Chapter 600
The peak has been reached.
This was a pre-planned script. The lives of Garou and the others seemed to be taken for granted, but in reality, they were quite crucial. Yuki had reached the 'gate,' and the path of ascent that 'Taiyi' had personally cut off was the pinnacle for all players in the Borderlands.
Yuki's gaze shifted slightly. He had finally reached his peak. The Reincarnation Game didn't have a reset mechanism; once a player reached this level, their stats were fixed.
He didn't have time to analyze whether his skill plan was scientific. He closed his eyes, retraced his journey from Bloodthirsty Red Moon, and countless images flashed back, eventually turning into a triumphant soliloquy.
I tried my best.
That was enough. He seized every opportunity, exhausted every brain cell, and killed every enemy who stood in his way.
There's no need to dwell on it, no need to regret it. Simply open your eyes, pick up the knife, push open the door in front of you, and face your Destiny head-on.
Click.
The door opened, and the familiar little house came into view. Mai Sakurajima, Hayasaka Ai, Shiina Hiyori, Kaguya Shinomiya, Frieren, and Mona were already waiting at the door, looking at him with expectant eyes.
Their strengths varied greatly; the strongest, Hayasaka Ai, had only just entered Epic Rank III, yet she had already reached her peak and gained a lot of new skills.
Yuki glanced at their player panels (attached below). Hayasaka Ai, Kaguya, and Mona mainly did some patching and mending, added some important items, or improved their faction talents and skills.
However, unlike the other three, Senpai, Frieren, Hiyori, following closely behind Hayasaka Ai and Kaguya, they also stepped into the epic level and achieved the most crucial Epic Metamorphosis.
[Epic Metamorphosis: Quantum Walker]
[Void Stealth: Once in this state, you are immune to all physical, energy, and spatial attacks, and you cannot affect reality.]
[Probabilistic Existence: A fatal attack triggers a survival check, with 50% chance of survival and 50% chance of instant death.]
When in doubt, quantum mechanics, right?
Yuki wore a strange expression. Compared to his powerful brick-throwing ability, his senior didn't need to be that strong; she was going for a fantasy route.
"Like an assassin without any offensive capabilities, right? I seem to have never been good at fighting from the start." Mai Sakurajima stepped forward and straightened Yuki's collar. "My value lies in my unique characteristics. Anyway, you can handle the barbaric things like killing."
Mai Sakurajima is very shrewd; she has indeed focused all her skills on her special abilities.
"So you're just helping me do shady things, huh?" Yuki, ignoring his senior's eye roll, but became more serious when he saw the "Characteristics" section.
The Adolescence Syndrome adds a 'Force Field Mode', which trades 10% of the duration, or 12 minutes, for a force field with a diameter of five meters. Players within this area enjoy the same effect.
Its presence is erased, making it difficult to observe, but like its own special ability, it cannot use force fields to perform stealth attacks, making it a perfect hiding spot.
A group of assassins with no offensive capabilities racked their brains trying to make the most of them.
With Yuki needing to control the overall situation, he had no energy to plan carefully, so he looked to Hiyori.
"I've already prepared a battle plan." The cute girl handed over the data, having made specific plans for each person's stats, striving to Limit potential of these quirky players who specialized in a particular skill.
No problem. From the beginning, I planned to build an elite team to achieve a synergy greater than the sum of its parts in the shortest time and with the fewest points.
Yuki couldn't find fault with him. His seniors and the others were his personal guards, and each of their skills existed to complement him. However, combining these numerous skills required a lot of time and thought.
But one glance at Hiyori's panel and he understood.
[Epic Metamorphosis. Observation of All Things]
[Spacetime Observer: Reads all data with the slightest particle fluctuations, including but not limited to spatial fluctuations, causal stealth, and real illusions. Players cannot move while in observation mode.]
[Hypernumerical Computation: Achieves extremely high data analysis speed, with a certain probability of applying the analysis results to real-world applications]
Taiyi the Epic Metamorphosis of the senior student, it is a pure support skill, offering no boost to attack or defense, or even self-preservation.
But this thing is far more powerful than Epic Metamorphosis.
In terms of destructive power, even an Epic Rank I can never compare to himself, and Yuki hasn't forgotten that there are illusion masters among the Judge.
"This is a very precious Epic Metamorphosis; it's very difficult for a pure support player to survive to the epic level."
"This is all thanks to everyone, which allowed me to 'scramble' to Epic rank." Hiyori smiled sweetly. To be honest, she hadn't killed many enemies in all this time. "I try my best to coordinate my skills with everyone's, like how the special ability can save Mona some energy."
"Oh?" Yuki became interested and understood after taking a look.
Ego Trait: [Reality Reading LV.5]
[Analytical Reading: Provides super-fast analysis of all surrounding details, granting Transcendental Grade vision and the ability to rewind time. Activation time: 10 minutes; Cooldown time: 30 minutes]
[Shared Reading: Designate 3 players or story characters to share their five senses, allowing them to exchange information and engage in discussion. Activation time: 10 minutes; Cooldown time: 30 minutes]
[Future Reading: Reading the future, the images captured are inversely proportional to the strength of the person being read]
This Future Reading perfectly aligns with Mona's Noble Phantasm, since the latter transforms future visions into reality, and the difficulty lies precisely in the observation step.
"Both of your Epic Metamorphosis are related to probability; no wonder the plan mentioned Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's name."
"Yes, Ayanokoji's characteristic is precisely probability, it's just a pity he couldn't advance to Epic."
Yuki the same regret; he was already doing well enough to help those around him take off, it was impossible for the entire Thorny Rose to take off from the ground.
"It's alright, the 'Trait' talent is very special, it will definitely come in handy." Yuki shrugged. With things in such a hurry, there was no time to develop. He glanced at Hiyori's stats one last time. Apart from upgrading a bunch of familiar items, he had gone all in on Bloodline skills.
[Psychic Puppeteer (LV3)]
[Fine Control Threads: Significantly improves the precision of manipulating puppet-type items]
[Flesh Reforging: Replenish puppet-type items with your own flesh and blood. This will consume the user's life and cause immense pain.]
Having just eliminated several summoner-style players, he recognized them, but unlike players Seto Kaiba who wanted to become all-around warriors, Hiyori was focused on supporting her teammates.
"This bloodline skill should be paired with 'Voidspace Puppet' and 'Sacrificial Chain,' but unfortunately neither of these items is at the Abyss Grade level."
"Level 7 items are too demanding, and unlike Hayasaka- san, I don't concentrate all my strength on 'Death Knell'." Hiyori blinked, showing no sign of regret. "Level 6 items are enough, it's just that the side effects are a bit too great."
It's not just some; no wonder you upgraded the Comfort Pills to level 6.
Yuki knew the pain of puppets and clones reflecting damage, and shook his head. "Killing the Judge Taiyi from ordinary players; we can sustain ourselves through battle."
Defeating regular players yields materials, while defeating Judge grants random abilities or items. Yuki has reached her peak, but the seniors are different.
"It all depends on luck, and there's no time to familiarize ourselves with the loot." Hiyori quite rational, not placing her hopes on gambling, and revealed the same sly smile Yuki: "Of course, I added a few items to the plan, so maybe we'll reap some rewards."
"It's alright, I happen to have prepared two of my most useful prey, and I'll give you a chance."
Without Yuki into details, Yuki looked at Frieren on the far right; her Epic Metamorphosis was simple and brutal.
[Epic Metamorphosis: Spatial Annihilator]
[Spatial Collapse: Converting any energy into spatial oscillations, causing space collapse]
[Spacetime Fault: Cutting spacetime to create a fault, causing the enemy and our side to be on different spatial dimensions]
One attack, one defense, it's that simple.
Frieren seems to be considering a career change. She focuses on 'rapid casting' and frantically stacks spatial bloodline skills, and she's doing quite well down this path.
Normal spaces are incredibly solid; they can be torn apart either by immense energy or by rapidly stacking spells. Their advantage lies in their difficulty to defend against and their large coverage area.
"I haven't mastered many spatial spells yet, so I can only focus on learning large-scale spatial magic." Frieren showed no signs of smugness; he remained as cold and emotionless as ever.
"That's enough. My role for you is to kill mobs, to effectively eliminate monster-level players." Yuki didn't intend for Frieren to be the main DPS; in such a large-scale war, mobs are also an important component.
It's still a little short; it was still a bit rushed.
Yuki sighed. The seniors and the others weren't really that strong. If they were taken out individually, they definitely couldn't beat players like Garou. Fortunately, their floor was low and their ceiling was high, so they didn't need to grow to the point where they could stand alone.
The enemy is not stupid; how can we wait until he is fully prepared and completely reverses the power dynamic before starting a war?
That's it. With them around, our win rate has increased by more than 10%.
He turned his head and looked around, seeing faces that were either spirited, nervous, or expectant.
Some had followed closely from the beginning of the journey, while others joined halfway through. As Yuki's closest friends, they had long been mentally prepared:
Bet everything, and trust this man's judgment as always.
Are you ready?
"Um."
Mai Sakurajima nodded gently and held Yuki's hand tightly. Hayasaka Ai's eye twitched, and she silently stepped forward to grab the other hand. Mona was a beat slower, looking left and right, and could only grab Yuki's hem.
The remaining people exchanged glances, then stepped forward and surrounded Yuki in the center.
Is this the legendary beautiful girl's kiss?
This Yuki had received such treatment, and her remaining fatigue and tension vanished.
"I originally wanted to reflect on the past to prepare myself mentally."
"Hmph, now's not the time to contemplate life." Mona pressed against his back, a small hand slipping under Yuki's armpit and pointing forward. "The good days are yet to come. I'm not worried, so what are you afraid of!"
The anticipation of a bright future outweighs the fear of failure; sometimes, being a clever fool is happier.
Yes, look forward.
Yuki looked out the window at the Grand Blue, where countless players were already waiting quietly; this anticipation should have turned into immense pressure.
He lifted his heavy foot and landed Lightness.
"Stay close to me, let's go home."
Chapter Thirteen: Let's Slay Our Way Through Reincarnation!
Private space.
Just as Yuki ignited the fuse in 'Forgotten Hidden Jianghu', the player army had already quietly gathered inside the exclusive space.
Following the will of 'Taiyi', the number of players gathered was not large, but they were all core members, with their strength generally above Monster II, spanning 10 factions.
The presence of thousands of powerful players in the same space emboldened them, as they realized there were so many warriors with the same ideals, making the Judge no longer seem invincible.
Everyone here has been through thick and thin, so they know that being nervous is useless. Some gather in small groups to chat, some quietly polish their equipment, and some find an open space to practice their skills. This exclusive space is infinitely large, and as far as the eye can see, it is filled with a throng of people.
"They actually managed to secretly gather such a massive fighting force." Iori Kitahara looked around, and after being 'locked up' here, her initial anxiety had subsided considerably.
"What's so strange about it? Do you really think that we small fry can stand up to the Judge?" Ayanokoji Kiyotaka remained calm, turning his head with amusement as he watched the young man blink repeatedly.
Fine, this idiot really thinks we're going to be the main force.
Because of some special traits, the Thorny Rose levels up very quickly. If it were fully developed, it could really overthrow the Heavenly Gang. Unfortunately, neither it nor the Judge gave it time to develop.
Even so, their usefulness has been completely exploited. These days, they've been working day and night as "civil engineering dogs," without closing their eyes for a single moment.
I didn't understand it at first, but now that I see so many players from different factions, I suddenly get it.
"It's normal to ask for outside help, I just didn't expect the outside help to be so strong. When exactly did they gather them?" One Leaf Foretells Autumn scratched his head beside him. He could occasionally see Yuki wandering around the Outpost.
"That person is very steady and reliable; he wouldn't risk his life without a good grasp of things. Another characteristic of his is his ability to recognize and utilize talent. A wise leader doesn't need to personally manage everything."
"That's true. We've only been ascended for a short time. We haven't even been able to build a network of relationships in that short time." Ye Qiu was a leader-type player and knew how troublesome it was to gather people.
With so many factions and so many players, even with maxed-out charisma, persuading them one by one would take a lot of time. The method is quite simple—
Using someone else's resources to make money is like a pyramid scheme, recruiting people to join.
"The Return Faction players have existed for a long time, and these networks have been laid out for more than a hundred Borderlands." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka glanced at the Knight King and the pink-haired girl in the distance. These kinds of big shots were simply beyond his reach. For example, when the pink-haired girl noticed his gaze, she turned her head and waved enthusiastically, but it was like a blinding light, so he quickly turned his head away.
"They have always existed, and they have been constantly exploring ways to return. 'Taiyi' just appeared at the right time."
Several people nodded in agreement, which was precisely why their call was met with such widespread approval.
Perhaps there's someone they want to see, something they must do, or perhaps they simply want to escape. Countless players already want to leave hell, and this has absolutely nothing to do with 'Taiyi'. What does matter is that 'Taiyi' can achieve his long-cherished wish; as long as someone takes the lead, they'll all rush in.
It's a very troublesome thing. Who can be trusted and who can be used? This requires a lot of probing. That guy can be a hands-off manager because he has the only key.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka sighed. He had figured it out. 'Taiyi' was nothing more than a flag. As long as it was erected there, these important and troublesome things would naturally be done by someone else.
"Unfortunately, the Return Faction players gathered here are less than one percent. With more time..."
"The Judge aren't stupid; they can't possibly gather more people." Oreki Houtarou interrupted him, glancing at the variously dressed players around him. "The core team has always been a minority; at least these people are trustworthy enough. The smaller the scale of the war, the safer we are."
"That's true. If we gather players, the Reincarnation Game will only gather more. If it's a super-large-scale war that spans the entire Borderlands, our small group won't even make a ripple."
In battles involving thousands of players, the Thorny Rose are an important part; if there are hundreds of thousands of players, these thousand-odd people would be gone in an instant.
"That guy isn't cut out to be a hero, and he has no interest in playing the Reincarnation Game." Iori Kitahara muttered. He knew Yuki Sorajima too well, this lazy bum, and had never considered this drinking buddy of his as the legendary Taiyi.
"Let's finish this quickly and get out of here. I haven't earned enough credits yet."
Well, that's all the ambition he has.
The group suppressed their laughter. They wouldn't say they had a strong desire to return, since the Reincarnation Game had given them a taste of life only seen in movies. But the Judge were determined to annihilate them, so since sticking their necks out meant certain death, they might as well retreat and seek survival.
The players from other factions were different. On the left, there was a blond dwarf who wanted to go back to retrieve his brother's body, and on the right, a bunny-eared girl wanted to go back to find some 'doctor'.
These are the true loyalists; no wonder they didn't waste their time on us.