Absolute Death Game

Xiao Buli thought to himself that at least the monsters in this game dungeon played by the rules; they weren’t as perverse as the monsters in the wild, defying all logic. If the bosses were to block the entrance of the dungeon, that would be terrible.

The Pursuer, Zhou Kaihuang (Demonized Human Race), it’s really him! Xiao Buli looked at the former Hunter Trainer with mixed emotions. He couldn’t believe this guy had become a boss here. But upgrading from a light blue elite straight to a silver-class mini-boss—this kind of power boost was quite perverse indeed.

In front of Zhou Kaihuang were five demonized hounds, all elite monsters, one of them an enormous mastiff that was a high-level elite.

Seeming to have noticed the group’s arrival, Zhou Kaihuang started laughing without waiting for the fight to start, "Great, more prey has come to my doorstep. Now, my dogs won’t have to worry about going hungry." He then leaped down from the rooftop as he spoke.

Hua Yueying raised her hand and cast Mind Revelation, and the number on the health bar suddenly appeared above Zhou Kaihuang’s head—a full 4000 health points.

Finally, Zhang Yaoyang showed the qualities of a true team leader, "Alright guys, get ready to start. Tanks, take the front; healers, get ready; DPS, go all out, Let’s GO!"

The battle erupted in an instant, with the five hounds pouncing at Zhou Kaihuang’s command. Zhang Qiang lifted his shield, Wu Tao channeled his Internal Energy, and the two stood firm like nails at the forefront of the team.

Unlike the lock-on mode games they had played before, the definition of a tank in this game was very vague. Because the monsters were highly intelligent, they often chose to directly attack the cloth-wearing classes at the back of the team.

It was hard to protect teammates by generating threat, so tanks had to employ a human wall tactic, relying on their collision-sized bodies to block enemy attacks.

With a loud crash, the two men and the five dogs collided. The two deflected attacks to the left and right but alas, two dogs slipped through. However, they weren’t the only ones who could tank; Zhang Yaoyang whistled, and his two black and two yellow hounds attacked simultaneously. Although his dogs were outsized by the opposition, their numbers were an advantage.

Under two-on-one conditions, they barely held up. Zhang Yaoyang also took out a bow and shot sporadically. The main fighting power of a Beast Tamer was in their pets; the Beast Tamer himself wasn’t very strong in combat, but it was better than nothing.

The rest of the team went all out with their attacks. Meanwhile, Zhao Yunlong rode his warhorse, trying to outflank Zhou Kaihuang. The strength of a warrior lay in the ability to fight on horseback (though only outdoors), which considerably improved mobility. Zhao Yunlong circled around the battlefield and charged at Zhou Kaihuang with a spear thrust.

Suddenly, a rope trap sprang from under his feet, tripping Zhao Yunlong off his horse.

"Be careful, everyone, this BOSS lays traps," Zhao Yunlong shouted as he jumped up and continued fighting on foot, moving towards Zhou Kaihuang while being healed by Hua Yueying. But a silver-class BOSS didn’t have weak attacks. Running and shooting arrows was like kiting; after several rounds, Zhao Yunlong’s health was nearly depleted, and it couldn’t be healed fast enough.

Zhao Yunlong knew he couldn’t run—the arrows would reach him no matter how fast he was. Gritting his teeth, he called out, "Heal me, quick!" Just as his health was about to bottom out, a white light shield suddenly enveloped him, blocking the next two arrows. It was Xiao Buli’s Ethereal Armor saving his life.

Taking advantage of this brief respite, Hua Yueying’s Sweet Dew Curse finally lifted his health bar.

During the time Zhao Yunlong bought, the five hounds were finally taken down. Zhang Yaoyang said, "Okay, focus all firepower on the BOSS, tanks move to the front."

A swarm of melee classes rushed forward, surrounding Zhou Kaihuang. The BOSS, having lost the advantage of distance, was completely passive and couldn’t fight back. As the BOSS’s health dropped by one third, suddenly, Zhou Kaihuang leaped high and landed on the kennel.

With that, the melee fighters couldn’t continue their attacks and had to pull out their bows and throwing knives to shoot intermittently, while the ranged classes didn’t stop firing, continuing their full-on assault.

"Phase 2 coming up, be careful!" Zhang Yaoyang yelled.

Pursuer Zhou Kaihuang, "It looks like you’ve really got something. Now I’m going to get serious!" As he said this, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow, seemingly gathering strength for a shot.

A red line extended from his bow, locking onto Du Yibo, and a target-like mark appeared above Du Yibo’s head. As the most powerful damage dealer among them, the Five Elements Warlock was the first to be targeted by Zhou Kaihuang.

Just as Du Yibo was comfortably casting Giant Fireballs, a message suddenly popped up on his screen.

System Notice: You have been marked by the Hunter’s Eye.

Zhang Yaoyang was the first to react, "Not good, someone take the hit!"

The advantage of a non-targeting game was that ranged attacks like fireballs and arrows could be intercepted.

"I got it!" Wu Tao’s figure flashed suddenly between Du Yibo and the BOSS, invoking Qi-Protecting Aura, his internal energy in motion. A layer of white protective True Qi enveloped his entire body. In the next moment, a cold light pierced through him, and blood sprayed. Despite using his life-saving skills to absorb some of the damage, Wu Tao’s health points still dropped by nearly half.

"Damn, that’s some high damage. Someone else take over tanking next."

"Not good, I’m targeted too!" Hua Yueying also shouted. This time, Zhang Qiang stepped up, taking the hit for her.

"Everyone, watch out for his targeting skill. If you’re targeted, run behind the wall or get behind a tank."

A prompt suddenly appeared on Xiao Buli’s screen:

System Notification: You have been targeted by the hunter’s eye.

He looked around quickly and realized that it was too late to hide behind a wall or find a meat shield. He hurriedly commanded Coal Ball to move forward.

With a splatter, the plump Coal Ball was struck, losing a significant amount of health points, and entered a state of fury. It let out a howl and charged toward Zhou Kaihuang, then slammed into the dog house, getting stunned, and relentlessly circled beneath it.

Damn, so that works too?

Xiao Buli was completely speechless, quickly casting Resurrection Skills on Coal Ball twice. Once its health points recovered to over thirty percent, Coal Ball finally came back to its senses and sheepishly trotted back. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

They continued dealing damage for a while. In the meantime, the BOSS targeted several more victims, always picking on the cloth-armored classes with lower health points, but the members of the Green Dragon Group used various methods to block the attacks. As the BOSS’s health dropped to less than a third, it underwent another change.

Pursuer Zhou Kaihuang: "Hawk, your master needs your help!"

A sharp cry suddenly rang out in the sky, and a gigantic hawk swooped down from above.

Entering Phase 3, the BOSS reverted to its normal firing mode.

"Zhang Qiang, you pull the hawk. Everyone else keep up the damage."

Finally, with a scream, Zhou Kaihuang, whose health was drained, stumbled and fell off the dog house.

Lying on the ground, he stretched out a hand in defiance—

Pursuer Zhou Kaihuang: "I always knew that one day the hunter would become the hunted—ahhh!!!"

The members of the Green Dragon Group: "Yeah!"

Xiao Buli was also slightly excited. It was his first time actually taking down a BOSS in this game, and the feeling was thrilling. Although he was a newbie and acted cautiously, he managed not to make any mistakes.

He also witnessed the strength of the Green Dragon Group for the first time. Even though it was their first time facing this BOSS and they had no information on its skills, they relied on their quick reflexes and teamwork to achieve a one-shot victory without any casualties. Having such a team for dungeon runs did give some reassurance.

"Quick, check the body to see what dropped," the crowd clamored. Zhang Yaoyang, without any hesitation, dutifully approached Zhou Kaihuang’s corpse. "Hey, there’s an item that can trigger a mission."

PS: Here’s a 4,000-word gift.