Chapter Thirty-Three: An Eye for an Eye

"It's a monster train! That guy lured a whole pack of monsters over here!" The red-named rogue shrieked in terror.

Tiger Roar, hearing this, slapped the rogue across the face and roared, "Spineless coward, what are you yelling for? There are dozens of us here—are we really going to get killed by monsters? Brothers, take out that Ye Chen first!"

Crackle!

Electric light danced along Tiger Roar's sword as he unleashed the level-20 Warrior skill, Furious Thunder Triple Slash, swinging his weapon fiercely at Ye Chen.

Swish, swish, swish!

Blades of lightning flashed, swift as thunder. Ye Chen hurriedly retreated, the 100% movement speed boost from the Ghost Soul Pill immediately proving its worth. The first two strikes missed him entirely thanks to his quick footwork, but the third blow—imbued with an area effect—caught him amid a flurry of electric arcs, sending a sharp tingle through his body.

MISS, MISS, -183!

Though struck by just one blow, Ye Chen was scared out of his wits. Clearly, this guy’s reputation for one-shotting female players was no exaggeration—his gear was truly fearsome. If not for Ye Chen’s agility, that single skill might have finished him off then and there.

“Despicable mortal, taste the fury of the demon!”

A booming voice thundered from behind. Instead of fear, a flicker of delight crossed Ye Chen’s face—the Demon Berserker had arrived just in time. If it had been any later, he surely couldn’t have held out. Shooting Tiger Roar a sly grin as he charged, Ye Chen quickly popped another Ghost Soul Pill and vanished into invisibility!

Tiger Roar was instantly alarmed, exclaiming, “Damn, even a second-rate can go invisible? And it’s a strong invisibility, too!”

But there was no time to ponder. With Ye Chen out of sight, the Demon Berserker lost its target and instantly redirected its rage at the closest foe—Tiger Roar himself. With a furious roar and a shudder, it charged straight for Tiger Roar.

“Furious Thunder Triple Slash!” the Demon Berserker bellowed, golden greatsword crackling with lightning as it swooped down—uncannily using the exact same skill Tiger Roar had just unleashed on Ye Chen. Poetic justice, indeed.

Blades whirled in quick succession. Unlike Ye Chen, Tiger Roar had no way to double his speed and thus failed to dodge any of the attacks—taking all three head-on.

-421, -435, -451.

Three damage numbers floated above Tiger Roar’s head, turning his face a sickly green. Luckily, the skill’s combo damage was slightly less than his base attack; otherwise, he’d have been killed outright. Even so, his once-proud health bar was left with only a sliver, barely enough to survive the next blow.

“Heal! Heal, dammit! Priests, get over here and heal me!” Tiger Roar shouted as he spun around and fled. Two female Priests from the Tiger family hurried over, flinging out milky white holy light and restoring nearly a thousand health points to Tiger Roar.

Ye Chen, invisible, watched the chaos from the sidelines. He was tempted to finish off the weakened Tiger Roar, but with the Ghost Soul Pill still on cooldown, he dared not make a move. If he exposed himself now, those ten-plus Tiger players could easily overwhelm him. No doubt, they all wanted him dead by now.

Tiger Roar turned to continue battling the Demon Berserker, while a couple dozen lesser demons joined the fray. Most of the Tiger players were barely above level 20, struggling mightily against the level 30 demons. The two Priests were focused entirely on keeping Tiger Roar alive, leaving the others to fend for themselves. It wasn’t long before two of the squishier classes lay dead on the ground—including the unlucky red-named rogue, whose precious weapon had dropped. Ye Chen darted over and snatched it up.

Not a fool, Tiger Roar immediately realized Ye Chen had taken the loot and roared in fury, “Ye Chen, you bastard, this isn’t over between us!”

Ye Chen ignored him. Seeing the entrance thrown into chaos, he seized the moment and slipped into the cave. No sooner had he entered than Tiger Roar’s voice rang out behind him, “You idiots, group up at the entrance! Melee classes up front, protect the mages and priests! I’ve called for reinforcements from inside—hold the line! If we take down this boss, I’ll give everyone a 500-yuan bonus!”

Tiger’s players at the entrance were instantly emboldened, but Ye Chen only sneered. Tiger Roar had some nerve, thinking he could take down the Demon Berserker. He clearly had no idea what he was dealing with. Soon, when that demon unleashed its berserk rage, they’d have nothing left but tears.

Pressing close to the mineshaft wall, Ye Chen made his way inward, soon encountering squads of Tiger players dashing from the depths toward the entrance, clearly having been called as reinforcements by Tiger Roar.

“Ling Yue, where are you now? Give me your coordinates and I’ll find you,” Ye Chen said, reaching a fork in the tunnel and opening his communicator.

“Horizontal 336, vertical 869, depth minus 165. Can you even get into the mine? Aren’t they still guarding the entrance?” Ling Yue was still a bit out of breath, apparently on the move. She likely didn’t know that the Tiger players inside had already been summoned to the entrance.

“They’re already in chaos, and a few have already died. By the way, a red-named rogue called Tiger Wind lost an excellent-grade dagger—I picked it up. Also, the players chasing you inside have all been pulled to the entrance, so you don’t have to run around anymore. Just wait where you are—I’ll be there soon.”

“Oh my god, Ye Chen, you’re not kidding, are you? You alone messed up the dozen-plus guys blocking the entrance? And even got their loot? I know that rogue—he’s the one who killed Liu Liu. He’s a pretty skilled player.”

Ling Yue was stunned; she couldn’t fathom how Ye Chen had pulled it off. It all sounded too incredible.

“So Liu Liu was killed by him? Perfect, then I’ll give this level-20 excellent dagger to Liu Liu, to soothe her wounded spirit.”

Ye Chen smiled. Liu Liu was a female rogue—a feisty little thing, but a good person who often made late-night snacks for everyone.

“You’re giving a level-20 excellent dagger to Liu Liu?” Ling Yue gasped in a low voice. To her, a weapon like that was a prized possession, easily worth a dozen gold coins; many in the studio were still using common weapons.

But a dozen gold coins was nothing to Ye Chen now. He chuckled, “Just an excellent weapon and you’re already shocked? Better brace yourself when we meet—don’t be scared by the real treasures I’m about to show you.”

A level-25 silver staff, a rare-grade Gale Sword—those were the truly valuable items.

…………………………………

It’s Monday—asking for recommendations on the rankings. Thank you all!