STAB-STAB-STAB-STAB!
SLICE-SLICE-SLICE-SLICE!
Daisuke was reckless, relentless, and ruthless. His strikes were shallow, barely grazing the surface, but it was the sheer speed and volume of his attacks that made them devastating. Each cut stacked debuffs upon debuffs, weakening Gorgothor’s defenses and stamina with alarming efficiency.
DING!
[The Lipanthyer’s Fang option effect has been activated, inflicting the Bleed Status. The target’s health will decrease by 0.5% per second for 30 seconds.]
DING!
[The Salamander’s Claw option effect has been activated, inflicting the Burn Status. The target’s health will decrease by 0.4% per second for 40 seconds.]
DING!
[The One-Hit Kill title effect has been activated, unleashing an additional 200% damage on the enemy.]
DING!
DING!
DING!
“Rawr!”
A mana-forged claw ripped through the throat of a Goblin without hesitation. Zephyr didn’t pause to watch the creature’s well-deserved demise; he was already leaping toward the next target, exchanging rapid blows. His Lifesteal and Magicsteal skills pulsed with each strike, replenishing his energy and vitality. Crackling blue lightning surged around him intermittently, arcing through the battlefield and electrocuting nearby foes.
Cornered now, the pup darted back into the narrow passageway where he and Daisuke had first entered, drawing the Goblins after him. Their snarls filled the air as they waved their weapons, rushing in blindly. Too late, they realized they had fallen into a trap—the confined space leaving them vulnerable. Zephyr’s plan paid off as a torrent of flames engulfed the pursuing horde, reducing them to charred remains.
Daisuke leaped back as the enraged Field Boss spun like a tornado, its massive arms battering the nearby Goblins with the force of a wrecking ball, sending them hurtling through the air like fragile ceramic figurines.
[Cosmic Cutter]
[Rank: Unique
Classification: Active Skill
Lvl: 1
Proficiency: 0%
Every fiber of your being is attuned to strength and speed. Energy courses into your weapon, enabling you to unleash a devastating strike with unparalleled swiftness.
Skill Effect:
▪︎ Equally distributing all Stat Points between Strength and Agility amplifies Attack by 250%.
▪︎ Once used, stat allocation returns to normal, and the Stat Reset skill is locked for 6 hours.
Mana Cost: 150
Skill Cooldown: 24 Hours]
[Meteor Smash]
[Rank: Unique
Classification: Active Skill
Lvl: 1
Proficiency: 0%
Every ounce of your being channels raw power, concentrating it into a singular, earth-shattering blow, crushing your target with the force of a falling meteor. When activated, all your stats are reallocated to Strength, allowing you to deliver an attack of overwhelming force.
Skill Effect:
▪︎ Reallocates all Stat Points to Strength, increasing Attack Power by 300%.
▪︎ Upon usage, Stat Points return to their original distribution, and the Stat Reset skill is disabled for 6 hours.
Mana Cost: 200
Skill Cooldown: 24 Hours]
Cosmic Cutter and Meteor Smash—these are undoubtedly my strongest attack skills. At first glance, their descriptions suggest that they simply tailor my stats to a specific build, resulting in a certain level of attack power.
In reality, if I manually invest all my stats into Strength, pushing my attack power to 200, activating Meteor Smash would amplify that by 300%, catapulting it to an astonishing 800.
While that sounds incredible, these skills are not without their drawbacks. Sure, they pack a punch, but is it really worth forfeiting the Stat Reset skill for a whole day?
Despite being ravaged by both Bleed and Burn debuffs, the Field Boss halted its spinning, its bulging eyes narrowing on the target of its fury. With a sound that echoed like a mix of a croaking frog and an ape’s roar, Gorgothor launched a sticky glob of saliva at the airborne human, aiming to pin the persistent pest against the cavern wall.
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With perfect timing, Daisuke crossed his daggers, deflecting the vile substance with the transparent barrier created by the Impeccable Parry skill. The hulking primate banged its chest in outrage as the loathsome human safely landed on his feet a short distance away.
As if possessed, the creature began to squirm, its cheeks and throat inflating to several times the size of its head. Daisuke’s eyes widened in alarm. He considered using the Battle Bow or Magic Chains to impede whatever the monster was attempting, but it was too late.
Pounding its chest like an enraged gorilla asserting dominance, the fiend unleashed a deafening shockwave from its lungs. The blast rippled through the room like a cyclone, sending the Goblins scrambling in a panic. Their desperate cries echoed as they were thrown into chaos, paralyzed and blinded by the brutal onslaught.
[Paralysis Status]
[Renders the target motionless by shocking the muscles and joints, temporarily incapacitating their ability to move. Duration is dependent on the level and grade of the weapon or skill used to apply the status effect, as well as the target’s level of resistance.]
[Blindness Status]
[Plunges the target into darkness, leaving them incapable of seeing or coordinating. Their accuracy and dexterity plummet by 90%. Duration is dependent on the level and grade of the weapon or skill used to apply the status effect, as well as the target’s level of resistance.]
“Aurggh!”
Daisuke groaned, pressing his hands against his ears as blood began to seep between his fingers. He squinted up at the looming creature, but his vision swayed and blurred, making it difficult to focus on the monstrous form before him.
DING!
[You were subjected to a debilitating attack. Αφινίτη’s Blessing has countered the threat and preserved the integrity of your motor skills.]
DING!
[You were struck by an impairing attack. Αφινίτη’s Blessing has intervened, safeguarding the integrity of your vision.]
…This sensation, Daisuke grunted. It’s almost like… G-force. I remember reading that when G-force pushes blood to the lower extremities, it can lead to temporary blindness and other problems. Is that what I’m experiencing?
Shoving the thought aside, Daisuke quickly popped several Vitaberries into his mouth, desperate to heal his damaged eardrums. Just as he regained focus, he caught sight of the gloating fiend, readying itself for another strike. Capitalizing on Daisuke’s supposed disorientation, the beast launched its thick tongue, intent on ensnaring and pounding him into paste.
Daisuke swiftly sprang into action, jamming a Poison Bomb into a Goblin’s mouth before kicking it straight into the path of the incoming tongue. Unable to stop the inevitable, the hapless creature got pulled into Gorgothor’s gaping maw. As the Field Boss gagged on its unexpected meal, the toxic fumes spread throughout the area, poisoning both it and the nearby Goblins in a choking haze.
SWISH~
Zephyr darted through the remaining horde of incapacitated Goblins, dispatching them to the netherworld.
BOOOOOM!
Gorgothor let out a pained howl as a Flarial Seed detonated in its gut, its massive head tilting back in excruciating agony as black smoke seeped from its gaping jaws. The unfortunate Goblin that was trapped in its mouth fell limply to the ground, its head blackened and charred.
Seizing the moment, Daisuke and Zephyr lunged at the floundering ape like a bat out of hell, their fangs, claws, and daggers relentlessly tearing into flesh like a hot knife through tofu.
Suddenly, the Berserk skill wore off, and Zephyr helplessly collapsed to the ground. Just as the pup was about to be caught and crushed by the beast’s steely grip, Daisuke swooped in, snatching him up and tucking him safely into his shirt.
Without missing a beat, he activated Magic Chains and swiftly wrapped them around the weakened fiend. Then with a burst of energy, he leaped off the walls, propelling himself upward and kicking off the ceiling above.
Unable to break free, Gorgothor tilted its head back and snarled, unleashing another sticky glob of saliva. Daisuke reacted instinctively, hurling a Frost Prism into the projectile’s path, freezing it solid mid-flight before shattering it with a Magic Missile. In the next instant, he plummeted down like a bolt of lightning, driving both daggers deep into the creature’s eye sockets.
Gorgothor thrashed and bellowed as its bulging eyeballs exploded like overripe fruit. Just before its enormous arms could swat him away, Daisuke propelled himself off the beast’s face, landing at a safe distance. Drunk by the embers of battle, and the all-consuming need for self-preservation, he slowly began pacing forward, his daggers slick with green blood, golden eyes gleaming with cold malice.
Gorgothor sensed nervously as the harbinger of death approached, and a twisted grin spread across the fiend’s features—a mocking acknowledgment of its impending defeat. But it had absolutely no intention of perishing alone.
With a deafening crash, it slammed its fists into the ground with the remainder of its strength, sending tremors rippling through the earth. The ground shattered beneath Daisuke’s feet in a sudden, unforgiving collapse, sending both him and the monster plummeting in the gloom.
DING!
[Haxks has slain the Field Boss «Gorgothor».]
[124,200 Experience Points have been acquired.]
[Level Up!]
[Ironhide Bulwark has been acquired.]
[Antarctic Balm x3 has been acquired.]
[Lunar Dew x2 has been acquired.]
[Reinforcement Tablet x2 has been acquired.]
[Celestial Cube (Blue) has been acquired.]
[Crystalized Poison Sac x2 has been acquired.]
[Silver Ingot x2 has been acquired.]
[Gold Ingot x4 has been acquired.]
[677 gold has been acquired.]
[Zephyr’s level has risen!]
***
While Daisuke’s fate was currently shrouded in mystery, the same couldn’t be said for his reputation. Over the past several hours, countless news channels, social media platforms, blogs, and internet forums across the real world buzzed with one name: Haxks.
The unprecedented pace at which this person slayed special-grade monsters had captivated the world, sparking endless debates. Was Haxks a player or an NPC? And more importantly, how was it possible for someone to achieve such a remarkable feat? The internet was ablaze with speculation, and everyone was desperate for answers.
The familiar chime of a popular theme song drifted from a large television mounted on the wall, filling the cozy living room of a family home.
“Give it here!” shouted one twin, tugging at the TV remote, trying to pry it from his brother’s grip. “It’s my turn to choose cartoons! You had your turn yesterday!”
“Nuh-uh!” the other snapped back, clutching the remote tighter. “I let you take my turn yesterday, so I get to pick today!”
“Says who? It’s not my fault you gave up your turn, dummy!”
While the twins bickered endlessly, their older brother casually swooped in and snatched the remote. Without even bothering to take off his school bag, he flopped onto the couch and urgently cranked up the TV’s volume. The twins exchanged a glance but didn’t dare say a word.
— “Welcome back to The Virtual Wire,” announced a familiar, energetic voice from one of Sehreneti Online’s most beloved anchors. “In the six years since Sehreneti Online launched, only a few events truly rocked the community: the initial release of the game, of course, and the rollout of the first expansion.
Now, for the third time in SO’s history, the community is in an uproar—all thanks to one individual: Haxks! So, what exactly has this person done to shake up the game to such an extent, you ask?
Well, finding Field Bosses, Hidden Dungeons, and Named Monsters is usually like searching for a needle in a haystack—they’re nearly impossible to locate. But Haxks hasn’t just found them; he’s managed to take them down solo, all in an astonishingly short amount of time!”
Chucking the remote aside, the teen paid no mind to his younger brothers who immediately dove after it like Olympic divers, tumbling in a tangled mess.
Once in his room, he tossed his bag carelessly to the side, collapsed onto his bed, and slipped a Tootsie Pop into his mouth. Fishing his phone out of his pocket, he began scrolling through the latest trending articles: Godlike Hacker or the Luckiest Player Alive?, Haxks: Dev or GM in Disguise?, and Enigma of the Century. His finger hovered briefly before settling on The Mysterious Noob! How Do We Find Him? With a faint smirk, he tapped the headline and scrolled straight to the comments section.