Chapter 7: Battle Royale (Modified)

This chapter revised a setting: using crafted items to kill Aberrant Species does not grant experience.

Each time he successfully evaded a dormant Aberrant Species or passed through an open area using shadows, his Stealth proficiency increased slightly.

Yang Yixie enjoyed this so much that he even made Ying Duo detour through places that weren't necessary just to grind skill proficiency.

The nest's internal structure was more complex than he imagined; even with a mini-map, he almost got lost inside.

The main tunnel stretched downward without end, with numerous side branches on both sides, some leading to larger caverns where even more dormant Aberrant Species gathered.

Some were dead ends, littered with huge piles of Aberrant Species skeletons, yet the skeletons bore no resemblance to spiders whatsoever.

He even saw, in the center of a large cavern, a massive 'egg sac' woven from slime and spider silk, constantly undulating.

The entire egg sac resembled a gigantic heart, within which something even more powerful and terrifying was developing.

【Discovery: Venom Spider (Dormant) - Lv. 15! Extremely dangerous!】

The scarlet subtitle flashed a warning without sound; Yang Yixie did not choose to let Ying Duo court death, merely marking its location on the mini-map from afar.

This was likely the final boss of the underground palace; better to wait until Ying Duo's level was higher before grinding this dungeon.

Having paid attention along the way, Yang Yixie noted that, with the number of explosives in his pack, while the deep‑nest Aberrant Species were out of the question, the low‑level Aberrant Species lurking near the entrance were still worth considering.

Using the Reconnaissance skill, he found several spots where the rock walls were weak enough that explosions could trigger small‑scale collapses.

This might allow him to crush many Aberrant Species, and the method to detonate the explosives could also be accomplished using the spider silk he had gathered earlier.

Needless to say, the game's freedom is extraordinarily high; ordinary games don't even offer the option to blow up the entire cavern.

He mounted the explosive devices on the weak rock walls, then linked them together with spider silk to ensure he could detonate all the explosives at once after exiting.

Soon, after all preparations were complete, Ying Duo began silently retracing his route; with the experience from his outward journey and the improvement in his Stealth proficiency, his withdrawal went much more smoothly.

【Stealth Proficiency +2】

When he finally emerged from the nest entrance, his clothing bore no new tears; only the nest's strong rotten stench clung to him.

Ying Duo slowly backed away, expressionless, staring at the cave entrance while holding a length of flexible spider silk; once he had retreated a certain distance, Yang Yixie judged that the gap was about right.

Thus Ying Duo began pulling hard on the spider silk in his hand, tugging it outward relentlessly.

"Boom!"

A deep, muffled roar rose from underground, and the whole ground began to tremble slightly under the blast.

Immediately followed by more continuous explosions and collapsing sounds; obviously, the explosives Yang Yixie had carefully placed at several weak points in the rock walls succeeded in their effect.

"Boom rumble— splash!!"

The ground near the nest entrance began to collapse in large sections, kicking up clouds of dust and rubble; miserable hisses and screams burst from the collapse, only to be quickly drowned out by the sound of more earth and stone burying everything.

This lethality seemed far greater than he had anticipated.

Could it be because of that 'instability'?

Before he could ponder it further, Yang Yixie's phone screen was instantly flooded with a frantic stream of points‑gain notifications.

【Successfully killed 'Small Mutant Spider Monster' x8, gained points +3x8】

【Successfully killed 'Corrosive Spider' x3, gained points +12x3】

【Successfully killed 'XXX', gained points +......】

【Level raised to Lv. 7!】

A large amount of points were credited at once, but compared to that, the experience gained seemed pitifully meager.

It appears that indirect killing via items cannot yield experience.

Otherwise, players could later mass‑produce firearms, have others' kills count toward their experience, and simply AFK to max level.

However, before Yang Yixie could allocate the newly earned attribute points,

A roar more terrifying than all the explosion sounds combined, intertwining fury and anguish, erupted from deeper within the nest.

"Ao—!!!"

This voice carried an aura that seemed capable of rending the soul; the edge of Yang Yixie's phone screen instantly filled with static, and Ying Duo's Health Bar visibly fluctuated.

The next second, the collapsed wreckage bulged upward, as if something deep below were pushing up, sending countless shards of stone and bone that had been buried underground flying in all directions.

It was a silhouette so terrifying that a single glance would make one feel suffocated; as the smoke and dust cleared, its true form was revealed.

【Venom Spider - Lv. 25 (Fury)】

【Traits: Toxic Spray, Rapid Egg Laying, Summon Offspring】

This was a boss Ying Duo had never encountered before, of higher level!

Oh dear.

Looking at the Venom Spider's traits, Ying Duo suddenly understood why a level‑25 boss had appeared out of nowhere underground.

Could it be that he not only blew up their doorstep but also crushed many of their offspring?

Designer, you don't need to be so meticulous about this kind of place!

Without hesitation, Yang Yixie poured all the attribute points he had just gained from leveling up into Agility, exited the character screen, and, controlling the seemingly terrified Ying Duo, turned and fled.

Ying Duo's legs instantly burst with astonishing power, both a blur as he shot forward, his whole body becoming a green bolt of lightning.

"Hiss!!!"

The Venom Spider emitted a piercing hiss, and while pursuing, it continuously spat from its abdomen large numbers of slime‑coated small spider eggs.

These eggs, upon hitting the ground, quickly ruptured, releasing swarms of tiny poisonous spiders that joined the chase against Ying Duo like a tide.

Wherever they passed, not only was the ground corroded by venom, but the air also acquired a thin layer of corrosive toxic mist.

The dungeon monster‑grinding game instantly turned into a battle royale.

Relying on his high Agility allocation, Ying Duo, under Yang Yixie's precise control, sought survival in the cracks, frantically dodging the boss's attacks within the complex, hazardous ruin.

Every change of direction came without warning, every jump was perfectly timed, yet he continually managed to narrowly evade the venom sprayed by the Venom Spider behind him, sprinting wildly toward the safe zone.

Anyway, once he reached the safe zone, those wild bosses could no longer inflict damage.

Moreover, Yang Yixie found a pattern in the suicidal ramming of those tiny poisonous spiders; evidently, this bit of game difficulty is trivial when Agility is sufficient.

From behind, the occasional scraping of tiny spider-like arthropods on the ground made a 'shush' sound, making the game atmosphere increasingly tense.

Hmm.......

It's a bit like playing a rhythm game.

Ying Duo occasionally managed to pull some distance using the terrain, after which he immediately turned around, drained the energy he had just recovered, aimed his handgun at the boss and fired a single bullet—but his bullets had little effect on the boss's carapace, only serving to further enrage it.

The eyes are likely the spider boss's weak point, but every time he aims at the weak point and fires, a 'parry' pops up on the screen, causing the damage dealt to be pitifully low.

Tsk, still blaming the AI.

——————————————————

Meanwhile, in another relatively intact district.

The more intact a street is preserved, the more it means people often pass through here, and nearby there will be no nests of Aberrant Species.

But the school will also actively guarantee the density of Aberrant Species in the assessment area, to ensure that no situation arises where someone enters first and kills the Aberrant Species, leaving latercomers with none to kill.

In short, killing Aberrant Species here to earn points is the most efficient and safe option.

After all, accidents are bound to happen in the wild, and the Academy's teachers cannot possibly monitor everyone's movements at all times, so retaining sufficient strength is still necessary.

Meanwhile, Qi Hengyu unleashed a clean, crisp spinning kick, shattering the spine of the last mutant vulture with one kick; the vulture cried out in anguish as it crashed to the ground.

He landed gracefully, his breathing steady, not even breaking a sweat.

Shen Zexi's surrounding lightning gradually faded, the air filled with a burnt smell; beneath his feet lay a stretch of charred insect corpses, faint electric arcs flickering across them.

He drew a slight breath, likewise calming the surging lightning energy within his body.

The two almost simultaneously noticed each other's presence, their gazes meeting in midair.

Qi Hengyu brushed off nonexistent dust from his pant legs, curled the corner of his mouth into a provocative arc, and spoke first, his voice clear yet edged.

"Tsk, I thought someone was causing such a commotion here, all that crackling—I even wondered who was setting off fireworks—but it turns out to be the Dome's dog."

He deliberately emphasized the words 'Dome's dog,' his tone of contempt undisguised.

"How so, you've grown tired of the Dome's gilded kennel and high-tech lab, and come to our primitive Divine Academy just to feel relevant?"