Chapter 97:

“Damn! The design of this BOSS is too absurd. Instead of having a hard enrage mechanic at low health, it switches to a soft enrage?” “Six masterwork stone golem elites spawn all at once in the final phase? Who can withstand that?” In the second hall, amidst the debris, the still bleeding Joy Stick was sitting on the shattered remains of the stone golem boss’ corpse. Seeing the recently recovered player corpses in front of him, he felt somewhat dejected. “How many died?” He caught his breath, accepting the Winds of Rejuvenation tossed by Meow King to heal his wounds, and asked in a low voice. “Seven died, two critically injured. Fortunately the Tiger Leopard Riders reacted quickly, barely withstanding the flanking charges, otherwise we’d have more casualties.” Meow King patted his shoulder and said: “The ones who died were all new players, with subpar gear and skills, and couldn’t keep up. Health bars in this game are paper-thin, they thought they could tank a couple hits but were taken out by the adds in a few swipes. Not your fault. Your command was solid enough, it was purely the boss mechanics being unclear that caused this. This damn game has too harsh a death penalty, over-emphasizing realism so there’s no concept of time flows, relying entirely on improvisation. But in truth, the first phase difficulty isn’t high, I reckon 20 people could handle it, not just 60, provided their gear, skills and levels are up to par. Our current strength is still a bit lacking.” “Yeah.” Joy Stick nodded, glancing behind him. The infamous “newbie” Sister Pomegranate was looting corpses, constantly searching the collapsed stone golem boss remains for usable materials, while Dump Truck beside her, in charge of DKP tracking, was openly packing those items into a spirit container. The upside of a truly realistic game! No gear has binding restrictions, so loot distribution can be discussed after clearing the dungeon. The downside of a truly realistic game is also here! This massive stone golem BOSS wouldn’t possibly drop weapons or gear that players could equip. Being made entirely of stone, its drops are just some armor scraps and weird rocks that can only be exchanged with Tris’ alchemist lady for some pocket change. “Stick! There’s a construct control switch in the watchtower on the second floor!” Leading Pigeon, scouting the upper level, leaned over the railing and yelled down: “The young lady left simple operation instructions, hurry and bring up the spirit stone golem core the BOSS dropped. We can now control all the stone golem constructs in the entire dungeon!” “Got it!” Stick’s eyes lit up as he stood, saying: “With the stone golems assisting, we have more tactical options. Everyone rest a few minutes and prepare to proceed, I reckon the elite Blood Vultures required for the achievement are in the next area. If the upcoming BOSS is around this difficulty level, our current team should have no issue clearing it.” Joy Stick made this optimistic assessment, and they subsequently activated the remaining dungeon constructs, assigning them as temporary minions to each small player group. These constructs required spirit manipulation. Regular players could only give vague commands via computation beads, but specialists like Meow King, Cheche and Pigeon could control them more precisely, even handling two at once. They felt their strength had increased significantly. So after the Kadman Civilian Self-Defense Force NPCs took over the second hall’s defenses, the confident players advanced into the main Blood Vulture Halls. But within ten minutes, those erratic elite vampire clansmen had ambushed and slain eight more players, forcing a hasty retreat. “Damn! The monster stats are definitely bugged, right?” Joy Stick was almost dumbfounded. He angrily jumped up and down, cursing: “How can the adds in the second area match the first area’s BOSS strength? Those vampire adds are all Black Iron tier in power! Plus the insane Astral Spirit enhancements, we can’t even keep up with their speed, get touched and it’s an instant kill. How are we supposed to fight that? The devs must be sick in the head! This is clearly a failure in encounter design!” “Is there a chance, Stick...” The equally filthy Leading Pigeon sidled up, with a strange look on his face as he pointed at the black rubble in the hall, and said: “That stone golem we just fought might not actually have been the BOSS? More like a rare mob or something.” “Ah, now that you mention it, that’s quite possible!” Stick was stunned. But after some thought, he realized and said while stroking his chin: “Wait, I’m suddenly aware of an issue, perhaps this is another lose-lose situation like Smuggler’s Woods, where the devs want us to realize we can’t approach this realistic dungeon through normal thinking. Speaking of which, there shouldn’t be so many allied NPCs in a normal dungeon instance, but here we have not just militia but elite Witch Hunter units too. So our real mission may not be to simply brute force it. The strength gap is too large! I think our true role is to assist the NPCs, which is why the devs deliberately placed a gear check boss here to equip us with the stone golem construct minions, making our support roles easier. “Damn, there are more ahead!” As a Spirit Mage, Cheche soon sensed the dark spirit disturbances blocking the exit ahead, indicating more vampires closing in from the front. The three small players immediately fell into despair. They realized they couldn’t possibly escape. But in the next moment, that despair transformed into the players’ trademark determination to go down fighting. Cheche cursed as he handed out alchemical bombs from his bag to Ah Yuen and Gugu Chicken, deciding to take at least one or two with them even if they perished here. Though not exactly soulmates, these dormmates had lived together for over three years, developing an unspoken understanding. Through silent communication, they formed a defensive formation back-to-back. As the frenzied vampires’ roars approached, the three small players were ready. But just as they steeled themselves for mutual destruction, a sudden scream echoed from the corridor ahead, startling the three players. It was a vampire’s scream! Were there Witch Hunters on this side too? No, their lines should be on the other side, right? Could it be the elusive Murphy had come to rescue his beloved small players? As they stood dazed, the three maddened vampires chasing from behind also charged in with roars. Ah Yuen and Gugu Chicken immediately moved to parry their difficult assault, while Cheche continuously unleashed Spirit Blasts to try binding the hyper-fast elite mobs. Just as the three fought desperately, a formidable blood shadow shattered through the wall, swinging a crimson greatsword onto the battlefield. To Ah Yuen and Gugu Chicken’s astonished gazes, that towering figure took down one frenzied vampire with a sword strike, then blitz-grabbed another vampire’s neck and slammed it to the ground like a chicken before executing it with blood claws. Swiftly killing the two downed frenzied ones, the last vampire, scared witless, immediately turned to flee but was caught by this brawny man and smashed with the greatsword. Impaling it through the chest, it crashed through one wall before pinning it dead to the second wall. “Holy shit! So powerful!” Invincible Tyrannosaurus Cheche was totally dumbstruck watching from the side. The elite vampires who could slaughter players like him as easily as cutting melons had been casually butchered like chickens by this brawny man appearing out of nowhere. This strength was insane. Just from the effortless display of power, this guy was probably even stronger than Murphy and the young lady. But the question was, who was he? He definitely wasn’t among the allied NPC forces they’d seen. “Pffft” This suddenly appearing brawny NPC coldly executed the last ambushing vampire with blood claws. As the other disintegrated into crimson ashes with an agonizing scream, he finally hoisted his greatsword and turned to look at the three small players. His face covered by a Blood Vulture war mask already caked with thick bloodstains like a ghoul’s visage, and just being stared at by this guy made the three players’ legs shake. Damn! Isn’t this a BOSS? “Citizens! Why are you wandering outside in such danger? Come with me quickly! There are crazed beasts everywhere. I am the Blood Vulture Civil Protector, I must keep you safe!” To their surprise, the NPC spoke a line, showing up translated on the player interface that left the three small players exchanging confused looks. Blood Vulture Civil Protector? What sort of title is that? Sounds like some kind of official position? “Hey, this guy’s not all there upstairs.” Gugu Chicken whispered to his two brothers: “See the insignia on his body? The one on his breastplate, it’s exactly the same as the young lady’s cloak insignia! So who the hell is this guy?” “Hurry and follow! Citizens, it’s dangerous out there, I must protect you! Quickly!” The unstable brawny NPC kept urging them to follow as he led the way. Figuring they must have triggered some hidden storyline, the students obediently followed him. Rounding various disguised walls, he brought them to a sealed hall deeper inside and demanded they enter immediately. “Get inside! Don’t come out!” The brawny NPC braced his greatsword like a statue, barring the entrance as dozens of executed, faded vampire statues lay around him. His deep, raspy voice came from beneath the mask: “I’ll notify you once it’s safe. You won’t be harmed before I fall, this is my duty as Civil Protector! Go in!” The three small players looked at each other in confusion. They didn’t quite get what this NPC was playing at, but were afraid of angering him by disobeying, so they pushed through the door behind him. The next instant, all three froze on the spot. “Damn! Why are there so many people in here?”