Chapter 352 - 328: How High-End Professional Players Jungle
Under the guidance of the Demon Tracking skill, Lee Min-ho’s team cautiously entered a path Da Fei had never ventured into. It’s hard to deny that, even as the world’s top-ranked professional player, he couldn’t traverse the unknown darkness as composedly as Da Fei.
Lee Min-ho deeply realized there’s much room for improvement. Well, Lee Min-ho would never admit to being inferior to anyone in any aspect; even if temporarily lacking, it was just a difference in developmental focus, and he would surely catch up in the future. His personality was too proud to compare with others.
A section of the wall had collapsed massively, blocking half of the canal path that appeared before him. The aura of demons emanated from a pile of collapsed rubble within.
This is the hidden scenario in a hidden map! Lee Min-ho couldn’t help but smile knowingly. No wonder Da Fei overlooked it. While amateur players were still at the stage of using visuals to hunt for treasure, professional players had already reached the realm of "tracking auras." This was the gap between professional and amateur players.
After digging, a decaying iron door appeared before him.
As a Ranger, Lee Min-ho’s Reconnaissance Skill was, of course, not low. Picking locks on regular outdoor instance treasure chests was no problem, let alone that he had high-end equipment like the "Universal Key" to enhance lock-picking success rates.
——System Prompt: Unfortunately, you failed to pick the lock.
Lee Min-ho laughed! For someone of his caliber, encountering a decent challenge was a genuine joy. What’s more, the more difficult the hidden scenario in a hidden map was to enter, the greater the rewards it implied!
Lee Min-ho pulled out a shiny gold Blessing Scroll, then a cold shimmering Frost Blast Scroll, and attempted again!
Boom! With a muffled sound, the rotten iron door exploded open, and a pungent thick smoke rushed out!
——System Prompt: You’ve discovered the hidden abandoned laboratory in the sewer. Powerful challenges and opportunities await you! (Warning: This scene is extremely difficult, please be cautious when entering!)
Lee Min-ho was grinning with satisfaction; what he craved were powerful challenges! If even he, the world’s number one, couldn’t handle such a scene, then who could? He entered.
The scene changed, revealing an equipment-illuminated, mist-shrouded dim hall, with a massive bull-like dark red Flesh Beast in the center—indeed a demon! This demon was a laboratory concoction pieced together from the flesh of different creatures, lying between Undead and Demon. It’s also a favorite unit for Undead players to modify and develop.
The surrounding space was stacked with human-height bottles and jars, each soaking human corpses! At this moment, a dark cloud suddenly appeared over the heads of the troops.
——System Prompt: Warning! Your troops have contracted "Corpse Poison Plague," decreasing movement speed, attack speed, stamina limit, and life limit continuously! The Corpse Poison Plague may spread to other players, with unknown duration!
——System Prompt: You are currently affected by the plague; if you can completely overcome its effects or collect 10 Hero’s Proofs during it and qualify, you’ll earn the achievement "Corpse Poison Plague Antibody": troop stamina limit +5%, life limit +5%, move speed +5%, attack speed +5%. The plague’s effect on your troops will reduce by 50%. Rewards will be sent to your account in your region post-competition.
The sudden change startled Lee Min-ho! Though he faced many challenging scenarios in beta, encountering situations where stat decrease began right at the entrance was new, but never this severe! What’s particularly outrageous is that it reduced the maximum life and stamina limits!
Isn’t this plague an enhanced version of the Undead Race’s level 5 Necromancer Plague and level 7 elite Plague Dragon? If he holds out and gains the achievement, it would nullify threats from these two major Undead Race units to him! This trip wouldn’t be in vain!
How to withstand it? Of course, the answer lies with the one who rings the bell; eliminate this boss first! Lee Min-ho immediately pulled out a green-glowing scroll, crushing it decisively!
——System Prompt: You used the "Summon Ancient Guardian" scroll, and the Ancient Guardian will fight for you for 30 seconds!
The hall floor rumbled as massive tree roots erupted from beneath the boss, firmly entangling it!
Attack! Lee Min-ho’s team launched a full-scale assault!
Having no tank is fine; with this God-level Magic Scroll, there’s no boss Lee Min-ho can’t handle! Especially a Demon Boss! As for how these high-end scrolls were obtained, of course, professional teams went everywhere unlocking chests, digging up treasures, and completing tasks. High-end scrolls are the fundamental insurance for players to defeat bosses beyond their level at this stage. A single high-end scroll in the early game sufficed to determine a professional player’s starting line. At the same time, high-end scrolls also stood as the biggest variables in competitions. Only players equipped with scrolls to handle all kinds of situations had the confident assurance. As a one-time use item, scrolls once used in a competition couldn’t be accessed next time on the competition server.
At this time, the immobile boss entangled by the tree roots let out a shrill wail, a cascade of bottles and jars around the room exploded, and the bodies soaked in them shattered, sending countless blood-red maggots surging from all sides!
In this instant, even a seasoned player like Lee Min-ho couldn’t remain calm! Unavoidable, Lee Min-ho pulled out another gold-glowing Great Healing Technique Scroll and a Thorny Guard Scroll! In any case, eliminate the main boss first!
...
While Lee Min-ho was engaged in a cost-heavy battle in the hidden instance, the Japan Region’s professional player Haidao Yigong, who had been tracking him, wasn’t going to wander aimlessly in the dark.
Haidao Yigong’s tracking tool was a dog, the Hell Three-headed Dog! Being from hell and having three heads, its tracking ability was at least three times more effective than regular hunting dogs. In fact, Hellhounds span a wide spectrum of power, and the legendary Cerberus, with a name, served as a gate-guarding Divine Beast for the Nether God. Even as an elite form of level 3 soldiers, the Hell Flame Demon Dog, also known as Little Fire Dragon, is not the same creature as the ordinary Hellhound.
This Hellhound of Haidao Yigong was a mutated breed. As previously mentioned, when players recruit troops in the city, there’s a slight chance of recruiting units with additional skills, such as Instructor Skills. Hence, his Hellhound’s special skill is "Guardian Tracking," which can sense danger from afar and track it. This Hellhound’s value is immeasurable, unmatched by ordinary boss units. Players fortunate enough to acquire such a Hellhound equate it to winning a lottery.
Of course, as a professional player, one couldn’t rely on just a dog alone. Haidao Yigong’s high-end hidden skill "Desecrate" also helped him track Living Spirits, especially the aura of Bright Creatures. At this time, Haidao Yigong, with Desecrate activated, led the Hellhound forward.
Thus, the realm of high-level professional players since the beta no longer relied on visuals. While average players felt alone and thought their ambushes and Stealth were effective, they were already seen as jokes through the eyes of high-level players.
As they advanced, the Hellhound began barking furiously. Simultaneously, a large bright spot appeared on Haidao Yigong’s mini-map! Is this the aura of a Bright Creature!? Even an Angel couldn’t show such a large bright spot! What could this be? A creature more high-end than an Angel? Regardless, it couldn’t be a player!
Should he go see? Haidao Yigong immediately consulted his superiors.
Igarashi replied without hesitation, "Go check it out! For us, seizing major benefits is top priority; if beaten, we can gather all team members there!"
If the discovery was of a creature possibly more high-end than an Angel, then besieging the China Region became a trivial matter to delay, making any sacrifice necessary to acquire it!
Now, everyone at the Mitsubishi Command Center watched the screen intently as the camera advanced. Finally, a dazzling golden light appeared ahead in the dark passage! The entire command center reacted with astonishment!
As if fearing anyone would disturb this light, Igarashi urgently motioned for silence and excitedly instructed, "Observe quietly, without alarming it!"
"Heii!" Haidao Yigong immediately summoned a small bat, the camera advancing with it, revealing an entire golden cockroach the size of a dog!
The entire command center was astonished: "How is it possible to have a cockroach with a Light Attribute?"
Captain Tsukamoto suddenly realized: "MVP! It must be the MVP!"
Igarashi was taken aback, immediately stating, "Get in touch with friends in the United States, see if there’s an MVP on the battlefield!"
MVP, commonly means "Most Valuable Player." In this game, the map is configured with a Most Valuable Boss! Defeating this boss would also grant unimaginable rewards, and similarly, its difficulty was likewise unimaginable!
Soon, Igarashi received a response from the developers: "Indeed, we have an MVP! Each arena has hidden scenarios, and each hidden scenario has an MVP monster. However, this boss has Divine Protection and a high escape intelligence. First, congratulations on your excellent skill to discover our MVP, but our development team is eager to see if you can defeat this MVP!"
"Heii! Thank you for your instruction!" Hanging up the call, Igarashi excitedly waved his arms wildly: "It’s the MVP! Mr. Gao Chang! The American development team doesn’t believe anyone can take down the MVP, what do you say?"
Haidao Yigong took a deep breath, "Yes, we can!"
The entire command center shouted in unison, "Mr. Gao Chang, do your best!"
The Japan Region surely had this confidence! Because the Hell Race are masters of space, high-end Hell Demon Kings could draw enemies into an Otherworld showdown, rendering escape or reinforcements impossible! And just so, Haidao Yigong held such an "Otherworld Showdown" God-level Scroll!
Japan Region was set to reap the biggest reward of this arena! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, we welcome you to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is the biggest motivation for us. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)