Reversal of Fortune

Bang! Thud! Bang! Bang!

As more and more Jet-Black Monsters began climbing the outside of the bus and assaulting its windows, the entire vehicle quickly became like a drafty, broken house. The situation grew increasingly dire, and a fierce battle between humans and monsters officially began.

The main fighting force on the human side was clearly the Short-Haired Girl's Long-Haired Female Ghost summon. This summon was incredibly fast and possessed considerable offensive power. Her figure flashed continuously through the bus, using her ten long, sharp nails to shred every monster that dared charge toward the rear of the bus, where the Short-Haired Girl was located.

But the monsters held an overwhelming numerical advantage, and the Long-Haired Female Ghost seemed to lack any area-of-effect attacks. She could only kill the enemies one at a time. At the same time, her form was highly unusual, making her unable to physically block the attackers, so some monsters eventually crossed her line of defense amid the chaos.

However, the monsters that crossed the first line of defense did not fare well. Waiting for them was the Long-Blade Youth, Wang Zhifan, standing in front of the Short-Haired Girl.

Wang Zhifan stood in the middle of the aisle, about two meters in front of the Short-Haired Girl, who was fully focused on controlling her summon. The Wolf Slayer Blade in his hand sent out streaks of silver-white blade light, sometimes swift and sometimes measured, chopping every Jet-Black Monster that managed to approach into large chunks of dead flesh that scattered across the nearby floor and seats.

Every strike he made was decisive and clean, without the slightest hesitation or any flashy variation in technique. There were only the simplest, most effective attacks, and a rhythm of drawing and sheathing his blade that adjusted to the number of enemies.

When the monsters first charged at her, the Short-Haired Girl had wanted to pull the Long-Haired Female Ghost summon toward the rear of the bus and tighten their defensive line. But after noticing that the Warrior Class youth before her was quite capable and could deal with the approaching threats with ease, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Instead, she had her summon draw the monsters away in the opposite direction, reducing the pressure on their side.

The two worked together with remarkable coordination. The Short-Haired Girl constantly controlled the Long-Haired Female Ghost as she darted and slammed about the bus, continuously inflicting damage and drawing the hatred of most of the Jet-Black Monsters, causing these seemingly mindless creatures to futilely swarm the incorporeal enemy.

Wang Zhifan, meanwhile, was responsible for clearing out those that had not been drawn away by the Long-Haired Female Ghost and instead chose to charge at them. In the cramped confines of the bus, standing in the aisle was enough for him to handle four or five monsters rushing him at once. The Wolf Slayer Blade in his hand was sharp enough, his blade technique skilled enough, and his strength and stamina far surpassed those of an ordinary person, allowing him to keep fighting for a long time.

These ordinary Gray Domain Monsters don't seem very powerful... They feel a fair bit weaker than the Big Grey Wolf from the first Dungeon...

As he swung his blade and severed the body of a Jet-Black Monster that had leaped toward him, Wang Zhifan pondered inwardly.

He had originally attached great importance to this first encounter with Gray Domain Monsters, assuming that they would all be quite formidable and that he would have to seize every chance to flee for his life if he wanted any hope of surviving. Yet he found that their only troublesome quality was probably their sheer number. In terms of individual strength, even if their numbers doubled, they would not last more than two moves against him.

But just as Wang Zhifan was thinking this, an especially massive monster outside the bus approached a nearby window and lowered its enormous head, drawing his attention.

It was the unique Leader Individual that had landed farther back when the Gray Domain Monsters first appeared. It had finally reached the outside of the bus. Standing upright with its exceptionally tall and disgusting body, it used a pair of ugly, evil gray eyes to inspect the situation inside through the window.

This thing seems to possess some intelligence?

Such humanlike behavior immediately put Wang Zhifan on high alert. In his view, vicious monsters were not the truly frightening kind; what was frightening was a monster as cunning as a human. So, without looking back, he shouted to the Short-Haired Girl behind him, "Quick! Use your summon to lure that thing away! Leave the remaining monsters here to me!"

"Don't rush!"

To his surprise, the girl behind Wang Zhifan seemed to disagree with his idea and immediately offered a more aggressive suggestion.

"Let's clear this place out first! Then we'll join forces and kill it! Maybe it'll drop some good rewards!"

"?"

When Wang Zhifan heard the girl behind him mention rewards dropping, his brows immediately furrowed. Her statement exceeded his understanding. The information he had obtained contained no mention of Gray Domain Monsters dropping rewards when killed. Moreover, he had already killed nearly twenty Gray Domain Monsters without receiving any reward, further proving that his previous information had not been wrong.

Could it be that only unique Gray Domain Monsters drop rewards when killed?

As he steadily eliminated the enemies approaching him, Wang Zhifan rapidly analyzed the matter in his mind. He believed that the girl behind him had not been talking nonsense. After all, her class was so rare and powerful that she was most likely no ordinary player. Perhaps she possessed more information about the Gray Domain.

"Alright."

Thus, Wang Zhifan showed no sign of anything unusual and calmly responded to the girl behind him, agreeing to her invitation to join forces against the monster.

This was also an inevitable change once the strength of both sides had become clear. At first, they had believed themselves to be the weaker side, intending to hold their ground and wait for reinforcements from the Official Special Administration Bureau. But after fighting for a while, they discovered that both their strength and coordination were quite good. Not only could they block the monsters' attacks, but they could gradually wipe them out as well. There was no need to cower any longer.

But while the two were having this exchange, the Tall Monster standing outside the window also made its move. Perhaps it had understood that the two inside were planning to kill it. It soon stopped merely standing outside the window and looking down to observe them. Instead, it raised one of its Jet-Black, foul-smelling, grotesquely knotted arms, impossibly long, and thrust it straight through the window, reaching toward the two at the rear of the bus. Its primary target was unmistakably the Short-Haired Girl sheltered behind Wang Zhifan! "You bastard... do you think I don't exist?"

Seeing this, Wang Zhifan sneered inwardly. He had thought the big monster outside was somewhat intelligent, but now it seemed to possess no more intellect than an infant.

"Break!"

He immediately swung his blade like a silver wheel, beheading three ordinary monsters that had approached him in an instant. Then he turned, gave a small leap, and slashed down in fury, driving the silver-glinting edge of the Wolf Slayer Blade viciously into the monster's arm that had just reached through the window!