Flame Emperor had returned the leader position to Zhang Yang right after he had finished adding members with his invitations.
“Hi everyone!” Crimson Fire greeted with a smile as soon as he had entered party.
Zhang Yang was still exiting the dungeon when he said, “Those releasing their bodies would resurrect themselves at the entrance. Right, Crimson Fire, where are you guys? How soon can you be here?”
“We’re in a dungeon raid now. After we leave the original party, we’ll be sent to the entrance automatically, much faster than all of you!” said Crimson Fire with a smile.
Zhang Yang nodded and sent a message to Fatty Han, “Hurry up or you’ll miss the first boss!”
“F*ck, your fatty bro is on his way, wait for me!” Fatty Han replied immediately.
Zhang Yang smiled, of course he would have waited for Fatty Han before starting the boss fight. He as a human being would always have a little selfishness.
Very soon, the dead characters had resurrected at the dungeon entrance while Zhang Yang had also exited the dungeon, and all 9 of them gathered.
“Wow, we even have a beautiful lady!” Among the 9 players, 8 were male and Silky Snow was the only female player. This was a norm in any game, where the male player population would always be much higher than that of the female player population. ‘God’s Miracle’ had only attracted a large number of female players after a few months due to its realistic game interface.
Silky Snow had selected elf as her race, wearing a milky white long dress and a golden floral headpiece. She had a slender body, waist slim and long legs with round perky breasts. Her almond-shaped face oozed a mature seductive aura, and while it was not peerless, she was outstanding and would definitely make heads turn.
Silky Snow, Female Elf, Priest, Lost Paradise, Level 10.
Crimson Fire, Male Dwarf, Bandit, Lost Paradise, Level 10.
Phantom Day, Male Orc, Berserker, Lost Paradise, Level 10.
These 3 people had the ‘Lost Paradise’ guild tag above their heads just like Flame Emperor. Before this, it was the Pride Quad; and now, it was the Lost Paradise Quad. Once bitten, twice shy; the other 4 party members inspected the Lost Paradise members with a cautious gaze.
Zhang Yang set the dungeon difficulty to Difficult Mode and said, “Let’s go!” His eyes scanned around and saw that the Pride Quad had revived, looking at him and the party with eyes filled with vengeance.
“Ding! You have entered Bangar Crypt (Difficult Mode)!”
“Why are we still short of one player?” Phantom Day asked frowning.
“He’s still doing the pre-requisite quest. He will arrive soon though. It’s fine, we can go ahead!” Zhang Yang replied. The number of monsters had remained the same in Difficult Mode but their HP and attack damage would have increased exponentially.
[Gnome Soldier] (Elite)
Level: 10
HP: 7,500
Their HP had increased by 50% compared to Normal Mode!
Zhang Yang marked one of the monsters and said, “Focus your attack on the marked monster later. We’ll take them out one by one!”
Phantom Day had once again voiced his opinion, “Can you hold so many monsters just by yourself? Should we get a Defender first then swap your friend in after we’ve got to the first boss?”
Zhang Yang smiled and said, “It’s fine, I should be able to hold it!”
Phantom Day kept quiet after that. They had known before they came that this trip was to observe Zhang Yang’s capabilities and then decide what conditions to offer him in recruiting him to the guild’s first explorers team. That way why even if Phantom Day had not believed that Zhang Yang could pull 6 monsters, he remained quiet.
Zhang Yang moved forward wielding his sword. Before he could start the fight, his body suddenly flashed with a white light and a translucent shield appeared!
“Ding! Player Silky Snow has casted <Holy Shield> on you! 80 damage points will be absorbed. Lasts for 30 seconds!”
<Holy Shield> was a skill exclusive to Priests. It was very practical but it could only be obtained from skill books looted from monsters’ drops. Seeing that Silky Snow was able to attain this skill, it would seem that Lost Paradise should have some capable players in their guild!
Zhang Yang had thought about it as he picked a monster and did a <Charge>.
“-64!”
11 Rage was generated from the normal attack and 10 more Rage had come from <Charge>, raising Zhang Yang’s Rage to 21 at once.
“-146!”
“-152!”
“-304!”
“-149!”
“-144!”
“-153!”
6 damage texts popped up at the same time from using <Horizontal Sweep>, one of them had even been a critical strike, a pleasing sight to those watching.
“F*ck you, what devastating damage!” Phantom Day yelled. While he was slashing monsters, he asked, “Zhan Yu, what skill of yours is that? How could it be so powerful?”
Zhang Yang continued pulling aggro while posting the skill <Horizontal Sweep>.
“What the f*ck, how could such a godly skill exist?! 200% melee attack damage and it’s even an AOE! This is wicked! Big brother Zhan Yu, where did you get this skill book from?” Phantom Day had admired the power of <Horizontal Sweep> so much that he had even addressed him as big brother.
Zhang Yang smiled and said, “I coincidentally completed a Hidden Quest. This was the reward!”
After hearing that, disappointment greeted Phantom Day.
If the skill book was dropped by a monster, there would be a chance to obtain it no matter how rare it was! A Hidden Quest’s rewards though, could only be unique! There could only be one in existence!
Zhang Yang used <Block> and reflected a significant amount of damage to all monsters. 8 seconds later, <Horizontal Sweep>’s cooldown time had ended so he gave the monsters another blow, bringing about another 6 horrifying damage texts. He then said, “Berserkers can learn <Tornado Cleave> at Level 20, it’s also an AoE attack!”
[Tornado Cleave]: Waves the weapon in your hands like a tornado. Causes 80% melee damage to surrounding targets. Cost: 20 Rage. Cooldown time: 10 Seconds. Requirement: Melee Weapon.
It seemed like a power-shrunk version of <Horizontal Sweep> but a Berserker could wield two one-handed weapons or a two-handed weapon. Its 80% melee damage would not have been any worse than a Guardian’s <Horizontal Sweep>, of course, provided that both of their equipment were on the same level.
Phantom Day sighed and said, “But I’ll have to wait till Level 20! And the damage is much lower than <Horizontal Sweep>!”
Before Level 20, no other class would have any AoE skills other than the Defender. Even Zhang Yang had only obtained one because of a Hidden Quest!
While the two of them were talking, the Gnome Soldiers fell one by one. Although these monsters’ HP and attack were a lot higher than those in Normal Mode, it was still useless if they could not even land a hit! A higher HP had only meant that they took a longer time to kill them!
Few minutes later and 6 monsters had fallen.
“Zhan Yu, would you like to join our Lost Paradise?” Crimson Fire sent an invitation to Zhan Yu and said, “Our guild is sponsored by ‘Dragon Century Corporation’. Every core member will have a fixed salary! If you join us, I can offer you an officer position and a spot in our first explorers team. The monthly salary will not be any lower than 10 thousand!”
A typical white-collar would have a salary of around 10 thousand each month. What Crimson Fire had offered was indeed not bad!
If it had been in his previous life, Zhang Yang who had just entered the game would have succumbed to this temptation and agreed immediately. However, a mere 10 thousand could not strike his interest any longer! Zhang Yang smiled and said, “Currently, I do not have any intentions to join any guild!”
“What a pity!” Crimson Fire said regretfully. He then turned his head and gave a look to Silky Snow.
The vixen subtly nodded her head and began to chat with Zhang Yang.
The beauty trap?
Zhang Yang shook his head with indifference. In his previous life, he would probably have been blinded by beauty. He was currently living a second life though, and that made Zhang Yang much more resiliently firm and steady. He regarded Silky Snow’s advances with impartiality while leading the party forward.
“Little Yang, add me into the party, I’ve completed the pre-requisite quest!” A message had finally come from Fatty Han after the party had cleared their second last wave of minions.
Zhang Yang immediately sent a party invitation and an elf hunter called ‘Slim and Handsome’ appeared in the party list.
“Hurry up and come over or I’ll start the boss without you!” Zhang Yang said in the party channel.
“Don’t! Wait for me!” Fatty Han cried.
Some 7 or 8 minutes later, a jumbo-sized elf came running from the back, by his side was a black wolf.
According to the official introduction, elves were all tall and slim but ‘Slim and Handsome’ had completely destroyed the image of the noble and elegant elves. His bucket-shaped waist was already frightening to look at.
“I’m not late right?” Fatty Han scanned the party and his eyes shone when he saw Silky Snow. He ran over to her in his glorious jiggling ass and said, “Hi beautiful! I’m Slim and Handsome, the greatest hunter in the future, the one and only!”
Zhang Yang took the King Panther’s Armlet he had obtained from slaying the Black Panther King and handed it to Fatty Han. Fatty Han took it naturally without faking courtesy. Giving him a smile, he equipped himself with the armlet.
Zhang Yang said, “Alright, it’s the boss battle soon. Quiet down, I’ll explain the strategy!”
“The boss still only has 2 skills. <Death Stare>’s effect remains unchanged but <Venom Spit>’s damage has increased by 50%, and every hit could deal 300 damage. Those who have less than 300 HP would definitely be killed within seconds! Silky Snow, please make sure you cast <Holy Shield> on everyone who has less than 300 HP in order to prevent member reduction!”
In the party, a total of 4 people had less than 300 HP – Crimson Fire, Phantom Day, Fatty Han and Hundred Shots. It would seem like they have distributed their AP on damage instead of their HP.
Of course, Fatty Han’s AP distribution was completely influenced by Zhang Yang. It would be meaningless if he had high HP since he would have a pet in the frontlines after Level 5 anyway.
“Is one tank really enough?” Crimson Fire expressed his worry and said, “The party I’ve led before had been wiped out for 7 or 8 times by this boss. It was all because the tank had accumulated too many stacks of <Death Stare> and was then killed instantly by the boss!”
“There’s no need to worry, our pro brother here had accumulated over 10 stacks of <Death Stare> in Normal Mode but the boss couldn’t even touch him!” Snowy Death praised earnestly, he had long since became a fan of Zhang Yang.
Crimson Fire still had his doubts but said, “Let’s try it out then!” He had kept another sentence unsaid, “The boss’ attack speed in Difficult Mode is much faster than in Normal Mode! Even if Zhang Yang could evade its attack in Normal Mode, that did not mean that he could do the same in Difficult Mode!”
“Let’s start!” Zhang Yang took a deep breath and went to the boss wielding his sword.
“<Charge>!”
“-57!”
“-141!”
Zhang Yang chained <Horizontal Sweep> after a normal attack, causing a huge amount of damage in a short time.
“Begin the attack!”
Once Zhang Yang gave his order to attack, everyone started to deal damage with all their might.
‘Ding! You are affected by <Death Stare> (Stack 1). All damage received increased by 100%, lasts for 12 seconds!’
Not long after their attacks begun, Zhang Yang had received a debuff effect enveloping his entire body with a dark gas. Zhang Yang did not mind it but Crimson Fire was panicking internally, thinking, “The boss already has a high attack. Adding this stack of debuff means Zhang Yang would be instantly killed in just one strike!”
However, it was proven that his worries were irrelevant! Zhang Yang was dodging and attacking repeatedly without any sign of panic as he moved around agilely under the boss’ brutal attacks. The scene would have led people to believe that he was just having a stroll in his garden!
Oh come on, this is a Hard Mode boss! Crimson Fire shouted in his heart. His own guild had formed a so-called elite dungeon explorers team1 but they were wiped2 several times facing this first boss. If it had not been to witness Zhang Yang’s capabilities and to recruit him, he would have remained at the first boss, repeating the round endlessly.
How could he just dodge the boss’ attacks that easily? Crimson Fire could not comprehend it, as he had observed that Zhang Yang had not spent much effort at all – a slide to the right, a dodge to the left, how relaxed! How was it that the two tanks from his guild became ruthlessly crushed by the boss even though they had given their all?
“As expected of brother expert!” said Snowy Death with a look of extreme pride on his face, as if he was the one fighting the boss now instead of Zhang Yang.
As Crimson Fire unrelentingly attacked the boss, his gaze towards Zhang Yang became filled with a burning passion and his desire to recruit Zhang Yang into his guild grew stronger!
The ease Zhang Yang had in dodging the boss’ attacks was, in fact, built upon his 5 years of experience of metagaming! Based on his instincts, each time the monster had made slight jerk, Zhang Yang would have been noted of where the next attack would come from and could dodge correspondingly in advance. This was all experience and metagame knowledge!
Suddenly, Black Claw stopped its attacks and turned. With a ‘ptui’, a black spit shot towards Defiant Monk.
A red damage text with ‘-300’ then floated across Defiant Monk’s head immediately. Luckily his own HP was high enough to withstand the attack. After deducting the 300 points of damage, he was still left with a mere 40 HP. With several heals from both Ocean Despair and Silky Snow, the party returned to its original attacking momentum.
To be honest, this boss’ key difficulty lay with the tank!
Due to <Death Stare>, the party would usually have two tanks. These two tanks would need to coordinate the aggro to prevent the tank’s death from over stacking <Death Stare> on one of them. Once one of the two tanks died, the other tank would surely end up with the same fate – unless the party was strong enough to have killed the boss before any tank had fallen.
However, Zhang Yang was an exception! Having 5 years of superior metagaming experience, dodging the boss’ fierce attacks was a piece of cake – effortless! He had speculated that even if it were a boss from Hardcore Mode, he could also still perform a 90% and above dodge rate!
Now that he had solved the issue of the tank’s death, this boss would definitely be a piece of cake!
90%, 80%, 70%, ...10%!
Black Claw’s HP ran low and hit rock-bottom in an instance. With one last <Shield Bash> from Zhang Yang, Black Claw let out a loud growl and fell, popping equipment and gold coins on the ground.
“It’s over?” Crimson Fire thought he was dreaming. This boss that had taken his guild several hours to defeat was so easily killed by a pub party in just one try?
How conflicted he was! On one hand, he had wanted Zhang Yang to kill the boss to prove his worth in being recruited; and on the other hand, he did not want the battle to end so soon, as it would only prove that his guild’s elite dungeon explorers team was just a lousy piece of…
“How was it? I told you brother expert is the greatest!” Both being Bandits, Snowy Death had instinctively felt closer to Crimson Fire, patting his shoulder with a pride-filled face. Crimson Fire could not help but curse internally at him boasting about Zhang Yang’s achievement like it was his.
“Litte Yang, I’m the ‘Lucky Hand’, let me touch the corpse!” said Fatty Han as he went over immediately to loot the corpse.
According to an official statement by ‘God’s Miracle’, loots from monsters were determined by players who did the last strike. However, most of the players were still superstitious, choosing to believe that loots would depend on the luck of players who touched the corpse, thus the birth and existence of the terms Lucky Hand and Unlucky Hand.
Fatty Han touched the corpse and a Roll-the-Dice window for the 3 equipment immediately appeared in front of everyone.
[Black Claw Rage Fist] (Black-Steel, Fist Gloves)
Weapon Attack: 15 – 23
Attack Interval: 1.9 seconds
Level Requirement: 10
Both were fist gloves but compared to the pair in Normal Mode, this pair’s Weapon Attack was obviously higher!
Both Bandits had chosen to roll while the rest of the party passed. Even though both Zhang Yang and Phantom Day could also equip themselves with fist gloves, one had already owned a Level 10 Black-Steel weapon while the other preferred two-handed weapons, so none of them rolled along with the Bandits. In the end, Snowy Death had rolled 87 and won over Crimson Fire’s 82, obtaining the fist gloves.
Snowy Death happily changed into his newly obtained weapon while flaunting it to Crimson Fire. The players who were not from Lost Paradise had somewhat felt that they were much closer to Zhang Yang, subconsciously ostracizing those from said guild as they felt that Lost Paradise players seemed to have joined for convenience.
[Dog-faced Helm] (Black-Steel, Heavy Armor)
Defense: +3
Vitality: +6
Strength: +3
Dexterity: +1
Level Requirement: 10
Both Knight and Warrior classes could wear heavy armor but Ocean Despair was a healer and the helm had physical attack attributes so he voluntarily passed.
Zhang Yang, 47 points.
Phantom Day, 33 points.
“Ugh! Unlucky hands!” Phantom Day shook his head in disappointment.
Zhang Yang put on the helm and his entire face was promptly hidden behind a dog head. At a glance, he looked like an actual standing dog!
Everyone burst into laughter once they saw him.
“Little Yang! Wow! You’re so handsome right now!” Fatty Han guffawed.
Fortunately the game had the option to hide the helm and Zhang Yang checked the option immediately. Only then did the dog face disappear but the party was still holding in their snickers, the corners of their mouths twitching whenever they looked at Zhang Yang’s face.
[Shiny Heavy Boots] (Black-Steel, Heavy Armor)
Defense: +3
Vitality: +5
Intelligence: +4
Spirit: +1
Level Requirement: 10
This was obviously a Sacred Knight’s equipment, so everyone passed to allow Ocean Despair to obtain it without any hesitation.
‘Ding! You have received 1 silver coin and 30 copper coins in distribution!’
After distributing the equipment, the money was collected. This boss was a stingy one, only dropping 13 silver coins.
The currency control in ‘God’s Miracle’ was fairly strict. Currency inflation was never a problem even in the later stages of the game.
“Let’s take a look at the damage statistics!” said Phantom Day excitedly. For a lot of players, raiding dungeons provided them with two pleasures in life: first, getting equipment; second, comparing damage!
When everyone checked the statistics, they were dumbfounded.
[Damage Statistics]
1. Zhan Yu, Total Damage 11,345, 21%
2. Slim and Handsome, Total Damage 8,647, 16%
3. Phantom Day, Total Damage 7,566, 14%
4. Crimson Fire, Total Damage 7,027, 13%
5. Hundred Shots, Total Damage 5,401, 10%
6. Snowy Death, Total Damage 4,863, 9%
7. Defiant Monk, Total Damage 4,861, 9%
8. Flame Emperor, Total Damage 4,328, 8%
“Zhan Yu! Are you actually a Guardian or a Berserker?” Phantom Day exclaimed. He was so confident that he would place first in dealing damage but he had never guessed that not only could he not place first, he was not even ranked second!
Fatty Han immediately agreed with him, “Yeah! That’s right! I should’ve been at the top of the list!”
This fat f*ck had completed a Hidden Class Quest and had obtained <Precise Shot>. Even though it was only an ‘Average’ score reward skill, he still possessed an additional skill and extra AP compared to his peers. With everyone’s mediocre equipment, the advantage of having a skill would have been magnified.
Crimson Fire’s eyes burned with passion, he was even more eager to recruit such a talent now! His glinting pair of eyes was as like that of a sex-deprived widower, scaring Snowy Death who had caught a glimpse and had immediately created some distance from him, thinking that the man might have a different orientation in some aspects!
“Let us continue then!” Zhang Yang swung his sword, leading the team forward.
He had established an absolute authority, no one had any objection. After around 10 minutes of killing minions with utmost ease, the party had reached the second boss.
Compared to Normal Mode, this boss had much higher HP and damage, <Curse of Water and Fire> dealt more damage and summoned demon puppets were also more powerful. However, Zhang Yang’s party had also swapped in 3 Lost Paradise elites, boosting their battle power significantly.
Therefore, Zhang Yang did not care to explain much since the boss’ skills were the same. They only had to follow the same strategy as the one in Normal Mode.
With an attack command, Zhang Yang led the party and bashed the boss. Within just 4 to 5 minutes, the second boss wailed upon its death and had equipment scattered all over the ground.
Upon looting the corpse, there were only 1 leather armor and 2 cloth armor with no heavy armor in sight, annoying Phantom Day to the extent of him calling Fatty Han ‘Unlucky Hands’ and declaring that he was not allowed to loot the corpse the next time.
The party chatted merrily. After they had distributed the equipment, they moved on and had killed the last boss after clearing waves of minions.
Ever since defeating the first boss Black Claw, no one had any more doubts in clearing Hard Mode! Zhang Yang was ridiculously strong. Everyone had felt that he only had to bring along a healer… no, there was probably no need for a healer, just him alone could have cleared the entire Hard Mode!
Their challenge now laid within Hardcore Mode!
Translator Note
1 A team formed to explore an uncleared dungeon to discover and understand the mechanics of the run. This will aid the top team of a guild in clearing the dungeon with record time.
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