The wind fiercely slashed over, Jiang Ye closed her eyes, her hearing sharper than ever.
She tracked the sound of the wind and sidestepped.
It was faster than thought.
A blade-like wind grazed Jiang Ye's nose.
This time, Jiang Ye wasn't hit, nor did she lose any HP.
A confident smile played on her lips.
Yes, her deduction was correct.
Although she didn't yet know what the monster in the room was, it could be clearly inferred from the known conditions that it appeared when she couldn't see it and moved according to sound. That's why it attacked her the moment she turned to look at the Monk Seal.
Once she understood the monster's attack mechanism, everything became manageable.
Jiang Ye began to feel fortunate she had the Egg Yolk Jellyfish, as this thing was like a sensor light, turning on and off as needed.
It could be used to intercept attacks.
As long as the Egg Yolk Jellyfish lit up the moment an attack was sensed, all problems would be solved.
However, this wasn't a permanent solution.
In this inescapable room, facing the opponent directly, attacking them, and achieving victory was the simplest, most core, and only way.
Only by doing so could the game proceed.
Lighting up, while a good opportunity for Jiang Ye to avoid damage, also prevented her from finding and attacking the opponent.
It was a double-edged sword.
If she were to gamble, she could only gamble in the darkness.
Although the attacks had repeatedly come from the wind, Jiang Ye believed the opponent she faced was definitely not an intangible thing like the wind.
A knife cannot cut water, nor can it block the wind.
Unless, it was a wisp of smoke⦠materialized, with a physical form, capable of being attacked.
Countless strategies flashed through Jiang Ye's mind, and finally, she chose to take a risk.
When she ordered the Monk Seal to make a sound again in the darkness, Jiang Ye stood in front of the Monk Seal. After dodging a gust of wind, she raised her hand and fiercely thrust upwards.
[-143]
A red icon popped up.
It worked!
Jiang Ye employed this tactic again, using sound as bait, relying on her agility to dodge while using the momentary time difference to attack the spot she had just dodged.
Each time, she precisely dealt damage to the enemy.
The enemy was probably not a complete idiot and quickly realized the problem.
When the Monk Seal made a sound and Jiang Ye waited for a long time without an attack, she knew the opponent had understood her intentions.
This monster was quite intelligent.
Jiang Ye and the Monk Seal stood together. The Egg Yolk Jellyfish lit up. She even had the leisure to pour herself a cup of water from a kettle in the room, sat down, and took a sip.
Jiang Ye's fingertips were stained with some tea, which she spread on the wooden table.
Though it seemed profound, Jiang Ye was just drawing an old man.
She habitually cleared her thoughts in this way before re-evaluating the current situation.
What she had felt just now was definitely not an attack thrown by the opponent, like wind blades. If that were the case, the opponent would not have been harmed by her Bone Knives' thrust.
Weapons could not deal damage to weapons.
Unless, the thing attacking her was a part of the opponent.
Thinking this, Jiang Ye felt that the enemy she faced was somewhat like an octopus.
Detaching tentacles to survive.
A thought struck Jiang Ye.
She sat upright, extinguished the Egg Yolk Jellyfish's light, and summoned the Blanket Octopus.
The Blanket Octopus glowed in the dark, like beautiful rosy clouds, or like a tempting, swaying candle flame in the night, flickering, shaking, beckoning one to blow out the flame with a gentle breath.
Jiang Ye picked up a strip of cloth and carelessly tied it over her eyes.
The Blanket Octopus's tentacles began to move erratically. It floated in mid-air, touching things in the room, making faint rustling sounds.
Jiang Ye listened, unmoved.
At this moment, her thoughts were merged with the Blanket Octopus.
She could feel the attacks encountered by the Blanket Octopus's tentacles, and she could also feel the wind from all directions after sounds appeared in different directions.
And the octopus caught the wind.
Just like bedsheets on a wide balcony perpetually inflated by the wind, the Blanket Octopus's entire lower body spread out into a brilliant, tangible net. This net suddenly retracted inwards, closing. If anyone saw it, they would undoubtedly realize this scene was unexpectedly like a Venus flytrap capturing its prey.
The wind was trapped.
Jiang Ye began to move.
As she moved, the black cloth strip on her face remained untied.
She acted based on the shared senses of herself and the Blanket Octopus.
A player could cooperate with their pet with perfectι»ε₯.
Every time the Blanket Octopus left a gap, Jiang Ye would thrust her knife into it. As soon as she felt the enemy was injured, Jiang Ye wouldn't linger. She would immediately withdraw. The Blanket Octopus would then close its lower limbs and continue to provide Jiang Ye with space to attack from another direction.
In addition, the Blanket Octopus itself was constantly devouring the opponent.
With the combined damage, Jiang Ye could see the enemy's rapidly decreasing HP in the darkness.
Seeing that the enemy had only about 1/3 of its HP left, Jiang Ye ripped off the black cloth strip.
The world was bright before her eyes.
The monster she thought would disappear did not.
It was still enveloped by the Blanket Octopus, wriggling, like a bomb ready to explode at any moment, instilling a sense of danger.
"Quick, let go!" Jiang Ye immediately commanded.
The Blanket Octopus's limbs loosened. Jiang Ye quickly operated to recall it, but it was too late.
With a bang.
The Blanket Octopus splattered into pieces, then turned into light spots and returned to Jiang Ye's backpack.
It entered a dormant state and could not be summoned again for a while.
Jiang Ye found it difficult to describe her feelings at this moment.
She used to play summoners in games, and even if her pets died one after another, she didn't feel much. Because in those scenes, the pet pets simply vanished with a 'ε»'. No game was as cruel as this, materializing every detail so vividly.
The Blanket Octopus's blood seemed to still cling to Jiang Ye's face, scaldingly hot, yet it sent a chill through her entire body.
Jiang Ye even felt that her pets, her companions, were not mere data, but living beings.
She gritted her teeth, a sense of guilt arising within her.
This time, it was her misjudgment.
She had thought she could control the situation, monitor the opponent's HP, turn on the light during the final 1/3 HP burst phase, make the opponent disappear, and then find a way to deal with them.
But unexpectedly, she had miscalculated.
The Egg Yolk Jellyfish lit up, light appeared, but the opponent did not disappear.
After defeating the Blanket Octopus with an explosive attack, Jiang Ye slowly saw the opponent's appearance through a bloody mist.
It was a child.
But not just a child.
To be precise, it had an infant's face, a childish expression, and a small head, but its body was like a centipede, with countless arms and two dangling legs.
Jiang Ye looked up and met its gaze.
The monster child grinned.
"Sister, hide-and-seek isn't fun at all."
When it spoke, its voice was strange.
Jiang Ye had never imagined that so many sounds could come from one person's mouth. It sounded like a boy, yet it mixed with the mature voice of a middle-aged man and the voice of an old grandpa. It seemed like countless men existed within its body.
"Let's play something else." It cackled.
As soon as this laugh ended, Jiang Ye felt its hand detach from its body and fly towards her.
Jiang Ye kicked it away. When she steadied herself, she gripped her exclusive Bone Knives in both hands.
She was too lazy to waste words, with only one thought in her mind.
βAvenge the Blanket Octopus.
The child played with Jiang Ye tirelessly. At first, Jiang Ye just dodged. Once she roughly understood the opponent's attack pattern, she steadied herself and attacked without hesitation.
There was the ancient art of Dual Blades Style, and Jiang Ye created her own Bone Knives Dual Blades Style.
Initially, Jiang Ye's attacks were a bit clumsy, as she was trying to use her class skills while attacking.
But fortunately, her learning ability was fast. Before the moves became old, Jiang Ye had mastered everything, becoming as skillful as if she had been a player for a long time.
The light flashed by the Bone Knives grew faster and faster.
One silver light after another, constantly accelerating, accelerating.
In the end, it reached a point where it was almost invisible to the naked eye.
At a certain moment, Jiang Ye even felt a surge of power within her body. There was another her behind her, a phantom, attacking alongside her.
When Jiang Ye's two Bone Knives were firmly lodged in the child's shoulders, pinning it to the wall with gritted teeth, Jiang Ye didn't hesitate. She slightly tilted her head back, began a wind-up, and then with a 'snap' moved forward, her forehead directly colliding with it.
This collision was no small matter.
Jiang Ye even felt the entire room shake.
Her forehead was completely fine, but the little monster's head looked not so good.
Its skull was shattered.
Jiang Ye glanced at the top of its head. This guy's HP was down to the last bit.
"Heh." Jiang Ye sneered, "Brat, did your mom ever tell you not to play games with others without their permission?"
As Jiang Ye's words fell, she plunged the Bone Knives in her hands into the little monster's already shattered brow.
Clang!
The entire house let out a loud noise.
Simultaneously, there were piercing screams and cries.
Everything in the house where Jiang Ye was began to twist, and the picture started to become unclear. Jiang Ye stood up, without putting down the Bone Knives in her hands.
Her eyes were still filled with the will to fight.
The house collapsed, crumbled, and then pieced itself back together, as if space was being reorganized.
The once cozy little hut had now become dimly lit, exuding a deathly aura everywhere, making it hard to breathe.
Jiang Ye looked around the room and pushed the door open.
The door, which had been tightly locked moments ago and couldn't be opened even with force, now opened with ease.
Jiang Ye stepped forward. Before her eyes, Li Family Village had returned to its prosperous state, unlike the desolate and strange appearance she had just seen.
Jiang Ye frowned slightly.
Just as she was about to say something, a woman with a black mole on her face ran towards her, wearing a bright red dress, looking particularly festive.
Her first words upon seeing Jiang Ye were: "Hey, hey, hey, Miss Li, why are you coming out?"
"Miss Li?" Jiang Ye's frown deepened. She pointed to herself.
"Yes, aren't you Miss Li, Li Siyu?" The woman glared at Jiang Ye. "You girl, are you still groggy from sleep? I am, I am! Matchmaker Li!"
Jiang Ye was bewildered until she slightly turned her head and looked at a small puddle nearby.
In the small puddle, she saw the figure of another woman.
It was Li Siyu, whom she had encountered when she first entered this trial.
Jiang Ye stared at the puddle.
Suddenly, the woman appearing in the rippling water flashed a meaningful smile.
Jiang Ye raised her hand and touched the corner of her mouth.
At this moment, she was not smiling.
The one truly smiling was Li Siyu.
Jiang Ye followed Matchmaker Li's words and returned to the house.
Interesting, Jiang Ye thought.
She had encountered gameplay where players possessed NPCs to advance the story in games before, but the tactile experience of keyboard games could not compare to full immersion.
This eerie, immersive sense of presence ignited all of Jiang Ye's combativeness and piqued her curiosity.
She glanced at the remaining time for the dungeon while sitting on the bed as instructed by the Matchmaker NPC.
Soon, Matchmaker Li came in, saying she had made her a bowl of porridge.
Jiang Ye couldn't refuse and had to proceed according to the plot requirements. She raised her hand and drank the porridge in one gulp.
Immediately after, Jiang Ye felt herself faint. In a daze, she felt someone fussing over her.
When she opened her eyes, her first reaction was to check how much time was left in this trial dungeon. After confirming she had ample time, she then paid attention to her surroundings.
To her surprise.
She, who was originally in the wooden hut, was now placed on an altar.
Her limbs were bound, unable to move. Jiang Ye strained to look down and realized she was wearing a clean white robe, utterly holy.
This robe was exactly the same as the one Li Siyu wore when she entered the dungeon.
Realizing this, Jiang Ye's scalp tingled.
Familiar with various game plots, she instantly foresaw what was about to happen.
As expected, the scene before her was a deception.
These people from Li Family Village wanted to pray for the Mountain God's blessing by sacrificing Li Siyu.
And the so-called Mountain God was merely an intangible entity, neither human nor ghost.
Amidst chanting in a Fujian dialect, Jiang Ye, still possessing Li Siyu's body, saw the so-called Mountain God.
It was high above, like a ball of black mist, ethereal and turbulent.
"Li Siyu, do you hate it?"
In a blank sea of the heart, the black mist asked.
"I hate it."
The one answering was not Jiang Ye, but Li Siyu.
"Li Siyu, do you want revenge?"
The black mist asked again.
"I do,"
Li Siyu continued.
Jiang Ye could not stop or interfere with this series of dialogues. The current situation was like an unskippable cutscene encountered in a dungeon.
The only difference was that unlike in the past, where she sat in front of a screen and watched as an outsider, Jiang Ye was now part of the play.
Jiang Ye could clearly see through Li Siyu's eyes that every time Li Siyu answered the black mist's questions, the invisible black mist would slowly change shape, gradually tracing Li Siyu's appearance.
The smile on her lips was something Jiang Ye was all too familiar with.
This was the person she had seen by the small puddle just now.
"Give me your body,"
The black mist's voice was gentle, as if coming from the mountains, making one unable to resist but to listen.
"Give me your body, and I will fulfill all your wishes."
Li Siyu hesitated.
At this moment, Jiang Ye's consciousness took the lead.
Two plot options popped up before her.
Branch one: Give control of the body to the black mist. Branch two: Refuse and fight the black mist.
Jiang Ye chose the second option without hesitation.
Wasn't this clearly a BOSS fight?!
"You dare refuse me!"
The moment Jiang Ye pressed her choice, the black mist, originally gentle as water, changed its tune. Its soft smile turned into distorted rage, and its flesh began to peel and fall off, piece by piece, revealing white bones.
At this moment, the black mist resembled the appearance of Li Siyu that Jiang Ye had seen when she entered the dungeon.
[System: Your refusal has angered the Avatar of Malice. It has decided to punish you. Please fight carefully!]
When the system notification popped up, Jiang Ye had already dodged an ordinary attack from the black mist.
This BOSS was the most BOSS-like existence Jiang Ye had encountered in her gaming career.
It could control people, had AOE damage, and a warning would pop up below its HP bar when its ultimate attack unleashed.
Jiang Ye dodged many attacks using her rich MMORPG experience, but she hadn't found an opportunity for close combat.
Constantly dodging was not a solution.
Jiang Ye decided to go all out and give it a try.
She mustered all her courage and threw out all the pets she could summon from her Island Construction Manual.
Nine Sea Snakes, nine Egg Yolk Jellyfish.
The Sea Snakes were used for surprise attacks and control, while the Egg Yolk Jellyfish were used as landmines to predict the BOSS's displacement and attack it.
And the two main humanoid attacking pets were Fan Xiaoche and He Xiaoshang.
Although these two had fought each other to death in the great ocean, no, the Ocean Sunfish was one-sidedly beaten to death by the Monk Seal, they surprisingly worked well together when fighting side by side.
The Ocean Sunfish had a healing effect, while the Monk Seal was skilled in attack.
One support, one DPS, fighting in tandem was very comfortable.
Jiang Ye considered herself to be the Tank, attracting the BOSS's aggro so her pets could fully utilize their abilities.
This operation seemed simple, a mindless summoner strategy, just piling up pets, but for the summoner herself, it was not that easy.
Unlike mobile or online games where pets could attack monsters automatically, in this game, if Jiang Ye wanted to fully control her pets' attacks, she had to allocate some attention to managing them.
It was equivalent to her brain needing to operate on multiple lines simultaneously, using multiple thoughts, and keenly paying attention to every change on the battlefield.
Summoning so many pets at once was a bit strenuous for Jiang Ye; it was her first time.
At first, she was a little unaccustomed, always feeling her brain was expanding.
But after fighting the BOSS for a while, Jiang Ye felt as if a lock in her brain had opened, with a 'click', and it had expanded significantly.
What had felt slightly strenuous just now was now effortless for her.
If Jiang Ye had delved deeper into knowledge related to spiritual power in the Dalibik System, she would have known that this feeling of unlocking a lock in an instant was an advancement many people sought their entire lives.
It was like a small lake suddenly becoming an ocean.
This indicated an increase in spiritual power level.
Jiang Ye, from Blue Star, knew nothing of this. She now had only one thought: defeat the BOSS, pass the trial, and get 300,000 star coins.
That was 300,000 star coins!
Even if her head ached to the point of exploding, the moment she thought of this huge sum of money, she would immediately be filled with fighting spirit and excitement.
For money, charge!
Jiang Ye looked at the BOSS again, no longer seeing it as an annoying evil spirit, but as a pile of glittering gold.
And she was a miner wearing a hat.
The harder she hit, the greater her chance of getting money.
How could Jiang Ye not be excited?
She was now so excited that she was almost entering a "berserk" state.
The BOSS even felt a little intimidated looking at her.
Who was the BOSS here, anyway!!
What was with this player's expression, like she was going to eat it!!
The more Jiang Ye fought, the more exhilarated she became, the more immersed she got. Even when she saw the BOSS enter its final rampage phase, she was not the least bit timid.
She only felt a flame burning fiercely in her chest, engulfing her entire body, filling every part of her limbs with fiery emotion.
Such high combat awareness didn't bring only benefits.
At least at this moment, Jiang Ye had lost her usual pride in her rationality.
After a small mistake, Jiang Ye fell into a state of being suppressed by the BOSS.
She was in a dilemma, and her pets were powerless to change the situation.
Jiang Ye, pinned in place and taking damage, was unwilling.
Watching her HP slowly decrease, Jiang Ye felt that it wasn't blood that was decreasing, but money.
Three hundred thousand.
Three hundred thousand was waving goodbye to her.
If only something could help her!
As this thought flashed through Jiang Ye's mind, she suddenly heard a peculiar sound, like the cracking of an eggshell.
In the next second, a soaring silver python suddenly appeared. It seemed like an illusory spirit, but it truly protected Jiang Ye, coiling around her body, forming a shield, and then its soul-stirring vertical pupils fixed on the BOSS, emitting a warning hiss.
This sound seemed to say: This is its master.
Little guy, get lost, don't come near!