Chapter 26: Hardcore Mode, First Clear!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The crowd’s eyes radiated simultaneously after having heard what Zhang Yang said!

Although they mentioned that they were willing to give up their intent of clearing the dungeon, but if there was a slight possibility of clearing it, each and every one of them would naturally tag along given the chance! As long as they could defeat this boss, they would obtain the ‘First Clear’ server announcement for Bangar Crypt. Having the entire server channel flooded with red messages about you, wouldn’t that be the greatest glory any player could ever receive?

Zhang Yang said, “Look over there, can you see a crack in the wall? After I initiate the battle, I need all of you to continue with the original strategy and clear the 2 minions. All ranged characters including the healers will then hide inside the crack while I defend the frontlines! I tried it just now and found out that the position where the crack is would not have any <Lava Pit>s and the boss’ <Flamethrower> would only hit me alone. Healers, just focus your healing on me!”

“How about us?” Phantom Day, Crimson Fire and Snowy Death awkwardly said.

“As for you all… Every man for himself!” Zhang Yang said casually.

“Big brother, that’s cold-blooded!” Snowy Death complained deliberately.

“Zhan Yu, you are despicable! You do realize my weapon attack is better, how could you just ditch me aside. Wuu wuu wuu, Silky Snow, please allow me to enter and be mine!” Phantom Day cried out.

Zhang Yang did some calculations. He found out that the base damage of <Flamethrower> is 500 and with the Guardian passive skill deducting 20% receiving damage, he would only receive 400 damage from the skill. Currently his HP was 520 points, and as long as the healers did their job to ensure his HP was always in its best condition, this boss would be as good as being in the bag.

“Let’s give it a try!” Zhang Yang unsheathed his sword and marked 2 Royal Guards with the star and sun icons.

“Here I go!” Zhang Yang stepped forward.

<Charge!>

When <Horizontal Sweep> was activated and Zhang Yang managed to establish the aggro, he cried out, signaling the initiative to attack like a war horn.

After a brief moment, the two minions were defeated.

“Good job! Now, ranged attackers and healers! Quickly enter the hole!” Zhang Yang shouted.

“Hehe. Quickly enter the hole! I like that very much!” Fatty Han smiled depravedly while the other male players joined in to let out a perverted giggle.

The comment was treated as a mere passing joke and the team quickly headed into the crack one by one.

Zhang Yang relocated his character to the front of crack and shielded the players behind him. Fatty Han laughed and said, “To the 3 guys out there, may God bless you!”

“Healers! Keep your heals focused only on me. The people inside will take no damage and you can ignore the other 3 outside! My HP will be dropping very quickly because I can only use <Block> to gain attack immunity. Healers, pay attention to the timing and drink blue pots. We will be wiped if your blue pots ran out before the boss dies!” Zhang Yang paused for a while and said, “Silky, do not cast <Holy Shield> and only use it when I tell you to!”

“Ok!” Silky Snow promised.

“Alright. Ranged attackers, deal as much damage as you can! As for the 3 players outside, try to contribute a little before you die by dishing out as much damage as you possibly can!” Zhang Yang twirled his sword and slashed the boss. Because Zhang Yang needed to remain in front of the crack, he could not evade much due to the limited space, fully utilizing the only defensive skill he had, <Block>. Even though he had 31 points of Defense, it was not enough to withstand the boss’ 200 Attack, so he had to absorb them all, resulting in his health dropping like a waterfall.

It was fortunate that the healers listened to his instructions and did not heal the others, only focusing on restoring Zhang Yang’s depleting HP. There was nothing to fear if the healers did not heal excessively.

‘Ding! Dadarerda had used <Lava Pit>, lasts for 120 seconds!’

Fortunately, there was only one pit on the boss’ left side, while the rest spawned far from the melee attackers. As long as the melee attackers remained vigilant, they would not be damaged.

“Silky! Shield now!” Zhang Yang commanded instantly when he noticed the boss pause his attacks while a progress bar appeared over its head.

Immediately, Silky Snow waved her tiny hands and a semi-transparent barrier covered Zhang Yang. <Holy Shield> was an instantaneous spell and there was no delay in casting!

‘Hong!’ Dadarerda opened its mouth wide and spat out a trail of flame.

‘-320!’ A huge, red text floated over Zhang Yang’s head indicating that he received damage. His initial HP of 389 immediately dropped to 69 HP. <Flamethrower>’s base damage was 500 points. The damage reduced to 320 points. 20% was deducted by Zhang Yang’s passive skill and 80 damage was absorbed by <Holy Shield>.

With Zhang Yang acting as the barrier in the front, the rest of the party was safe and sound. However, things were completely different for the other 3 outside.

The boss was leaning against the wall and since the game did not have a function that allowed one to phase through the walls, the 3 of them were pushed against the wall. With nowhere else to run, they had to receive the brunt of the boss’s attack head on.

‘Ding! Player Snowy Death had died!’

‘Ding! Player Crimson Fire had died!’

‘Ding! Player Phantom Day had died!’

“Wuu wuu wuu, how miserable!” Phantom Day cried in the party, “Silky Snow, please soothe me!”

Silky Snow merely replied with a smiling emoticon in the party channel.

Zhang Yang smiled wryly. This ‘flirtatious’ exchanges between Phantom Day and Silky Snow probably had a hidden motives. It was as though they were intentionally attempting to invoke Zhang Yang’s feelings of superiority so that he would try and wrestle for Silky Snow’s attention. Zhang Yang pondered about this while his hands showed no sign of slowing down. His sword waved relentlessly and the boss’ HP was plummeting!

Due to the terrain bug, the initially impossible boss fight had become extremely simple. Although the room was filled with <Lava Pit>, no one got hurt in the crack. Fatty Han and the others only needed to mindlessly attack, attack and only attack!

80%, 70%... the boss HP fell swiftly.

Zhang Yang checked the MP of Ocean Despair and Silky Snow, and his heart calmed. It should be enough to hold on until the boss was defeated.

60%, 50%… 10%, there was hope!

“Brother Zhan Yu, let’s make a deal. After the boss is defeated, is it possible to use the name ‘Lost Paradise’ for the party name in the announcement? Of course, it wouldn’t be for naught. We will transfer 100 thousand to your account as payment, how about it?” Crimson Fire sent a private message to Zhang Yang.

Using 100 thousand dollars to buy a server announcement sounded ridiculous. But if Zhang Yang agreed, Crimson Fire would be the one profiting.

At that time, ‘God’s Miracle’ had over 4 million online users, and out of that, 2 million users were solely based in China. That was no small amount. A server announcement would be a great advertisement for Lost Paradise. Just think of how many members they would be able to recruit after such an advertisement?

Additionally, the guild was a sponsored one. There would definitely be a reward waiting for them if they could get themselves a server announcement, and the amount would definitely exceed 1 million!

Who else but Crimson Fire could have thought of such a profitable trade?

Zhang Yang thought and said, “I don’t want money. I want ten thousand gold pieces!”

Currently, there was no exchange service between gold pieces and real life currency. However, there were private in-game currency traders! As the players’ level were still relatively low and the in-game currency generation is even lower, one gold piece was valued at 10 to 13 dollars. Which means 10 thousand gold pieces would be worth about 100,000 dollars.

Crimson Fire did not hesitate and replied, “Deal! But currently the gold piece production is very low. I would need several days to collect 10 thousand gold pieces!”

“Okay, deal!” Zhang Yang accepted and assigned the party leader to Crimson Fire. The battle was near its climax and the crowd heard the system notifications but did not respond.

Even though Zhang Yang agreed to the deal, he did have a few considerations to think off before he could accept it. First, the dungeon’s first completion was not all that fair. Second, he wanted to lay low and not attract too much attention. Third, he needed to collect a large amount of gold pieces to start stockpiling for his future plans!

Crimson Fire was surprised at Zhang Yang’s instant reaction. He said, “You were quick at passing the leader to me. Aren’t you afraid of me cheating you?”

“Keh keh, I can trust you!” Zhang Yang only said things that others would like to hear. In fact, he believed that a smart person like Crimson Fire would not want to make an enemy out of him for just 10 thousand gold pieces.

5%, 4%, 3%, 2%, 1%!

Hundred Shots fired his last attack and Dadarerda let out its last loud growl before falling.

‘Ding! You and your party have killed Dadarerda! Obtained 12,050 EXP (50 points Party Bonus)!’

‘Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained the First Clear of the Bangar Crypt (Hardcore Mode)!’

‘Ding! As a party leader, please name your party to be enlisted in the List of Hardcore Dungeon First Clear!’

An input box appeared in Crimson Fire’s interface. Naturally, he did not hesitate to key in ‘Lost Paradise’. Immediately, red notifications began to flood the server’s chat channel.

“Server Announcement: The party ‘Lost Paradise’ has successfully conquered the Bangar Crypt (Hardcore Mode), obtaining the First Clear server announcement (China Server)! Their names will be eternally etched in the Hardcore Mode First Clear Achievement Board!”

“Server Announcement: Player Crimson Fire (Party Leader) has obtained the reward for being the first to clear (China Server) Bangar Crypt (Hardcore Mode)! Obtained system reward of 10 gold pieces, 1 Skill Point, and all races’ reputation points increased by 500 points!

“Server Announcement: Player Zhan Yu (Party Member) has obtained the reward for being the first to clear (China Server) Bangar Crypt (Hardcore Mode)! Obtained system reward of 10 gold pieces, 1 Skill Point, and all races’ reputation points increased by 500 points!

“Server announcement…”

A huge uproar was triggered when the server’s chat channel was filled with the announcements.

“Seriously? I haven’t even passed Normal Mode and now someone even claimed the First Clear for Hardcore Mode?”

“I haven’t even left the beginner village!”

“Where did these strong players come from? This is only the second day and the First Clear of Hardcore Mode had already been taken!”

“Lost Paradise. Anyone heard of them before?”

“Haha, Lost Paradise is our guild! Our guild has experience in management and posseses proper reward and punishment regulation. All of you had just witnessed the strength of our guild, and right now we are still recruiting players! A Level 1 guild can only hold 10 thousand players. Slots were limited so it’s on a first-come-first-serve basis. Please do not miss this opportunity!”

“Request for babysitting!”

“Request for carrying!”

“Request for hugging!”

Under Crimson Fire’s management, his guild members traveled all over the place since the server announcement, taking advantage of this moment to scour everywhere in hopes of recruiting more skilled players.