Terrifying Damage

They didn't hesitate for long before deciding to engage.

This might be the first Elite Monster since the game began, but regardless, He Gu, who believed he could easily deal with the Wild Boar Leader, saw the creature before him as a source of rare equipment.

Nightfall was still at least an hour away, so within this hour, the Wild Boar Leader's stats wouldn't be strengthened at all. This was one of the reasons they decided to attack.

Without delay, He Gu charged towards the Wild Boar Leader, adopting a One-Handed Straight Sword stance as he ran.

It had to be said, He Gu was a genius. Without participating in the Beta Test, he had managed to utilize his skills in multiple ways to their fullest extent in just two days. Wang Yang's rapid progress was largely thanks to He Gu; even just observing him from the sidelines was incredibly beneficial.

On the first day, He Gu could accurately judge distance and the direction of his sword thrusts. On the second day, he could use the One-Handed Straight Sword while on the move. It was believed that even Beta Testers would find it difficult to achieve this.

In the dim light, a faint blue flash, leaving a long afterimage, sliced across the Wild Boar Leader's robust body.

The One-Handed Straight Sword skill hit directly!

A blurred red wound appeared on the Wild Boar Leader, followed by four Health Bars above its head. After taking a hit from the One-Handed Straight Sword, the topmost Health Bar depleted by only ten percent.

Wang Yang, following behind and preparing to support, stopped abruptly upon seeing the Wild Boar Leader's Health Bars. It wasn't the creature's formidable defense that startled him, but the four Health Bars above its head.

Among Players, only those who had previously tackled Floor Bosses knew what four Health Bars represented. They were the exclusive Health Bars of a Boss!

Could this Wild Boar Leader not be a simple Elite Monster? Or did all wild Elite Monsters have four Health Bars?

Wang Yang didn't have time to ponder. An enraged roar reached his ears.

"Roar!" The sudden attack and pain caused the Wild Boar Leader to let out a Beast Roar unlike any normal boar. Its entire body entered a slight Stiff Time, but the effect quickly wore off. It rapidly turned, its blood-red eyes glaring fiercely at the culprit who had wounded it. It stomped its dark forelegs into the grass and charged at He Gu, who was still in Stiff Time.

Wang Yang cursed himself for being an idiot. With no time for regret, he could only charge towards the Wild Boar Leader as fast as possible. However, with his current Agility stats, even with all his might, he couldn't keep up with the Wild Boar Leader.

The thought of He Gu being in danger because of his hesitation made Wang Yang want to slap himself.

Fortunately, He Gu's One-Handed Straight Sword had leveled up to Lv2 from two days of hunting. The Stiff Time from using the sword skill had shortened. This small reduction in time allowed He Gu to narrowly dodge the Wild Boar Leader's charge, which could inflict unknown damage, by twisting his body at the last moment.

Seeing that He Gu wasn't hit, Wang Yang breathed a sigh of relief and shouted, "I'll hold it off, you attack!"

"Okay!" He Gu replied verbally, but his gaze remained fixed on the Wild Boar Leader. Although the four Health Bars felt daunting, as long as the Wild Boar Leader's attack patterns were similar to those of a Frenzied Boar, defeating it was only a matter of time.

The Wild Boar Leader couldn't understand human speech. Its blood-red eyes were filled with bestial ferocity, and it charged at He Gu again, its sharp tusks bared.

Wang Yang took several large strides to get in front of He Gu, raising his shield and focusing on the charging Wild Boar Leader. He held his breath, his mind entering a state of intense concentration.

1 second.

0.5 seconds.

Now!

His pupils contracted sharply. Wang Yang sidestepped, raised his shield, and thrust it forward forcefully. His not-so-strong body slammed into the Wild Boar Leader's two tusks that jutted from its mouth. His bronze round shield struck the Wild Boar Leader squarely on the nose.

"Roar!" The Wild Boar Leader let out a piercing scream as its sensitive nose was smashed hard. It stumbled back several steps, its first health bar dropping to half. The damage dealt was clearly immense due to the force of the impact.

He Gu didn't let up. From a meter away, he launched another attack with his One-Handed Straight Sword! Another blue flash streaked across, and the Wild Boar Leader's health bar decreased further.

After the round of attacks, the Wild Boar Leader, seemingly in agony, thrashed its head and body, screaming incessantly. This gave Wang Yang and He Gu enough time to retreat, creating an opportunity for the second round of attacks.

Whether it lost its mind due to rage or simply lacked any real AI, the Wild Boar Leader, after recovering from the intense pain, fixed its eyes, filled with fury and hatred, on Wang Yang and charged again.

Wang Yang employed the same tactic, accurately charging into the Wild Boar Leader's tusks once more. Then, raising his shield, he delivered another heavy blow to the boar's nose. Thus, round after round continued, occasionally triggering a stun effect that allowed He Gu and Wang Yang to land multiple normal attacks.

With Wang Yang and He Gu's coordinated efforts, the Wild Boar Leader's health bar was reduced to just one segment after twenty minutes.

He Gu's face lit up with joy, as if he could already see the Wild Boar Leader falling before them and dropping rare equipment. However, Wang Yang felt no elation. Everything seemed too easy, so easy it made him uneasy.

But battle allowed no room for stray thoughts. The Wild Boar Leader, its stun effect gone, charged at him again.

Wang Yang immediately cast aside his unease, raised his shield to meet the Wild Boar Leader, and initiated his Shield Bash for what felt like the hundredth time.

Just as he was about to collide with the Wild Boar Leader's tusks, he was shocked to see the boar transition from motion to stillness, stopping dead in its tracks.

"No!" Wang Yang's heart leaped. His forward momentum was unstoppable. He saw a faint red glint in the Wild Boar Leader's eyes as its sharp tusks rapidly lunged towards Wang Yang's abdomen.

Squelch!

The tusks easily pierced the thin armor and embedded themselves in Wang Yang's abdomen.

Wang Yang's body jolted. The powerful attack sent a wave of intense pain through his abdomen, forcing a scream from his lips. The HP bar in the top-left corner of his vision was rapidly depleting, showing no signs of stopping.

Wang Yang watched his HP dwindle, the fear of death surging from his heart to his chest, then to his throat. Just as it was about to erupt into a second, more piercing scream, the Wild Boar Leader suddenly roared and stumbled backward. Its sharp tusks withdrew from Wang Yang's abdomen.

As the tusks left his body, the rate of HP loss slowed. Under Wang Yang's terrified gaze, his HP finally stabilized, stopping just outside the red line that signified death.

6/252

Only 6 HP remained.

Death felt like a single step away. Once out of danger, Wang Yang collapsed onto the grass, his face still etched with extreme fear. He gasped for air, but even that couldn't calm his wildly beating heart.

He even imagined how fast his heart rate must be in the real world. The moment the tusks pierced his abdomen, he truly believed he was going to die.

The courage he had built up from hunting Frenzied Boars for hours was shattered by that single stab.

Meanwhile, He Gu, to save Wang Yang, landed an attack that forced the Wild Boar Leader back. He then retreated five meters, drawing the Wild Boar Leader away from Wang Yang.

"Still one bar of health..." Cold sweat beaded on He Gu's forehead. As teammates, he had clearly seen Wang Yang's HP reduced to a sliver. If he had reacted even a moment later, Wang Yang would have been reduced to Fragments by now.

Having depleted four bars of the Wild Boar Leader's health without taking damage, neither of them had truly grasped the boar's destructive power. Now, the Wild Boar Leader had delivered a shocking lesson to He Gu.

One more hit, just one, and he could die. This stark realization amplified He Gu's pressure infinitely.

"As long as I don't use skills, I won't enter a stiffness state. That way, I can dodge its charge and slowly wear it down. There's still an hour until night, so it should be enough!"

He Gu forced a smile, gazing at the Wild Boar Leader that was looking his way, feeling a hint of regret.

He never expected an Elite Monster at level 2 to have such strong attack power.

Just then, the Wild Boar Leader charged at He Gu again.

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