Just start… now?
Everyone looked at Luo Taozhi, their expressions somewhat complicated.
“Wouldn’t it be much better than us staying here arguing about who should pull aggro?”
To be honest, Luo Taozhi just didn’t want her teammates to go up and get themselves killed.
She had already seen the skill level of the player named Xiazhi in the previous round. He wasn’t bad, but he was just average.
Just a little better than an ordinary person, far inferior to the Tiger Regiment Leader and Li Dong, and even a bit worse than Left Hand.
Having him go pull aggro really wouldn’t reveal anything useful.
It would just mean the party needlessly loses one member.
Given that, with neither of the two sponsors nor herself able to go pull aggro, it really was better to just all start the fight together.
“I think it’s fine! Straightforward!” The Tiger Regiment Leader initially thought it was a bit inappropriate, but upon careful consideration, it wasn’t wrong.
“It’s just a game, why not just start? What’s there to fear? At worst, we just restart!”
Li Dong and Xiazhi were both stunned for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
They had been taking it too seriously just now. Why were they so fixated on clearing it in one go?
If it came to it, they could just restart. Was it because the game was too realistic, making them subconsciously think they would die if they couldn’t clear it in one go?
“Then let’s start! I’ll take the lead!”
The Tiger Regiment Leader took the initiative first, charging towards the Abyss Corruptor in the center of the magic circle ahead.
Luo Taozhi and Xiao Nanchu followed closely behind, with Li Dong and Xiazhi bringing up the rear.
“Hey! Wait! Even if we’re just starting, at least pay some attention to positioning!”
Li Dong shouted from behind, trying to get the three charging ahead to slow down a bit.
But unfortunately, it was useless.
“Positioning? But boss, aren’t you the only backliner here?”
Xiazhi’s words made Li Dong freeze, and he then realized what a foolish thing he had just said.
Right, he was the only ranged class. The other four were all melee, and it was a temporary party. What positioning was there to talk about!
The distance from the arched cave entrance to the center of the magic circle wasn’t very long. Soon, the fastest-charging Leader and Luo Taozhi had already stepped into the aggro range of the Abyss Corruptor.
Although Xiao Nanchu had initially been right behind Luo Taozhi, his low level and insufficient Agility stats ultimately caused him to fall behind, arriving a step later than the other two.
The moment the two who entered the aggro range first stepped into the circle, a foul-smelling snake tail, whipping through the air with a gust of wind, lashed out at them!
Just as Luo Taozhi had predicted!
This thing was indeed different from ordinary monsters. It was the same type as Yoshimura Umeko!
It had known they were coming all along, but due to some restriction, it could only attack once they stepped into this range!
This thing had been planning this. This powerful, preemptively launched tail swipe was the best proof!
Limited by her Agility stat, even Luo Taozhi, who was prepared, barely managed to dodge the whistling snake tail.
Let alone the completely unprepared Tiger Regiment Leader.
BANG!
The moment the snake tail made contact with the plate armor on the Tiger Regiment Leader’s chest, a violent sound erupted!
Immediately after, the Tiger Regiment Leader’s figure was sent flying backward, a large red number appearing above him.
-864
Although Luo Taozhi didn’t know the Tiger Regiment Leader’s exact stats, she could make an estimate based on her own.
Wearing half of the Prajna Set and Wolf King Scattered Pieces, her HP was 1,200. The Tiger Regiment Leader, wearing a full Prajna Set and already having undergone a Class Change, was clearly a melee type, so his HP would be even higher.
But it definitely wouldn’t exceed 2,000 points!
That meant this single hit had taken away nearly half of the Tiger Regiment Leader’s HP.
If that hit had landed on her, she would have almost certainly died instantly.
If it landed on Xiazhi, who was only Level 7… no, Level 8 now, he might even end up with negative HP.
So it seemed, this was going to be a rare, difficult battle?
No, not really. Compared to the times she had struggled for survival in the cracks, this was still far from it.
Thinking this, Luo Taozhi had already rushed in front of the Abyss Corruptor, her katana, shimmering with white light, slashing down.
Clang!
-46
Clang!
-54
The Sword Qi and the blade struck the blood-crust-like scales on the Abyss Corruptor’s serpentine body one after the other, producing two crisp, metallic clanging sounds.
Not daring to be greedy with her attacks, she immediately dodged to the side.
The next second, the tip of the tail that had just sent the Tiger Regiment Leader flying whipped back!
The powerful strike landed directly on the spot where Luo Taozhi had just been, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Taking advantage of the residual force from the Abyss Corruptor’s tail strike, Luo Taozhi’s white-glowing katana struck its body once more.
-48
-56
Noticing the slight difference between the two damage numbers, Luo Taozhi immediately relayed the information to her teammates who were about to arrive while retreating.
“The blood crusts on the snake’s body are different!”
Hearing Luo Taozhi’s voice, Li Dong, who had already moved within bowshot range, immediately understood. He drew his bow and began observing the subtle differences on the Abyss Corruptor’s body.
The passive skill for players wielding a bow weapon—[Eagle Eye]!
[Eagle Eye]
[Description: While aiming a bow, it becomes easier to spot weaknesses on prey.]
As a player who had used a bow from the very beginning, Li Dong had naturally maxed out this skill.
Even so, when observing the Abyss Corruptor, he found it somewhat difficult to distinguish exactly which blood crust was more vulnerable.
But he could still tell them apart overall.
He put down the arrow in his hand and pulled out a clearly different-looking arrow from his quiver.
The arrowhead of this arrow seemed sharper than a normal one, and its fletching was red.
Draw, nock, aim, shoot—all in one fluid motion.
-84!
The red-fletched arrow struck straight into the relatively vulnerable spot he had identified on the Abyss Corruptor, the arrowhead sinking deep inside.
“That’s the weak spot!”
Li Dong shouted, simultaneously pulling out a regular arrow from his back quiver and shooting it at the Abyss Corruptor.
However, this arrow didn’t accomplish much. It didn’t pierce the Abyss Corruptor’s flesh, instead being directly deflected by the blood crust on its surface.
-12
Looking at his pitiful number, Li Dong couldn’t help but sigh.
If he could, he would have loved to keep using that Special Armor-Piercing Arrow. But unfortunately, that arrow was something a player in his guild had accidentally picked up while wandering around the Novice Village.
Its arrowhead was forged from special ore using a unique process, giving it extremely strong armor-piercing and penetrating capabilities. The bright red fletching further increased the arrow’s Accuracy.
Even after scouring the entire Novice Village, he had only managed to acquire eight of these arrows. Due to their non-recoverable nature, each one used meant one less.
Most crucially, the arrow’s description even stated it was a Class Change item from outside the village!
If his performance earlier hadn’t been so embarrassing, he would never have used it now.
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