MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer
chapter-24

At the edge of the village, tons of players were crowding in anticipation.

In front of them was the training instructor who looked as fearless as ever. What about his earlier defeat? No one dared mention it nor cared. Instead, all eyes were turned toward the plain full of chickens.

The players were tightening their fists as they waited for the event to begin. They had almost gone crazy when the NPC had told them about his plan. They would reclaim part of the plain and build a training camp!

Jack couldn't help but laugh at how crazily they had reacted. Many were clamoring excitedly: such a large-scale cooperative quest in the starter village?! This was better than the usual tutorials!

Igor looked at the crowd before shouting:

"Today, we will be facing the pesky chickens! I'll strike first, then you guys head to the forest and grab some wood! You will have to bring back fallen logs! Can you guys do this, or are you all cowards?!"

The players were pretty weak, but what they lacked in strength, they more than made for in hype!

"We're not useless. We can do this much!"

"We'll pluck all their feathers and make them eat them!"

"We'll soon have the best goddamn training camp ever, Sir!"

"A brave can be killed but never humiliated. We shall have revenge!"

The ambiance was heated as they all prepared themselves. That is when Igor raised his hammer high up in the air, heroically. "Move out!"

At this moment, not a single player was missing. Everyone currently online at the New Leaf Village was in that one group. They charged ahead like a swarm of locusts ready to devour all on their way.

Jack could hear Bubblegum's laughter nearby as the both of them joined in the fun. They all formed a giant arrow that had incredible momentum. Their pitiful clothing aside, it looked epic!

Igor was the first to charge into the sea of chickens. There were feathers everywhere the eye could see with a clucking cacophony resounding. But then he began glowing in a golden light and so did his hammer.

The players gawked at the surreal scene that appeared. The golden light around the hammer quickly formed a giant magical hammer the size of a goddamn house!

The NPC chuckled loudly: "Why did the chickens cross the plain? To fucking die HAHAHA!!!"

On that note, he swung his weapon with incredible force. The players could feel a gale rise up, their clothing flapping violently in reaction. Their faces flushed heatedly. Just the wind was already so strong?!

Then there was a blinding light as the hammer finally collided with the ground. It was as if a meteorite had impacted the plain! The earth trembled, the players trembled, the damn houses trembled, the chickens— what chickens?!

Gulps were heard as many were just speechless. They stared at the cloud of soil that had risen. A few instants later, they could see the aftermath. There was a circular imprint on the plain with no life to be found, not even grass.

"Alright, boys. This will be where we will set up camp. Now, go on!" The NPC happily said, not minding the chicken paste and gore that layered this new emplacement.

The chickens were showing distinctive reactions.

1. They showed fear toward the training instructor as they retreated a distance away. The creatures' instincts were telling them that he was death incarnate. He had just committed one over-the-top slaughter after all.

2. They stared at the players with red eyes as they tracked their movements carefully.

Would the NPC protect the players while they went to grab wood? Hell no! They now had to complete this collection task that had been assigned to them.

As the players were still mind-blown, Jack hollered at them:

"Are you all going to stare, or are you going to get the wood? Gosh, snap out of it already!"

"Oh? How about we try to duo this mission? The reward ought to be awesome then, am I right?!" Seraphine playfully added.

At this moment, one unsung hero in their midst took the opportunity: "They're fucking right! Let's fucking do this, brothers! Tonight we're eating fried chicken! HAHAHAHA!"

While factually inaccurate, this weird shout soon became a war cry for the whole village. Players were fighting for their freedom, for revenge, for wealth, for glory …but more importantly, for the fried chicken!!!!

That's when the players turned into an unstoppable tide as they charged forward once more. The NPC had defeated most of the enemies, and they would deal with the remnants.

But, the chickens were still spawning at this very moment. Even with their incredible momentum, it was only a question of time before they were utterly overwhelmed by the chicken counterattack!

They rushed toward the forest directly, painting the plain with blood. Chicken blood, player blood, who really cared! They were also defending their profound beliefs that beginner mobs were supposed to shut up and die!!!

"This is what you get for bullying us!"

"Damn cheating chickens! This ought to teach you a lesson!"

"This is humanity's power! Get wrecked! Humans will prevail!"

Players were shouting various insults, seemingly forgetting that they were the ones ganging up on the poor creatures.

Jack and Seraphine were part of the front line as they gleefully killed chickens.

He couldn't help but remark how accurate her movements were. It was as if she was born to play VR games. He couldn't even fathom how much stronger she would soon become once she had gotten more experience in the game.

Meanwhile, she was even more impressed. How were every single of Jack's movements so natural?! This was beyond the realm of VR! He was thriving on the chaotic battlefield! What kind of bloody past did he have?! Was he a mercenary IRL? A mafia Boss? A killer?!

Suddenly, Jack signaled her to slow down her pace. Bubblegum followed his directive without an afterthought. There were just about to enter the forest when suddenly their front line was attacked!

Cries of surprise and fright resounded as many couldn't even figure out what was happening.

"AHHHH!!!

"What the fuck is this?!"

"There was an orange flash! It's back in there!"

"There are monsters in the forest! Be careful!"

"What are we supposed to do now?! We need the logs!"

"Who the fuck cares about the monsters?! Push through!!!"

"Even if you die, just run straight back. Let's chargeeeee!!!!— Arggg!!"

As player after player kept dying, Jack used the timing when the foxes would kill his allies to counterattack. His fist would accurately strike the temple of the creatures. While he didn't manage to kill any, they ran away whimpering.

This was the fate of monsters that were outside of their usual territory: they would be way more cowardly. No matter, they needed to collect the logs.

How were they supposed to cut the trees? They didn't have to as the earlier earth-shattering strike had felled the weaker ones! The players didn't realize this since they hadn't been here before, but Bubblegum gasped in shock.

"There's a log right there. Grab it!"

"Alright, let's bring this and— this is so heavy!"

"Quick, we need teams, 3 to carry each log, and the others protect them!"

"Sounds good, let's go! The sooner we bring them back and the sooner we can train!"

The players were new to Infinite, but they knew how to do a collection mission. Still, many exited the forest only to get pecked to death!

"Holy crap, the chickens are back!"

"We need to block for the carriers! Be careful!"

"It's that goddamn charge attack. It's the worst! It's too fast!"

"So what if it's too fast?! Stand in the fucking way and run back from spawn!"

The tactic they all followed was very dumb and primitive but also effective. They would act as a meat shield if it were the last thing they did!

Jack and Bubblegum joined a random team. However, they were doing things a bit differently. Instead of repeatedly dying, they used the carriers as bait and slammed the chickens during their attack animation with impeccable timing.

A few saw their perfect coordination and couldn't help but try the same. So many unfair deaths followed! Many realized that such a feat wasn't that hard but wasn't especially easy either— especially in an unfamiliar game.

Then they began reaching the drop point. Three players barely carrying a log together would drop it in front of the training instructor. Then, he would grab a log in each hand as he stabbed them deep in the earth, making an instant palisade.

Many almost felt like cursing at how easy he made it seem! Nonetheless, they all went back to the forest to grab more logs. They would fight plenty of chickens and foxes occasionally.

It kept going long enough that everyone had the opportunity to try their hand at log carrying or dying a violent death from a chicken pecking their eyeballs….fun times, really!

All until the last part of the newly made wooden wall was made….

"Alright, with this, the training camp is set up. Good job, everyone!" Igor congratulated them all. But then resounded a furious clucking sound as a player screamed in panic:

"Guys, bad news! The chicken Boss is marching toward our camp! There are even more chickens than earlier! What the heck are we supposed to do now?!"

"Defend it, obviously. Make me proud, recruits…." Igor chimed in.

The players could only share a glance. How the fuck were they supposed to clear this?! Would all their previous efforts go to waste?!

They now had a camp…but how long could they protect it? Who knew….

Creator's Thought

I only had one thing to say to these newbies: good luck cooking fried chicken in the beginner village. Here are a few ingredients required: - Chicken - Salt - Pepper - Flour - Cornstarch - Paprika - Ground Cumin - Garlic Powder - Vegetable Oil