Bab 11: Expert-level Dungeon
Editor: Atlas Studios
"Since all team members are here, let's start," Netherblue said, "We have already completed the Normal-level, let's try the Difficult-level next, shall we?"
At the Glen Forest entrance stood a noticeboard with three lines of words written on it.
Difficult-level Cat Demon Lair — Triumphant Midnight — 4 hours 24 minutes.
Difficult-level Cat Demon Lair — Shadow Devil Workshop — 4 hours 35 minutes
Difficult-level Cat Demon Lair — Ironwall Empire — 5 hours 2 minutes
At the entrance of the dungeon, there was the so-called Leaderboard. Every time one broke the current record, they would be rewarded. The first player to create a record could obtain another additional reward, and if the team's name could remain on the Leaderboard for one month, they could gain additional experience points and the [Sealed Chest] as rewards.
After a few years of running of the game, other than a few super-stragglers-teams and neutral workshops, the records were almost exclusively maintained by huge guilds. Normal players could barely even smell them. The criteria for ranking were: difficulty over time. That meant that even if Lin Jie took months to attack the Expert-level dungeon, he would be ranked first.
Netherblue had a straightforward mindset. This time the team had a pro from the Triumphant Midnight, and hence they might as well try their hands on the Difficult-level dungeon. Although the chance of making it onto the ranking board was low, there was still a chance.
Lin Jie stood in front of the Leaderboard for a while. He turned his head and shouted, "Brother Mighty Wings."
Mighty Wings was stunned. He smiled and asked the newly joined teammate, "What's up?"
"The rules on the Leaderboard is difficulty over time, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then shall we try the Expert-level? I can tell you are an expert. Together with the strong teammate from this morning, we should have a chance of making it through right?" Lin Jie said with a look of naivety and ignoring Qiu Yuan who was furiously shaking her head. He continued, "I have a mission, and it is within the Expert-level dungeon."
Mighty Wings got curious and asked, "Mission? What is it roughly about?"
"Collect Cat Demon Claws." Lin Jie rolled his eyes and continued, "Normal monsters are fine too."
"Good!" Mighty Wings was thrilled, "Since this is the case, let's try the Expert-level!"
This new dude and Qiu Yuan seem to be pretty close. If this continued to go on, it would definitely be a huge threat to Mighty Wings. Yet now he initiated the idea to attack the Expert-level dungeon. How could one refuse? 'If everyone tries to help you and the entire team died, let's see if you can still stick around in the team. Getting rid of the threat before it gets big is the best way to go.'
Netherblue was shocked. "Expert-level? No way…"
"Well all of us are friends. What's the big deal with taking a little risk for a friend?" Mighty Wings sternly said, seemingly acting like the team leader. "We'll help Brother Fu Sheng this once. Brother Midnight, what do you think?"
Midnight did not even try to hide his contempt and sneered, "As usual, die once and off I go. You arrange the rest."
"Great!" Mighty Wings exclaimed.
Although Netherblue had her doubts, deep down she had always wanted to try her hands on the Expert-level dungeon. Since it is not every day that you have a pro with you, why not give it a try? However, she forgot something. Since the entire Triumphant Midnight was made up of pros, why wasn't there any notification of them passing the Expert-level?
The Expert-level dungeon was different from other levels. There would be minute changes in the map. Monsters' stats, skills, and strength would all increase markedly. There were even some dungeons in which the Expert-level was completely different from the Normal-level. Unpredictable!
The thing that Lin Jie wanted could only be found in the Expert-level dungeon. This team was weak, but killing small monsters should pose no problem. After increasing some equipment levels, they would have a small chance of making it past the Expert-level.
The ten-man team was fully assembled. Mighty Wings valiantly led the team and contacted the dungeon NPC.
"What? You guys want to enter the Cat Demon Lair?" The NPC hunter asked in shock. "That gang of crazy Cat Demons has already killed many villagers. Adventurers, I advise you to leave."
"I will help you," Mighty Wings said.
"Very well, since you are so insistent… this is the only thing we can do for you, please take it, brave adventurers." The hunter took out a load of messy stuff including fresh rotten meat, flame torches (for illumination), broken arrows (projectile type), etc. All were random stuff that could not fetch much in a store. Players were already used to not giving a sh*t about such items.
Mighty Wings and team habitually paid no heed to the items given by the hunter and directly entered the dungeon.
Lin Jie went ahead and happily stored the items into his bag and respectfully said, "Thank you."
"Hey young man, with your level, going into the Cat Demon Lair is asking for death…" The hunter gritted his teeth and handed Lin Jie his longbow. "I'll give you this bow to protect yourself!"
'Ding~'
-'You have gained the Hunter Ryan's gift [Smelly Wooden Bow].'
[Smelly Wooden Bow] (Inferior item)
Requires: Level 0
Attack: 1-2
Additional effect: Sweat stench emanates from it…
Lin Jie almost fainted from the stench when he took the bow! Foot stench, sweat stench, and armpit stench were all vital components of a man's smell. This bow had all of them.
"Fu Sheng, enter the dungeon!" Qiu Yuan bobbed her head out and shouted.
Lin Jie put away his load of baggage and crawled into the dungeon.
-'You have entered the expert-level Cat Demon Lair.'
Cat Demon Lair was within a dark forest. Dots of firefly lights fell gracefully from the trees, making this place seem very much like a dreamland - if not for the Cat Demons that suddenly appeared.
"Meow——!" A sharp screech was heard, and a black shadow pounced viciously towards Qiu Yuan.
Midnight was indeed an expert in the Triumphant Midnight. His reaction time was stellar. He held up his Bone Shield, and in half a second, he had assumed a defensive posture in preparation to block the attack for Qiu Yuan.
'Bam-'
When he assumed a defensive posture, he realized that the Cat Demon had already been struck by a rusty broken blade. It flew in a clear trajectory and got stuck in the gap between some tree branches. It kept using its sharp claws to scratch the tree bark, creating multiple claw marks.
Seeing the trapped Cat Demon, everyone changed the way the saw Lin Jie.
'What a quick reaction speed!'
As the saying goes, the insider knows the ropes, while the outsider just comes along for the ride. Midnight scrutinized Lin Jie and laughed, "Not bad!"
The way he struck the Cat Demon demonstrated precise handling of timing and strength. If not, such a basic move would not have caused it to fly so far. Besides, should he have hit just a little off center, this Cat Demon would have landed right in the Cat Demon Lair, and all of the Cat Demons would come rushing out.
A level 2 newbie could achieve this feat. Was it luck or skill?
Mighty Wings took over and said, "As usual, I shall be in charge of this dungeon, any concerns?"
Qiu Yuan scorned, "So what if we have any?"
Mighty Wings was embarrassed. He had been taking on the role of the commander all along. A decent amount of Netherblue's power had been controlled. Yet every time when Qiu Yuan lamented a little, her influence was insufficient to cause an uproar. People merely thought she was ranting. But it was different now with an outsider.
Mighty Wings turned his gaze towards Lin Jie and Midnight. Lin Jie shrugged his shoulders, indicating he was fine with it. Midnight indicated likewise. He was dying for a retarded commander who would lead his team to death.
"Great! Lao Mo, you go low and recon," Mighty Wings gestured. He saw the Cat Demon trapped among the trees and laughed. "The rest of you, kill this Cat Demon!"
Lin Jie burst out in a laugh. He actually was decent in leading. Kill the monster in hand before anything else!
The Cat Demons in the Expert-level dungeon had 500 health points, which was 200 points more than that of those in the Normal-level!
The thick health bar made Netherblue worry about her damage output, whereas Qiu Yuan happily cast the Dark Speech and Kiss of the Dark skills on the Cat Demon.
Including Midnight, who just joined the party, there were two Shield Specialists, one Paladin (healer), one Bandit, one Mage and one Hunter. After that came Lin Jie, Netherblue and Mighty Wings the three Warriors. Lastly, there was a calm-looking Holy Priest
Due to the lack of long-range jobs, they took 6 minutes to kill the Cat Demon.
"Equipment dropped!" Qiu Yuan said, surprised. That Cat Demon had too strong stats. Its defense was ridiculous as it was at least 80% higher than Normal-level dungeons, the difference was too big. However, when the Cat Demon died it dropped a milk-white mage robe, which made her day.
[Light Mage Robe] (Bronze)
Requires: Level 3, Cloth Armor
Defense: 12
Wisdom: +2
Additional effect: Chanting speed +1%
A group of players with an average level of 3 took on the level 3 Expert-level dungeon. The drop rate of Bronze Equipment would be much higher than that of the Normal-level dungeon. Unlike the Normal-level dungeon, more Blank Equipment would drop.
This equipment was distributed to the Priest, Monkey. His eyes brightened when he received the Bronze Equipment. He immediately wiped off the contempt on his face and was filled with excitement.
Yet at that time, the Bandit who was doing recon returned and reported the situation up front with a heavy look.
In the Expert-level Cat Demon Lair, every lair of Cat Demons was about 15 instead of the usual 3. Apart from that, every lair would have a white healing Cat Demon, which could cast high-healing spells that could restore 300 health points with every cast. As long as the healing Cat Demon was present, those Cat Demons were almost invincible!
Besides, luring them was a huge issue!
Cat Demons lived in groups, and they had very sharp hearing and smelling abilities. A lapse of concentration would alert a large group of Cat Demons! In the Normal-level dungeon, there were multiple times in which too many monsters were lured, and the party could not handle them, resulting in a wipe-out. This was even more so in the Expert-level dungeon. A tiny mistake would end the entire party!
Mighty Wings carved a peculiar trail on the ground, furrowed his brows and tried hard to analyze the situation. Lin Jie, on the other hand, stood in front and chatted away with Qiu Yuan. Qiu Yuan was very curious about why Lin Jie had not leveled-up yet and had forgotten all about the impressive feat he performed when the party entered the dungeon.
"I have an idea!" Mighty Wings suddenly exclaimed, "We need cannon fodder!"
"Cannon fodder?"
"Yes! All Cat Demons are human-eating animals. As long as one of us can stand at the border of the zone of the smell of the Cat Demons, we can accurately lure one of them. If we kill them off one by one like this, we wouldn't have to worry about getting wiped-out, would we?" Mighty Wings gave a final verdict and sternly said to Lin Jie, "Brother Fu Sheng since you are the lowest-leveled among us, could you sacrifice yourself?"
Lin Jie stared at him as if he was retarded, and calmly asked, "Are you an idiot?"
Bab 12: Luring Monsters
Editor: Atlas Studios
"Are you an idiot? Cat Demons live in groups. If you lure one of them, the entire lair of Cat Demons would also be alerted. Our party will be wiped out!"
When Lin Jie said this, Mighty Wings was pissed, and he shouted, "What are you trying to say? Don't forget, we are all doing this for you!"
Lin Jie paid no heed to Mighty Wings's scheme to create hate among the party towards himself and continued, "I have an idea to safely lure the monsters."
Mighty Wings gave a cold sneer. "Coming from you? A level 2 'expert'?"
Midnight calmly gave a look towards Mighty Wings and said, "I trust him."
This line was so much more convincing than Mighty Wings! Who was Midnight? A member of the Triumphant Midnight! While Mighty Wings had received an invitation from the Ironwall Empire, he was after all not a member of a well-known guild.
A line from Midnight was enough to curb all ungrounded opinions from the rest.
That was the deterrence of the Triumphant Midnight! In the eyes of normal players, he was a being of respect and admiration. Lin Jie looked at Midnight, who was calmly looking at him and seemed like he was really intrigued.
Had he been recognized? Lin Jie's heart thumped.
Netherblue looked at Lin Jie and asked, "What is your idea?"
"Just now I checked some information regarding the Difficult-level Cat Demons. Their zone of sight is 20 yards, and zone of smell is 30 yards. In normal circumstances, their running speed is 3.5, which was 20% slower than players', but it will increase by 100% when they are in battle mode. Expert-level monsters' stats are at most 20% more than that. In other words, the zone of sight is at most 24 yards and zone of smell 36 yards…"
"You talk so much, what are you thinking of doing?" Mighty Wings said impatiently.
Qiu Yuan glared at him, "Can't you wait for him to finish?"
Mighty Wings gulped and hatefully folded his arms and leaned on the tree. He did not forget his suave outlook throughout.
Lin Jie retrieved a piece of Rotten Flesh, a Fire Torch and the Smelly Wooden Bow from his bag. The sudden wave of stench made everyone almost puke. Even someone who had not bathed in half a year would not have smelled so bad!
"This is my plan. Before entering battle mode, the Cat Demon's movement speed is pretty slow. Someone can hold the wooden bow and lure an entire lair of monsters away. Since the Cat Demon's attraction to food is greater than to the wooden bow, we can make use of the Rotten Flesh to lure 1 or 2 monsters to us," Lin Jie said.
Netherblue nodded but voiced her doubts, "The Cat Demons' zone of smell is wider than its sight. If you hold food and appear in their line of sight, they would immediately enter battle mode wouldn't they?"
"No, if they can't even see you, how would they get into battle mode? When that happens, we will need to use Qiu Yuan's Dark Speech skill. Dark Speech can reduce the zone of sight by 20%. After reducing their zone of sight, their sight would be about that of the Difficult-level, at most 20 yards. This is far lesser than their zone of smell! This way we will be able to lure suitable monsters and ensure that they do not get into fight-mode." Lin Jie drew a few schematic diagrams on the ground and explained, "This method can ensure that the healing Cat Demon cannot heal this group of Cat Demons. It should be workable."
After listening to Lin Jie's, suggestion, Midnight was shocked. What a meticulous thought! The Triumphant Midnight had attempted to take on the expert-level Cat Demon Lair, but 15 empowered Cat Demons were simply too scary. A group of Cat Demons was even stronger than a Boss, and hence even the Triumphant Midnight was unable to clear even the small monsters, and they were forced to retreat.
That plan was good to go!
"I think that this is utter bullsh*t!" Mighty Wings said, "As long as one small part goes wrong, we will be wiped out! Can you bear this responsibility?"
Lin Jie sternly said, "What good is a team that can't even bear the risk of getting wiped out?"
Netherblue's eyes brightened, and she solemnly said, "I think that we can give Fu Sheng's idea a try! Qiu Yuan, you hide under the tree in the North-west direction. That location can restrict one-third of one's area of vision and will be helpful for your spell casts. Lao Mo and Water, you two hold on to the Rotten Flesh and wait for Qiu Yuan's signal. When the Dark Speech has been successfully cast, you lure the monsters at once! Fu Sheng, give me the wooden bow. I'll do the distraction."
At this moment, Netherblue finally displayed her experience! She was a woman and hence at times could not make up her mind. But once someone pointed her in the right direction, she would become very decisive! A strong independent woman who needed some guidance exuded a different kind of charm!
Mighty Wings was about to speak when Netherblue suddenly turned her head and said, "Mighty Wings, let me give you a mission."
"Go on."
"Shut up and don't speak!"
Qiu Yuan heard Netherblue's words and burst out laughing.
Lin Jie, however, declined Netherblue's good intentions. Although she was much higher-leveled than him, when it came to experience, they weren't all that different. Luring monsters was a skill-based activity, it wasn't something that could be accomplished just by knowing how it would work in general.
If Netherblue were to take on the role of luring the monsters, then who would be the one giving commands? It would have been Mighty Wings! Lin Jie felt that this dude wasn't intelligent enough to lead a team.
"I'll use the wooden bow, and when I'm luring the monsters, I hope that everyone will give me some face and listen to my commands." Lin Jie's humble attitude did not draw any doubt from anyone. That role was the most challenging and since someone who just entered the party was willing to take on that role, what was there left to say?
Netherblue nodded her head in approval.
Lin Jie's face got serious. He held the wooden bow in his hands, and the stench started to spread from his palms. People were about to faint from the stench. He slowly approached a Cat Demon. While the stench was torture to them, it was a fragrant aroma to the Cat Demons! A Cat Demon sleeping on the ground twitched its nose and took a deep breath of the smell, almost breathing in the entire air available.
"Meow-"
The Cat Demon bolted up and called out loudly and assembled the other Cat Demons from the same lair. They then headed towards the smell. Lin Jie carefully retreated and controlled his movement speed. A slight mistake would cause them to enter battle mode, and the entire party would get wiped out!
15 Cat Demons followed the wooden bow, and Lin Jie started to break out in cold sweat!
As the Cat Demons were lured out of their lair, Qiu Yuan was already holding on to the Rotten Flesh and waiting for action. As she was about to cast the Dark Speech spell, Lin Jie signaled her to not do anything rash!
"What is he doing…"
"Hush, don't talk! The Cat Demons have sensitive ears!" Mighty Wings was about to ask something when he got interrupted by Midnight.
As there were too many Cat Demons, luring them was an uphill task. As long as one Cat Demon left their group, it would bring along one batch of Cat Demons. If the distance was too near, the Cat Demons would notice him! The danger of luring monsters was too huge. Netherblue's eyes shook slightly. Only then did she understand that her choice to volunteer was akin to sending the entire team back to the revival point! She was even more impressed with the low-profile, steady Warrior.
Lin Jie brought the Cat Demons in circles for 15 minutes and finally brought them to the desired location. That was a huge tree, which was about 50% wider than the other trees!
"OK, lure them!" Lin Jie signaled to Qiu Yuan the moment he lured the Cat Demons behind the tree.
"Dark Speech!" Qiu Yuan raised her magic wand, and a wave of fog appeared in front of a Cat Demon's eyes. Immediately after, Lao Mo, who had already brought some Rotten Flesh, got close to the Cat Demon at the back of the pack. The smell of the Rotten Flesh, which was much stronger than that of the wooden bow, precisely lured that Cat Demon away from the pack. Due to the reduced visibility, it did not even notice Lao Mo, and it just raised its nose up high, as if it was hung on a rope, and headed towards the team.
Midnight's eyes brightened as he immediately activated his defense posture and rushed up front. Shield strikes, heroic and normal attacks rained down on the Cat Demon's face, increasing his aggro. His actions were as smooth as running water, demonstrating some high-quality moves. The rest of the team started their attacks!
Water just stood by the side observing quietly. His mission was initially to 'handle the second Cat Demon and persevere until he killed the Cat Demon that Midnight pulled over.' But due to Lin Jie's use of the huge tree as a blockage, they only managed to lure one Cat Demon!
The cat claws were raised up high, but so was Midnight's shield, which accurately blocked the Cat Demon's attack. BloDarn it!
-45!
The huge damage made Midnight raise his brows and shout, "Heal!"
Healing light emanated and restored his health points. The rest of the team's attacks followed shortly, killing the Cat Demon.
One battle ended and Midnight was left with half his health points! That was even when the healer had already cast all healing spells. If they had lured two monsters, imagine what would have been of them? Having thought of that, Midnight's eyes shone brightly, 'That warrior… surely he must have considered this!?'
If there had been two, Water, who had no one healing him, would have been immediately killed, and the team would then have also been wiped out.
In the process of fighting, Lin Jie carried out his role perfectly, once again carefully luring the group of Cat Demons to the tree. He then signaled using his right hand to start the bait.
Qiu Yuan looked at Lin Jie and nodded her head. She then cast her Dark Speech spell on the Cat Demon's head and used the Rotten Flesh to lure away yet another one. Everyone rushed towards it and killed it!
That method was effective!
That news made everyone excited, as it was after all an Expert-level dungeon! If they could continue luring the monsters that way, it was really possible they could obtain the first clear!
Netherblue's looked at Lin Jie very differently. She felt guilty. When that newcomer entered the party, he had not been given due respect and yet he responded to the initial hostility with compassion. That had led the egoistic Netherblue to feel very uncomfortable.
One by one, the Cat Demons got killed. The rich experience points and equipment drop rate made the team brighten up. The drop rate in the Expert-level dungeon was more than twice that in the Normal-level dungeon. 10 Cat Demons dropped 4 pieces of Bronze Equipment. That would have been the entire reward for completing the Normal-level dungeon!
Just as it seemed that the first wave of monsters would be cleared, an accident happened!
Lao Mo carelessly moved in the wrong way while luring the monsters, causing the 3 Cat Demons heading towards Lin Jie to let out a loud growl and charge towards the team!
"Oh no!" Midnight was shocked and rushed over with his shield, "Water, Netherblue, cover!"
Two had already posed the threat of a wipeout, talk about three?! A wipeout was definite! Midnight cursed in his head. He had thought he could witness the rise of a small team. Little did he expect that the team could not make it, after all, the team capability was too bad!
Netherblue raised a longsword to face a Cat Demon. She was a weapon fighter, her defense was just second to that of a shield fighter! Even then, the Cat Demon still managed to get rid of a third of her health points!
"Sis, watch out!" Qiu Yuan shouted in shock. The Cat Demon which was originally attacking Water had turned to attack Netherblue as it did not have enough hatred points!
Death was imminent, a wipeout was unavoidable! Netherblue had already prepared to let the team leave quickly, she would try to delay as much time as possible.
At this moment, a dark figure appeared in front of her. A rusty metal sword formed a defined trajectory in mid-air. With a swoosh, the Cat Demon was knocked asleep in mid-air and immediately knocked back into the tree!
Hadiah
-- Hadiah diterima Status Power Mingguan
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