Chapter 9: He's Got Something Wrong with His Brain (Revision)

Relying on high agility points and his superb skill, Ying Duo constantly stayed at the edge of the Venom Spider's attack range, repeatedly and perfectly dodging the boss's spitting venom.

After his blue gauge recovers, he can still find a moment to turn and fire a shot at the Venom Spider, grinding away a layer of its Blood Bar.

Although the Blood Bar drops slowly, each hit deals more damage than the Venom Spider regains, so given enough time it should still be possible to grind this monster to death.

Yang Yixie directly let Ying Duo pull the boss around the assessment zone; after all, this is a level‑25 big boss still in the beginner stage, so he should at least drop an early‑game artifact, right?

Besides, even if they fail to kill the boss in the end, what's the matter? The points just earned are already enough for him to clear the novice mission.

However, Qi Hengyu and Shen Zexi, who were trailing behind and fell a good distance apart, didn't have it as easy as Ying Duo.

Their speed was far inferior to Ying Duo's, so they couldn't easily escape the Venom Spider's hate range; although the Aberrant Species paid them no mind, its area attacks still put huge pressure on them.

Left!

Shen Zexi shouted loudly; stamina has never been his strong point, and under this high‑intensity drain he was already unable to keep running, only his adrenaline was still fighting.

Nevertheless, he still raised his hand and swung a lightning whip, detonating the viscous venom heading toward Qi Hengyu in midair.

The venom splattered four‑way, the corrosive ground sizzled, and one can imagine the horrific state if this stuff landed on a person.

Damn, what did that Lu Deng eat to grow up? Running so fast!

Qi Hengyu wasn't the type to repay kindness with hatred; seeing a freshly hatched small venom spider lunging at Shen Zexi, he quickly grabbed Shen Zexi and lunged forward a few steps, just in time to dodge.

If it weren't for that Ying Guang Lu causing trouble up ahead, occasionally turning back to harass the Aberrant Species, they would have been even more chaotic.

Conversely, had the opponent not turned back to mess around even once, they should have escaped long ago.

If this drags on any longer, both Shen Zexi's and Qi Hengyu's energy will be depleted.

The Ying Guang Lu ahead looked completely at ease, and just watching it was rather infuriating.

Could it be that his final moments will have to accompany that guy under the Dome on the road to the Yellow Springs?

Qi Hengyu thought pessimistically, and at that moment a sound that tore through the void ripped the space, arriving instantly from a great distance.

It was a dark‑red energy projectile radiating annihilation energy.

It sped at an extreme velocity, as if materializing out of thin air, and from a faraway point precisely struck the Venom Spider's foot joint it was about to step on.

There was no massive explosion, silent and soundless.

The Venom Spider's incredibly hard foot joint was instantly vaporized by the projectile, leaving a smooth‑edged void.

Screech!

The Venom Spider let out a painful screech, its massive body tipping to one side as its center of gravity shifted, and the fatal step landed on empty air.

The severed foot crashed heavily a short distance behind the two, scattering a cloud of broken stone dust.

Qi Hengyu and Shen Zexi were both taken aback by the sudden turn, and as they stared at the foot that fell not far from them, the color drained from their faces, feeling a bit frightened.

Immediately after, the second shot arrived.

Again from an indeterminate distance, with equally terrifying precision, this shot directly hit the Venom Spider's crimson compound eye on one side.

The compound eye was hollowed out by the bullet, and foul‑smelling viscous blood spurted out.

The Venom Spider was severely wounded by this shot, emitting an even more mournful howl as its massive body twisted wildly, losing its pursuit target.

In the distance, a vague figure flashed across a towering broken wall, clutching in its arms the strange gun that had just fired the lethal projectile, engraved with numerous Runes.

"It's an Academy teacher!" Shen Zexi gasped.

The only ones who could arrive so quickly and provide support were the Academy teachers who constantly monitor the assessment area.

Go!

Qi Hengyu reacted instantly, grabbing Shen Zexi and sprinting forward.

The Ying Guang Lu ahead seemed to pause for a moment, but then kept charging forward without any break.

But he no longer deliberately slowed to lure the monster; instead he sped toward the distance.

Without wasting much more time, Ying Duo spotted the withdrawing main force, with several older teachers around solemnly maintaining order.

Everyone, immediately hand over the weapons obtained from the Academy to the designated area! a teacher announced over a megaphone.

The examinees queued, placing their assorted weapons into the collection boxes while discussing why the test ended early; the assessment was essentially finished, and most were relieved the incident happened on the way back to the Corroded Plaza.

Seeing this, Ying Duo deliberately ran to the back of the line, completely ignoring the strange looks from those around.

He was only focused on studying the suddenly appeared popup and the fresh experience he just gained.

Congratulations, you assisted in killing the area boss Venom Spider (Lv. 25); based on your contribution in this battle, you will receive the corresponding amount of experience.

Level increased to Lv. 8!

Level increased to Lv. 9!

Level increased to Lv. 10!

It seems that even if he dealt only minimal damage to the boss, experience is still awarded proportionally to the damage.

Along the way just now, the number of bullets he could fire was limited, and being so far away he couldn't tell how much of the boss's Blood Bar he had ground down.

Yet even this tiny share of experience, when combined with a level‑skipping boss kill, allowed him to jump three levels at once, showing how much experience an over‑level boss kill grants.

He also didn't know what loot the boss dropped; he had been focused on dodging its skills, and only realized the time to earn points for killing Aberrant Species had already ended, so he left so cleanly.

As expected, the level gap was too large; if his level were higher, grinding that dungeon would be easy.

Yang Yixie remained confident in his own maneuvers.

One minute later, the still‑shaken two finally made it back; after the recent free‑for‑all, both were pale, but it seemed their relationship had drawn a bit closer.

Qi Hengyu's gaze swept quickly over the long queue, locking directly onto that conspicuous splash of Ying Guang Lu.

"So you're the kid who lured the monster in, right?"

He strode up to Ying Duo; unlike Ying Duo's frail frame, Qi Hengyu, though a bit disheveled after the free‑for‑all, towered a head taller with a robust build that exuded considerable pressure.

The surrounding people all knew Qi Hengyu; when they saw him approach Ying Duo for trouble, they immediately cleared a wide area, fearing they'd get dragged in.

Ying Duo seemed only just now to realize that Qi Hengyu had come looking for him.

He turned his head slightly, his calm eyes fixed on Qi Hengyu, as if asking, "Do you need something?"

Ying Duo has no impression of Qi Hengyu, but according to Qi Hengyu's words......

When he just fled, it seemed that a few passing NPCs were encountered, but who cares?

After all, they're just roadside NPCs; they respawn when they die, and even if they didn't, what of it? He now seeks a one‑life clear, not a complete quest collection.

Seeing Ying Duo's expressionless face, Qi Hengyu felt a surge of nameless anger, and he grabbed Ying Duo's collar and lifted him up in one hand.

"I ask you......!"

"That classmate over there! What are you doing!"

Such a commotion naturally drew a nearby teacher; when Teacher Li Ya saw the two at the center of the chaos, she felt an immense headache and immediately guessed the cause of their clash.

She could understand Qi Hengyu—being inexplicably dragged into such a life‑or‑death crisis; she herself couldn't claim to feel no anger.

But the problem is......

Ying Duo's mind is truly sick.

Being serious with someone whose mind is flawed will never yield a result.