The School Belle's "Perfect" Clear!

Just as Yang Yu effortlessly one-shot the boss, on the other side of the Instance Dungeon, Jiang Shuyue's battle had reached its most intense stage.

"Ice Spike!"

With a soft shout, Jiang Shuyue swung her staff. Three crystalline ice spikes appeared out of thin air and shot toward a Goblin Warrior not far away with piercing whistles.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

-75! -68! -76!

The Goblin Warrior let out a miserable cry as its Health Bar emptied, then fell unwillingly to the ground.

"Phew..."

Jiang Shuyue took a light breath, a fine layer of sweat beading on her fair forehead.

As expected of an A-rank Frost Mage—her damage was truly high.

Coupled with the attribute bonuses from her full set of Fine Grade Equipment, she was practically unstoppable in the Novice Dungeon.

But the fight was far from easy for her.

In pursuit of speed, she barely rested at all, chugging Mana Potions like water.

Many times, to save time on maneuvering, she would even take hits from minor monsters head-on and rely on her equipment's defenses to endure them.

While this was highly efficient, it consumed an enormous amount of mental and physical energy.

"Almost there. I'm almost at the boss."

Jiang Shuyue checked the time. More than twenty minutes had already passed.

That was already incredibly fast.

She knew that Third High School's previous solo-clear record was thirty-five minutes, set by an upperclassman with an S-rank Profession.

This time, she would definitely improve that record by a huge margin!

At the thought of the approving look in her father's eyes when he saw the new record, Jiang Shuyue felt herself fill with motivation.

Before long, she had cleared all the minor monsters along the way and arrived before the Goblin Leader's cave.

Without the slightest hesitation, she pushed open the door and entered.

"Roar!"

The Goblin Leader's roar rang out.

Jiang Shuyue's expression turned grave. She immediately pulled away and began chanting a spell.

"Ice Arrow!"

Arrows carrying bone-piercing cold flew toward the boss, bursting into clouds of icy mist across its body.

-88!

-92!

-85! (Slow!)

The advantage of an A-rank Profession was displayed to the fullest when fighting a boss.

Not only did her skills deal high damage, but they also came with all sorts of control effects.

The Goblin Leader's movement speed was drastically reduced. It clumsily swung its Spiked Club, yet could not even touch the hem of Jiang Shuyue's clothes.

A classic mage Kiting Tactic.

But the Goblin Leader had a lot of health, while Jiang Shuyue's Mana was rapidly dwindling.

"This is too slow!"

Jiang Shuyue gritted her teeth and decided to take a risk.

She stopped kiting and instead took the initiative to approach the boss, beginning to chant a more powerful spell.

"Blizzard!"

This was an area-of-effect sustained damage skill that Frost Mages could learn at level one. It dealt extremely high damage, but required Sustained Casting and had limited casting range.

Dark clouds gathered above the Goblin Leader's head, and a torrential blizzard mixed with ice crystals poured down.

-150!

-155!

-148!

A dense stream of damage numbers rose above the boss's head, and its Health Bar began to plummet wildly.

"Roar!"

The Goblin Leader had been thoroughly enraged as well. Ignoring the damage from Blizzard, it charged at Jiang Shuyue through the slow effect and unleashed Destructive Strike!

Blood-red energy gathered around its Spiked Club.

Jiang Shuyue's pupils contracted.

She knew how powerful that skill was, but she could not interrupt her casting, or all her efforts would be wasted!

I have to risk it!

Just as the Spiked Club was about to smash down, Jiang Shuyue finally completed the final chant for Blizzard.

The Spiked Club crashed heavily into her body.

One of her defensive items shattered instantly, sending her flying backward.

She scrambled up from the ground.

She still felt a little frightened afterward!

That was close!

She had almost been one-shot!

Though Jiang Shuyue still felt lingering fear, she had no time to dwell on it and continued chanting Blizzard.

After enduring the full damage of Blizzard, the Goblin Leader's health had also bottomed out. It let out a mournful howl, and its huge body crashed to the ground.

Goblin Leader defeated. Experience gained: +1500

"Success!"

Jiang Shuyue let out a long breath, slumping onto the ground and panting heavily.

Though the process had been somewhat embarrassing, she had finally made it through.

She checked the time. Twenty-nine minutes.

She had broken the record!

And she had shaved a full six minutes off the original record!

A victorious smile appeared on Jiang Shuyue's face.

She could not wait to share this good news with her father.

She straightened her somewhat rumpled clothes, forced herself to stand, picked up the items dropped by the boss, and chose to leave the Instance Dungeon.

With a flash of light, she returned outside Third High School's grand auditorium.

She would show everyone the strength of an A-rank genius!

Yang Yu's figure appeared outside the Instance Dungeon's glowing gate.

The noisy atmosphere around him instantly fell silent.

Everyone's eyes snapped toward him.

"Huh? Yang Yu came out?"

"So fast? He's been in there for less than twenty minutes, right?"

"He must not have been able to beat it and quit directly. That's fine too—better than losing his life."

"Sigh, I told you. How could a D-rank Warrior possibly clear it alone?"

The students' voices were neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for Yang Yu to hear clearly.

His best friend, Zhang Wei, was the first to rush over, his face full of concern.

"Brother Yu, are you okay? Did you run into a monster you couldn't beat? You did the right thing by quitting. Safety comes first!"

The Homeroom Teacher also hurried over, wearing an expression that said, "Just as expected."

She spoke earnestly. "Yang Yu, it's good that you came out. Don't get stuck in a dead end."

"One failure is nothing. What matters is recognizing yourself for who you are."

"Listen to your teacher. In your situation, being a lone wolf is far too dangerous."

"The Instance Dungeons in the wild aren't like the school's Novice Dungeon, where you can leave whenever you want. Out there, if you can't win, it's a dead end. There won't even be anyone to collect your body!"

The more the teacher spoke, the more convinced she became that her guess was right.

This Yang Yu must have suffered a blow and wanted to prove himself. But he had hit a wall in the Instance Dungeon and could only slink back out in defeat.

She had to properly guide him, or this child might easily go down an Evil Path.

"Besides, it isn't just Instance Dungeons that are dangerous in the wild. Those monsters vary greatly in level, and danger can come from anywhere."

"Not to mention our little city. Outside the city, there are several groups that specialize in occupying Instance Dungeon entrances and bullying Lone Wolves without backing like you."

"Without your own team or anyone to support you, it's impossible to get anywhere alone!"

The teacher felt her words still lacked enough weight. She even began considering whether she should call Yang Yu's older sister.

Have his sister step in and persuade the boy to accept his ordinariness, find a team, and live steadily. That was still better than going out to throw his life away.

Listening to the "concern" from his teacher and classmates, Yang Yu did not know whether to laugh or cry.

He knew they meant well, but was their imagination not a little too wild?

Who said I quit?

He was about to explain, but after thinking it over, he swallowed his words.

What was there to explain?

Say that he had cleared it? Would they believe him?

Say that he had cleared it in barely over ten minutes? They would probably think he had gone insane.

Forget it. Facts spoke louder than words.

So he merely shook his head, declining the teacher's offer to introduce him to a team.

"Teacher, thank you for your kindness, but I have my own plans."

Seeing Yang Yu remain so stubborn, both the teacher and Zhang Wei felt awkward, as well as frustrated that he refused to learn.

Why was this kid so obstinate?

Just as the atmosphere reached an impasse, the Instance Dungeon's glowing gate lit up again.

Jiang Shuyue emerged from it, looking somewhat disheveled but even more proud.

"Look! Jiang Shuyue came out too!"

"Wow! The school belle cleared it! She looks amazing!"