Chapter 18: Nuked?

Chapter 18: Nuked?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Ding! Player Prideful Precepts has joined the party!”

“Ding! Player Kindling Chest Hair has joined the party!

After the battle, Floral Shorts had been urging Zhang Yang to re-invite the other two players into the party or they would have lost the chance to bid for an equipment once somebody had touched the boss’ corpse.

Zhang Yang gave a slight smile and sent the party invitation to the two of them. Before they could even start arguing, Zhang Yang preemptively said, “All of you Pride members, no one speak from now on! I will kick anyone who can’t keep their mouth shut. If all four of you can’t keep your mouth shut, I’ll kick all four out! We don’t even need that many players in Normal Mode!”

Stunned by Zhang Yang’s authoritative assertion, even though the four Pride players held a grudging look, no one dared make a noise. If these words were to come from Zhang Yang had they first started the dungeon raid, they would have treated it as a passing joke. After experiencing 2 boss battles though, they knew that Zhang Yang was a pro player, someone much more skillful than them!

Other party members smiled, their anger subsiding. They began to think even more highly of Zhang Yang.

“Touch the corpse!” Zhang Yang said casually.

Although Floral Shorts had stayed silent, his reaction was incredibly fast, rushing to the boss’ side and with a touch, 3 equipment and a Roll-the-Dice window had appeared in front of everyone.

In Roll-the-Dice Mode, for items higher than White tier dropped by the boss, each player in the party could roll should they desire it. The system would then randomly generate a number between 1 – 100; the player who had the highest roll would obtain the item they had rolled for. Of course, if there was no need for the item, one could pass.

[Bloodstained Hat] (Black-Steel, Cloth Armor)

Armor: +1

Vitality: +3

Intelligence: +1

Level Requirement: 5

Zhang Yang had chosen to pass and the others were quick in making a choice. A total of 5 players rolled for the equipment.

Prideful Precepts, 36 points.

Flame Emperor, 87 points.

Prideful Babysitter, 76 points.

Floral Shorts, 27 points.

Kindling Chest Hair, 92 points.

“Ding! Player Kindling Chest Hair has obtained Bloodstained Hat!”

The party boiled with anger again.

“Why the hell did you roll for a cloth armor when you’re not even cloth classed, motherf*cker! Where did this barbaric Pride Guild come from? All barbarians!”

Those from Pride kept mum, be it due to having qualms about Zhang Yang’s warning or their arrogance which was keeping them from arguing. What was clear though, was that they were determined to be barbarous to the end. It did not matter whether the other two equipment fit them, they had chosen to roll for them anyway.

Zhang Yang sent a private message to the other party members one by one saying, “Level 5 Black-Steel equipment are not much better than White-Wood rarity ones. Let them “Need”1 roll! Let us clear the Difficult and Hardcore Modes later and show them what real loot is. Make them jealous, that’s the best payback!”

The players were thrilled. This would mean that Zhang Yang had intended on leading them to raid both Difficult and Hardcore Modes! After battling two bosses with him, they already had no doubts regarding Zhang Yang’s capabilities. Perhaps Hardcore Mode could be a problem, Difficult Mode though, there would be a big chance that they could clear it!

Receiving such a promise, the party calmed down. To be honest, Level 5 Black-Steel equipment would have been insignificant to Level 10 players. It would have been discarded after a few levels of use. The players from Pride had humiliated themselves for temporary benefits and had also lost their chance to raid the Difficult and Hardcore Modes with Zhang Yang. It was obvious whether they had benefited or suffered a loss.

[Hard Leather Chest Plate] (Black-Steel, Leather Armor)

Armor: +2

Vitality: +2

Dexterity: +2

Level Requirement: 5

The rest of the party had fought back mercilessly in dealing with the Pride players’ shameless act. All the players besides Zhang Yang had joined the roll, Ocean Despair ended up obtaining the equipment. He then passed the equipment to the leather armor classed player, Defiant Monk, who had the second highest roll. Defiant Monk was utterly grateful.

[Hard Leather Gloves] (Black-Steel, Leather Armor)

Armor: +2

Vitality: +1

Dexterity: +1

Level Requirement: 10

This equipment, however, had fallen to one of the Pride members. The four of them had looked as contented as winning a 500 million dollar grand prize. The others had already adjusted their emotions and had treated them as a joke. Only scornful smiles appeared at the corners of their lips, none of them saying anything.

The Pride Quad thought they had put a halt to the other party members’ momentum, feeling all the more pleased with themselves.

“Let’s move forward!” Zhang Yang said calmly after the equipment distribution.

Bangar Crypt had a total of 3 bosses and another 7 waves of minions along their way to the last boss. The party had spent 20 minutes clearing the minions and had finally reached the ultimate boss after passing through a long tunnel.

[Gnome Leader Dadarerda] (Black-Steel Boss)

Level: 14

HP: 42,000

Dadarerda was a 5-meter tall giant gnome sitting on a plain throne. By his side, 2 guards in duty were guarding seriously.

[Royal Guard] (Elite)

Level: 13

HP: 6,500

Zhang Yang set his mind straight and began to explain the strategy, “This boss’ battle is divided into 2 parts. First, eliminate the 2 guards. I will grab ahold of their aggro when we begin. Target the ‘star-marked’ one first and then the ‘sun-marked’ next. Then we follow-up with the boss.”

“The boss has two skills. He will randomly place fire pits on the ground for the first skill. I think it should be about 10 to 15 pits. You have to pay attention and avoid the pits, because each step will cost you 100 points of damage.”

“The boss will spin and spew a cone-shaped flame for his second skill, and 300 HP will be taken once you’re burned! However, there’s a 2 seconds casting delay that can’t be interrupted but can be used as an indication of attack. The boss does not spin very fast, so as long as you follow its rotation, you’d be able to avoid the flame. What you need to pay attention though is that you’ll have to also focus on the fire pits as you evade the spewed flame. Keep your eyes on both dangers!”

Zhang Yang paused and asked, “Is everyone clear? If you don’t understand, ask me now. I can repeat the strategy again.”

Everyone remained quiet.

“Very well, we shall start now!” Zhang Yang wielded his sword and ran forward. When he was within the casting range, Zhang Yang used <Charge> and stunned Dadarerda, slashing it at the same time. “-52” damage text then floated across the boss’ head.

When the battle began, the gate to the passageway would be closed automatically and would not open again unless the battle had ended.

Both the royal guards immediately shrieked in their strange voice and charged towards Zhang Yang.

“<Block>!”

“-32!” <Block> reflected damage.

“-92!” Zhang Yang used <Shield Bash> on the ‘star-marked’ monster.

“-136!”

“-142!”

“-129!”

Zhang Yang immediately chained <Horizontal Sweep> with his previous attack, causing yellow damage numbers to drift across all three monsters’ heads.

Without further instruction from Zhang Yang, the party had initiated their attack on the ‘star-marked’ monster at once.

“Ding! Dadarerda used <Lava Pit>. Lasts for 60 seconds!”

10 fire rings with 1 meter diameter each then appeared randomly on the battlefield. Some had appeared right beneath the players’ feet while some had appeared randomly across the battlefield.

“Beware of your steps!” Zhang Yang reminded.

Evading 10 pits was fairly easy. Everyone resumed attacking the ‘star-marked’ monster, killing it in just a short amount of time.

“Ding! The party you are in has killed a Royal Guard! Obtained 700 EXP (50 points Party Bonus)!”

“Next target! Continue!” Zhang Yang commanded.

“Ding! Dadarerda used <Lava Pit>. Lasts for 60 seconds!”

Another 10 fire pits appeared on the field and everyone started becoming busy evading the pits.

Suddenly, Dadarerda stopped attacking and raised its hands. A progress bar appeared on its head as it began chanting in a weird language.

“Get ready! The boss is going to spit fire! Be on your feet!” Zhang Yang turned and moved away from the boss’ front, pulling the ‘sun-marked’ monster with him.

“Ding! Dadarerda used <Flamethrower!>”

Dadarerda opened his mouth and a flame more than 30 meters long was spat. He then slowly twirled and began his rotating attack.

“Take note of where you’re stepping!” Zhang Yang pulled the ‘sun-marked’ monster’s aggro while moving along with the boss, hiding by his side the whole time.

Even with Zhang Yang’s reminder, a few players had forgotten about the <Lava Pit> beneath their feet as they evaded <Flamethrower>, causing damage text to float from their heads one by one.

“Ding! Player Floral Shorts has died!”

“Ding! Player Prideful Magus has died!”

“Ding! Player Prideful Babysitter has died!”

“Ding! Player Flame Emperor has died!”

Good job, 4 members had died in an instant! On the other hand, if it were not for Kindling Chest Hair’s 700 HP accommodating his damage from <Lava Pit>, he would have turned into a corpse already.

“Continue the attack!” Zhang Yang did not want to criticize anyone. After all, since this had been everyone’s virgin battle against this boss, progressing in any way was inevitable. Furthermore, the boss would cast <Lava Pit> every 10 seconds. Since the fire pits would last for 60 seconds, it meant that there would have been a total of 60 fire pits on the field later on, making things even more chaotic.

And this was only in Normal Mode. The fire pits in Difficult Mode would have lasted for 90 seconds with an extra 30 pits while Hardcore Mode’s would last for 120 seconds, covering almost the entire field with fire pits.

“Ding! Dadarerda used <Lava Pit>. Lasts for 60 seconds!”

30 seconds later, there were 30 pits on the field. Fortunately, <Flamethrower>’s activation rate was less frequent.

“Ding! The party you are in has killed Royal Guard! Obtained 700 EXP (50 points Party Bonus)!”

‘Sun monster’ kept it up for a while but had eventually succumbed to the party’s nuke.

“Hurry up and attack the boss!” Zhang Yang hollered softly.

“Ding! Dadarerda used <Lava Pit>. Lasts for 60 seconds!”

Almost simultaneously, Dadarerda stopped his attack and a progress bar appeared on its head once again.

“Ding! Babarerba used <Flamethrower>!”

With 40 fire pits on the ground, all hell broke loose.

“Ding! Player Snowy Death has died!”

“Ding! Player Defiant Monk has died!”

“Ding! Player Kindling Chest Hair has died!”

“Ding! Player Hundred Shots has died!”

“Ding! Player Ocean Despair has died!”

Amidst the raging flame, Zhang Yang became the sole survivor in his party!

Translator Note

1 In Roll-the-Dice Mode, the options a player is given is normally either Need, Greed, or Pass. Players who rolled Need will be given the highest priority, and so if you rolled a ‘1’ when you chose Need, it did not matter if someone rolled ‘100’ as Greed. You would still be the final winner of the item. In most cases, the game’s system would prevent a player from rolling Need if the item could not be used by the player’s character. However, this does not seem to be the case for ‘God’s Miracle’.