Online game: God-level Assassin, I Am the Shadow.

Sister Pear's code name was 'Duck Pear'. She and her four teammates were scouring every corner of the town, determined not to leave a single inch unchecked.

Unfortunately, they hadn't found much so far.

Then, just as Qin Feng leveled up to 2, the system notification for the town's leaderboard came through, leaving the five of them completely stunned.

"What's going on? Pear, this 'Shadow'—isn't that the guy who went out on his own just now?"

"Seems like it… he leveled up to 2 already?"

"The key point isn't just that, though. Didn't he kill a Bronze-level boss?"

"Our team can't even take down normal mobs, and he's soloing a Bronze boss? What is this, a joke?"

"But the system notification doesn't lie…"

"He must have teamed up after going out, right?"

"No, look at the leaderboard. 'Shadow' is the only name on it!"

On the leaderboard of Shell Town, the name 'Shadow' stood alone at the top.

The five teammates of Pear were left speechless.

"Wait, what?"

Sister Pear, holding her longbow, was stunned.

She had experienced just how strong the monsters outside were.

Their team of five had been wiped out by a mere level 1 mob—not even managing to get the monster to half health.

But now… the guy she had thought was going out to get himself killed, 'Shadow', had soloed a Bronze boss?

"This doesn't make sense!"

Sister Pear began to doubt everything.

Meanwhile, Niu Gang and Guan Xiaoya had just respawned in the center of the town.

The system informed them that half their remaining life had been deducted.

Originally, they had forty to fifty years, but now they had barely twenty.

Their faces darkened.

Guan Xiaoya, looking pale, spoke with uncertainty.

"Niu Gang, do you think this life deduction is real?"

Niu Gang shook his head forcefully.

"That can't be true. There's no way something so ridiculous exists."

Guan Xiaoya, her expression complicated, replied,

"But we were just sleeping. How did we end up here? This is clearly not a dream, and if it's a game… it's way too real."

Niu Gang was starting to doubt everything, too.

Just then, the notification about Qin Feng's level-up and his kill of the 'Nurturer' reached their minds!

Both of them froze.

"What's going on? That giant spider, more than two and a half meters tall, was killed by someone?"

"Who is this 'Shadow'? How could he possibly kill that giant spider?"

"That's impossible. That spider had over a dozen smaller spiders under it…"

Niu Gang and Guan Xiaoya were utterly bewildered.

Against that giant spider, they had been completely powerless.

Yet 'Shadow' had taken it down alone!

Seeing only one name, 'Shadow', on the leaderboard, they had to assume that this kill was a solo effort.

This was even more unbelievable!

As more players who had fallen asleep arrived in the forsaken land of the gods, the population in Shell Town quickly reached five hundred.

The town square was now filled with black-robed new players.

Some players, just arriving, were eager to ask questions.

But unfortunately, no one had any answers.

Most players were just as confused as ever.

However, a few had started to realize that things weren't simple.

A young man with golden hair stood in the square, raising his hand to speak to the crowd.

"Everyone, we all just woke up and ended up in this so-called 'Forsaken Land of the Gods'."

"We can't leave the game yet. According to the instructions, killing monsters grants us life, while dying causes us to lose half our life."

"Whether it's true or not, we should take it seriously. Don't go out alone."

"Many players have already been killed by the monsters outside and lost life…"

"I suggest we form teams and explore together. That's safer."

"Anyone who wants to join me, come over and register. Let's list out our professions…"

Some listened, while others couldn't be bothered.

Meanwhile, at another exit of the town, a group of three men and three women were already forming their own team.

The leader was a burly man, strong and imposing.

His name was Wang Meng.

Wang Meng looked toward the center of the town, hearing the golden-haired youth's voice faintly in the distance, but paid no attention.

Turning to his five companions, he said,

"In this forsaken game, we'll choose to believe it exists rather than dismissing it. Let's treat it like a normal game and go out to explore. As long as we can kill monsters and level up, there's no harm in it."

"As for the life thing, just make sure you don't die. I'm a Holy Shield Warrior. I have an invincibility skill right from the start, so I can block damage for you all. Just focus on dealing damage."

Wang Meng's teammates had been carefully selected based on Wang Meng's observations.

Together, their combination was definitely strong!

At the same time, in Shell Town, some online gaming addicts, who usually played ranked games together, had also found themselves in this forsaken game.

"Damn, doesn't this game let us show off our skills?"

"Let's go, go, go!"

"We may not be the best at other things, but when it comes to games, heh, who can beat us five brothers?"

"This game only allows six people in a team, and we're one short, right?"

"Let's find a cute girl, we're missing a healer anyway!"

Not just Shell Town, but now thousands of small towns across the world were starting to fill up with players.

People from all over the globe had been brought to the Forsaken Land of the Gods when they fell asleep.

Whether from the Great Xia, North America, or Western lands…

Most of these new players were bewildered.

Among them, some had already begun to take things seriously and were starting to adapt.

Many of the stronger players had already started pulling ahead from the rest.

For example… Qin Feng.

"Level 2 unlocks the leaderboard, earning 1 point of reputation."

Qin Feng glanced at the system notification but didn't pay much attention to it.

Reputation was something that, of course, the more the better. Later, it could be used to exchange for higher-level items from NPCs.

At this moment, Qin Feng stood invisibly before the corpse of the Bronze-level 'Nurturer', preparing to claim his rewards.

First, the life!

Qin Feng stretched out his hand and absorbed the gray-white orb floating above the giant spider's corpse.

[You have gained 46 days of life (tradeable).]

A small boss, yielding as much life as more than ten ordinary monsters!

Normally, this boss would require several full teams to defeat. Even if they managed to kill it, the life would be divided among everyone, and it wouldn't amount to much…

But Qin Feng had soloed the boss, so his rewards were substantial.

Next, Qin Feng retrieved three loot items from the boss's corpse.

One of them, a skill book, caught his eye.

"This is it!"

[Skill Book: Greedy Hand (Bronze): Assassin Class Skill Book. After learning, you can use it on monster corpses with a 20% chance to obtain an additional loot reward. Requirements: Level 1.]

A 20% chance seemed low.

But the key was…

Qin Feng could evolve this skill!

This adaptation keeps the feel of the original story while conveying the details in a more accessible and fluid English format. Let me know if you'd like to adjust any parts!