Capítulo 11: Chapter 10 - Assessment
When the twin came out of the dungeon, they actually managed to look worn out. One must remember that they are inside a game, so they should not feel tired. For them to look worn out would mean that what they experienced inside is something that made them feel mentally tired.
"Zhihuan… did we beat that boss earlier? Tell me that we did," Li Haoxuan murmured as he dropped down on the ground.
"We did. And it dropped the item, [Skeleton King's Jewel]. If you still don't believe it, look at the world announcement," Li Zhihuan pointed upwards to the sky.
Usually, the world announcement is announced at two places. One in the chatbox, another is on top of the screen right at the center. But since this is a virtual world, the designer decided that the world announcement can be read as long as players looked up to the sky. Unfortunately, players in the dungeon won't be able to look at the announcement in the sky. But they will still have the system voice announce it to them.
Li Haoxuan looked up and saw what the system announcement read. "Hahahaha! 2 hidden bosses first kill! It's too bad that this is just a test server," Li Haoxuan then sighed. "At the very least, we get the materials we obtained as part of the reward to help the test," he added.
The two were still taking a break when they heard footsteps approaching. Turning their heads, they saw Ye Xiu, Qiu Fei, Qiao Yifan, and Yu Wenzhou.
"God Ye!" the first to greet was Li Zhihuan. "Are you level 15 already?" he asked.
"En. Did you reach level 20? Skeleton King gives a lot of experience since he's the strongest hidden boss in Skeleton Graveyard dungeon," Ye Xiu said as he looked over at the two. Before him, the basic stats of the two young players were shown in a panel. "Looks good. Did you two get any drops from the Skeleton King?"
"We got the [Skeleton King's Jewel]," Li Zhihuan answered.
"Lucky. Keep it. We can use it to develop your silver weapon," Ye Xiu reached out to gently pats Li Zhihuan on his shoulder. "Now that you're level 20, go back to the beginner's village and choose your class. As for you," with a smile, Ye Xiu turned to Li Haoxuan who suddenly feels nervous all of a sudden. "Follow us."
Li Haoxuan quickly glanced at his brother, his expression shows his unwillingness to part with Li Zhihuan. Eyes seemingly to plead Li Zhihuan to not leave him.
"You should go. It's good to learn from God Ye. Plus, the class change quest has to be done solo. It'll be a while before we can play together again," Li Zhihuan said with a burst of small laughter before he disbands the two-man party. "God Ye, I'll leave Ah'Xuan to you."
"Brother…" Li Haoxuan called out pitifully.
"Good luck! Fight on!" Li Zhihuan grinned before he went off to the beginner's village.
"Why do you look like you were being sold off?" Ye Xiu asked the younger twin. "Even if you are, then you should happily help count the money instead. It's not always you get to play with the greatest Glory player."
"Don't all professional players consider themselves as the greatest in Glory?" Li Haoxuan retorted.
"Did all of them win a championship with an unspecialized?" Ye Xiu asked back.
Li Haoxuan opened his mouth to speak but he found that he has nothing to say to retaliate against it. In the end, he can only accept the party invitation from Ye Xiu and they entered the dungeon once again.
The moment they entered the dungeon, Li Haoxuan received a trade invitation from Ye Xiu. He glanced over at the older male who only smiled at him.
"Hurry and accept it," Ye Xiu urged him.
When Li Haoxuan accepted it, his heart almost stopped from the shock. "This?! You're giving it away?" he asked Ye Xiu.
"What give away? I am only lending it to you for now. I want to see your potential," Ye Xiu replied.
Li Haoxuan once again stared at the panel before him. It shows the image of Myriad Manifestation Umbrella, its stats as well as the level.
[Myriad Manifestation Umbrella, Level 15 Silver Weapon. Spear Form: Attack Speed +5, Physical Attack +290, Magic Attack +220]
Just from the stats alone, it was much better than Li Haoxuan's current weapon. "Silver weapons are really…" he sighed as he accepted the trade.
"Good. Now that I don't have a weapon, I'll leave the completion of the dungeon to you!"
Li Haoxuan stared at Ye Xiu. His face sported a look of disbelief. "So only four of us will go and complete the dungeon?"
"No. Only you alone. We are only here to assess your ability."
Li Haoxuan glanced at the rest of them, silently asking if Ye Xiu was actually serious.
"Well, Old Ye mentioned that he wanted to train you as the next unspecialized. I am really curious so I will lay down my weapon in this run," Yu Wenzhou said as he took one step backward.
"Don't worry, Master won't be too harsh. Just play as you usually do," Qiu Fei tried to assure Li Haoxuan.
"Yes. Take it from someone who was taught by Senior Ye," Qiao Yifan added.
Hearing the other three, Li Haoxuan can only sigh. "Fine… you can just watch. Let this young player carry you all, old players," Li Haoxuan's tone was full of sarcasm but for the retired people who were used to Huang Shaotian's level of trash talk, Li Haoxuan's is considered a baby level. It didn't hurt their ego at all.
"Alright. We old men will be in your care now," Ye Xiu said with a playful smile and Li Haoxuan's fate is sealed.
As they go through the dungeon, Ye Xiu explained to Li Haoxuan the mechanic of Myriad Manifestation Umbrella. Li Haoxuan has to admit, with the umbrella, it was easier for him to release his skills.
[System: Entering Skeleton King's Eternal Resting Place.]
"…" Li Haoxuan doesn't know if he should feel blessed or if he should feel cursed. This is the third time in a row that he encountered the hidden boss in the same dungeon, consecutively.
"Didn't you also encounter this boss before this? How come you are so lucky?" Ye Xiu asked as he looked around the area.
Everyone else is also becoming more alert since they couldn't see where the boss is. Instinctively, everyone huddled closer in a circle as they scouted the perimeter.
"Above!!" Ye Xiu suddenly exclaimed and everyone moved away in a flash. Not long after, something huge fell on the spot where they were standing on earlier. Debris was blown away and when the dust settled, the Skeleton King stood before them.
"This is good. I still need material from this boss. Haoxuan, listen to my instruction carefully," Ye Xiu called out to Li Haoxuan. "I need you to deal enough damage to his left ankle. Once the boss fell down to his knees, focus all of your attack on his head. When he's about to get up, don't fall back. I want you to dodge the shock wave attack."
"Dodge? But if I fail to dodge, won't I lose health? This is Skeleton King, ah! Not Skeleton Warrior! The damage is higher," Li Haoxuan said as he eyed the boss. If his brother is around, then he can bravely follow the instruction but now, not only his brother, they don't even have healers.
"What are you afraid of? Isn't there me? Don't worry, I won't let you die as long as you don't let it OT," Ye Xiu said in an assuring tone but Li Haoxuan just looked at him. Ye Xiu didn't even equip any weapon, so even if he heals, it will definitely not high.
'It seems that I need to depend solely on my ability. I can't get hit or else I'll die!'
With that thought, Li Haoxuan moved to engage the boss while the other four continued to watch.
"Master, is it really alright? He's still young. So even if he's good, it might still be too much for him," Qiu Fei looked over at Li Haoxuan worriedly.
"He'll be alright. Remember, he plays the game before us and even figured out how the skill works on his own," Ye Xiu replied. "Plus, if he can't even solo a boss with the umbrella in his hand, how can he go fight in the professional league?"
"True. His reaction time and his adaptability are quite high. His movement is also fluid. I heard that Huang Shaotian still has problem moving. It might be because his mind is filled with random thoughts," Yu Wenzhou shook his head as he remembered the message that Huang Shaotian sent him once he managed to log in.
"This new system is the bane for people like Huang Shaotian," Ye Xiu chuckled.
"Ah! The boss fell!" Qiao Yifan exclaimed.
"En. His potential is higher than expected. This is also good," Ye Xiu has a satisfied look on his face.
"If this is all it takes to satisfy you, then your standard sure has gone down considerably," Yu Wenzhou chirped in.
"How can that be? Look at him. He is really focused right now, and did you realize he has yet to receive a hit?" Ye Xiu asked.
It was only then that the other three realized that Li Haoxuan's health was still full. "The boss is getting up now. This is the moment of truth," Ye Xiu said as he took a few steps backward. The rest also followed so that they will be out of the shock wave's range.
Li Haoxuan saw that the boss is about to get up so he changed the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella into its gun form and shot the ground, launching himself up to the air. The boss's hand hit the ground and the shock wave spreads through the area. But because Li Haoxuan is already up in the air, the shock wave missed him.
He changed the umbrella back into its spear form and as he was falling, he executed Dragon Tooth, aiming for the boss's head. The boss entered the stunned state and Li Haoxuan continued with his combos.
Double Stab, Sky Strike, Falling Flower Palm, change to sword form followed by the Blade Master's skill, Lunge. The series of combos were executed in a short time and every single one hits Skeleton King's left ankle.
"His hit precision is quite high. Not a single one missed the left ankle," Qiu Fei commented.
"Indeed. It made me wonder if this is actually the first day that he plays the game, or he has experience in battle even in real life," Ye Xiu wondered.
"Master, he's still young. Where will he have the experience in fighting?"
"Xiao Fei, there is always martial art school. Remember, this is virtual reality. Unlike the keyboard and mouse, we actually control every part of our body. Say for example, if I were to lay a punch on you right now, can you dodge?" Ye Xiu asked Qiu Fei.
"Naturally."
"Then, imagine you're facing Li Haoxuan right now. Can you dodge his every move without any blunder?"
Qiu Fei looked over at Li Haoxuan who is busy solo-ing the boss. Each attack was quick, precise and fierce. "I think so…?"
"For me, I cannot say yet because I haven't experienced it. Later, we should try to PK. We need to experience how it feels to PK in this world," Ye Xiu suggested.
"That is a good idea. I will go and inform the rest," Yu Wenzhou said as he quickly sends a message to the rest of the tester.
It didn't take even 10 seconds before Ye Xiu received a message from Huang Shaotian. Upon opening it, he saw that it only has one audio file in it. He didn't want to open it. Knowing Huang Shaotian, it is only a message asking for a PK, nothing else.
Unfortunately, because Ye Xiu ignored him, Huang Shaotian continued to send the message making Ye Xiu experience a barrage of incoming message notification. "Remind me to ask the staff to add 'mute notification' in the setting…" Ye Xiu said with a sigh. His hand moved over to the panel and opened his friend list. He then moved Huang Shaotian's name into the blacklist.
[Location: Beginner's village]
Huang Shaotian stared at the system alert before him, body shaking in rage.
[System: You are incapable of sending private messages to this player because you have been put into blacklist.]
"Old Ye!!! You dare to blacklist me? I only ask for PK! What is wrong with that? Didn't you suggest we should all experience how it feels to PK? Are you running away now? Ahh!! I'll go and send my message to the little monster instead!" Huang Shaotian composed his message and pressed send when the system alert popped up again.
[System: You are incapable of sending private messages to this player because you have been put into blacklist.]
His hand moved to change the recipient to Qiao Yifan.
[System: You are incapable of sending private messages to this player because you have been put into blacklist.]
"…"
He repeated the action to the other retired professional players, only to receive the same prompt. In the end, he could only complain to his captain, Yu Wenzhou, who did not have the heart to put him in the blacklist.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
Lin_XiaoLong
Lin_XiaoLong Today, I can only put up one chapter because I have something to do this evening. The next chapter will be out tomorrow! Thank you for all the support everyone!
And to those who are worried that this will be dropped. I have the outline of the first part (which can be taken as first volume) of the story all planned out. It should last for around 20 chapters (in estimate) if everything goes well. Then, depending on the reader's reception, I'll continue working on it while also working on the rest of my project XD
PS: Author already have 7 projects around her waist. Adding this, it will be the 8th *cough*
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder