.
However, these were minor matters. With ten years of combat experience in hand, Song Shimiao easily secured victory without any mishaps.
When the monsters of the first stage were all eliminated, the players simultaneously received the system broadcast.
【Stage One of the Zero Realm Campaign has ended. Congratulations to the players for surviving Stage One. We are now entering the rest phase.】
【Countdown to the start of Stage Two: 10 minutes.】
【Wishing players a pleasant rest~】