Chapter 29: Chapter 29: A Good Friend Sees You Off
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Godlike player, are you so angry that you’re talking nonsense?” Invincible Truth asked.
“Um, you guys are really journalists?” Li Yao was speechless. What on earth was going on?
“Cough, cough, he’s a newbie I brought along. Don’t mind him, Godlike player.” Trace Under the Shadows calmed Invincible Truth down and said, “What do we call you, Godlike player? Can we become friends?”
Li Yao then realized, accepted Trace Under the Shadows’ friend request, and said, “I have long heard of you.”
“So, you’re Godlike Prairie Fire.” Trace Under the Shadows said with excitement.
“And me, and me.” Invincible Truth quickly sent a friend request, and then said, “At first I thought you were Godlike Starfire, but you’re a different person.”
Seeing Invincible Truth’s name, Li Yao was also taken aback. He didn’t expect to meet a celebrity, the future star reporter in the game.
His claim to fame was single-handedly damaging the reputation of a large guild, as it was said that this guild had framed his mentor. To take revenge, he had doggedly dug up scandals about this guild for several years.
By then, he was already a famous reporter. His reports were followed by many players and had as much impact as top-rated live commentators. He continuously made fun of the guild and used it as a negative example in his reports for years.
And yet, the examples he brought up really did exist. The guild tried all kinds of ways to hit back at him. However, as a reporter, he could change his identity. The guild was helpless, and although it never disbanded, it ended up discredited and virtually useless.
It was said that he had a good relationship with many superb players. When Li
Yao returned to the past, Invincible Truth was already one of the top ten reporters in the game. And these top ten weren’t just from China, but were
selected from all races.
He just didn’t expect this future star reporter to be so näive.
Li Yao gave a knowing smile, accepting his friend request, and said, “You must be talking about Starfire. We are good friends.”
“In that case, could you introduce us when you have the chance?” Trace Under the Shadows asked before quickly apologizing, “Sorry if we’re being too forward. We just met after all. There’s no need to go to the trouble if it’s inconvenient.”
“No big deal, when there is a chance.” Li Yao nodded in agreement. Making friends with a good reporter was also very important.
“Thank you so much.” Trace Under the Shadows was grateful. “I didn’t expect such a strong player to be so approachable.”
“Hey, hey, you two, why are you talking so much? The boss is about to be killed by them.” Invincible Truth was almost going crazy as he pointed at the boss. “My God, your hard-fought boss is about to be stolen by them. This is the first kill! Aren’t you anxious at all?”
Li Yao collected his thoughts and saw that only a little blood was left in the boss. He said indifferently, “Let them kill it. It saves me a lot of effort.” “Godlike player, what are you talking about?” Invincible Truth didn’t understand.
“Alright, stop blabbering, the Godlike player knows what he’s doing, just watch.” Trace Under the Shadows, being an experienced player, felt assured by Li Yao’s reaction.
The members of the Free Wanderer Studio were indeed a group of elite players, seamlessly cooperating. After the boss could no longer use its arm skills, although the studio members had fallen to level 2, the high-level equipment on them didn’t change unless actively taken off.
Their combat power wasn’t greatly affected. The boss with only a bit of life left was killed while Li Yao was chatting with the two. Its life was reduced to zero.
“We did it. We really did it.”
“We got the boss’s first kill.” “Great, Free Wanderer Studio is invincible.”
“The boss dropped purple gear.”
“You guys wait, the announcement is coming out. We got the boss’s first kill.”
The people in the Free Wanderer Studio began to fill all the major channels with messages. The main public channels buzzed with activity.
With one stone, they started a thousand ripples. Many people were asking them questions and expressing their envy, jealousy, and hatred. The news of the Free Wanderer Studio getting the first boss kill spread like wildfire. “Dude, thanks a lot.” Third Brother of Free Wanderer failed to hide his pride and waved at Li Yao.
Li Yao waved back with a smile and said, “Dude, you’re too polite. We’re all gamers here. Helping each other out will do us all good, right?”
The smile on Third Brother of Free Wanderer’s face stiffened as he thought to himself, ‘Is this guy out of his mind? He stole your boss. We’re enemies. This is not how the script should go.’
Even though he was confused, he casually responded, “Friends should be tactful. From now on, you’re a friend of the Free Wanderer Studio.”
“You’re too kind. I didn’t expect the leader of the well-known Free Wanderer Studio’s 2nd Regiment to be so magnanimous.” Li Yao said to the two, “Look, look, this is the demeanor a big Studio should have. All within the four seas are brothers. I didn’t believe it before, but now I do.’
Invincible Truth’s mouth agape, ‘What the hell is going on? You two are enemies. Why are you acting like blood brothers?’
Trace Under the Shadows held back his laughter, muttering, “Get this on video. This will go viral if it gets uploaded online.”
Li Yao pointed and kindly reminded them, “Guys, don’t get too excited. I think the boss has come back to life.
“What?”
Third Brother of Free Wanderer had his back to the boss. All the studio members were eagerly watching the screen, boasting and waiting for the colorful announcements to come out.
Hearing Li Yao’s reminder, a chill ran down Third Brother of Free Wanderer’s spine, as he frowned and said, “Dude, that’s not a funny joke.”
Li Yao nodded with seriousness and said, “I agree with you, dude, but this isn’t a joke, it’s the truth.”
“Nuts.”
Third Brother of Free Wanderer muttered, when suddenly he heard a mechanical click-clack sound.
Third Brother of the Free Wanderer had a bad premonition, and as soon as he turned around he saw the puppet, which was originally ruined, bursting into flames and charging at the crowd like a train.
“Everybody, get out of the way.”
Furious, Third Brother of Free Wanderer shouted. Because the boss was killed, most of the team members were gathered together. They were all looking at the various channels and enjoying the praises and various envious messages. They didn’t react at all to Third Brother’s shout.
They were already feeling incredibly relaxed. Their initial two failures had dampened their spirits, but upon defeating this boss, they suddenly became jubilant, eager to show off their victory.
No one expected that the boss, apparently dead, would reactivate.
Ferocious Tear Apart!!!
The dilapidated Puppet started tearing apart its metallic shell while running, with large chunks of debris splattering from it.
Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk…
Accompanied by the whirl of shell fragments, one player after another turned into white light and fell to the ground.
Boom…
Lastly, the Puppet collided with two elite players from the Comfort Studio who were still in a state of shock.
Then, as if in a metallic storm, a mixture of dense fragments and blazing fire scattered everywhere like a missile explosion.
The entire cave was shaking violently.
The last wave of fragments was too dense; even if the gamers from Comfort Studio had superhuman powers, they couldn’t have possibly evaded such a close and furious explosion.
In an instant, the remaining players in the cave were blown away and morphed into white light in mid-air. Their souls returned to the graveyard, leaving their shattered bodies scattered all around like ripped bags.
By a stroke of luck, The Third Carefree man ended up at Li Yao’s feet. He reacted a step faster but was only left with a dozen or so health points. He was scorched black all over, a stark contrast to his previous ebullience.
“Damn it, you set me up.”
Li Yao sincerely responded, “Bro, I reminded you, didn’t I? And besides, aren’t good friends supposed to help each other? Earlier, I helped you, and now, you’ve helped me. How nice is that! This is a real friendship, to be honest, I’m quite touched, it’s been a long time since I last felt this way.”
The Third Carefree man shakily pulled out a healing potion. Li Yao abruptly placed his foot on the man’s forearm, causing him to drop the potion which rolled away into the distance.
“What are you trying to do?” The Third Carefree man struggled to sit up, a glint of cold light flickering in his eyes.
Li Yao drew out the greatsword from his back and slashed at The Third
Carefree man’s neck, and then cheerfully said, “What do you think I’m doing? Of course, I’m sending you back to town. So long, bro, and you’re welcome.” Eh…
The Third Carefree man had only a little health left. With that strike, he was beheaded immediately, his head rolling to one side. Until his last breath, his eyes remained wide open, filled with confusion and anger.
The game characters Shadow Trace and Invincible Truth watched the still grinning Li Yao and shuddered. What the hell was this? One moment, he was acting buddy-buddy, and then without a second thought, he beheaded his ally. Even though it’s just a game, rarely would anyone use such cruel methods. Whether they were executed or the executor, such an act of beheading would likely leave a lasting psychological scar, lasting long after the game was over.
However, look at Li Yao. Without even looking at the equipment dropped by Comfort Studio, he rushed towards the boss wielding his greatsword. How ruthless.
Wait, something isn’t right. He is a Hunter, for crying out loud. Why is he taking a greatsword and marching straight to the boss, instead of using a bow and arrow?
Taken aback, the two men realized something was amiss. However, they were still taken aback by Li Yao’s display of dominance. They were starting to think that the friendly Li Yao might not be as friendly as he seemed. He was undoubtedly a smiling tiger.
Unlike what they thought, Li Yao didn’t lose his senses. He was playing strategically.
In the second phase, Moka, a ranged monster, held a huge-sized handgun. Its attacks were just as strong as the Puppet’s.
Its agility, free from the Puppet’s interference, is quite formidable. If pitted directly against the boss, Li Yao would surely be doomed.
The Ancient God World encourages and caters to solo players.
So as not to leave skilled solo players handicapped due to lack of good teams and unable to advance in their levels they have incorporated many interesting settings.
When a single player encountered a boss, they could engage in a showdown following a hidden mechanism called a Skill Breaker.
Upon breaking the boss’s skills, the boss would be visibly paralysed or brought down. Similarly, the boss, too, has the power to break a player’s skills. If the timing of the attack is not right, the player basically would be brought to the ground for two seconds, spelling almost certain death.
After a skill is broken, regardless of whether it’s a boss or player, the defense will be drastically reduced. Any attack during this stun period would be quite effective, comparable to landing a deadly blow on a vital weak point for a sure critical hit resulting in several times the usual damage.
But don’t think that breaking a skill is a cakewalk. To begin with, it requires knowing which skills the boss is going to use. Different skills require different timing and target positions to initiate a skill break.
Secondly, the opportunity to break a skill is often fleeting, and very difficult to exploit fully.
Lastly, even if mastered, a player cannot make a single mistake because that would mean death, which equates to losing a level.
This has resulted in very few players actually capable of effectively using the Skill Breaker on a wild boss due to the high penalty upon death.
True understanding of a boss doesn’t come easy. It couldn’t be acquired by playing once or twice.
Besides these, what matters the most is the reaction speed. This alone disqualifies 99-99% of players. Unknowingly, many great and average players have challenged the boss alone only to face a cruel death.
“Damn insects, it’s you. I will kill you.”
A shadowy figure standing two meters tall and holding a large caliber handgun, his race was indistinguishable. Only, his eyes were illuminated and were fixated on Li Yao.
Bang…
As the gun was fired, Li Yao used a Shadow Roll to dodge the bullet.
Seeing Li Yao roll next to the boss, Invincible Truth shouted, “It’s over now, we can’t dodge the boss’s large-caliber handgun from such a close range.”
“Hold your tongue! Quickly capture this from different angles.” Shadow Trace
“Hold your tongue! Quickly capture this from different angles.” Shadow Trace retorted.. He had a premonition; he was about to witness a new way of battling…