Playing Dumb
A flash of white light, Su Mu stood in the square once more.
The area was still packed with people.
Unlike at the end of the first round, there were significantly more empty spaces in the plaza this time. Su Mu glanced around and saw that at least a third of the spaces were still empty, indicating that the examinees had not yet come out.
He instinctively looked to the side.
Ye Qingxue is not here.
Su Mu frowned.
But he quickly came to a realization.
It wasn't that Ye Qingxue hit more than him, but that he hit too fast.
The BOSS battle is different from the previous normal and elite monsters. There are many normal and elite monsters, and even if you are stronger, it will take a lot of time to clear the whole wave.
There are only five bosses in total. If you defeat them, you defeat them; if you can't defeat them, you can't defeat them. There is no middle ground.
His Little Drill Wind and White Bone Spirit attributes were overwhelming. It took him ten minutes to fight the fifteenth wave, fifteen minutes for the sixteenth wave, more than twenty minutes each for the seventeenth and eighteenth waves, and twenty minutes for the nineteenth wave. In total, it only took him a little over an hour.
Other candidates, even those with strong abilities, had to carefully whittle down each wave of bosses, naturally taking longer.
He was well aware of Ye Qingxue's strength.
The SSS-rank Snow Queen, fitting the Ice and Snow World theme, excels in control but lacks burst damage in boss battles.
She's already done a great job getting through the fifteenth wave; she'll most likely fail in the sixteenth.
Even if she failed, she still had to repeatedly test and adjust her tactics in the fifteenth and sixteenth waves, which naturally took her more time than he did.
Su Mu withdrew his gaze, found a spot to stand to the side, and waited quietly.
Not long after, a figure emerged from the crowd in the distance.
Wang Hao.
His complexion was not good; his lips were tightly pursed, and there was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.
But he stood ramrod straight, his chin slightly raised, and his gait carried a forced composure.
The first thing he did after emerging from the instance was to look around.
His gaze swept across the crowd and landed on Su Mu, causing him to suddenly stop in his tracks.
Su Mu has emerged.
Wang Hao was stunned for a moment, then an overwhelming surge of joy welled up in his eyes.
He's out?
They came out before me?
Wang Hao could barely suppress a smile.
He made it to the fourteenth wave, but ultimately failed against the five bosses in the fourteenth wave, just one wave away from reaching the threshold of the fifteenth wave.
To be honest, he was somewhat disappointed.
He thought he could make it to the fifteenth wave.
But seeing Su Mu already standing in the square, that bit of disappointment instantly vanished.
Su Mu came out before him.
Su Mu will definitely fall before him.
Su Mu might not even get past the thirteenth wave.
Wang Hao lowered his head, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his lips.
He strode into the crowd, found an inconspicuous corner to stand in, and glanced at Su Mu from time to time, feeling an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
Su Mu, you've finally given yourself away.
Your true strength has finally been exposed.
What's the use of being strong against groups of monsters?
The real test of skill is in the boss battles.
You're just a piece of trash with an F-grade stone, what makes you think you can compare to me?
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed, and he even started planning how to subtly let Ye Qingxue know about it later.
Time ticked by, second by second.
The number of empty spaces in the square was decreasing, and candidates were gradually leaving the instance.
Some people were beaming with joy, some were dejected, and some leaned wearily against the stone pillars, lost in thought.
Then, Ye Qingxue came out.
She emerged from the white light, her face paler than before, a thin layer of sweat glistening on her forehead, but her back remained ramrod straight.
She immediately looked in Su Mu's direction and saw him standing at the edge of the crowd, and paused for a moment.
She thought Su Mu should be able to withstand more waves. But she quickly realized... Su Mu's combat power was strong, and fighting the BOSS wouldn't be like fighting ordinary monsters where the sheer number of enemies would drag on.
He's quick to attack, so naturally he gets out early.
Moreover, she knew very well that Su Mu's strength far surpassed her own.
A large part of the reason she was able to clear the fifteenth wave was that Su Mu had taken her through the Land of Buried Bones Hell dungeon so many times before, which allowed her to fully adapt to the combat rhythm of high-IQ BOSSes.
Without that experience, she wouldn't have survived the five bosses in the fifteenth wave.
She looked at Su Mu and nodded slightly.
Su Mu nodded at her.
Then Ye Qingxue walked to the side, quietly leaned against the stone pillar, and closed her eyes to rest.
Another ten minutes or so passed.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out among the crowd on the east side of the square.
A tall, imposing young man strode out from the white light, his steps steady, his face stern, yet a hint of barely concealed excitement flickered between his brows.
Zhao Wuji -Ki.
He had just emerged from the dungeon when the first thing he did was glance at the leaderboard. Although the specific scores of the top fifty were hidden, the rankings were still there.
He glanced at it and saw the words "Su Mu" written on the first place. His lips twitched slightly, but he didn't pay much attention.
The first level only has a group of powerful monsters.
The second stage is against a boss, so Su Mu's strategy of overwhelming the enemy with sheer numbers might not be effective.
And even if he gets lucky and wins one or two more rounds, he still has no chance of surpassing himself.
Zhao Wuji was very confident in his performance.
He made it to the sixteenth wave, and with all his might, he managed to whittle down the first of the five bosses in that wave.
Although it took him nearly twenty minutes to wear down that one, he could no longer defeat the remaining four and could only be worn down to death.
But so what? He killed the BOSS, which means he's strong enough to pass the threshold of the sixteenth wave.
Based on his understanding of those people at the Provincial No. 1 High School, Lin Qingyin could only manage to reach the sixteenth wave at most, not to mention Zhou Zekai.
In the entire Jiang Province, besides Zhao Wuji, there is no one else who can defeat the sixteenth wave BOSS in the second stage.
He withdrew his gaze and walked towards the crowd from the Provincial No. 1 High School.
"Wuji, how's it going?" Several students from the Provincial No. 1 High School immediately surrounded him, asking all at once, "What wave are you on? We're all stuck on the sixteenth wave. Those five bosses are insane, their stats are ridiculously high, and their teamwork is impeccable. We've been fighting for minutes and we've only managed to scrape off a sliver of their health. We can't even make a dent."
"Yeah, the Iron Wall I was fighting had all its damage absorbed by alternating between its two shields. It took me two minutes to whittle it down, and its health bar only dropped by five percent."
"I was playing an assassin-type character, and it was too fast. My swordsman couldn't catch up at all. I chased it for five minutes, and it didn't even touch me, nor could I touch it."
"How should we approach this sixteenth wave? I have absolutely no idea."
Zhao Wuji listened to their complaints, a slight smile curved his lips.
He didn't rush to speak, but simply said, "It is indeed difficult."
"Where did you hit?" A round-faced boy next to him asked expectantly.
Zhao Wuji paused for a moment.
He originally wanted to say, "I killed one," but then he suddenly felt that was too blunt.
We should wait for the leaderboard to be released and let them discover it themselves.
He filled the candy box himself.
That shocked expression will be even more interesting.
"I managed to fight for a while, albeit vaguely," he said. "The BOSS is indeed strong."