[Osteo Reaper](Blue BOSS)
Level: 25
Attack: 255-320
Defense: 100
Health: 25000
Skills: [Cutting lv7] [Strangulation lv7] [Bone Blade Thorns lv7]
Details: Osteo Reaper, a mutant among the aberrations, was extremely troublesome to deal with. After evolving, its bones had turned into serrated bone blades. The negative effects of evolution had caused it to lose its vision, but the heat-sensing organs on both sides of its head allowed it to detect its prey's location even more keenly.
A level 25 Blue BOSS!
I couldn't help taking a deep breath as I raised the Roarer level and aimed the muzzle ahead.
"Bzzzz~~~"
The Osteo Reaper seemed to have sensed my presence long ago. The heat-sensing grooves on either side of its head vibrated continuously, producing a buzzing metallic hum. At the same time, it opened its mouth and spat out a tongue covered in thorny barbs and slime.
There was no running now. I could only fight!
I took a deep breath and lowered myself slightly, having already made up my mind. The Osteo Reaper was an assassin among aberrations, with high attack but low defense and only average health. If I dragged this into a battle of attrition, I was bound to gain no advantage. My only chance of soloing it was to rely on the powerful performance of the blue Submachine Gun in my hands!
"Roar!"
Suddenly, the Osteo Reaper's powerful hind legs stomped against the ground, and it lunged at me with its tongue hanging out. Its forelegs, evolved into bone blades, rose high like a mantis's, preparing to deliver an aerial killing strike!
"Bang bang bang..."
Without the slightest hesitation, I aimed at its gaping maw and fired a series of controlled shots. The instant Headshot damage numbers rose into the air, it realized something was wrong and quickly shut its mouth. Bone spikes extended around its head with a series of swishes, wrapping around it like a helmet and instantly reducing my damage output by more than 70%!
"Whoosh!"
The bone blade flashed with cold light as it slashed down through the air!
I quickly lowered my head and activated Step Slash toward the front left!
The moment I dashed five meters away, I spun around sharply, aimed at the back of the Osteo Reaper's head, and pulled the trigger, instantly emptying the entire magazine!
"Roar~~~"
The Osteo Reaper let out an angry roar. Its tail, covered in bone spikes and thorns, lashed over like an iron whip. With a bang, it struck my breastplate, instantly shattering my protective aura and dealing additional damage!
"823!"
That was brutal!
Although the Osteo Reaper's attack cap was only 350 points, a Blue BOSS had hidden attack and defense bonuses. On top of that, there was the five-level suppression. It was only natural for its attacks to hurt this much.
My body staggered as I retreated again and again. Its speed far exceeded my expectations. It really was a tough opponent!
I raised my Left Hand and instantly summoned Randel's Shield, slamming it heavily into the ground. At the same time, my right hand smoothly replaced the magazine one-handed. With two clicks, the rounds were chambered. I suddenly twisted aside and unloaded a full burst into the Osteo Reaper's exposed chest!
Within four seconds, I instantly emptied the magazine!
At the same time, dense bullets struck the BOSS with a series of puffs. Although much of the damage was mitigated by its bone-blade thorn armor, it was still quite considerable!
"123!"
"128!"
"109!"
"133!"
Even without Headshot damage, emptying a magazine within four seconds could easily take around 6,000 health from the BOSS. Adding the damage from the previous full magazine, the Osteo Reaper's health bar had now dropped below 50%!
"Roar!"
It opened its bloody maw, and its bone-blade forelimbs slammed down on Randel's Shield. A tremendous force surged through me, sending both me and the shield flying!
Cutting lv7 really hurt!
"1128!"
Even with the shield protecting me, I still lost a huge chunk of health!
"Roar~~"
Like a beast, the Osteo Reaper gave me no breathing room in its pursuit. Its hind legs kicked off the grass, and its body leaped into the air, tearing through the wind as it came straight at me!
"Damn it!"
My eyes turned cold. I abandoned the shield and activated Explosive Charge the moment I flipped to my feet!
"Bang—"
Amid the thunderous impact, the Osteo Reaper stood trembling in the wind, a Stun icon spinning above its head. Seizing this heaven-sent opportunity, I quickly switched magazines, aimed at its back, and emptied the whole thing!
Amid the rapid sound of bullets leaving the barrel, the Osteo Reaper's health bar fell lower and lower. Its flesh was repeatedly pierced by bullets, turning into a bloody mess. In the blink of an eye, its health dropped to around 4,000!
"Roar~~~"
It turned around with a savage expression and charged at me as if it had gone mad.
There was no time to switch magazines now!
I directly pulled out the 99R Handgun, aimed at its head, and emptied all twenty rounds in the magazine with a burst of "bang bang bang." Just as the Osteo Reaper activated Strangulation, I used Step Slash to switch to its rear, equipped Vanguard Bee Sting, and slashed down at the bloody mess on its back!
A combo of normal attack + Bloodthirsty Assault + normal attack sent damage numbers rising continuously!
"332!"
"331!"
"521!"
"1244!"
"329!"
After the combo, the Osteo Reaper's health bar was left with only a sliver!
"Roar~~~"
It opened its bloody maw, and its pair of bone blades tore through the wind toward me!
I had nowhere left to retreat. Without another word, I switched my main-hand weapon to Wind Whisperer and shoved the dark barrel and silencer straight into its mouth. Then I repeatedly pulled the trigger, firing all five rounds in Wind Whisperer's magazine with a series of "bang bang bang"!
Blood splattered everywhere. A huge hole was blasted through the back of the Osteo Reaper's head, and its body toppled backward.
[Congratulations, you have killed Osteo Reaper (Blue BOSS) and obtained: BOSS Ability Crystal ×1!] [Combat Notice: You have killed Osteo Reaper (Blue BOSS), gained 250000 character experience, and the Essence Furnace extracted 125000 Experience Points!]
Awesome!
I was overjoyed, but I didn't get carried away. I immediately put away Randel's Shield and equipped it in my off-hand slot, then replaced the Roarer's magazine with a full one. I darted away from the area, hid beneath the roots of another tree, and rapidly loaded bullets into a pile of empty magazines.
One Osteo Reaper had consumed a full three magazines—150 bullets. That was indeed ruthless.
However, being able to withstand such a ferocious aberration as the Osteo Reaper and gun it down through sheer firepower was enough to prove that my earlier idea had been correct. Advanced Shooting lv10 combined with the blue Roarer was indeed an incredibly domineering combination. Its suppressive power against Blue BOSSES in the early stages of the game was terrifying. If I were in a party with others drawing aggro, killing them would probably be even easier!
Not long after, I finished loading all the magazines. Only then did I take out the fist-sized BOSS Ability Crystal from my Dimensional Storage Space and open it directly!
[Congratulations, your BOSS Ability Crystal has been successfully opened. You have obtained: Dimensional Expansion Crystal (Expanded Space: 0.2 cubic meters)!]
"Oh?"
I froze slightly. I hadn't expected the Blue BOSS to drop neither equipment nor a skill book, but a Dimensional Expansion Crystal!
As its name implied, this type of crystal was used to expand a player's Dimensional Storage Space. Such things were extremely rare and valuable. During the closed beta, quite a few big spenders had been willing to spend real money in off-the-books trades just to make their storage space a little larger!
The Expansion Crystal Before One's Eyes had a space capacity of 0.2 cubic meters. It wasn't particularly good, but it wasn't bad either. In the early stages of the game, it already counted as an exceptional treasure. After all, the larger the Dimensional Storage Space, the more items one could carry, and the more convenient smuggling would be in the future.
"Whoosh!"
The Expansion Crystal vanished from my hand. The next moment, my Dimensional Storage Space increased from one cubic meter to 1.2 cubic meters!
That also meant that my storage space had gone from a cube with sides one meter long to one with sides measuring 1.062658569183 meters. The increase was simply terrifying.
Time flowed bit by bit. I sat beneath the large tree and rested briefly, took out a bottle of mineral water, and drank half of it in one gulp. When I checked the time, it was already three in the morning. Without realizing it, I had been fighting Dark Tide for more than three hours. Gunfire still rang endlessly through West Wind Forest, and this small-scale local war continued.
At that moment, a familiar voice sounded from the star map.
"Brothers near the northeast corner of West Wind Forest, pay attention. Our people have just discovered quite a few aberrations rushing toward the northeast corner. They intend to tear open the defense line there and cut off our retreat. Brothers at the northeast corner, you must hold your ground and do not fall back. If the position is breached, it will become extremely troublesome!"
The man speaking was none other than Gun Like a Dragon, currently ranked first on the regional leaderboard and the guild leader of the Crimson Firmament Alliance.
"Don't worry, Brother Dragon. We're holding the line here!"
"Boss, just rest easy. We won't let a single aberration enter West Wind Forest through the northeast corner!"
Many people responded, showing great respect for Creek City's top-ranked player.
I frowned and opened the map for a look.
Damn it... my position was right on the first line of the northeast corner. If the aberration army charged south, I would be the first one hit!
As if to confirm Gun Like a Dragon's intelligence, several seconds later, swishing sounds came from the distance. Aberrations rushed out from the wilderness one after another, all first-tier aberrations—either Devourers or Lickers!
"Fuck..."
I frowned. The tide-like swarm of aberrations was charging in. They all had four legs, while I only had two. There was no way I could run. I could only face them!
But there was no terrain here to defend. On open ground, I would soon be surrounded. Although all my magazines were currently full, if there were enough aberrations, they could kill me even during the time it took to switch magazines!
In the end, my gaze landed on the large tree behind me.
The trunk was roughly half a meter in diameter, and the first branch was about five meters above the ground...
So I stopped overthinking it. I put away the Submachine Gun, took Aurelia's Hand Axe out of my Dimensional Storage Space, then used the axe in one hand and Vanguard Bee Sting in the other, alternately driving them into the trunk as I climbed. Several seconds later, I nimbly landed on the first branch.
No, not high enough!
I climbed several more steps and reached a branch ten meters above the ground. The view here was wide open, allowing me to sweep the surrounding ground with fire. It was indeed easy to defend and hard to attack!
"Roar roar~~~"
On the ground, a dense group of Lickers raced toward me. Each one crazily sniffed the air, then raised its head and looked up at me in the tree.
"Shriek—"
Among them, a Devourer suddenly let out a furious roar. The three-petaled mouthparts on its head opened, and its tongue writhed viciously.
Countless aberrations surged toward me like a tide!
"Holy shit..."
I took a deep breath, both thrilled and excited, then immediately pulled the bolt. Come on, give me everything you've got!
To conserve bullets, I used five-round controlled bursts, aiming every shot at the heads of the Devourers and Lickers. Every shot hit its mark. Out of every five bullets, three triggered the Headshot effect. For a moment, blood sprayed everywhere below, and the horrifying sight of heads exploding appeared one after another!
"204!"
"609!"
"615!"
"612!"
"200!"
For a time, the scene around the tree was spectacular. The aberrations roared madly while I fired madly. Neither side gave an inch.