Snatching the Monster!

The moment he stepped through the light gate, a bone-freezing chill swept over him.

[Frost Plain].

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but endless snow and jagged glaciers.

The wind howled like a knife, whipping ice shards with a wailing, ghostly roar.

The air felt frozen solid, each breath stabbing into his lungs with biting pain.

["Extreme Cold" environmental damage: lose 5 HP every 3 seconds!]

The prompt rang out in Lin Mu's mind.

Yet, the damage number floating above his head read:

"-1HP!"

"+99HP!"

The [Frost Breath Whisper Hood]'s 91% cold damage reduction

turned the dungeon's greatest environmental threat into a joke.

Paired with the [Rapid Healing Ring]'s terrifying 99 HP recovery per second, this damage wasn't even a tickle.

Lin Mu looked around.

His 99-meter perception range spread like an invisible net, instantly unfurling.

Soon.

Four wolf-shaped outlines, radiating fierce killing intent, appeared at the edge of his perception map.

[Ice Field Wolf] (LV.28).

They were pure white, nearly blending into the environment, circling in at breakneck speed.

But before they could close in, an invisible ripple spread from Lin Mu.

[Fear Aura]!

The four [Ice Field Wolves], once brimming with aggression, visibly slowed down.

Their charge faltered with hesitation.

The 9% reduction to all stats had already taken effect.

Lin Mu waved his staff.

[Resurrect Skeleton]!

The ground rumbled.

Ninety [Steel Skeletons], gleaming with metallic cold light, burst through the frozen earth, forming neat ranks with imposing presence.

He waved again.

[Resurrect Skeleton Archer]!

Ten frail skeletons, wielding crude bone bows, appeared behind the Steel Skeletons.

Compared to those towering, mighty steel guards, they looked pitifully weak.

"Awooo!"

The Ice Field Wolves howled and pounced.

"Shoot."

Lin Mu gave a simple command.

The ten Novice Skeleton Archers moved in unison, drawing their crude bone bows.

"Swish, swish, swish..."

Sparse bone arrows cut through the air. Their aim was decent, but the damage was lackluster.

"-8HP!"

"-7HP!"

The Steel Skeleton army surged forward.

In an instant, they tore the four weakened Ice Field Wolves to shreds.

"Attack power and fire rate are too slow."

Lin Mu wasn't satisfied with the skeleton archers' debut performance.

With a thought, he locked onto one skeleton archer's detailed description.

[Novice Skeleton Archer]: A skeleton archer wielding a bone bow, firing bone arrows with a slow attack speed.

Lin Mu's gaze lingered on the words "holding a bone bow."

The talent [Description Tamperer] activated!

"Change 'holding a bone bow' to 'holding a steel bow'!"

In an instant.

The bone bows in the hands of the ten Skeleton Archers took on a metallic sheen, becoming tougher.

The rules extended themselves logically, and the bowstring's material was also strengthened.

Range, firing speed, and power all saw a slight increase.

When they next encountered monsters, the arrows fired by the Skeleton Archers dealt damage that had risen to around 30 points.

Though it still only played a supporting role, it was better than nothing.

With a ranged unit in the Skeleton Legion, their tactics immediately became more three-dimensional.

The archers were responsible for luring monsters, slowing them down, and focusing fire.

The Steel Skeletons were in charge of charging in and encircling them.

Lin Mu commanded this undead army.

Like a highly efficient bulldozer, it rampaged across the ice plain.

Every monster group they encountered.

Whether it was a pack of [Ice Crystal Beasts] or the [Frost Pattern Snakes] lurking beneath the snow.

All were crushed under the absolute advantage of numbers and strength, turning into experience points that skyrocketed his level.

Soon, Lin Mu's experience bar was full.

But since he hadn't completed his class change.

His level was capped at LV.10, and any excess experience could only accumulate.

After more than an hour.

Just as Lin Mu was clearing out an area guarded by [Ice Crystal Beasts].

At the edge of his perception range, which stretched 99 meters.

He suddenly detected life signals from a group that wasn't monsters.

They were human professionals.

The [Frost Plain] was an open dungeon, so running into other parties wasn't strange.

What was strange was the level of this party.

The team had five people.

The lowest level was LV.35, and the highest had even reached LV.38!

Right now, they were locked in a difficult struggle with a massive monster.

The monster was entirely made of ice crystals, wielding a huge Frost War Hammer.

It was none other than the dungeon's final boss—LV.32 [Frost Lord].

The battle was fierce, with danger at every turn.

"Damn it, aren't they stealing my quest monster!"

"If they kill it, I'll have to wait until tomorrow's boss respawn to challenge it again!"

"But this is a level 30 resource dungeon—why would such a high-level party be here going all out against the boss?"

A hint of doubt rose in Lin Mu's mind.

Their desperate attitude clearly wasn't about grinding monsters for levels.

Out of caution and curiosity, he didn't reveal himself immediately.

Instead, he commanded his skeleton army.

To silently flank around from the side, ready to watch the fight from a safe distance.

He ordered the Skeleton Archers to take the high ground on a nearby ice mound, looking down from above.

The Steel Skeletons split into several groups, using the ice mounds and rocks as cover.

Concealing their forms, they formed a massive encirclement.

Bringing both the party and the [Frost Lord] within attack range.

Just then, the battle situation changed abruptly!

The five-person team seemed to have exhausted their strength.

The female swordsman at the lead was about to pull something out of her backpack.

The [Frost Lord], with only a sliver of health left, suddenly let out a roar and entered a berserk state!

"Roar—!"

It raised the Frost War Hammer high and slammed it heavily into the ground!

[Ice Roar]!

A massive frost storm exploded outward from its center!

Some of it even swept into the skeleton's encirclement.

The intense energy fluctuations from the battle finally made the highly tense squad notice something unusual around them.

The female swordsman at the front changed expression sharply.

She held her longsword horizontally and barked:

"Who's skulking there? Get out!"

And at that very moment.

Lin Mu raised his staff and waved it rapidly five times!

Four thousand nine hundred and fifty Bone Teeth, shimmering with the deathly chill of frost, turned into a jet stream, tearing through the air with a sharp howl.

They shot straight toward the [Frost Lord], which had only a sliver of health left!