Chapter 930: Teaming Up to Slay Monsters
There were many players just as pleasantly surprised as Lin Xue.
Everyone was astonished to find that this game really did seem to be a "lawnmower"!
Players using various weapons felt incredibly confident—like the greatsword user charging up to smash the air, the hammer user spinning mindlessly, the charge blade unleashing explosive super-amped elemental discharges, and the heavy bowgun firing like a Gatling gun...
Players all said, "Damn, this is totally stress-free to fight!"
Was this real? Why did it feel so unreal?
Of course, there were a few oddballs who chose weird weapons like the hunting horn, but after playing a bit and finding it weak, they switched. In the early game, players swapped weapons frequently, mostly sticking to a few popular ones.
The first two quests were hunting the Jagras and the Kestodon—both just small monsters. Even if they fought back, the damage players took was basically negligible. Add in the recovery plants scattered everywhere and the healing potions on hand, even players with bad skills could complete them without any pressure.
What's more, the Palico would draw aggro and share damage for the player. Most of the time, players just had to go wild attacking from behind the monster—completely different from *Dark Souls*, where you had to hold up a shield and circle-strafe constantly.
Besides combat, players spent most of their time wandering around the base camp and the forest, gathering materials, searching for monsters—the whole game pace was actually quite slow.
Many players felt that just strolling around the Research Base, checking out the weapons the smithy could craft, or browsing what the merchant sold, half an hour would fly by. Searching for footprints in the forest, gathering resources, killing a few small monsters—an hour would pass.
Even many female players felt the game was very friendly to them. As a hunter, happily fighting small monsters with their Palico, digging up bones in the forest, collecting honey from a beehive, or just sitting in a tree to enjoy the view... it was so relaxing!
...
Lin Xue was currently following the quest marker, tracking a monster called the "Great Jagras."
"Huh? Can I fire an SOS flare? This must be that team-up feature from the trailer, right?"
A red signal flare shot into the sky.
Lin Xue tried firing the SOS flare. She hadn't thought much of it, just casually sending it out for fun, but before she could take two steps, her four-player squad was already full.
The other three teammates immediately arrived at the camp via Wingdrakes and quickly regrouped with Lin Xue.
"Xue! Let's take a group photo!"
"Draw your sword—Xue is mine!"
"Stop messing around, we're on TV, it's being livestreamed!"
The three of them bickered back and forth, leaving Lin Xue feeling helpless.
They were all fans from her stream! No wonder the squad filled up so fast!
In the original game, SOS flares could only be seen by players in the same gathering hub, but the VR version of *Monster Hunter: World* completely lifted that restriction, essentially making it a global server that randomly matched players for various quests. Additionally, if players had each other as friends on Thunder Game Pass, they could team up very quickly. These three fans clearly had Lin Xue as a friend, had been waiting, and jumped in the moment they saw her SOS flare.
Also, the game allowed players to freely toggle voice chat, making communication much more convenient.
Lin Xue looked at the three guys—one Longsword, one Greatsword, and one Bow.
"Come on, watch the top streamer carry you all!" Lin Xue said confidently.
The other three guys chimed in: "Don't worry, Xue, we'll carry you. Just stay back and shout '666'!"
The four of them searched the forest confidently for traces of the Great Jagras, and soon found it deep in the Ancient Forest.
The Great Jagras was the monster encountered at the start. It looked like a giant lizard that swallowed its prey whole, much larger than the small Jagras and Kestodon they'd fought before.
At that moment, it seemed to have just swallowed a Herbivore and was in a state of indigestion, dragging its bloated belly as it crawled along with difficulty, probably trying to digest.
Lin Xue and the other three guys hid behind a tree, discussing their strategy.
"How should we fight it?"
"This guy's bigger than the previous monsters. We should be careful."
"What's there to fear? There are four of us! Let's just charge in recklessly!"
"Let's sneak up carefully first, then attack together."
"Alright, let's do that!"
The four of them made up their minds and began crouching low, slowly approaching the Great Jagras. But the moment they entered its line of sight, the indigestion-stricken giant lizard immediately looked straight at them!
And its eyes were full of wariness.
Lin Xue was a bit surprised: "This monster is so smart! It feels like it's already on guard against us?"
She hadn't felt this way fighting the smaller monsters. The small Jagras would swarm and attack hunters in groups as soon as they saw them, while the Kestodon only fought back when attacked. Both were low-intelligence monsters, no different from other games.
But the Great Jagras made Lin Xue feel for the first time that its AI was different from those small monsters.
Lin Xue's squad of four had flanked from different directions. The player sneaking up from behind the Great Jagras wasn't spotted at all, and the one hiding in the grass was fine, but Lin Xue and another fan who approached from the Great Jagras's front view—even while crouching—were detected.
The Great Jagras didn't immediately attack, nor did it ignore the hunters and leave. Instead, it warily stared at the uninvited guests and took a few steps back.
"I'm going in!"
The Greatsword player, who had stealthily crept up behind the Great Jagras, suddenly leaped out, swinging a massive blade nearly as tall as himself, and slashed down at the Great Jagras's back!
"SMACK!!"
The greatsword slammed heavily into the ground, splashing water half a meter high.
Everyone: "..."
Lin Xue was stunned: "You... such a big target, and a stationary one at that, and you still hit the air?!"
The Greatsword guy coughed awkwardly, raised his blade for another strike, but the Great Jagras lifted its left claw and swatted him aside.
"Let's go!"
Seeing that the guy who got swatted was fine, the remaining three charged in. The two Longsword users rushed forward, while the Bow guy fired wildly from behind.
Without the Palico in a team, but with four people ganging up, the Great Jagras could only attack one person, leaving the other three free to hit it from the sides and back without pressure. For Lin Xue, this was even easier than soloing with her Palico.
"Alright, watch my Helm Breaker!"
Lin Xue assumed a stance, ready to unleash a flashy Helm Breaker for explosive damage.
But the round-bellied Great Jagras suddenly rolled on the spot, knocking Lin Xue aside.
Lin Xue was dumbfounded: "??? It can do that?"