NOVEL NEXT XVI – Level 30 Player
"Boss! Boss! Something terrible has happened!" A man came rushing over, his face pale with fear. Without a word, the boss frowned and shot him in the leg.
"Why the panic? Let me guess, the whole team we sent out got wiped, didn’t they?" he said nonchalantly, as if it were an everyday occurrence.
The man gripped his leg in pain, bewildered. If the boss had suspected his men would be killed, why send them out in the first place?
The boss snapped his fingers, and several figures dressed in black appeared at his side. The wounded man looked up and noticed three question marks above their heads, they had to be over level 30!
“You’re coming with me. There are five enemies, all around level 20. We’ll take them out quickly” the boss commanded, his black cloak billowing as he strode confidently forward.
Meanwhile, in another part of the city, Ye Lan’s group, now freshly leveled up from their recent victory, chatted and laughed together.
"So, you were professional players before?" Ye Lan asked, listening with curiosity. No wonder they’d adapted so quickly and leveled up with such ease.
Their skills were impressive. She remembered those days of striving for perfection herself, always pushing to conquer the toughest challenges, whether in games or real life.
Ye Lan had always gravitated toward the hardest characters in video games, and in real life, she avoided anything that didn’t push her limits. As a result, she’d developed highly specialized skills.
“That’s right! I’ll be a professional player from now on! Brute strength alone won’t win me any girls” she murmured under her breath, clenching her fists. She spoke so quietly that the others only caught the first part.
“So, Xiao Lan wants to be a pro player! Makes sense, you don’t really have the brute strength for anything else anyway. But seriously, why do you level up so slowly?” Suo Gang teased, laughing as he tilted his head toward her, unaware of her true abilities.
At once, Mu Xuetong shot him a glare, her protective instincts flaring, and promptly slapped him across the face.
“Stay back! Xiao Lan is mine!”
“Alright, alright, she’s yours!” Suo Gang replied, holding his hands up in surrender, thinking to himself that brute force often worked better than finesse.
Just then, Du Heng tensed, sensing something wrong. “Enemy attack!” he shouted, alarmed.
Boom!
A massive vortex of energy came crashing down from the sky, obliterating the wall beside them and sending enormous chunks of stone hurtling to the ground.
In the sky, a winged woman hovered with an imposing presence. Her striking figure, with long legs and an ample chest, might have caught anyone’s eye, but now wasn’t the time for that! She was the enemy!
Mu Xuetong immediately stepped defensively in front of Ye Lan, and the group shifted their focus to the figure above.
[???]
“Damn! She’s over level 30!”
“Wait, there’s more than one!”
Another enemy, a man in black, had slipped up silently behind them, cutting off their retreat.
[???]
The four teammates, aside from Ye Lan, exchanged a quick, knowing look. “Plan Z!” they declared in unison.
Without delay, Mu Xuetong grabbed Ye Lan’s arm and bolted, dragging her along. The man in black lunged to chase, but Du Heng and Yi Lai swiftly stepped in to block his path.
“Your opponent is me!”
As Mu Xuetong pulled Ye Lan along at full speed, Ye Lan was thoroughly confused. Why were they running? There were only two enemies! Surely, if they all fought at full strength, they could take them down!
"We’re not running away, this is called a strategic retreat. What we’re about to face is the real boss!" Mu Xuetong said with a grin.
The two quickly exited the abandoned building, while the three remaining teammates stayed behind, poised as decoys.
They remained calm, showing no signs of worry, as if they were still firmly in control of the situation.
“You didn’t run? Bold move. But sacrificing those two girls hardly seems worth it~” taunted their opponents as they closed in.
“Sacrificing us? Let’s see about that,” they replied in unison, smiling as they braced themselves for battle. The winged woman gave a soft smile, extending her fist forward.
[Magic: Air Impact]
A fierce gust of wind spun into a tornado, surging forward. Suo Gang reacted instantly, slamming his hammer down to shatter the floor, dropping himself to the level below to evade the attack.
BOOM!
"What terrifying power! So this is what a level 30 can do... There’s no way a level 20 can stand up to that!" Suo Gang muttered, cold sweat running down his face as he climbed back up to the upper level. The area where the tornado had struck was completely decimated. If he’d taken that hit directly, he would’ve been dead on the spot.
Clenching his teeth, Suo Gang lifted his hammer, swinging it fiercely and sending shockwaves toward the airborne woman.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
"Is that really all you've got? Try aiming better next time, you’re not even close" the woman taunted, easily dodging the attacks that missed her, instead smashing into nearby buildings. With a smirk, she readied another powerful strike.
Meanwhile, Du Heng and Yi Lai coordinated their attack on the man in black, each coming at him from different angles.
[Dragon Spear]
Yi Lai charged forward with his spear, striking with lightning speed. Sixteen hits landed in an instant, yet the man evaded every one with minimal effort.
[Assassination]
At that moment, Du Heng, slipping into a shadow, reappeared behind the man and thrust a dagger toward him.
[Shield]
The man summoned a powerful barrier around himself, stopping Du Heng’s dagger cold. He clenched his fist and struck out on both sides in response.
Bang!
Bang!
Both attackers were thrown backward. Yi Lai staggered, breathing heavily as he fought to stay upright, a bit of blood dripping from his mouth. “Is that your magic? What a troublesome ability~”
The battle raged on, but it was nothing short of a one-sided struggle. Suo Gang hadn’t been directly hit by the tornado, yet he still couldn’t land a single blow, and his stamina was fading fast. Yi Lai and Du Heng, fighting together against their opponent, could barely hold their ground, their health was critically low. After another fierce barrage of tornadoes, the three regrouped, exhausted and sprawled on the ground, glancing at each other.
"Ready?" one of them asked.
"Good to go, 20 seconds" the second replied.
"Perfect, it's 40 for me" added the third.
The three exchanged a subtle grin while their opponents stood, puzzled.
“What’s so funny? In your condition, you think you can launch a counterattack?” the woman scoffed.
Suo Gang shrugged. “No, there’s no chance of a comeback. The level gap between us is too great, and no skill could bridge it... But!”
“In a fight, there’s always a third option besides winning or losing”
With that, he looked up, and the building around them began to shudder violently. The woman’s eyes widened as she saw the supporting columns begin to crack.
“No way! Did you?”
"That’s right" Du Heng replied, appearing behind her and locking her in a tight hold.
“20 seconds and 40 seconds... that’s the time we need for our cooldowns. Now that your abilities are on standby, can you really survive the collapse of this entire building without protection?”
Suo Gang let out a triumphant laugh as the structure began to break apart. In moments, the entire building collapsed with a thunderous force, the impact so powerful it echoed for miles. All five were swallowed up in the chaos and debris...
