Chapter 222: The Mechanism Is Quite Comprehensive

「Duang~! 」

「So heavy! It's just a five-man dungeon, but this boss's stats are insane! 」 The shield warrior's spiked shield emitted a dull thud; though he had successfully blocked, his stance still wobbled.

Seeing the shield warrior lose his footing, the berserker leapt high into the air and unleashed a jump slash with high stagger potential, sparing no effort, just to give his teammate a chance to reposition.

The newest member of the five had already played through nearly an entire patch with them; one exchange was enough to judge the boss's traits.

The two mages began chanting almost simultaneously, while the archer fired off the Mark of the Hunt just after them.

A downward-pointing triangle marker appeared above the boss's head; just as the berserker's great axe neared its target, two fingers clamped down and pinched it firmly—next instant, the group saw a blur, and the three rear-line members were all flung into the air.

「Swish! 」

White radiance surged from the flying mage's body, casting the final ripple onto the berserker.

The three rear-line members died in a single glance; the shield warrior and berserker both knew this run was probably over—but clearing new content in a game never goes without deaths. The shield warrior ignored his cooldown and immediately activated Shield Wall, while the berserker, riding the buff left by the white mage before his death, charged forward in a frenzy.

「How utterly insignificant! 」 The alien monster swung its thick tail, split into two at the midpoint, effortlessly sweeping the berserker away. Its terrifying face loomed down, sneering at the shield warrior:

「I am a noble dragon, a powerful demonic cultivator—even stripped of all my magic by sealing, I am not something you trash can challenge! 」

「Boom! 」

……

「Damn! Did this boss's stats get an extra zero? My end-of-previous-patch shield warrior with full gear only tanked five hits! 」

「You'll get used to it. This damn game changes like this every patch—either farm the new gear dungeon to get the patch-specific class gear, or bring a new-class alt as a countermeasure. After all, this damn game encourages alts—it practically wants everyone to level every class. If you don't support new classes, who's gonna buy those exp items from alt players? 」 The elemental mage, the oldest player in the group, spoke with weary resignation; the archer snorted.

「But this is ridiculous? Even with full patch gear, the shield warrior won't survive this damage—and this is just a five-man dungeon! If a new class can actually tank this damage, I'd say the designers have no shame at all. 」

「It's probably a design philosophy issue. I've checked the new class's skill tree—it's a magic-damage warrior, with three talent trees corresponding to ranged physical damage, ranged magical damage, and debuffs. Feels like a traditional game's demon hunter or druid, except summons are replaced with magical artifacts and flying swords. To play it well, you still need precise micro-control. 」 The shield warrior's composure had steadied now; here, he hesitated slightly:

「If we assume the new class can counter this boss, the only viable strategy is kiting with ranged attacks. In the previous fight, the boss didn't hold back on spell attacks either—but then the shield warrior's role becomes meaningless. I'll switch to a hunter alt, Bao Long, reset your talents and boost speed—we'll try a different setup. If it still fails, we'll just level a new class, run a few exp dungeons to level up the main skills, and we'll see the pattern. 」

「Fine. But this setup has zero error tolerance—no need for a healer. I'll switch to a bard. 」

……

「So weak? Is this all the heroism this era has to offer? How disappointing! 」

While spouting trash talk, Feng Xue eliminated another party of players. Though still using brute force, Feng Xue clearly sensed the players' evolution.

With each successive challenge, their class changes and skill synergies grew more polished; the once-easy prey he could knock down with a flick of his hand or stomp of his foot now required real effort to defeat.

Although the 「summon」 guidance had indicated that after the first battle, he could let his projection handle the fights while he occasionally directed it remotely with thought, Feng Xue would never pass up such excellent training partners—he fought over a dozen battles, and several waves of players had come and gone, yet the so-called cultivators he still had not seen.

After waiting another ten minutes with no new challengers, Feng Xue exited the projection. When he awoke, he found his surroundings had changed again—strange, yet not entirely unfamiliar, for in the room stood Guhui and Mary, and—yes—Bi Gelei, pinned down by Mary's four puppet arms.

「What's going on here? Where are we? 」

Feng Xue scratched his head; Guhui immediately replied:

「This is your residence in the Demon Wang Cheng. We suggested you settle in first because after your first challenge, the system automatically teleports everyone to their own rooms. You vanished suddenly, leaving your inventory behind—we brought it over and waited for you to wake up. Who knew you'd stay unconscious half the day? 」

「Ah…」 Feng Xue felt slightly embarrassed, though he showed no sign of it, and asked:

「I fought over a dozen waves of 「heroes」 but didn't encounter the 「cultivators」 Eveleen mentioned? 」

「That's normal. New classes must kill demonic creatures to boost combat power and challenge Gao Ta projections to obtain gear. Those cultivators favor spell-based combat, so recent challenges have all been from Eveleen, Guhui, Melo—those who drop items that enhance magical power. Once they're fully geared, they'll come after you. 」

Bi Gelei, bound like a wriggling worm, squirmed slightly and gave a surprisingly serious reply.

「Exp dungeons and gear dungeons? 」 Feng Xue pondered inwardly, but feigned ignorance:

「Drop? 」

「Yes. I learned this while posing as a human among the heroes—they gain different types of magical gear by killing the tower's projections. That's why many heroes keep challenging projections even after they've already defeated them. 」

As Bi Gelei spoke, she shot a glare at Mary.

「He's awake now—aren't you going to let me go? 」

「Hmm. 」 Mary nodded, releasing Bi Gelei's limbs, but added a warning to Feng Xue:

「This thing is obsessed with your blood. When your consciousness travels to the tower to control the projection, always lock the door. 」

「What kind of nonsense is that! 」 Before Feng Xue could respond, Bi Gelei's fur bristled violently—but instantly, her angry expression vanished, replaced by a pitiful, doe-eyed gaze fixed on Feng Xue:

「I've never tasted dragon blood—just one drop, please? Just one! I'll take you around the human city! No one in the Demon Wang Cheng can disguise as a human better than me—even the city guards can't see through me! 」

(End of Chapter)