“Beep beep…”

It was very early in the morning when my phone suddenly rang. Dazed and half asleep, I grabbed it and saw a name on the screen: Murong Mingyue!

Eh? Why is she calling me this early in the morning?

“Hello?” I asked after answering the call. “What up, sis? It’s really early…”

Murong Mingyue’s voice was urgent. “Lu Chen, I need you and your group right now. Xu Yang and I encountered a Level 60 boss at Greenstone Valley, but there are only five of us, and we don’t have a super main tank and DPS. Please help us because I don’t think we can beat it ourselves. We can officially start rebuilding Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls if the boss drops a Hero’s Token!”

My mind instantly came awake. Fuck, they stumbled onto a Level 60 boss just like that? That’s some amazing luck...

I immediately rolled off the bed and said seriously, “I’m waking my guys right away. Don’t tell anyone else about this and keep an eye on the boss until we arrive!”

“Okay. How many people do you have?”

“Four!”

“Ah? Are you sure that’s enough?”

“It’s enough. Just wait for us!”

“Okay!”

……

I had always been quite confident in our workshop’s strength, but after Gui Guzi obtained a Silver-grade shield and a Silver-grade spear yesterday, his stats were among the best of the best in Floating Ice City, and his total HP was literally peerless. Besides that, Beiming Xue and I were among the absolute best DPSers out there, and we had been focusing on grinding XP in the past couple of days. Therefore, our chances of beating a Level 60 boss successfully wouldn’t be lower than 40%!

I knocked on Du Thirteen and Gui Guzi’s doors loudly while yelling, “It’s 6 in the morning and we have a mission! Get yourselves a cup of water and go online right away!”

“Oh!”

My brothers displayed a superhuman level of professionalism and finished everything they needed to take care of in ten minutes.

Next, I called Beiming Xue on the phone. It took a while before someone answered the call. “Hi. Who’s this?”

“Lil Beiming, it’s me, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand!”

“Oh! Heehee, what’s so urgent, boss? It’s quite early in the morning.”

“Log into the game, I’ll explain the rest there. We have a mission!”

“Oh, a mission this early? Alright, gimme half an hour!”

Her request caught me off-guard. “Half an hour? Why?”

“Well, I need to put on some light makeup first…”

“Er, maybe not this time. Light makeup won’t add any in-game stats, you know? Just drink a cup of water and get online, it’s really urgent…”

“Oh. Okay…”

……

After the summons were complete, I rushed back into my own room, connected to the internet and went online!

Swhoosh!

The moment I appeared in Floating Ice City, I immediately set up a party and sent an invite to Du Thirteen, Gui Guzi, and Beiming Xue. They had all come online one after another.

It was at this moment Murong Mingyue sent me a message: “You’re finally up!”

“Coordinates!”

“The exact coordinates are (12972, 30984) at Greenstone Valley, Floating Ice City area. Move north of the city. You will eventually reach a valley. You should see us once you enter and make a couple of turns!”

“Alright, we’ll arrive in half an hour!”

“We’ll be waiting for you. There were a couple of parties grinding here earlier, but thankfully none of them noticed the boss. Right now we’re grinding nearby and keeping everyone from moving close to its coordinates.”

“Got it. Be careful.”

“Oh. Hehe, this is nothing~”

……

A few minutes later, all four of us had arrived at the eastern gate square of Floating Ice City. I took the chance to check out everyone’s level. Sitting at Level 52, Gui Guzi had the highest level among us. Beiming Xue followed closely behind him at Level 51. I was Level 50, and Du Thirteen was Level 47. All things considered, our party was pretty powerful.

“Let’s go. Full speed ahead!”

I took the lead and charged out of the gates. Du Thirteen was the only one whose ID didn’t turn as red as blood. We were Night Creatures, so our presence here was about as dissonant as a group of bandits in a village.

At first, some players felt like testing their mettle against us and earning a quick buck. But the moment Gui Guzi, Beiming Xue, and I revealed our IDs, those players shrank as quickly as they came as a matter of course. Who in their right mind would dare to attack a group made up of three dark-based, Heavenly Ranking pros anyway?

We reached Greenstone Valley in almost no time at all. I had come here once with Lin Yixin and stolen a boss from right under Mad Dragon’s nose. In fact, I had obtained my Beast-faced Turmoil Helmet and Soul Turmoil Armor here, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that I was rather familiar with this particular zone. It was where I had carried out my great escape after all.

Rustle...

Beiming Xue kept a constant watch on our surroundings as we ran across the grass. Her bloody eyes were fully awake and alert. Any archer with good natural senses was a good archer, and this one possessed particularly amazing beauty and offensive power!

We switched up our formation a little so that Gui Guzi was running at the forefront instead of me. He was the shield of our party and probably the strongest tank in Floating Ice City right now due to his Undying Shield skill.

I couldn’t help but feel proud as I watched Gui Guzi and Beiming Xue. In the past, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls guild was slaughtered by Candle Dragon because we never had real pros in our ranks. But today, the Bloody Mercenaries workshop alone had Gui Guzi and Beiming Xue, two miraculous gaming pros in their own right. I was sure that our tragic history would not repeat itself a second time.

Hmph, I will turn Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls into a sun in Heavenblessed in a year at most. I’ll make our enemies quake in fear when they hear our name!

I swore an oath inside my mind. It was the one goal I would do anything to achieve!

……

A couple of blue dots appeared in front of us not long after we entered the valley. It was Murong Mingyue’s group. There were five members in total, and their party formation was acceptable. Xu Yang was the main tank, Murong Mingyue was the healer. They also had a male mage and a male archer. The last member of the party was a female bard who looked around twenty years old. She wasn’t bad-looking, but compared to Murong Mingyue she was unremarkable to say the least.

I was a bit disappointed that He Yi wasn’t anywhere, but I guessed she had work to do. It had always been like this; sometimes she was so busy that she didn’t log in for a whole week.

“Finally!”

Murong Mingyue let out a clear sigh of relief when she saw us. She walked up to us and asked, “The boss is inside the valley ahead. Do you need us to reorganize our party?”

I nodded. “Thirteen will join your party, and you will join mine. Our party will be the main force of this raid, and we already have all the MT and DPS we need. The only thing we lack right now is a healer.”

“Alright. Xu Yang, you are the party leader now!”

“Okay!”

Murong Mingyue sent me a party invitation, and I accepted it after kicking Du Thirteen out of the party. He went to Xu Yang’s party with a sad look on his face.

Xu Yang took the lead and led us into the valley. It was then a giant wolf with barbs on its back emerged into view from a distance. It was none other than the boss we were setting out to kill!

Bloodspine Wolfking (C Rank Boss)

Level: 60

Attack: ???

Defense: ???

HP: ???

Introduction: This beast has taken countless lives in Greenstone Valley, and someone even put up a bounty for it at Floating Ice City. Unfortunately, the Bloodspine Wolfking is a savage monster, and no one has ever dared to take up the challenge.

……

“A C Rank boss, huh…” I thought for a moment.

“Yep.” Murong Mingyue stood next to me and smiled. “So? Do you think it’ll drop a Hero’s Token?”

I replied without hesitation, “It could, but the rate is pretty low. The chance of a Silver Rank boss dropping a Hero’s Token is around 5%, so the chance of a C Rank boss dropping one is probably less than 1%.”

“In the end we can only pray for good luck, huh?”

Murong Mingyue gave me a smile. She was already an attractive woman in the first place, but her voluptuous figure made sure that you would never be able to throw her to the back of your mind completely. One only needed to look at the reaction of Gui Guzi and Du Thirteen to know that this sexy, older sister–type priest was a maneater through and through.

Thankfully, Xu Yang and I knew her long enough to be immune to her charms, and we both knew that it was incredibly unwise to offend a woman like her. With Murong Mingyue’s level of experience and skill, she could toy someone to their deaths and they would never realize until it was too late.

Chiang!

I unsheathed the Ghost Ice Soul with a smile. “Gui Guzi will be our tank, so just focus on healing him, Beauty Murong. The rest of you, take care not to draw too much aggro to yourself. Lil Beiming, you should control your DPS as well. I promise I won’t let an OT[1] happen as long as everyone carries out their job properly.”

Gui Guzi held up his shield and swung his spear. He was ready to attack the boss.

It was at this moment the Level 44 bard asked, “What should I do, handsome? How would you like me to apply my buffs?”

I liked her attitude. Unlike most pretty faces who led their parties to their doom because they were too arrogant for their own good, this one showed me the proper respect I deserved as a veteran.

I thought for a moment before replying, “Pretty, you can apply Valor to me, Forge to Beiming Xue, and Bloody Battle to Gui Guzi. Oh right, you’re above Level 40. That means you’ve already learned Homecoming, a skill that adds 15% Defense, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Leave that for the main tank too!”

“Okay!”

After the work distribution was complete, the bard got to work immediately. She seemed like an efficient player, swinging her staff and putting buffs on everyone in almost no time at all. Now all she needed to do was wait until it was time to refresh the buffs.

……

“Little Gui, go!”

Gui Guzi charged and slammed his shield into the Bloodspine Wolfking’s head. Then, he swung his spear and attacked the boss with a Death Combo. His presence was immense, and his movement was fluid. Gui Guzi was starting to look like a real pro now.

It only took an instant for the boss to lock onto Gui Guzi. By the time I reached them, the boss had already thrown a fierce swipe at Gui Guzi’s body!

Bang!

It was a powerful attack, and Gui Guzi endured it with gritted teeth. Three different numbers popped up above his head in succession.

564!

+113!

+374!

Murong Mingyue’s healing was as effective as it was instantaneous. Gui Guzi was practically back at full health already!

Back then, a Level 60 boss had one-shot me and the Dark Wasp like it was nothing. But now, Gui Guzi had good equipment, high level, and even a bard buffing him with Homecoming, a super skill that increased a target’s Defense by 15%. Unless he got one-shot by the boss or Murong Mingyue stopped healing him, I had no doubt that we could defeat this boss!

The bard’s mouth fell open as she exclaimed, “Gui Guzi’s Defense and HP regen are amazing… I can’t believe he’s going toe-to-toe with a Level 60 boss!”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little. This shouldn’t be a surprise at all.

It was my turn. I zipped past the boss and drew a line across its flesh with the Ghost Ice Soul. I executed both Ice Ray and Slayer Slash almost and the same time.

774!

672!

Another basic attack was all it took to draw the boss’s aggro on me. It was a given, Gui Guzi’s DPS was much lousier than mine after all.

I withdrew rapidly as Gui Guzi moved in to intercept the boss. A series of jabs later, the boss’s aggro was drawn back to him again.

I moved in again and executed my killer move!

Swhoosh!

Pardon!

MISS!

And now, a new move—Desperate Gambit!

Swhoosh!

The blade glowed deep red before sinking deep into the wolfking’s neck. It was an attack that drew painful yelps even from a Level 60 boss!

2087!

Beiming Xue seized her chance to fire several arrows in a row. It amounted to around 1000 damage in total.

The bard’s jaw hit the floor as she murmured, “Heavens, each member in this party is crazier than the last…! What… what ridiculous power!”

1. overtaunt, stealing aggro