New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

The howl reverberated all over the forest, even scarring some players that were killing monsters at the edge of the woods. For a monster's howl to resound so far, it had to be powerful.

Some more adventurous players were already heading in the howl's direction, hoping they could have a first takedown on whatever creature it was.

Other players were messaging their guilds and friends, thinking this might be a zone event or something. Most of these players would someday remember this day and shiver.

Astaroth was currently looking at the ledge of the hill, where a gigantic dragon was looking down on them, its predatory eyes locked on him. Since the monster was already pissed, Astaroth scanned it.

He immediately regretted it.

Young Red Dragon (Wounded):

Level: 100

Grade: Legendary (Zone Boss)

HP: ??'???'???

MP: ???'???

He regretted it almost instantly. A loud, gritty voice echoed in his head.

'How dare a puny creature as you scan me! Do you wish death so badly that challenging me wasn't enough?!'

Astaroth's body shuddered under the power in that voice alone. He knew he had fucked up the moment the dragon pulled out of the cavern, and now it was worse.

To make matters even worse, a notification resounded across the skies.

*Region Announcement*

*A dangerous monster has appeared in the region, threatening the safety of the kingdom! Fell it, to get glorious rewards!*

Then a quest notification popped on everyone's interface in the region.

*Sudden Event!*

Quest: Fell the beast!

A fearsome beast has appeared near the city of Sunpeak! It is your duty to defend the bastions of man! Face the creature in battle and slay it.

Rewards:

Participation Reward: Exp = Damage points.

#5 Damage dealer reward: 1 Million Exp + 500 Gold

#4 Damage dealer Reward: 2 Million Exp + 1000 Gold

#3 Damage dealer Reward: 5 Million Exp + 2500 Gold

#2 Damage dealer Reward: 10 Million Exp + 5000 Gold

#1 Damage dealer Reward: 25 Million Exp + 15000 Gold

Slayer Bonus Reward: 50 Million Exp, 50000 Gold, Sunpeak Reputation +5000, Title: Dragon Slayer

It immediately enticed any player who saw the rewards, even the ones that had fled prior to this. No player out of his right mind would skip out on this big of a payout.

It mattered not the difficulty of the quest, or how high the chances of death were. They would still return there after their death, to get better rewards.

Astaroth gulped at how much chaos this would sow. But he had bigger issues.

Like a multiton flying lizard staring at him, wanting only to eat him.

"I think we'll be going, now," Astaroth said, turning to leave.

He was facing the beast, and could already tell that fighting this would only result in pointless deaths. He wasn't willing to risk losing levels for a quest, even one that promised large rewards.

Who could tell if it would end with just one death, either? What if the dragon headed to Sunpeak after killing everyone here, just to get revenge?

This was all risk, no reward, as far as he was concerned. But then a part didn't want to leave either.

The thought of fighting a dragon made his heart beat like crazy. He wasn't sure if it was fear or excitement.

And another part of him feared that he might have unleashed death on the people in Sunpeak, too. He wouldn't be able to sleep at night if a city just vanished because he bothered a dragon.

But he wouldn't be able to leave, anyway. As soon as he turned, the dragon left its perch and landed right in front of him.

*Woosh! Boom!*

'Where do you think you are going, future snack?! I haven't tasted one of your kind yet. I wonder what you taste like,' the voice resounded in his head again.

A grin stretched on the dragon's lips, revealing massive teeth bigger than Astaroth himself. He knew at a glance that ending up in that mouth was a one-way trip.

'Fuck.'

Since there was no way to escape from this dragon, it left him with only one choice. Fight it.

White Death was already mentally berating him for thinking about fleeing. Astaroth had to focus to tune out his voice from inside his head.

Since his only option was to fight, he wasted no more time. His halberd appeared in his arm, and he immediately threw it at the dragon's massive eye.

It was staring at him, anyway, might as well bank on that. The halberd flew true, finding purchase in the dragon's left eye, but dealing almost no damage.

But Astaroth wasn't looking for the damage with that attack.

The dragon started roaring to the sky; the halberd stuck in its eye, the shaft halfway in. It batted the weapon away, but it still got blinded temporarily on the left side.

The halberd fell close to Astaroth and he hurriedly went to pick it up as the dragon was thrashing about. The blindness wouldn't last long, so he used it to get under the belly of the beast.

He had to watch out for the stomping feet, but it would be safer to fight from under it, as long as he didn't get squished into a paste. Phoenix and Violette were already pelting the dragon with spells, all of which did so little damage, it was comical.

Astaroth started striking at the legs from different angles, making sure he didn't stay in the same spot for long. Not long after that, players started arriving from the woods.

The quest gave the coordinates on the map to those who accepted it, so they knew where to look. Sadly, for the first batch of newcomers, the dragon had already been readying a breath of fire.

The first players to reach the area were burnt to cinders in a single attack, with only the tanks quick enough to activate mitigations surviving. They weren't much better off, but they were alive, at least.

The situation would rapidly escalate though, as more and more players reached the zone where the fight was. Astaroth tried being happy about the reinforcements, but he noticed that even with over a hundred players hitting the dragon, it had yet to lose a single percent of HP.

Dread washed over him.

'How strong is this thing?'