Chapter 591: Suffering Like Crazy
Zou Zhuo set off for the New Londo Ruins with high ambitions.
There were a few hollows by the roadside, all squatting in corners with their heads in their hands, giving off the exact same feeling as the High Wall of Lothric.
Zou Zhuo even went up and hacked two hollows to death to warm up, feeling incredibly confident in his own strength.
"After all, this is the beginner area. The difficulty should be about the same as the High Wall of Lothric, right? It's just way too dark around here. I really can't get used to it."
Zou Zhuo muttered to himself. He didn't have a torch either, and visibility was extremely low. Once something was more than five or six meters away, he couldn't see it clearly—just a wall of black.
Zou Zhuo kept moving forward, crossing a wooden plank bridge to enter the ruins. There was a lot of water around the ruins, and he had no idea where it came from. He still didn't know what kind of place this was in the story, so he could only press on blindly.
After crossing the wooden bridge, a transparent ghost monster appeared ahead. This monster looked just like a specter, wielding two scythes in its hands as it lunged at Zou Zhuo!
Zou Zhuo raised his small club to meet it, but when he swung, it hit nothing but air...
"Huh? What's going on?"
Before Zou Zhuo could react, the ghost was already in front of him, lazily swinging its two scythes at his body!
And then Zou Zhuo died...
"What the hell? What just happened?!"
Zou Zhuo was stunned. The main thing was that this mob's attack animation looked like it was just tickling him, but when it landed, it hurt like hell—his entire health bar vanished in an instant!
And the worst part was, these monsters could phase through walls and fly... The most infuriating thing was that Zou Zhuo had his weapon, but he couldn't hit them at all!
Zou Zhuo felt something was off, but he still wasn't willing to give up. He thought maybe he was approaching it wrong.
Respawning at the Firelink Shrine, Zou Zhuo ran back to the New Londo Ruins, only to find out... he simply couldn't beat these monsters!
In other games, ghosts were all bark and no bite—you could still hit them with weapons. But these ghosts were the real deal; you couldn't even touch them!
With no other choice, Zou Zhuo returned to the Firelink Shrine.
That's when he remembered—hadn't that guy who warned him earlier said something? Something about ringing two bells, one of which was in the Undead Church?
This place didn't look anything like a church. Had he come to the wrong spot?
Zou Zhuo was filled with doubt.
Clearly, the area around the Firelink Shrine was fraught with danger and connected in all directions. One wrong step and you'd end up somewhere you shouldn't be...
If this were any other game, Zou Zhuo's first instinct would be to look up a guide. But since he was the first player for this game, where was he supposed to find a guide?
After wandering around the Firelink Shrine for another ten minutes and killing a few skeleton monsters, Zou Zhuo finally found a new path and arrived at the Undead Burg.
"So this is the right way, huh? What the hell was I doing before...?"
Zou Zhuo was practically speechless. The mobs here were all hollows, way easier to fight than those ghosts. This was definitely the right path!
But if that's the case, couldn't they have given him a sign or some kind of hint?! Or at least put a warning sign at the entrance to the New Londo Ruins!
Clearly, this was Chen Mo's malice—deliberately placing several high-level areas right next to the starting point to trick you into going there...
...
After arriving at the Undead Burg, Zou Zhuo's journey through the prequel of *Dark Souls* finally got on track.
But even so, Zou Zhuo still had the illusion that this game was actually harder than the previous one!
For one thing, the mobs seemed to have higher attack power and more varied skills. Take the hollow swordsmen in the Undead Burg, for example—they'd suddenly unleash a six-hit combo without warning, and if you weren't careful, you'd be chopped to pieces...
The most infuriating part was that these hollow swordsmen even carried shields. After landing a combo, they'd immediately raise their shields, playing even better than Zou Zhuo himself...
And on top of that, Zou Zhuo encountered a Black Knight here.
Zou Zhuo was shocked. The very first beginner area had a Black Knight?
Zou Zhuo thought back. In the previous game, Black Knights didn't show up until the Farron Keep area, which was almost mid-game!
"Hmm... This guy's probably on the same level as a Lothric Knight? Let me give it a try."
Zou Zhuo approached cautiously, even checking his equip load. Since the Black Knight had its back to him, based on the previous game's habits, as long as he crept up quietly, he shouldn't be detected.
But just as Zou Zhuo got behind the Black Knight and tried to backstab it, the Black Knight suddenly spun around!
Zou Zhuo flinched in fright. His club hit the Black Knight's body, and a tiny number floated up above it: 7! As for the Black Knight's health bar, it barely moved...
And the Black Knight swung its greatsword, slashing at him three times in a row.
Zou Zhuo, dead.
"...No choice. I'll take another route." Zou Zhuo decisively backed off from the challenge.
...
After passing through another white fog gate, Zou Zhuo arrived at a city wall.
It was a long wall, and it didn't look like there was much danger, so Zou Zhuo walked forward confidently.
However, two skeleton soldiers on a tower behind him kept shooting arrows at him. Zou Zhuo wanted to go up and take them out, but it seemed like too much trouble, so he kept moving forward.
Just then, a massive Taurus Demon dropped from the sky, slamming right into Zou Zhuo's face!
Zou Zhuo was shocked: "What the hell, where did this guy come from?! Why do all the monsters in the prequel love dropping from the sky?!"
Zou Zhuo wanted to try fighting the demon, but then two arrows hit him from behind—the two mobs on the tower were still shooting at him nonstop...
"Damn it, that range is ridiculous!"
Zou Zhuo was in agony. He was caught between a rock and a hard place, with no way to defeat this boss while those two mobs kept shooting him. He had no choice but to sprint back.
When he reached the tower, Zou Zhuo zigzagged his way toward the door, only to find that he couldn't run through the white fog gate...
Panicking, he scrambled up a ladder, only to find two hollow soldiers at the top, who immediately drew their swords and attacked him.
Zou Zhuo frantically killed the two mobs and let out a long sigh of relief.
"Phew, that scared me... Good thing my reflexes are fast. Now I can finally drink some Estus, right?"
Zou Zhuo glanced down from the tower and saw the massive Taurus Demon standing dumbly at the base.
"Heh, once I drink up and heal, I'll take you out with a plunging attack..."
Zou Zhuo pulled out his Estus Flask and was about to drink when the Taurus Demon suddenly leaped up from the base of the tower!
Yes, that huge demon actually jumped straight up, landing right in front of Zou Zhuo and knocking him flying backward!
Zou Zhuo picked himself up off the ground, completely dumbfounded.
"Wait a minute, this guy can actually jump up here?! Are you cheating or what?!"
The Taurus Demon didn't waste any time with him. It slammed its hammer down, crushing Zou Zhuo into the ground!
On the screen, three big red letters appeared: YOU DIED!
"Seriously, are you messing with me, man?!"
Zou Zhuo quit the game in despair.
A genius remembers where he left his bookmarked chapters at one second: