Chapter 81: I Am a Pendant
Although Zane did not take action in the last battle, it does not mean that he lacks strength.
Anyone who can make it onto the level leaderboard cannot be weak, Mingxiao Youhun thought.
At least that batch of scaled armor indicates that Fengchen Yanhua, or rather the person behind him, had the ability to defeat the Velociraptor two days ago.
Putting away the recording, Zane contemplated, “What occupations do the three of you have?”
“The three of us—me, my sister, and Lian Lian—are a knight, a priest, and an assassin, all level 19.”
“Can I bring one person?”
“One? …Sure!” Mingxiao Youhun nodded. “If you can win, after the fight, you can choose an equipment first, and the rest will be distributed as needed. How about that?”
“Alright.”
Based on the 3000 real damage in the recording, that already exceeded Starry’s health, so it seems only Mingxiao Youhun and himself, being a Wishcaster, can withstand it. But he cannot transform in front of them, meaning only Starry can move?
After a while, Mingxiao Youhun sent the coordinates for the Wasteland (5491,671).
The Wasteland? I didn’t notice there was a mirage there the last time I went.
Anyway, let’s head over first!
…
At this time, players had started to level up early, but there weren’t many in the Wasteland, as it wasn’t a place you could just fight freely. The Velociraptor’s strength was too formidable.
Arriving at the corresponding location based on the coordinates, there was nothing around except yellow sand and rubble.
Wait, there’s a rock that’s darker in color.
Zane transformed back into his original self and reached out.
At the moment of contact, pure white light erupted, engulfing both of them in an instant.
…
System Notification: You have entered the hidden map ‘Demon Man’s Secret Realm’.
System Notification: Warning! If you die in the Demon Man’s Secret Realm, you cannot enter again.
System Notification: Warning! Danger lurks in the Demon Man’s Secret Realm, please always pay attention to your surroundings!
What’s going on? Two warnings right from the start?
Last time I entered the underground passage, you didn’t give any warnings!
Looking at the eerie environment, Zane instinctively took out a magic lantern. By the way, this has been charged; the previous energy was almost used up.
It was a wide corridor with red-edged white-hearted tiles on the floor, and empty portraits hanging on both sides, nothing else.
Have the monsters already been cleared?
Opening the comms, he said, “Youhun, I’m here, where are you guys?”
“So soon?” Mingxiao Youhun sounded a bit surprised.
After all, he had a mount; although he was riding himself. “I just did a slide and… cough, cough, I’m at Yunyou Valley, so I came directly over.”
“That makes sense, send me your coordinates, and we’ll find you.”
“159,277”
“Okay, see you in three minutes!”
Just as he said, three figures appeared from the end of the corridor three minutes later.
The tall knight in the middle was indeed Mingxiao Youhun, the vice president of Mingxiao.
On the right was the short-haired girl, Lian Lian, whom Zane had seen with Mingxiao Youhun while fighting Yuhua last time; she was a highly skilled assassin player, and since she didn’t have the Mingxiao prefix, she was likely a recent recruit.
On the left was a Mingxiao Rainbow, said to be one of Mingxiao’s four core members, also the vice president of Mingxiao, and the younger sister of Mingxiao Youhun. Her equipment radiated a faint white light, presumably not below Black Iron grade.
All three wore faint dark circles under their eyes, clearly very fatigued.
“Brother Fengchen, you came really fast!”
“Well, it’s not bad…”
“Alright, stop with the pleasantries, let’s quickly tackle the boss! If we don’t sleep, we’ll definitely get a lot of zits!” Lian Lian urged.
“You came over to help, we can’t show no appreciation, right?” Mingxiao Youhun then noticed the girl behind Zane.
“This is… Shaking Off Stars!?” His eyes widened in disbelief.
“What!” Lian Lian seemed very excited, “The top expert on the level leaderboard?”
Hey, I’m the second expert on the level leaderboard! Can you pay more attention to me? Zane secretly complained.
Mingxiao Rainbow also looked much more spirited. “I watched yesterday’s video, you can actually win without taking damage against Specially Treating All Dissent!”
Starry exclaimed, “Video?”
“Yeah, didn’t you check the forum? He personally posted a defeat post, and below it is your death match video, saying he plans to challenge you again soon!” Mingxiao Rainbow excitedly said, “Does the great god have any interest in joining us at Mingxiao?”
Starry fell silent.
“Ah, don’t mind her, my sister is a game fanatic. Whenever she sees an expert, she wants to recruit them,” Mingxiao Youhun waved his hand.
Zane wasn’t thinking that way; that guy… Actually recorded secretly!
“No, I share the same thoughts as Fengchen.”
“Is that so… what a pity.”
…
After both sides got to know each other initially, Mingxiao Youhun walked ahead, with the others following.
After passing through the corridor, their view opened up a lot, entering a vast hall where the torches on the walls spontaneously ignited.
The ground was uneven, and there were many gaps in the ceiling, yet no beams of light shone down from above, only a dark expanse. The map was filled with red crosses, which were the marks Mingxiao Youhun made for the team.
This should be the traps they tested with their lives.
“There are just too many traps here; several of the strong players in the guild have died from these traps, yet the final boss remains uncaptured,” Mingxiao Youhun sighed.
At the very front of the hall stood a stone statue quietly.
“I’ll explain the boss’s skills. Although I haven’t seen the attributes, as you can see, that laser deals 3000 points of real damage, and it’s too fast to dodge.”
“It’s similar to the previous Demon Stone Statue minions, releasing a purple laser beam every 30 seconds that locks onto everyone within a 5-yard range. For the boss, if it’s around 10 yards, you need to time your escape from the boss carefully.”
“Aside from the laser, the Demon’s normal attack carries magical damage, and even blocking can only mitigate a small part of the damage. Moreover, the Demon Stone Statue has very high resistance to magic, so the damage a mage can deal drops sharply.”
“The boss definitely has other skills, but we haven’t figured them out yet. You all need to be mentally prepared.”
“Got it, what’s the strategy?” Zane nodded.
“Before that, there’s a question…”
“What?”
“Brother Fengchen, what’s your role…?” I know Miss Starry, I saw her in yesterday’s video, obviously a Swordsman, and her attack power is sufficient for output. I’ll be the tank, Lian Lian will roam and support based on the situation, and my sister will keep me healed.
Role, huh…? Speaking of which, my profession on the level leaderboard has always been unclassed, while Starry has already obtained the Raging Swordsman profession, leaving only myself the most conspicuous.
If I exclude transformation, I can only use the Withered Bone Shield and the Poison Blade to reduce defenses.
“I am Starry’s defense-reducing pendant.” Zane took out the Poison Blade and said seriously.
