Although he had died many times, could he really clear the level just by honing his swordsmanship and playing it safe?

That was much easier than refining acting skills and eloquence.

But he soon realized he had been happy too soon.

Because after a thick fog filled his vision, he found that the surrounding scene had changed!

What he just experienced was only the first stage—now he had entered the second stage!

It was still the same city wall, but the timeline was clearly different from before.

There seemed to be many collapsed sections on the earthen city wall, and the original siege equipment had greatly decreased in number. The remaining ones all showed signs of long neglect and disrepair.

But what shocked William Carter the most was the age of the soldiers around him!

Originally, these soldiers were about the same age as William Carter, probably around twenty, but now, their faces were wrinkled, and each of them looked to be over forty.

He looked down at himself.

The saber in his hand had several nicks.

There were only a few arrows left in his quiver.

His armor was covered in patches, and many places hadn’t been repaired at all, already quite tattered.

He could even see several knife scars on his arm, and there were probably more on his body under the armor.

Worse still, after a wave of dizziness, he suddenly realized his stomach was empty—he was both thirsty and hungry!

This game had clearly weakened the negative sensations, probably to only about 20% of what they would be in real life. Otherwise, players would probably die from the pain after dying so many times.

But even in this weakened state, it was as if William Carter had been hit with a troublesome debuff, making him feel unspeakably uncomfortable.

Below the city wall, the Northern Di barbarians were still there.

But this time, the barbarians weren’t attacking. Instead, they were staying just out of range of arrows and catapults, watching what was happening inside the city.

Like vultures circling above a dying beast.

“What’s going on? Why am I so hungry, and so thirsty?

“My body also seems much weaker.”

William Carter had thought this dungeon couldn’t be cleared so easily, but he’d only expected the difficulty to increase by having more barbarian soldiers or a change in the battlefield. He hadn’t expected the game to be so shameless as to directly give players such an outrageous negative status.

With aging and hunger, how much of his previous combat strength could he still muster?

Even worse, the battle didn’t start right away. The Northern Di barbarians seemed to know their current state and deliberately delayed the attack.

Just then, a soldier next to William Carter nudged him and handed over a tattered cloth pouch he was clutching.

The pouch was only palm-sized, clearly made by tying up a piece of rag. Who knew what was inside.

Just as William Carter was about to ask, he caught a whiff of a foul stench.

Before he could ask what it was, the soldier on his right snatched it up, held it over his head, and squeezed.

Thick, black, foul-smelling liquid dripped from the pouch, and he opened his mouth to catch it.

Immediately, the soldier started gagging, but even so, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to endure it.

William Carter was dumbfounded.

Damn, this dungeon is even more brutal than the last one!

Chapter 9: Unknowingly, a Whole Night Passed

William Carter didn’t dare imagine what was in that rag pouch, nor did he have the courage to take it and open it.

He could only quietly push it away when other soldiers tried to hand it to him.

Better to stay thirsty and hungry!

This waiting was truly agonizing, but fortunately, William Carter discovered that the time flow in this trial dungeon seemed to have been specially adjusted. During his wait, it felt like only a few minutes had passed, but he experienced a full cycle of sunrise and sunset, from day to night and back to day.

And his exhaustion and hunger only grew stronger.

Now William Carter understood why there was a “endure hunger” talent at the start—it was clearly meant for this stage!

But he hadn’t chosen that talent, so his physical decline was much more severe.

After waiting a while longer, William Carter licked his cracked lips and looked at the Northern Di barbarians outside the city.

He really wanted to ask, when the hell are you guys going to attack?

Have some decency!

But it was better not to look, because what he saw nearly made him explode with anger.

Those Northern Di barbarians had set up many large cauldrons outside and were cooking meat!

They were even singing and dancing as they cooked!

All the Great Chu soldiers on the city wall stared at the Northern Di barbarians outside. Although their faces were pale with hunger, they still gripped their sword hilts tightly, and not a single one showed any sign of weakness.

Finally, the Northern Di barbarians outside began their assault again!

Compared to last time, the difficulty had increased sharply.

On one hand, the defensive equipment on the city wall was now old and broken, making it impossible to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy at the start of the siege with fire oil and flaming arrows as before. On the other hand, the defending soldiers’ strength had been severely depleted due to lack of food and water.

But at this point, there was no other choice. William Carter could only grit his teeth and fight.

He still used his previous tactics, avoiding the brunt of the attack as much as possible, fighting and retreating at the same time.