NOVEL NEXT Chapter 55
Chapter 55: Onward to the Middle Wing
Translator: Zenobys Editor: TheRealSeal
After the server announcement flooded the entire server channel, all 20 men from The Dominators and Sky High were left stunned. Those that were not in the midst of battle were fine, but the other 15 people; 3 teams of 5 players were instantly distracted and got killed off and appeared at the revive point.
The results were far too much for them to take in! Who were they to even compete with Zhang Yang’s team when they were still struggling at the first boss of the dungeon?
…
At Crimson Rage’s side…
“Sister Snow! It happened, just like you said it will!” Thorny Rose cried out admirably as Fire Spirit Farr’s body fell defeated. “How did you do it?! How did you know that Zhan Yu’s team would be the first to win the Front Wing’s dungeon? If we had followed along to take on the Front Wing, we’d be crying our eyes out by now!”
Thorny Rose and the rest of the Crimson Rage party were currently in the Middle Wing dungeon.
During the start of the fight, Crimson Rage’s two 5-man party first entered the Front Wing dungeon. However, after two minutes in, they quickly switched and headed to the Middle Wing instead!
According to the official website, the Middle Wing’s bosses were level 23 and level 24 while the Front Wing bosses were level 21 and level 22. Normally, players would choose to tackle on the easy ones first and left the harder selection for later on. However, Crimson Rage guild master had a different way of approaching this matter. She chose the other way around to conquer the dungeon!
Snow Seeker raised an eye brow and smiled lightly. “Even though I may have predicted that Zhan Yu’s team would be the one who will claim the ‘First Clear’ achievement, but I could not have foreseen that they could complete the dungeon in such a groundbreaking speed! Sure, we might have defeated the first boss, but Zhan Yu’s team already cleared the Front Wing and may be proceeding to the Middle Wing, and if he does, not even I would how that will turn out!”
“How could this be?” Thorny Rose expressed her disbelief. “We have gained the Boss’ information beforehand and had several days ahead to devise a strategy! We even died several times to win this boss! Don’t tell me that they also had a relative in the development team!?”
Snow Seeker thought it through and shook her head at the impossibility.
“According to my brother, during the boss skill design phase, everyone will be in charge of their own department. There was absolutely no interaction nor communication between departments! Furthermore, the initial designer and the editor were strangers who did not have any connections. There was no possible way that a person would have the knowledge of all the boss’s skill! We only knew about the first boss’ skills and gone through hell and back for the second boss’ skills!”
Snow Seeker stopped her speech suddenly and realized something far more important.
“I for one, hope that Zhan Yu had gotten himself some information leak. Or else, how could you explain his incredible speed at clearing the Front Wing dungeon?” She shook her head to get rid of that frightening thought.
“Everyone! Get yourself together, even though we are one step ahead of them, we must not let down our guard! They are… strong!”
“HUURAH!”
…
For some members of Lone Desert Smoke, they were excited when Zhang Yang, Hundred Shots, and Slim and Handsome joined the guild. That was, however, just the tip of the iceberg. When the server channel was flooded with the server announcement of their achievement, things got even wilder! For almost half day long, the guild channel was just as noisy as a subway station! Chattering and cheering were everywhere! Even though they did not contribute into the party in taking the “First Clear” Achievement, they still praised and bragged around about their guild!
‘Player Drizzler has surrendered the Guild Master position to Player Zhan Yu. Player Zhan Yu is now the current Guild Master!’
Another important news!
Even so, members of Lone Desert Smoke did not express any objection to this matter! They were actually happy with the change! After all, they have all heard of the name “Zhan Yu”. The guild members were happy and contented to have a professional commander like Zhan Yu to lead the guild to glory!
“So guys… should we just rest a bit or do we go on to raid the Middle Wing?” Little Snow asked Zhan Yang.
“Strike the iron while it’s hot! Of course, we shall move on!” Zhang Yang laughed loudly. Pointing at the corpse, he continued, “However, let’s distribute the equipment first!”
“Oh! Oh! Me! Me! Let me open it!” Drizzler jumped like a rabbit and quickly touched the corpse.
[Heavy Stone Boots] (Green-Copper, Metal Armor)
Defense: +6
Vitality: +12
Strength: +6
Dexterity: +2
Level requirement: 2
“Tch! Hey! Take this boot and raise your pathetic HP amount!” Drizzler rejected her roll for the equipment. “Don’t get yourself killed in just one strike!”
It was not just Drizzler who had the thought to prioritize the main tanker’s equipment; it was in everyone’s mind as well. They started to get a little cautious ever since they witnessed the sheer attack power of a Hardcore-level boss. Zhang Yang laughed guiltily. He too knew that he needed to pump up his HP to face a Herculean-like boss in the Hardcore Dungeon. He put on the new equipment and also invested the SP he gained on <Block>, reducing its cooldown time to only 5 seconds.
“Friends of Lone Desert Smoke! Congratulations on obtaining the ‘First Clear’ Achievement! I represent The Dominators to congratulate you on this awesome achievement!” Humbly Gentleman posted in the local channel.
“Hmph! What you say doesn’t match your intention! Gentleman, my ass!” someone from Sky High began insulting to provoke.
“Huh? Where did this barking dog came from?!” Members from The Dominator started to retaliate.
Sky High did not want to admit defeat, and they started to return their insults. Eventually the entire local channel was flooded with words of scorn and abuses.
Zhang Yang’s team started to feel a little annoyed. With a flick of a button, they turned off the local server feed and the whole world went dead silent.
[Blinders Skirt] (Green-Copper, Cloth Armor)
Defense: +2
Vitality: +16
Intelligence: +16
Spirit: +6
Level requirement: 20
This equipment obviously belonged to Little Snow.
[Lined Cape] (Green-Copper, Cape)
Vitality: +6
Dexterity: +4
Equip effect: Increase 1% critical strike.
Level requirement: 20
Only Dexterity and no Strength, this equipment was obviously suitable for either a Thief or a Hunter.
Just when Fatty Han wanted Hundred Shots to have the item, Hundred Shots rejected his chance to roll.
“Fatty, it’s fine now. My equipment is quite strong. You don’t need to give it up anymore! From now on, let’s just roll for the next equipment fair and square!”
“Alright then!” Fatty Han nodded and accepted the cape.
The party then ran towards the dungeon entrance. Fatty Han suddenly turned around and asked Zhang Yang, “Hey Little Yang, are there any hidden bosses in this dungeon?”
Zhang Yang shook his head. “Not all dungeons have hidden bosses. As for Marzerway’s Lair, there are no hidden bosses in any of the three dungeons!”
After a while, the party got out from the Front Wing and entered the left entrance of the dungeon.
“Ding! You have entered Marzerway’s Lair: Middle Wing (Hardcore Mode)!”
The atmosphere and background of this new dungeon was exactly the same as the previous one. The only difference was the monster patrolling inside were now fire elementals.
[Demonized Fire Elemental] (Elite)
Level: 22
HP: 6,000
There were so many monsters here; too many in fact! With just a look, it felt like the room was cramp and tight.
“So-freaking many!” Fatty Han took in a deep breath.
“Yeah. The monsters here are far stronger than before. They’re all magic attack types. They just love to spew fireball at you and those are painful as f*ck!” Zhang Yang explained. “However, the good thing is that their HP is very low. They are about half of those elite monsters. We can just use our AoE attacks and they can be killed off easily.”
Zhang Yang walked ahead and used <Charge> to initiate the fight.
Zhang Yang cut down one of the monsters for 342 damage and gained 36 Rage. He immediately used <Horizontal Sweep>.
‘-701!’
‘-745!’
‘-726!’
Many more damage texts overlapped each other in the tight crowded space.
A total of 8 fire elementals had their targets set to Zhang Yang and began conjuring fireballs.
The team followed up and started unleashing their AoE skills like <Barrage> and <Tornado Cleave>.
3 seconds later, the monsters finished casting their spells and threw 8 fireball towards Zhang Yang. A barrage of attacks landed on Zhang Yang, causing ‘-122’, ‘-119’, and ‘-125’ damage to him. Zhang Yang lost around 1000 HP in this wave.
Little Snow was prepared for it. The moment she saw damage texts popping out on Zhang Yang’s head, she waved her hand and used <Higher Healing> on him, restoring 400 HP. At the same time, <Regeneration> healed him for 130 HP every 3 seconds. 2 seconds later, Little Snow conjured another <Higher Healing> and healed Zhang Yang almost to his full HP.
Boom!
Another 8 fireballs landed on Zhang Yang.
“Argh….I don’t want to do this anymore…This is so tiring!” But being the only healer in the party, Little Snow had to continue her healing alone or else Zhang Yang would die and the whole team would be defeated.
30 seconds into the battle and all of the minions were killed off, granting the party immense experience points.
Little Snow jeered at the hallway and saw waves and waves of minions patrolling. She turned sour and said, “God, how long would this last!”
“Cousin, I’ll give you a back massage after all these minions. Is that good enough?”
Fatty Han suddenly gave a lusty expression. “Pressing and pushing is something only Fatty can do best! I’d tell you, no one else could do it better! Little Snow, take my number and call me whenever you’re in the mood for a back massage. I’ll be over in a jiffy!”
Drizzler walked over to Fatty Han and observed his fleshy hands.
“Huh. Now that I’ve seen your hand. I finally understand why the Mandarin language has the phrase ‘Salty Pig Hands’, you pervert!”
Everyone laughed for a bit and moved on forward.
The monsters were indeed strong and their attacks were stronger, but the only person working furiously was Little Snow, while the rest of the party were calm and relax all the way.
20 minutes later, they finally arrived at the first boss.
[Fire Spirit Anni] (Green-Copper)
Level: 23
HP: 138k
Standing at 10 meters tall, the gigantic elemental spirit was burning away like a huge bon fire pillar. In this enormous palace, there were no other minions around anymore.
“Alright, rape our ears, Little Yang!”
Zhang Yang shook his head and sighed. He then began to explain the boss’ strategy and skills.
“As you could guess, the boss is a Spellcaster class. Its physical attacks are not strong so it will cast <Flame Shot> at the person with the most aggro. The skill has a 3 second casting delay and deals 1,000 damage per shot! Little Snow, just give up! As the only healer in this Hardcore Mode dungeon, it is your fate to heal till you drop!”
Fatty Han laughed and said, “Little Snow, just give up and listen to Little Yang!”
“Pervert Fatty!”
“Pervy Brothers!”
The girls scolded together.
Zhang Yang expressed innocence. “Hey! Why am I in the same category as him?”
Little Snow replied, “Birds of the same feather…”
“…flock together!” Drizzler continued her cousin’s idiom. “The two of you looked like brothers in arms. That is why both of you must share the same bad habit!”
“What!? Argh! A gentleman must not be arguing with a lady!” Zhang Yang gave up and used an escape card to avoid the argument. He then continued his boss explanation. “The boss’ second skill is called <Knockback>. This skill will cause every target in its effective range to be knocked back 3 meters behind, and will also receive 500 fire damage. At the same time, the target will be inflicted with a debuff called <Combustible>, causing all fire magic damage to be increased by 50%! The debuff is quite dangerous. If I’m hit with <Flame Shot> and <Knockback> while gaining the <Combustible> debuff, I will receive about 1,800 damage! I will be instantly killed if I were to receive that combo without a full HP status!”