Chapter 62: Return to the Battlefield of Hell
Death, resurrection!
Then death, then resurrection again!
For others, once they failed a challenge, they would return directly to the dungeon’s save point and start over. But Chen Mo was different—every extra ten meters he advanced, he gained ten meters. By switching IDs, he triggered a system bug that allowed him to resurrect on the spot and continue the challenge!
Six thousand four hundred meters!
Six thousand four hundred and twenty meters!
Six thousand four hundred and twenty-two meters!
Six thousand four hundred and twenty-five meters!!
In the final stretch, even advancing a single meter was more difficult than reaching the sky. There was no foothold beneath his feet; he could only use a fleeting leap to dash forward, but the impenetrable meteor firestorm wouldn’t let him through, not to mention the piranhas swifter than bullets.
On the sixtieth attempt—his last—Chen Mo, after so many brushes with death, finally reached the crucial checkpoint at seven thousand meters. Even more exciting, a path of white bones rose from the blood pool, finally forming a road!
Chen Mo was nearly moved to tears!
But before he could even catch his breath and savor the fresh air of the new stage, a deafening roar shattered the silence!
Gurgling bubbles rolled across the blood pool, and with a thunderous crash, the entire pool surged with monstrous waves. From within, a colossal beast a hundred meters tall emerged. This monster had three canine heads, each with bloodthirsty maws bristling with fangs, a serpent’s tail, and its head and back covered in coiling venomous snakes!
Data scan!
[Hellhound Cerberus, Level 999]
[HP: ???]
[MP: ???]
[Physical Attack: ???]
Level 999?!! Damn, Chen Mo was stunned—this was clearly meant to be impassable!
Wait, what’s that!!
The enormous Cerberus, wielding a paw wreathed in blood-red flames, swung down toward Chen Mo.
Chen Mo quickly composed himself. Level 999 or even 9999, so what?!
No one can stop me!
With such a sluggish attack, Chen Mo wasn’t afraid at all!
He flung his vampire cloak and leapt with both feet.
Huh? Jump! I’m trying to jump!!
What’s going on!!
Chen Mo felt as if his legs were shackled with ten thousand pounds, totally unable to leap. Watching as Cerberus’s slow, sky-darkening paw descended toward him, Chen Mo found himself utterly helpless!
A tremendous vortex formed in the air beneath the beast’s paw, radiating a mysterious force that increased gravity a thousandfold. Chen Mo’s movements slowed to a crawl—slower than a snail!
Transform into a bat!
Chen Mo morphed directly into a blood bat, but the result was even worse—the vortex instantly sucked him in and shredded him to pieces!
Switch ID to Kunlong.
Chen Mo had originally intended to train Kunlong’s account into the global top hundred, but in his desperation, he stole Kunlong’s challenge attempt, resurrected on the spot, and continued fighting.
Shadow Strike—three consecutive slashes! Useless!
Double Gale Thrust! Useless!!
Fireball! Bang! Minus zero HP—no damage at all!!
Wham!
Another paw—killed instantly with ease!!
Again!
Diamond Body—Mirror Shell!
Chen Mo’s body turned to diamond, and he split into a doppelgänger, fleeing left and right.
Roar! Roar!!
Two of Cerberus’s heads unleashed fireballs larger than basketball courts, instantly incinerating both Chen Mo’s main body and his diamond clone to ashes!
Damn it! I quit!!
Is this really a beginner’s dungeon? This is the ultimate dungeon!!!
Ring—ring—ring!
The elven girl Meimei appeared, sighing regretfully: “Master, your three challenge attempts for this dungeon are used up. Shall I teleport you back to the lobby now?”
Chen Mo was still shaken by Cerberus’s terrifying form, lost in thought, not even hearing the elf’s words.
Seeing his lack of response, the elf automatically said, “In three seconds, you will be teleported back. Three, two…”
Wait!!
Chen Mo jolted awake. He still had the Little Prince ID left!
But the teleportation array had already activated, and, helpless, he was engulfed in white light and forcibly transported back to the lobby.
He opened the global leaderboard.
[Global Leaderboard—Temple Run]
[1. Demon Lord — Hell Difficulty, 7000 meters]
[2. Miyamoto Musashi — Hell Difficulty, 5200 meters]
[3. Yi Sun-sin — Hell Difficulty, 5100 meters]
[4. Lei Dongtian — Hell Difficulty, 5000 meters]
[5. Kalkatia — Hell Difficulty, 5000 meters]
[6. James — Hell Difficulty, 5000 meters]
[7. Seven Deadly Sins — Hell Difficulty, 4000 meters]
[8. Not Feeling Wellsky — Hell Difficulty, 3000 meters]
[9. Thanos — Hell Difficulty, 2000 meters]
[10. Magneto — Hell Difficulty, 1000 meters]
…
Undoubtedly, Chen Mo was the undisputed number one. Granted, he relied heavily on a bug, but so what? In the words of a famous figure: “Walk your own bugged path, let others talk as they please!”
What surprised Chen Mo was that Miyamoto Musashi, who’d been stuck at 5000 meters for twenty days, now suddenly reached 5200 meters. Did this mean Musashi had found a way to pass the stage?
The global leaderboard made it clear—very few could even enter Hell difficulty, and even fewer could progress deeply into it. Aside from Chen Mo, only Lei Dongtian from the China region made the top ten; the rest were all foreigners. James, Thanos, and Magneto were all from the US region. In fact, half of the top hundred were from the US, which was odd, since Americans shouldn’t be physically superior to Africans—yet Africa only had two in the top hundred. This made Chen Mo suspect that the US might possess some sort of black technology, much like the gene enhancement serum from China.
A thought suddenly occurred to Chen Mo: he had to visit the US someday, and while he was at it, harvest a batch of “wisdom seeds.”
Instructor Moon Fox announced, “As usual, everyone line up by class. Data will be published!”
Since Chen Mo had logged in with the Little Prince ID, he couldn’t access the shop with the Demon Lord ID.
With Instructors Wei Zheng, Huaji, and Black Bear absent, Moon Fox had to tally the results for three classes herself, saving Class F for last. Chen Mo was growing anxious—he needed to buy a character pack!
If he’d calculated correctly, his million points should be enough!
Time was ticking away—the dungeon lobby would close in less than half an hour, and the minutes were flying by.
Finally, Instructor Moon Fox stopped in front of Chen Mo.
Hmm?!
Whether it was a woman’s intuition or genuine concern for Chen Mo, she gazed into his eyes with a sense of déjà vu and asked directly, “Chen Mo? What did you do this afternoon?”
Thump! Thump!
Chen Mo’s heart nearly leapt into his throat!
Oh my god—no way! There’s no way she recognizes me! After all, I’m in full vampire gear, covered head to toe in blood-red, only my eyes exposed!
Swallowing nervously, Chen Mo forced a smile. “I went to Window of the World with my sister, why?”
“Oh? Window of the World?!” Moon Fox’s gaze was like a sword stabbing into his eyes.
Yet Chen Mo showed no fear, meeting her stare head-on. He knew this was no time to let nerves show.