The Abyss of Despair and a Stroke of Luck

A slight panic stirred within Lin Shenyue. She understood that if she failed to evade this attack, she would likely be critically wounded, and another blow would spell her end. Moreover, at 100% simulation fidelity, being struck by an arrow was an experience she dreaded.

Lin Shenyue suddenly recalled an extra skill she possessed. However, she was uncertain how much longer the BOSS’s aggro confusion would last; activating it now might not be enough to survive the chaotic aggro phase.

‘Never mind the consequences,’ she thought.

Recalling the agony of being hit, Lin Shenyue bit her red lip lightly and finally chose to activate the skill. Her gaze was fixed intently on the BOSS, concentrating on its movements.

The BOSS’s hand moved abruptly, firing a magic arrow straight at Lin Shenyue. Her expression tightened.

With the fastest possible reaction, she activated her skill and simultaneously moved her body to the side, barely managing to dodge the BOSS’s attack.

During this brief window, the others seized the opportunity to unleash their attacks on the BOSS, causing its health to plummet.

Another magic arrow from the BOSS was narrowly evaded by Lin Shenyue. Her face showed signs of fatigue, yet her eyes remained locked on the formidable foe.

When the BOSS’s health dropped to 52%, Ye Jue suddenly shouted, “Stop attacking!”

Though puzzled, the other three halted their assaults as instructed. Lin Shenyue, however, had no time to question Ye Jue’s command; she continued to dodge relentlessly.

Even with her efforts, she was struck by a magic arrow. Lin Shenyue’s face paled, and her brows furrowed deeply.

Her lips pressed into a thin line, and tears involuntarily shimmered in her eyes. Despite her utmost restraint, the intense pain forced her body to react, and she knew that without her iron will, tears would have already streamed down her face.

Lin Shenyue struggled to evade the attacks, reflexively casting a healing spell on herself. Though its effect exceeded her maximum health, at that moment, she had no leisure to care.

After Lin Shenyue was hit by yet another arrow, the BOSS ceased its assault on her. “I’ll spare you lot for now,” it snarled menacingly, “but first, I’ll slay this bothersome little ant.”

Ye Jue cast a worried glance at Lin Shenyue. As the only one aware of her 100% simulation fidelity, he understood the agony she endured.

However, the BOSS’s subsequent attacks forced him to divert his attention back to the formidable foe.

Lin Shenyue’s body trembled slightly; she felt an urge to abandon the game entirely. The 100% pain simulation meant that the attacks she had just suffered felt identical to being struck by an arrow in reality.

While death was not an option, the constant pain was almost worse than dying.

Lin Shenyue cursed under her breath, despising the fragility of her current body. Forcing herself to rally, she looked towards the treacherous battlefield.

Ye Jue’s health was dangerously low, yet he hadn’t called for her assistance, understanding that Lin Shenyue needed time to recover, an unpredictable duration.

Ultimately, Lin Shenyue’s inner resilience, a remnant of her male spirit, allowed her to recover swiftly. Though she still felt a lingering mental weakness, she gritted her teeth and cast a healing spell on Ye Jue.

Divine Wind, who was closest to Lin Shenyue, noticed her peculiar behavior. Typically, female players opted for the minimum 20% pain simulation, but the girl before him didn’t seem to be.

Given Ye Jue’s presence, Lin Shenyue couldn’t possibly be unaware of the pain simulation settings. ‘Was she trying to train herself?’ he wondered, though her demeanor didn’t quite suggest it.

Oblivious to Divine Wind’s thoughts, Lin Shenyue forced herself to focus on the BOSS. Upon receiving Lin Shenyue’s healing, Ye Jue finally intensified his assault on the BOSS, simultaneously shouting, “Be careful! The BOSS is about to unleash its first major skill!”

A wave of tension swept through the group. Lin Shenyue also braced herself; despite her hands still trembling slightly, her focus was absolute.

Within seconds, the BOSS’s health plummeted to 3000 points. The BOSS finally erupted, “Mortals, feel my wrath! Chaos Magic Missiles!”

Ye Jue’s expression tightened. He felt relatively confident in everyone else, but Lin Shenyue was a concern. Her reaction speed was too slow compared to the others, making it difficult for her to dodge such a barrage.

The BOSS’s skill fired magic projectiles in all directions. While slower than the BOSS’s arrows, with nearly a hundred projectiles per wave and five waves in total, it could easily wipe out the entire party.

Upon witnessing the sheer scale of the magic projectiles, Lin Shenyue surprisingly revealed a hint of relief. She stared intently at the incoming barrage, and with her formidable computational ability, she had already precisely calculated her evasion path.

Even with her slow reaction speed, the projectiles’ pace was not rapid, allowing her ample time to anticipate and dodge.

Seeing Lin Shenyue’s somewhat relaxed expression, Ye Jue instantly understood. He was intimately familiar with her terrifying computational prowess.

While there were others who could predict actions a second in advance, they usually relied on a combination of experience and calculation. For Lin Shenyue to achieve this purely through computation was nothing short of terrifying.

As everyone in the group was an elite player, this BOSS burst caused no casualties. Each person merely took an occasional magic projectile hit, losing 100 health points, which they quickly replenished with potions.

After its burst, the BOSS appeared somewhat weakened, its attack speed significantly reduced, easing the pressure on the group. When the BOSS’s health dropped to 25%, its aggro became confused once more, this time targeting Empty Night.

Empty Night, looking utterly miserable, tried his best to evade. Meanwhile, Lin Shenyue seized the opportunity to unleash her spells on the BOSS, dealing considerable damage, and its health rapidly fell to 5%.

The BOSS raged anew. “A mere group of ants dares to dream of defeating this envoy? I shall drag you all to hell! Abyss of Despair!”

Ye Jue’s face changed upon hearing this, and he roared, “Focus fire on the BOSS immediately!”

If Lin Shenyue could have cast a healing spell at that moment, the BOSS would likely have been on the verge of death. However, with her healing spell on cooldown, she could only wait helplessly, watching the others concentrate their attacks.

The ground rapidly darkened, and something seemed to be faintly stirring beneath it, trying to emerge.

Lin Shenyue watched nervously as the BOSS’s health plummeted. Suddenly, a skeletal hand emerged from the ground, reaching out to grasp them.

But at that very moment, they finally slew the BOSS. The skeletal hand paused, then vanished into thin air.

Ye Jue wiped a bead of cold sweat from his brow. “That was the BOSS’s instant-kill skill,” he explained. “If we hadn’t killed it within that timeframe, all of us would have died.”

Lin Shenyue, recalling the sensation of death, shivered violently.

Empty Night gazed at the BOSS’s corpse on the ground, his face alight with excitement. “Let me loot the BOSS, okay? I feel like my luck is really good!”

Ye Jue was about to agree, but then he suddenly remembered hearing Empty Night complain once that the items he looted from BOSSes were always drops that even elite monsters could yield.

He quickly interjected, “No, don’t. You’re a jinx.”

Empty Night felt a pang of embarrassment mixed with curiosity. How did Ye Jue know he was a jinx?

Ye Jue turned to Lin Shenyue. “You go ahead and loot again?”

Lin Shenyue looked somewhat disdainful. She hadn’t forgotten the pain the BOSS had inflicted upon her earlier, and after a heavy snort, she stepped forward to loot the corpse.

Divine Wind quietly asked, “Isn’t it a bit improper to make a girl loot the corpse?”

Ye Jue replied calmly, “Lin Shenyue has high luck. She’ll get good drops from looting.”

The three could only nod in silent agreement, their gazes fixed on Lin Shenyue.

Lin Shenyue completed the looting process just as her small hand neared the corpse. Looting was merely a formality, requiring only the gesture of picking something up.

“Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained Glorious Battle Armor.”

“Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained Viper’s Sting.”

“Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained Exquisite Quiver.”

****

“Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained Skill: Corrosive Arrow. Consumes 30 Mana, deals 30 + Magic Attack magic damage, with a 30% chance to reduce the target’s defense by 30%. Cast time: 0.5s, Cooldown: 20 seconds.”

Ye Jue stared at the dropped items, utterly bewildered. The others might not grasp their value, but he understood perfectly. The most precious among them were undoubtedly the Glorious Battle Armor and the skill book.

In the early stages of the game, skill books were exceedingly rare; currently, it seemed no one had acquired one, or if they had, they hadn’t publicized it. Moreover, this particular skill’s special effect was nothing short of a divine ability for BOSS fights.

As for the Glorious Battle Armor, it was an item Kaira had forged, mimicking an existing piece of equipment. Though not unique, its drop rate, based on his previous life’s knowledge, was less than one in ten million, as it was linked to a hidden class.

Ye Jue had always intended to claim this hidden class, as its owner in his past life was Heaven Guild’s chief tank, and the class was incredibly powerful.

He had planned to wait for the item to expire and then acquire it if it didn’t drop, but now it seemed he could begin the class quest immediately. While the equipment itself wasn’t unique, the class was; once one person obtained it, no one else could.

Lin Shenyue had looted a total of three Bronze-tier items and five Iron-tier items, with no common ‘white’ gear. She had also found a substantial sum of nearly 40 silver coins.

Among the dropped equipment was a black mage robe. Though Lin Shenyue was the only one in the party who could use it, she frowned and refused, feeling an instinctive aversion to the item for reasons unknown.

A helmet and a belt went to Fissure. Ye Jue, exercising his sole captain’s choice, claimed the battle armor for himself. The weapon and quiver were given to Empty Night and Divine Wind, respectively.

Essentially, everyone received some equipment, and they were all astonished by Lin Shenyue’s terrifying luck; there wasn’t a single common item among the drops.

The final skill book was given to Lin Shenyue. Even though she was a healer, they recognized her significant contribution this time and bestowed the skill book upon her.

After equipping the gear, Ye Jue surveyed the satisfied group. “Let’s go,” he said. “The next BOSSes will likely be a bit tougher.”