MMORPG: Divine Mech Hunter

“Wait, are we going to start boss now?” asked Dumb-Mo, who was usually bold.

He was taken aback when Li Yao indicated that they were about to face the boss now, “But we aren’t prepared at all.”

“We’re preparing right now. Without facing the boss, we wouldn’t know what it’s capable of,” Li Yao replied, his eyes fixed on the boss. “First, we need to try.

You guys have a rope to slide down on standby and be ready to flee anytime. After all, it’s our first time, don’t expect to beat it in one go.”

Dumb-Mo widened his eyes and innocently asked, “But you’ve prepared us, haven’t you? Why do we still have to run away?”

“Oh, please! I’m not a god! I’ve never faced this boss before, so who knows how it might turn out? I’ve planned a strategy, nothing more. It’s quite simple. One of you stays near one of the ropes. When I say move, you’ll use the rope to switch platforms. If I say to run, you use another rope to slide down to the ground. Maybe we’ll manage to escape, then we can regroup and fight again.”

“Alright, alright, we understand,” Dumb-Mo lazily waved his hand in acknowledgement.

“By the way,” Li Yao turned his head back and asked, “I heard that several hundred people wagered some in-game currency. Has it been transferred to your accounts?”

A few shared a glance, while the audience watching the live-stream was hugely amused.

“Prairie Fire is planning to take the money and run.”

“He’s already packed his bags and all set to bolt, once the boss comes after them. Today’s live-stream will end right there.”

“Since they can’t get through it anyway, they may as well stop. Let Xiayao stream his level-up instead.”

“Yes, please continue streaming, it’s rare to see Sister Xiayao.”

“Strongly protest.”

“Prairie Fire is out of tricks, it is confirmed.’

“Sigh, the legend cannot continue after all.”

Looking at all the comments flooding the screen, Feng Yi also couldn’t help but say, “Thousands of in-game currency have arrived. You won, Li Yao, but never mind, just conduct the fight properly.”

“Humph, what do these guys know? Who is able to defeat a boss with just one try? Why are they talking about big brother that way?” Dumb-Mo pouted, quite unhappy with how the audience was treating Li Yao.

“The in-game currency is with us, that’s all that matters. Let them say what they want. If they all rooted for us, would they still be stupid enough to wager the in-game currency?” Li Yao feigned lament.

“Boss, you’re too much,” said Shadow Dance, chuckling.

“Big brother, it seems you’re making a lot of sense,” Dumb-Mo said as the realization dawned upon him.

Feng Yi was left speechless, not knowing what to say.

The audience, however, was outraged and started clamoring. Initially, none of them was interested in the wager anymore. Now, they all wanted Feng Yi to set up a bet, clamoring that if Prairie Fire managed to defeat this boss, they would recharge even more in-game currency.

Feng Yi reluctantly set up the bet, and in an instant, hundreds started betting with the in-game currency.

Dumb-Mo was stunned and messaged in private, “Big Brother, isn’t it like stealing?”

Li Yao responded with seeming righteousness, “I’m just defending myself, that’s it. If nobody believes in me, at least I should, right?”

Dumb-Mo tilted her head as she thought about it for a long time, but remained confused. Although she was smart, she was only a child at that time. “Alright, get ready. The boss is finally within my attack range,” said Li Yao.

Li Yao got serious, aiming his heavy crossbow at the boss.

The boss was huge, at least twelve feet tall and quite broad, enough to fit two Li Yao’s side by side. Plus, it had large feet.

Its body, made of a metal forged from arcane magic, was very heavy. It walked with a clanging noise, sounding very heavy.

Clang…

A steel arrow hit the boss’s body, causing a shower of sparks. However, the arrow was deflected and the damage numbers that popped up in the corner of Li Yao’s screen were embarrassingly small.

-12

The heavy crossbow that could deal almost 200 damage to a level 5 boss only managed to cause a dozen points of damage.

“Intruders detected. Commencing destruction protocol,” the boss’s gaze locked onto Li Yao’n and it quickly ran towards him.

Seeing the boss run fast onto the second platform and about to reach the dome, Li Yao did not hesitate.

He grabbed the two ends of the ice axe attached to the sloping rope and fast slid down to the dome on the first platform like a cable car.

“Start your attack. Pay attention. If the boss passes through the spiral corridor and triggers elites, focus on the elite’s output and ignore the boss. Those elites have high levels and we can’t sustain their attacks all at once. If you feel in danger, slide down to the ground immediately.”

Li Yao carefully steadied himself. A fire-gun appeared in his hands, a long and rather dramatic two-handed weapon.

Li Yao used these fire-guns to boost his mechanical skill to the mid-level. He had made excellent quality fire-guns of course.

However, Li Yao used the boss soul from their previous fight against the Velociraptor boss to upgrade an outstanding fire-gun, which had acceptable attributes, to excellent quality.

Handmade Fire Gun

Quality: Major Blue

Attack: 15-22

Strength: 10

Agility: 9

Piercing shot: There’s a small chance that the shot will ignore the opponent’s armor, creating a piercing effect.

Level: 5

Equipment Requirement: Hunter, Warrior

Creator: Prairie Fire

“Big brother, when did you change your weapon?” Daidong questioned curiously, but her hands didn’t stop as she began to set up the totems.

Especially the earthbind totem, which was placed in a blind spot that could effectively confine monsters from climbing up the dome if they got out of control.

Li Yao quickly loaded bullets and began take aim, as he was shooting, he explained: “It’s hard to gain leverage on the dome, maintaining balance is already the limit. Guns and crossbows are fine, but bows definitely won’t do.”

Understanding dawned upon everyone, especially the hunters, who thought they should prepare more weapons.

Three people attacked swiftly. Lightning Arrows, Bone Spears, Aging Curses, Arcane Shots, falling like rain on the monster who was wading its way out of the platform, trying to reach the first level through the spiral corridor.

The dome was also unfavorable for Feng Yi. After all, he was a Necromancer; without his Undead Pets assisting, he had become a pure support.

The damage from the group surprised many again. Although they predicted that the damage inflicted on the boss by their attacks would be low, no one expected it to be this low.

-2-3-1-7-2-8…

A series of figures made some start to gloat. They knew this boss had long-ranged skills, and they were hoping the boss would quickly kill Prairie Fire. Watching an expert fall back to the level of a commoner was many people’s pleasure. Only Li Yao’s damage was high, although not by much, after all, the boss had over seventy thousand health.

Li Yao kept a keen eye on the boss, noticing it lift its arm towards him, and saw the glow of Arcane power.

“Xiayao, when you see the boss releasing Arcane Explosion, make sure you seize the right moment to summon a skeleton. Whether I live or die depends on you.”

Li Yao had no choice but to say this. On the dome, he could barely keep his balance. Trying to dodge swiftly or use his Shadow Roll would be suicidal as he could fall to the ground and get smashed to death.

“You can count on me.” biu…

With the projection of the shield, the entire audience held their breaths. If Li Yao were to die, the journey would be over for sure.

The speed of the Arcane bullet was extremely fast. Despite the wide gap, it rushed over in a blink of an eye. Right before the Arcane bullet was about to hit Li Yao…

A skeleton was summoned just in time, blocking Li Yao’s path.

Boom…

Without suspense, the newly summoned skeleton was blasted into pieces by the Arcane bullet.

Li Yao did not even make an attempt to dodge, he merely reloaded and shot, and repeated the process.

The same was done by Feng Yi. After summoning the skeleton, he did not even glance at Li Yao, but instead began to quickly chant the spell for Bone Spear, not wasting a single second of damage output.

“Wow, that’s brilliant! That move could be the highlight of the week!” KB stood up again, surprised: “Who would have thought that Xiayao’s standards are now on par with top professional gamers.”

“Could you explain it? Many viewers didn’t understand, they feel this move is not a big deal.” Tian Na asked.

“Timing. Using a skeleton to block the boss’s skill involves great control over the timing, you can’t make a single mistake. Remember, this was the first time the boss used this skill. The speed of the projectile needed to be quickly judged, and summoning a skeleton needed time as well. Only if the skeleton gets summoned at the exact moment the bullet is about to hit Prairie Fire will the skill be blocked.”

“Isn’t it better to summon it earlier? This boss’s skill doesn’t seem to lock on.’ Tian Na was confused.

KB pointed to the dome and said, “People have to tread on it carefully. If the skeleton appears on the dome,it will slide down in an instant. If it appears a little late, Prairie Fire will be done for. This process is also incredibly brief and demands high computational ability, judgment, mental strength, and control. It’s too demanding. Even a regular professional player would find it hard to accomplish.”

Tian Na motioned for the crew to replay the footage in slow motion. Audience thoroughly enjoyed it, life and death decisions made in a blink of an eye.

“Sister Yao’s move was splendid.” Shadow Dance cheered, wishing that she was also out there battling.

“Don’t get distracted; the crucial moment is coming.” Li Yao warned while dealing damage.

The damage, tiny as it was, was practically negligible to the boss’s health.

The boss released its skill, and started to run again, it began to approach the Mindless One patrolling the first wave of the corridor.

Everyone held their breaths. If the elites attacked Li Yao and his team with the boss, the difficulty of this battle would multiply, and there would even be a big chance of them wiping out.

When the boss and the patrolling Mindless One elite brushed past each other, it felt as if time had frozen.

Then Li Yao and his team breathed a sigh of relief, while the viewers and fans cheered. Although many wished for Prairie Fire and his team to fail, even more hoped for them to create a miracle.

Right now, a spark of hope to defeat this boss began to glimmer in their view.

Even though they had been dealing damage for a long time and the boss’s health bar had barely decreased, at least the difficulty hadn’t increased. The rest depended on whether Prairie Fire’s plan worked and if there were any unexpected issues.

“Daidong, don’t get overconfident. Be ready. When I tell you to leave, immediately climb the rope to the second platform. Don’t be greedy on the damage.”

Daidong, outputting on the platform, would be the first thing the boss sees when it reaches the platform. Li Yao feared she might get greedy on outputting, hence he reminded her….