Dragon Princess Mecha

"I've shared the quest with everyone. What do you think?"

After they found a tavern and sat down, Wang Qianduo shared the quest with the group and asked.

"It'll be tricky, but the rewards are bound to be good!"

Wang Ji was the one who spoke. He'd been an expert solo-player strategist in other games, and after the Mecha Era arrived, the Mountains and Seas Guild had recruited him for a hefty sum.

"The hard part isn't killing the boss. It's figuring out how to secure the kill."

The others nodded. They knew that much.

"Could we hire people to clear the area? ... No, that might hurt the Guild's reputation."

Lin Qimeng immediately shot down her own idea. Everyone stared at her speechlessly. As expected of someone from a major corporation—she'd actually considered clearing the area.

Even back then, whenever Mark Bokuai spawned, there had been well over a thousand people on-site.

These days, tens of thousands would be nothing out of the ordinary.

And she hadn't dropped the idea because there were too many people, but because it might damage the Guild's reputation.

There was no denying it: the Mountains and Seas Guild was filthy rich.

"Clearing the area is out of the question. Actually, I have an item that might help, but I'm not very good at using it."

Seeing that no one had any ideas, Wang Qianduo gritted his teeth and posted the item's details in the Chat Channel.

Blast Bomb (Perfect) (Bound): Light the fuse (1 second), then throw it at a target. Deals 10,000 True Damage to all targets in range.

Wang Qianduo had gotten it as a paid item when he charged his account to VIP 11. He only had five.

It was an old-fashioned fuse bomb, obsolete for who knew how many years, but its effect was simple and direct.

It was practically a World Boss-stealing Divine Artifact, but it wasn't easy to use.

Ten thousand damage might sound like a lot, but it depended on the circumstances.

In his view, with tens of thousands of people attacking the boss, 10,000 HP would vanish in an instant.

If he waited until the boss had only 10,000 HP to light the fuse, the one-second countdown would be enough for the boss to die several times over.

So he needed to predict the timing. But Wang Qianduo was a newbie—how was he supposed to predict anything? And the item was bound, so he couldn't trade it. No one else could use it for him.

"Old Wang, you had something this good and didn't bring it out sooner?"

"That's the item for this quest, isn't it?"

"You were trying to save it? That's pretty crafty!"

"This definitely makes things a lot easier!"

As soon as Wang Qianduo showed them the item, the experts immediately started chiming in one after another.

"Is this item really that important? The boss's 10,000 HP won't last long, will it?" Wang Qianduo asked, puzzled.

Asking when you didn't know something was a good habit, right?

"You clearly didn't do your homework. The boss's first 10,000 HP won't last long, sure.

"But every World Boss has a special mechanic. Once its HP drops below a certain threshold, it gains a Damage Reduction Buff.

"The lower its HP, the stronger the damage reduction. Its final tens of thousands of HP can last a long time."

Sister Cat explained it to Wang Qianduo, and he finally remembered that the game had a mechanic like that.

The game was so realistic that it sometimes felt like being in the real world.

"Exactly. True Damage of 10,000 will do the trick. As long as Old Wang survives to the end, this quest should be no problem," Sword of Miracles said.

"That does make things easier, but there's another requirement to get the World Boss's loot, isn't there?" Wang Ji said, looking at the group, who all wore expressions that said the quest was in the bag.

"You mean dealing enough damage to rank in the top 30%? You don't need to worry about that!

"The only problem now is keeping Old Wang alive. That'll depend on how well we do.

"Mark Bokuai spawns on Planet 1 in Star Domain One. We don't have to worry about getting PKed there, so that makes things a lot easier!"

Sister Cat said with a smile. She wasn't worried about Wang Qianduo's damage output at all.

Before, when Wang Qianduo was low-level, making the top 30% might have been a struggle.

Now, plenty of people would be helping him get there!

In the Mecha World, any player who participated in a World Boss kill would receive a reward.

But to claim the loot, you had to meet one of two conditions. The most important, of course, was landing the final hit.

The other was that the player who landed that final hit had to rank in the top 30% for damage.

If that requirement wasn't met, the right to claim the loot went to the team with the highest damage output.

"Nothing to worry about?"

→_→

Lin Qimeng realized she didn't understand the capable subordinate in front of her at all. Was he really the person she thought she knew?

"I just got lucky and received a powerful weapon from a Hidden Quest!"

Noticing Lin Qimeng's doubtful look, Wang Qianduo inexplicably offered an explanation.

He didn't know why he'd explained himself. He just had.

After making their plans, the group followed Sister Cat's suggestion and set off well ahead of time for the World Boss's spawn point on Planet 1 in Star Domain One.

"So, can everyone fly?" Lin Qimeng asked after summoning her Mecha.

Sword of Miracles and the others, as well as the two people she'd brought, were all below level 10, so they had starter Mechas with barely any visible Propulsion Devices.

Everyone nodded together, indicating that they could all fly.

"Is that a Special Mecha Evolution Type—the Dragon Princess?" Sister Cat's expression changed when she saw Lin Qimeng's Mecha.

Hearing her, Wang Qianduo looked over curiously. Lin Qimeng's Mecha was remarkably slender compared to a normal Mecha. It was snow-white, with flames decorating its body.

Two small, sharp horns sprouted from its softly contoured, feminine head, like the newly grown horns of a young dragon.

A black katana about as tall as the Mecha floated behind it, with a ring hovering around its guard.

The Dragon Princess was a Rare Fire Element Mecha, an Evolution Type on the same level as the Dragon Chaser, the Evolution Type that came before the Dragon Hunter.

Both were Evolution Types of Agility-Type Mechs. The Dragon Princess Mecha was renowned for its perfect appearance and tremendous burst damage.

It was also one of the few Rare Mechas whose evolution requirements had been revealed by the game system.

The requirements for evolving an Agility-Type II Mecha into a Dragon Princess were simple, but also difficult for many people.

The simple part was that all you needed to do during Mecha Evolution was add special materials to the Mecha: Perfect-grade Dragon Blood and materials from the bodies of certain dragon-type Star Beasts.

That was also what made it difficult. Dragons were rare and powerful in any world, and the Dragon Princess Mecha required pure-blooded dragons.

It wasn't that these materials were too expensive. Compared with the Dragon Princess Mecha's powerful abilities, spending some money was nothing.

Especially for women—who cared about the cost? It was gorgeous and powerful, hitting them right where it hurt.

But dragon materials weren't something you could buy just by having money, and not everyone could pass the advancement trials that came afterward.

Without Professional Rank strength, you could forget about it!

In short, anyone who could use a Dragon Princess Mecha was not only rich, but also had Professional Rank strength.

And Lin Qimeng was a beauty, even after reducing her looks by 20%. She was a complete winner in life, a perfect template!

"That's right. It's a Dragon Princess Evolution Type. It took me a year to collect all the materials for the evolution. Otherwise, I wouldn't still be level 10."

Lin Qimeng smiled. She'd been among the first to join the game when it launched.

At her answer, the others could only marvel.

She'd spent an entire year pursuing a Rare Mecha.

The key was that Mechas from this game could now be brought into reality. That year had been completely worth it.

Hard work really did pay off! Was she the real protagonist here?

"Impressive!" Wang Qianduo said sincerely.

"Not at all! I'd advise you to choose a Mecha Evolution Type with potential, too. It'll determine your future!"

"I will!"

Since everyone could fly, they all took off together and headed for the World Boss Mark Bokuai.

"You've gotten a lot better at flying. You were much clumsier when you first started running!"

As they flew toward their destination, Sister Cat watched Wang Qianduo fly with ease and remarked.

She'd thought that at his skill level, they'd have to wait a long time for him.

She'd even insisted that everyone leave so early. It looked like she'd worried for nothing.

"Come on! I've trained professionally in flying, okay?" Wang Qianduo said without a hint of modesty.

Lin Qimeng: "You're amazing! By the way, Old Wang, how did you do your newbie quest? We saw you kneeling at the Mecha Summoning Site for ages."

Song in the Clouds: "Oh! That meme that's been going around online these past couple days is you! I knew that Mecha looked familiar!"

Wang Qianduo: "... If you don't bring that up, we can still be friends..."

"Hahahahaha!"