Chapter 71: Trauma Factory

Chapter 71: Trauma Factory Xu Tao couldn’t accompany Henrietta in hunting. After all, he had to ensure everyone cultivated safely. No Qi Deviation, no erroneous cultivation, no drama, no nothing. Thus, after getting the rough direction of the forest—just straight ahead—Henrietta began on her way... alone. Along the way, she continued watching the NPCs of the beginner village. Most were just stationary in their designated spots, like shops and similar places, with a few walking around, patrolling along a certain fixed path. "These NPCs... They look just like real people... Amazing graphics," she praised as she walked past. The only thing they lacked was the "natural" movements of a human. Theirs were... too stiff. Too "programmed" looking. So much so that she could identify they were NPCs at a glance. "...!" But just as she passed by a forge near the entrance, she felt... weird. A passing gaze. It definitely wasn’t an NPC, as their gaze wasn’t really looking at anything. Only a real person’s gaze would trigger this feeling of being seen by someone. But at the forge, there was not a single presence at all. "...Was it my imagination?" Henrietta muttered, frowning. After staring at the forge for a few more seconds, finding nothing at all... she finally gave up, facing forward and walking away. "Whatever it was, it just stared at me anyway. No harm done..." she rationalized as she moved. Soon enough, she reached the gate, and after half a minute more of walking, reached the edge of the forest Xu Tao told her about. "So... I just need to hunt dogs?" Henrietta smiled, before pulling out a basic sword from her inventory—the one given to all newbies. "I’m quite confident in my gaming skills anyway. This should be a cinch!" Henrietta had been going to the VR Café to let off steam, after all. Most of the time, she played 1P Hack and Slash games, since there she could rampage all she wanted. The feedback of cutting through monster flesh really was a great stress reliever for her. "Hmm... Too light." But her weapon right now was just a simple, flat blade. It wasn’t anywhere near the length and width of a large Demon Eater Sword, or the weight of a Crystalline Hammer. It felt weird for her, swinging something comparable to a toothpick in lightness. RAUGH! GRRRRR! But she didn’t have time to complain either way. Soon enough, she was discovered by the mobs and they started running at her. Pushing her complaints aside, she waved her sword once, smiling confidently. "Come, you mutts! I’ll cut you to pieces...!" And then... her smile quickly faded. The Wild Dogs, Level 1 mobs of the forest, moved in packs of at least three to ten. Henrietta’s luck wasn’t too good, so she got a crowd of five dogs instead. It wasn’t impossible to handle, given her Bronze Level 5 cultivation in-game, but... "St-Stop! Go away...!" In moments, her eyes were growing teary. Her sword swung around like a stick, hilt held tightly in both her trembling hands. But the dogs weren’t intimidated. They weren’t programmed to do that. They just rushed toward Henrietta’s face and took a large bite. Of course, it was a game. There was no pain at all, and the damage was just numbers without "actual" wounds inflicted. Though her appearance did get battered the more her HP dropped. However, each dog bite took about 15% of her health. With five of them, that was three-fourths of her entire HP bar in an instant if she didn’t dodge. She managed to dodge the attacks from the sides, but one bit her arm, one bit her ankle, and finally, her face. It was... not a pleasant experience. Without any idea about the dogs’ patterns, she just waved her sword randomly—almost as if she had forgotten everything she learned from the scroll completely. Then, one dog bit her shoulder, pushing her down. Another came and bit her face, then backed off—followed by the rest. She felt helpless, unable to even defend herself. She could only cry for help, but nobody came. There was absolutely no pain, only faint numbness on the parts bitten. Sharp, yellowed teeth filled with drool kept blocking her sight. After five seconds of panicked flailing, finally, everything turned gray. [You Died!] An anticlimactic notification displayed, telling her the obvious. And without waiting for her confirmation, she quickly revived, standing at the plaza of the Beginner’s Village... head hanging low. "That was quick." Xu Tao, who was there for some reason, smiled as he patted her shoulder. "Well, don’t feel so down. Go and get revenge on those mutts!" "..." Henrietta glanced at the hand on her shoulder, then to Xu Tao’s face—eyes vacant, lifeless... before finally whispering, "Dogs... scary..." "..." Just as Xu Tao intended, the first PTSD victim was made. ???????????? Despite the fear, Henrietta didn’t give up. She kept trying—charging into the forest, only to respawn moments later. And by her second death, she managed to finally land a hit. "Die, you drool dog...!" She struck one of the Wild Dogs, dealing 25% of its health as damage... But lost her life not long after, unfortunately. Each time, she tried harder than before, trying to bring the dog’s health down—and once, she reached the point where she was one hit away from killing it... But was one hit short until she died. With each death she suffered, her eyes lost their light more and more. By her 20th death, she already refused to go back there—insisting that Xu Tao come with her at least. But of course, he still couldn’t do it. The others weren’t done with their cultivation just yet, after all. "Then I’ll wait!" Henrietta cried, literally. "Please, Master! Don’t make me go back there alone!" Her begging was genuine too. Right now, just the sight of those Wild Dogs was enough to make her knees vibrate like toys. Sending her back to the forest would be nothing short of mental torture by now. "Master, I and a couple of others are done." But as if waiting for this moment, Uriel and three guards walked forward. Xu Tao checked, and to his surprise, they were the three who lasted the longest against him the other night—Tyler, Grosso, and Roger. "Good!" He cheered, smiling. "Then, go and hunt the dogs with Henrietta! Come back when you’ve all hit level 10!" "Yes, Master!" All four answered in unison, bowing in the cultivator way—an emote that’s available by default to players. "Ugh...!" But rather than cheering for having company, Henrietta’s face soured. She didn’t think she’d need to go to the forest again so soon—she wanted to take a "break." "Let’s go, Ritta~!" But with Uriel excitedly pulling her along, Henrietta couldn’t object. They moved fast, almost running toward the gates in excitement. After all, they did raise their cultivation by one level at least. They wanted to try it a bit longer, to gather more Qi, and reach higher heights. However... the five braves came back barely two minutes later. All of them looked devastated, as Xu Tao predicted, and were whispering the same words in unison. "Dogs... scary..." Xu Tao smiled seeing this. And no, it’s not because he’s sadistic or anything like that, but because his plan was working properly. ’That fear... that’s the seed of their resolve. All I need to do now... is let it sprout.’ He thought. ’An enemy that overwhelms them countless times... and the euphoria of beating such enemy once, twice, and so on until they’re no longer a threat...’ Xu Tao knew that such an experience would become a great "support" to a cultivator’s mentality down the road. It might be painful for everyone right now, suffering from a light trauma like this. But unlike when he’s doing this in reality—this was a game. In his words, an Illusory World. There’s absolutely no fear of truly dying here unless they had a bad heart or something. "I’m looking forward to the time you get your first kills," Xu Tao whispered, smiling. A smile that sent chills down five people’s spines.