Chapter 51: Which girl hadn't not fallen in love with all the wrong bastards when they're young
(The title is too long)
The Cleric was actually quite capable. He was able to rescue the Warrior from death's grip in such a dire situation.
Despite having the strength of an entire party, nobody would be able to fight against a Wild BOSS like this using conventional means. The party that arrived had either made serious preparations, or they're outright stupid.
Apparently, these guys came with a plan.
They lured the Armored Giant Tortoise to a specific spot near the hot spring, where a group of man-sized rocks stood. These rocks formed a perfect camping spot for at least five players. As long as the Warrior stood still in between these rocks, the monster's underbelly would be stuck between the rocks, exposing it to attacks from ranged players.
However, the BOSS was not entirely stuck. As soon as the Warrior moved away from the group of rocks, the Armored Giant Tortoise would follow suit. This would mean the annihilation of the entire party.
Ye Ci had originally thought of fighting the Armored Giant Tortoise using the same method. But Ol' Three was not a player. When it was hungry, its attack damage and aggro value would be halved. If Ye Ci fed Ol' Three at that moment, Taunt will be interrupted. This would cause the Armored Giant Tortoise to phase out of combat status or shift its aggro.
This was why Ye Ci chose to kite the boss instead.
However, with the strength and cooperation of a party, Ye Ci's assailants would be able to defeat the Armored Giant Tortoise that had 8% of its HP left within an hour.
Ye Ci laid silently not far from their location. Thanks to her reflexes, she was able to avoid suffering any damage.
As one of the most wanted person in her past life, Ye Ci pushed herself to the extreme in order to survive. Her action of dodging the attack from the Rogue was a very rare skill in Fate. The skill was dubbed 'Superior Dodge'.
'Superior Dodge' was not a skill that can be learned from NPCs. It was a result of a player's experience in combat. Despite appearing to be only a slight shift of position, it requires a lot of skill to pull off successfully.
When was the best time to dodge? How to dodge a physical attack? How could a magical attack be dodged? How to achieve the highest efficiency of dodging with the slightest amount of movement? How does one increase their chances of dodging an attack?
Ye Ci was able to find the answers to all of these question after gaining a lot combat experience.
Nobody was born a pro. Even the pros were once newbies.
Ye Ci discovered 'Superior Dodging' by chance. But she was very perceptive when it came to gaming. She was able to seize that exact moment and store it into her brain. She then fought in the arena for months to hone her skills. She pressed on despite death after death and spent tens of thousands of gold to repair her damaged equipment.
She finally mastered her skill in a fight for her life against other players.
Ye Ci was reminded of her 'Superior Dodging' when she was previously ambushed by the Rogue from the Western Continent. At first, she was not able to use it successfully as she was not used to her body that was 10 years younger. She was no longer able to adapt to the tempo and she was troubled by her complete change in class. She trained day and night in Red Lake City's arena to reacquire her long lost skill. As the basics were already ingrained in her mind, she was able to reacquire the skill.
But with little combat experience, Ye Ci had not completely mastered 'Superior Dodging'.
It was out of sheer luck that she pulled it off against Lazy Blue and the Warrior.
The party did not hide their names. Ye Ci was able to see their name while lying on the ground. The Warrior's name was Potato-Eating Dace, while the Sorcerer was Mu Qing, and the Cleric's name was Glistening Snow.
The group stood not far from Ye Ci, dealing blows after blows to the Armored Giant Tortoise while chatting with each other.
"Glistening Snow, are you sure that it's Gongzi You?" asked Potato-Eating Dace while staring at Ye Ci's 'corpse' with disbelief.
"Of course she is. I've heard about her from someone from Steel-Blooded Battle Spear and had seen her performance in the video. I recognize that panther. She's definitely Gongzi You." Lazy Blue nodded.
"Isn't Gongzi You a little too fragile? She died just like that!" Potato-Eating Dace still could not believe his eyes.
"You're not the one who killed her. It was the Armored Giant Tortoise. You really think that she's weak? Didn't you see her reaction when I tried to sneak up on her? She disappeared before I could blink." said Lazy Blue, reminiscing the moment when he was about to cast Staggering Blow on Ye Ci. He shook his head with creased eyebrows.
"Enough. Lazy Blue, beware of our surroundings. Take her out as soon as she revives. Don't miss the 5 seconds window where she is weakened upon respawning." the Cleric, Mu Qing interrupted the conversation.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, I got this. After all, I'm one of the best in the Tang Dynasty." Lazy Blue waved his hand dismissively at Mu Qing.
Mu Qing immediately turned quiet.
Ye Ci grimaced. They were players from the Tang Dynasty guild.
She had thought that she would be able to avoid certain things after her reincarnation. But she was wrong. The Goddess of Fate would not let her off the hook that easily. She would still run into certain people that she had no intention of ever meeting again. She took a deep breath and remembered the things that she had intended to forget.
There was once a saying: Which girl hadn't fallen in love with all the wrong bastards when they were young?
Ye Ci had the misfortune of falling in love with the wrong person. She had always been cold and detached. She even expected herself to be single until she died. She had not expected to fall in love. But she did. And her innocent side expected her love to have a happy ending just like in a typical romance movie.
However, her romance brought her nothing but woe and sorrow. She had always thought that everything was worth sacrificing if it was for love. Although she was able to foresee the beginning of their relationship, but the ending was not something she expected.
She gave her all to that man. But he parted his way with her after enjoying the glory she brought him with a simple apology. The reason was a curt, "We just don't suit each other".
All those memory felt so distant. She used to feel that the entire world owed her everything. She took vengeance on everybody who ever loved and cared about her. In the end, she had no one left. The memory felt like a dream. It felt stupid.
Ye Ci looked up into the sky.
She tried to remember that man's face. She tried and failed.
"Wandering Cloud says that he'll be here soon." said Glistening Snow all of a sudden.
The group's spirit soared after the heard Wandering Cloud's name.
Ye Ci's mind went blank after hearing the name. She already had a bad feeling after learning that the players were from Tang Dynasty. An unsettling chill crept up her limbs when she heard the name 'Wandering Cloud'.
"Slow down, we must wait for Wandering Cloud," said Mu Qing, "To get that shield, he bought information from the black market for 200,000 RMB."
The party members nodded.
The corner of Ye CI's mouth twitched. It was all for that shield. It was that particular shield on Wandering Cloud's hand that had attracted Ye Ci to him. As the first person to obtain that shield, he was of course an extraordinary person.
She had never thought that he got that shield from this place.
With each passing second, Ye Ci was able to slowly regain her composure. Her wandering thoughts came back to the reality. She peeked at the amount of HP the Armored Giant Tortoise had left. It was already under 2%. Should she take them out right now? Or should she strike when Wandering Cloud arrived?
Just as Ye Ci was hesitating, a voice she knew so well that it was almost unfamiliar rang in her ears, "Damn, without the Invisible Potion, I wouldn't have made it here!"
Ye Ci finally understood how the party was able to make their way to Winter's Hot spring. It was through the help of Novice Invisible Potions. The potion itself is not cheap. Each of them could only last one minute. For the five of them to arrive at this spot, they must've invested a lot.
"Cloud, you're here? Hurry up. You risk missing the loot." said Glistening Snow.
Wandering Cloud joined the battle. He casted a glance at Ye Ci who was lying on the ground and asked, "So this is Gongzi You?"
The party members nodded.
"Not bad, you've defeated her." Wandering Cloud smiled at his men.
"We did no such thing." Lazy Blue mumbled. He was the one who had fought directly against Ye Ci. He knew her strength but he was too afraid to speak loudly.
Wandering Cloud did not hear Lazy Blue's words, and continued asking, "She was afraid to respawn after being killed by you guys?"
"Yeah, she might be good in PVE, but her PVP skills sucks! I guess she was afraid that we would kill her again. So she stayed like that." Glistening Snow told a lie.
Wandering Cloud nodded. He then immediately recalled something important, "What was the BOSS's HP before you guys stole it from her?"
"Around 10% I think, Potato-Eating Dace's Charge pushed her in front of the Armored Giant Tortoise and she was killed by it." Mu Qing described what they had witnessed truthfully.