"Hey! Here he comes!"
"That suicidal Assassin actually made it out alive. Don't tell me he really killed the Blazing Fire Demon Rhinoceros?"
"Are you out of your mind? The time it takes for an Assassin to strike from Lurking is enough for the environmental Scorching effect to kill him several times over."
"Exactly. Coming out this fast definitely means he knew he couldn't win and slunk away."
"Let's be real, he probably ran the moment he laid eyes on it."
Seeing Yu Zhun walking out of the Blazing Flame Volcano step by step, the spectating players waiting outside the map immediately erupted into discussions.
When Yu Zhun finally emerged, a girl greeted him with a teasing grin. "Hey, Assassin, why did you slink out so dejectedly?"
Yu Zhun looked down at himself. The volcanic environment was filled with ash, and after his battle, he really was covered in a thick layer of dust.
"Thanks for the reminder," Yu Zhun said, patting the dust off his clothes.
The crowd couldn't help but laugh.
Did this kid really think that dusting himself off could cover up the pathetic way he fled from the Blazing Fire Demon Rhinoceros?
Yu Zhun ignored them. Right now, his mind was completely focused on listing the good loot he had just obtained for sale. Without another word, he walked straight away amidst their mocking laughter.
"See, I told you there was no need to warn him," a tall and thin man standing not far away sneered, looking at Zhang Duo beside him. "There are plenty of clowns like him every year who overestimate themselves."
Zhang Duo didn't reply. He stared blankly at Yu Zhun's retreating back, then looked around at the roaring players.
"Um... did you guys not notice?"
"He was Lv7 when he went in, but now he's Lv8..."
The area suddenly fell dead silent.
Leveling up from Lv7 to Lv8 required a full 1600 experience points, and inside the Blazing Flame Volcano, there was absolutely no way to gain experience other than defeating the boss, the Blazing Fire Demon Rhinoceros.
Could it be...
Realizing a suffocating possibility, everyone present widened their eyes in absolute disbelief.
"Impossible... This is impossible!" One of the players who had been mocking Yu Zhun just moments ago muttered blankly, shaking his head vigorously as he refused to accept it.
But there were also level-headed people in the crowd. Once they realized this was highly likely to be true, they immediately understood what such astonishing news meant.
"What was that guy's name again? I didn't catch it clearly..."
"I think it was She Zhun? Or Yu Huai?"
No matter what his name was, the news that an Assassin might have soloed the Blazing Fire Demon Rhinoceros boss spread through Newbie City like wildfire.
***
"Yay, I leveled up to Lv7!"
Inside the Black Rock Snake nest, Su Yue cheered after successfully defeating the Black Rock Snake.
Today, she and Su Hong hadn't dragged Yu Zhun into their party. Instead, they found a fairly reliable Priest to team up with. With Su Hong as the main damage dealer, they used a protect-the-carry strategy to slowly wear the Black Rock Snake down.
Because the team composition was different, the experience distribution naturally changed. Su Yue alone took ninety percent of the experience, leveling up twice in one go.
After distributing the drops, she couldn't stop grinning, walking out of the nest in high spirits.
The Priest who had temporarily teamed up with the siblings was equally satisfied. Although he only received a tenth of the experience, he got a larger share of the drops. This run earned him much more than a standard ten-person party, and with such strong players carrying him, it was far safer too.
Suddenly, Su Hong raised an eyebrow, looking surprised.
"What is it, Brother?" Su Yue turned her head and asked curiously.
"A friend in Newbie City just told me some news," Su Hong said, his expression slightly strange. "A mysterious Assassin soloed the Blazing Fire Demon Rhinoceros boss today."
Su Yue's expression also turned strange.
Although they didn't know the person's exact name, the siblings simultaneously thought of the same person.
Other than him, there probably wasn't anyone else.
"That's the Blazing Fire Demon Rhinoceros, the most unfriendly boss to Assassins!" Su Hong couldn't help but sigh. "Yu Zhun's strength is even more terrifying than I imagined."
Originally, Su Hong planned to take Yu Zhun to Divine Strategy City and introduce him to the Hanlong Guild once he left the Newbie Area.
Now, he suddenly felt that might be inappropriate.
He needed to tell his father about this. An expert of this caliber should be personally invited by the Hanlong Guild themselves.
"Yeah," Su Yue nodded in strong agreement. "Yu Zhun is too amazing. I can't hold him back."
"Don't worry, with me carrying you, this Newbie Area is just a temporary stop for you," Su Hong smiled confidently. "We'll go fight the Blazing Fire Demon Rhinoceros tomorrow too. Since you have Purification, the two of us are enough.
"Although the Blazing Fire Demon Rhinoceros has high damage output, it's squishier than the Black Rock Snake."
"Mhm!" Su Yue's eyes lit up as she nodded heavily.
Her older cousin didn't need the experience, which meant she could hog all of it when they partied up as a duo!
***
[HP -45,000]
A line of massive, blood-red text floated into the air above the head of a giant turtle that was as huge as a small mountain, its hard carapace covered in bone spikes.
The giant turtle let out a mournful cry to the sky. Its four claws supporting its body gave way simultaneously, and it collapsed onto the ground. Its raised head slammed down heavily, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
Yu Zhun's tense body finally relaxed, his health bar slowly regenerating under the effect of Self-Healing.
This was the last of the three major bosses in the Newbie Area: the Green Water Demon Turtle.
The three major bosses all had their own unique characteristics. The Black Rock Snake had relatively balanced attributes, the Blazing Fire Demon Rhinoceros was a squishy damage dealer, and the Green Water Demon Turtle was a low-damage meat shield.
In theory, it should have been the easiest boss for Yu Zhun to kill, but the reality was the exact opposite.
Because the Green Water Demon Turtle possessed an extremely powerful crowd-control Mechanism that could slow or even root its targets, it was an absolute nightmare for melee fighters.
Yu Zhun had to use every trick in the book just to land a hit on it.
Fortunately, all his hard work paid off.
[Congratulations on your divine might! You have defeated the brutally vicious Demon Beast Boss, Green Water Demon Turtle (Lv15). Level Experience +2000!]
[Congratulations! Your level has increased to Lv9!]
[Congratulations! You have met the conditions and obtained the title: Turtle Slaying Warrior.]
[Turtle Slaying Warrior (Blue): Physical Defense +10%, Magic Defense +10%]
[Congratulations! You have met the conditions and obtained the title: Newbie Bully.]
[Newbie Bully (Purple): All Basic Attributes +10%]
[The Demon Beast Boss, Green Water Demon Turtle, left you a surprise upon its defeat. Dropped item: Green Water Dragon Capturing Ring (Master Level).]
[The Demon Beast Boss, Green Water Demon Turtle, left you...]
The blue title awarded for killing the Green Water Demon Turtle wasn't bad, boosting both Physical Defense and Magic Defense by 10%, but Newbie Bully completely outclassed it. Demon Sheep Nightmare was also entirely eclipsed by it.
Equipping his new title, Yu Zhun continued to scroll down. Before he could even check his new Master Level Equipment, a glaring notification caught his eye.
[Congratulations! You have met the hidden conditions and obtained a hidden item reward: Nether Trial Invitation Letter.]
Yu Zhun widened his eyes.
A Nether Trial... Invitation Letter?