Novel Bin Chapter 20: Difficult Mode
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!”