Chapter 765: Playing the Starter Village Boss for a Year? Let's Learn About the Most Affordable Game?

The opening cinematic of Dark Souls III is rendered in an obscure fashion, yet it remains fundamentally simple to grasp: the Lords of Cinder, bound by their ancient duty, awaken once more from their dust-laden repose.

But they are no longer willing to fulfill their mandate. It is at this juncture that the Unkindled—those cursed Undead who failed to become Cinder—likewise rouse from their slumber. They crawl forth from the Cemetery of Ash, tracing the path the Lords took in their departure, destined to force these monarchs back onto their thrones.

This constitutes the foundational narrative of Dark Souls III.

...

As for the nature of the duty the Lords of Cinder bear, and why anyone would refuse a mantle as glorious as that of a "King"... it is easily understood through the very concepts of "Cinder" and "linking the fire." In the end, they must transform themselves into kindling and burn.

The origin of linking the fire dates back to an incredibly distant past (Dark Souls I).

The Fire bestowed everything upon this world, and the first living beings to discover it obtained from it an unimaginably immense power; they became the world's original gods.

Yet fire must eventually burn out, which perhaps signifies the end of the world. To halt the encroachment of darkness, Lord Gwyn, the First God and leader of the divine clan who had claimed the power of golden lightning from the First Flame, chose to burn his own mighty soul so that the fire might endure.

Thus, the First Flame cannot be linked by just anyone. Any Lord of Cinder is a being at the absolute pinnacle of the entire world, perhaps even... a god.

...

It is evident that by bearing the power of the First Flame, these entities are the most formidable of all—mighty gods, or beings greater still.

And the Unkindled Ash, as the name implies, possesses none of the Fire’s power, naturally making them low and wretched existences, akin to dust and cinders.

This is the character the player controls.

This is also why the prophecy states that "Ash seeketh embers."

...

Therefore, Dark Souls possesses a monumental divergence from any game previously offered in the shop, both in its world-building and its combat.

When facing existences countless times stronger than yourself, the only things you can rely upon are combat techniques—combat techniques that surpass the divine—and a meager growth in strength along the way.

And what you use to fight until the very end may well be that rusted weapon you picked up while crawling out of the graveyard.

You must rely on these to slaughter gods.

...

"I heard from Mingxue that this game seems super hard..." Nearby, Cela and a few elves discussed the matter while customizing their characters' faces.

In Boss Fang's various shops, the other novices had clearly not realized this yet.

"Hard?" Layton and several other Saint-tier powerhouses sat not far away, speaking with a touch of amusement, "It's probably only hard for ordinary people."

We are Saint-tier after all; when we played World of Warcraft, running dungeons was relatively easy!

We are simply not comparable to anyone else!

The Elven Queen, Kelanbell, also remarked, "I am nearly at the peak of the Saint-tier. What is so difficult about a mere trial realm?"

"There are even burial gifts? And gems?" Kelanbell expressed that giving such good items at the start felt like cheating, so she directly chose to have no burial gift.

Then she selected a Sorcerer and entered the game.

(This game has many starting classes to choose from, but the distinction between classes lies only in their starting equipment and attributes, having little impact on the later stages.)

...

The Cemetery of Ash lay within a desolate valley. Aside from herself, there were only a few hollows—these mindless, walking corpses were the ultimate destination for the Undead.

Elven Queen Kelanbell was currently dressed in a somewhat soiled white robe, holding a small round shield and gripping a slender sword that looked like an ornament; such a blade clearly suited elven aesthetics.

Although she seemed to have no magic due to her level being too low, knowing magic while being capable of close combat fit the combat orientation of the elves perfectly.

Alerted by the sound of her movement, a nearby, mindless hollow howled and lunged forward.

Kelanbell cast Soul Arrow, the starting skill of the Sorcerer. A pale blue magical light pierced precisely into the opponent's chest, followed immediately by a sword strike, finishing it off cleanly.

"Quite simple!" It was just that her strength had dropped to the level of an ordinary human, which made her somewhat unaccustomed.

Removing her virtual reality headset, she looked around and muttered, "And they said this game is hard?"

"It is quite simple at the beginning." Boss Fang had just finished his instant noodles at the counter and was preparing to log into his own machine. Passing by, he glanced over and said, "This is the tutorial area, meant to teach some basic operations. There is also a novice boss, both quite simple. Once you pass them, you can move on."

"Is that so? Meaning if I want to challenge a higher difficulty, I have to play further into the game?" Kelanbell appeared somewhat displeased. Couldn't she just skip to the high difficulty later on? What a hassle...

In that case, she would go find that quite simple novice boss first.

Exiting the Cemetery of Ash, she found a very narrow mountain path. The terrain was not complex, though the lighting was somewhat poor.

If one did not take a wrong turn, it was easy to find the way out of the cemetery—a tall, thick stone wall, a massive stone archway, and a few hollow guards formed the gateway to the outside world.

Stepping through the gate, Kelanbell saw a wide, circular plaza that resembled a colosseum. In the center of the plaza, a giant clad in heavy armor that was neither metal nor stone knelt on one knee.

Even while kneeling, he rose well above her.

He seemed dead, silent and still.

Yet the tentacle-like black masses protruding from his back appeared to still be twitching.

"Boss, I can leave after defeating this one, right?" Kelanbell saw Boss Fang sitting not far away, took off her headset, and shouted.

"Right, right, right, that's Iudex Gundyr," Boss Fang called back.

Remarkably, even after so many years, Boss Fang still remembered the full name of this tutorial boss without missing a single syllable.

"How do I fight this?" Kelanbell looked it over, "Do I need to pull out the sword in his chest?"

With that, using every ounce of her strength, she slowly drew the coiled sword from the giant’s chest.

The giant seemed to regain consciousness, slowly rising from the ground. Within the gray, non-metallic, non-stone armor, one could finally see a dark, twisted face like a demon's, and eyes as black and cold as the abyss.

When he raised the massive halberd beside him, which was nearly two chang long, it was as if a mighty warrior from primeval times, who had survived countless terrible battles and was seasoned by a hundred conflicts, had awakened.

Kelanbell’s heart sank instantly.

The Gundyr before her possessed a flexibility that exceeded her expectations, his massive halberd swinging with a whistling wind.

Looking again at the toothpick-like slender sword in her own hand, her tattered magic robes, and her small round shield that had already been deformed by a strike, Kelanbell suddenly froze...

With a shriek of terror, she turned and fled toward the exit, only to find that the great stone doors she had entered through were now sealed by magic!

She pounded on the doors frantically!

Iudex Gundyr crouched slightly and leapt into the air like a cannonball. Holding the massive halberd of nearly two chang, he brought it down with the force to split mountains, striking savagely!

Boom!

...

Ten seconds later...

A cold corpse lay upon the ground.

A line of bloody text appeared on the screen: YOU DIED

...

Ten hours later...

Having played games for the entire day, Boss Fang stretched his arms, preparing to fetch something to eat.

Passing by, he glanced at Kelanbell’s screen: "??? You still haven't left the starting village?"

Kelanbell: "...!!"

Grinding her silver teeth to near breaking, she turned her head to glare at Boss Fang, instantly overcome with the urge to murder.

"Didn't you say this was the absolute easiest tutorial for beginners!?"

I am literally about to be beaten to tears!

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(Note: This actually is the tutorial level, featuring the absolute easiest boss in the entire game; veteran players fared decently, but complete newbies and mages basically spent a whole year stuck on it.)

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