Chapter 94: Boss Steal

Wu Shaochen, accompanied by Wu Ziyin and Yin Tai Lang, advanced forward. The map was mostly dark except for a center position that was clearly marked, indicating the true battlefield. All players’ ultimate goal appeared to be reaching that center area. There was a massive red dot there, likely signifying a powerful boss. Whoever reached and took down this boss could almost guarantee a spot on the leaderboard—assuming they weren’t killed before securing the kill.

The trio moved toward the center, easily taking down the Bloodthirsty Beasts they encountered. Though these beasts were strong in terms of attack, they only had 80,000 HP. Wu Shaochen’s poison dealt 12,000 damage per second, and with his own attack damage, it usually took about six seconds to kill each one, allowing them to maintain a fast pace.

Meanwhile, other players were having a much harder time. The average player level was around 22-23, while the Bloodthirsty Beasts were level 30. Unless players were in well-coordinated teams, they were often wiped out. This difficulty was largely due to Wu Shaochen’s rapid level progression. If the battlefield had been opened later, players would have had higher levels and better equipment, making the experience less brutal. As it stood, aside from Wu Shaochen, the highest-level player in the game was Yu Fei at level 25, still five levels below the Bloodthirsty Beasts.

“Dammit, this monster’s damage is insane,” someone complained on the public chat.

“Yeah, and it heals too! How are we supposed to fight this?”

“Forget this, we’re the prey here, not the hunters.”

Realizing the high difficulty of the battlefield, many of the top players formed teams before entering. For those who played as a group, the battles weren’t too tough, and many of them began climbing the leaderboard. This leaderboard was server-wide, and although Wu Shaochen was leading, his lead wasn’t by much.

As they ventured deeper into the battlefield, they encountered more and more Bloodthirsty Beasts. Even the top teams were slowing down, as players respawned at the spot where they died and had to start over. To maintain speed, they needed to avoid dying in the first place.

The battlefield was large, but the sheer number of players meant that it wasn’t long before people started clashing. Some players fought each other directly, while others tried to progress peacefully.

Not far from Wu Shaochen and Wu Ziyin, a team of assassins was clearing Bloodthirsty Beasts at an astonishing pace. The assassins’ skill and equipment were top-tier, and they advanced with brutal efficiency. The direction they were heading in was the same as Wu Shaochen’s.

At that moment, Wu Shaochen was fighting a larger-than-usual Bloodthirsty Beast, a Black Iron BOSS-class creature. This boss was significantly stronger than regular Bloodthirsty Beasts, but for Wu Shaochen, it was no trouble at all.

Just as the Black Iron Beast’s health was almost depleted, Wu Shaochen suddenly felt a sharp pain from behind, losing over 1,000 HP and being stunned. He didn’t react in time, and as he stood there dazed, the BOSS he had been fighting was taken down by four suddenly appearing assassins.

“Damn it, after chasing the ducks all day, I get pecked in the eyes by one,” Wu Shaochen muttered, inwardly warning himself. His constant lead had caused him to let his guard down, which was a mistake. Fortunately, it was only a Black Iron BOSS—if it had been a higher-tier BOSS, it would have been much worse.

The team that stole the BOSS didn’t seem to plan on letting Wu Shaochen and Wu Ziyin off easily. The leader waved his hand, signaling the other three assassins. Two rushed toward Wu Shaochen, while one headed toward Wu Ziyin.

“Heh, you really think I’m easy to bully?” Wu Shaochen growled, anger rising. As the stun wore off, he immediately activated his evasive skill, dodging the next control skill from the assassin behind him. He then retaliated with a heavy strike and a weak spot attack, taking the assassin down instantly. With his 2786 attack, a couple of skills were enough to kill the fragile assassins.

The other two assassins quickly reached Wu Shaochen. Seeing their teammate fall so quickly, they rushed at him with knives drawn. Wu Shaochen dodged one assassin’s stab but was hit by another’s backstab.

“-1435”

The assassin frowned when he saw the damage. With over 2,000 attack and the 50% defense penetration of a backstab, the damage was far lower than expected. Moreover, Wu Shaochen’s health barely seemed to move. The assassin got a bad feeling.

“Heh, is that all?” Wu Shaochen taunted, countering with a jab that stunned the assassin. The assassin tried to dodge, but his speed wasn’t enough. A second backstab followed by the first stunned attack took him out.

The remaining assassin hesitated and began retreating, but Wu Shaochen wasn’t about to let him escape. With his speed activated, he chased after the assassin, landing four strikes in one second, finishing him off. Meanwhile, the assassin attacking Wu Ziyin was swiftly killed by Yin Tai Lang.

The leader of the assassins, however, didn’t panic. Instead, he looked at Wu Shaochen with excitement. “Chen Feng?”

“Who are you?” Wu Shaochen asked.

“Heh, didn’t expect it to be you. I thought you were just some small fry for letting a Black Iron BOSS slip through your fingers. I really didn’t think someone like you would be number one on the server with such poor vigilance,” the assassin leader sneered.

“A Black Iron BOSS is no big deal. Look at you acting so proud. I’ll kill you, and my points will skyrocket,” Wu Shaochen said unhappily. Losing a BOSS kill was a humiliation for him, so he needed to kill this person to make up for it. The three assassins he’d just killed didn’t contribute to the leaderboard, but they would have been assigned to the leader of the group.

“Kill me? Heh, let’s see if you have what it takes,” the assassin leader replied, his eyes gleaming. “By the way, my name’s Hellbringer.” With that, he activated Stealth and began creeping toward Wu Shaochen.

“Hellbringer? The leader of Hell Gate? You sure are cocky!” Wu Shaochen murmured.

Watching the figure disappear into the shadows, Wu Shaochen did nothing but stand there lazily, waiting for the inevitable attack. He didn’t have any area skills to force the assassin out of Stealth, but with his confidence in his own attributes, he wasn’t worried about any sneak attack.

Hellbringer approached quietly, making no sound and disturbing nothing in the environment. This was a skill only a top-tier assassin could master. Many high-level players could detect the sound or disturbances caused by Stealth, but Hellbringer moved so silently that even the best couldn’t sense him.

What puzzled Hellbringer, however, was that Wu Shaochen didn’t seem to be listening for any sounds or observing his surroundings. He just stood there lazily, almost waiting for the attack.

“Damn, how is this guy number one on the server?” Hellbringer’s inner frustration grew. He had top-tier skills, with 100% defense penetration as his unique assassin talent, but he couldn’t understand why he was losing to such a lazy player.