The Tenth Wave
"Yes. Getting away unscathed from the fifteenth wave's boss is even harder than being kicked out. Voluntarily withdrawing requires precise judgment and the ability to gauge one's own limits. Ye Qingxue's strength far exceeded our expectations."
"Our school is destined to make a big splash this year." The veteran teacher stroked his beard, his voice tinged with a satisfaction he could hardly conceal.
Zhao Jianguo had been silent all this time, but his eyes had clearly brightened as well.
Ye Qingxue's performance had indeed pleased him.
Ever since her awakening, this student had been continually reshaping their understanding of what was possible.
An SSS-rank core card, an SSS-rank theme, a perfectly matched build, and now a record of fifteen waves in a nightmare dungeon.
Unless something unexpected happened, Ye Qingxue would be the face of Rongcheng No. 1 High School this year.
"By the way, how long has Su Mu been in there?" Zhao Jianguo suddenly asked.
The teachers exchanged glances and shook their heads.
"Hard to say. It feels like it's been over ten minutes." The female teacher glanced at the time.
"He hasn't come out after more than ten minutes?" Zhao Jianguo frowned.
"Either he's barely hanging on, or he's stalling," the dean of students said thoughtfully. "I find it hard to believe he can really reach the fourth or fifth wave. Remember, his core card is just a rock, with no means of dealing damage at all. Relying on a single A-rank Little Drill Wind, clearing the first two waves would be his limit."
"But given Su Mu's personality, he doesn't seem like someone who would use delaying tactics," the female teacher said hesitantly.
"You've taught him?"
The female teacher shook her head. "I just find a bet like this a little strange."
"Teacher Zhou, what do you think?" Zhao Jianguo suddenly asked, turning toward a middle-aged female teacher at the edge of the crowd who had remained silent.
She was Su Mu's homeroom teacher, surnamed Zhou.
For three years, she had handled Su Mu's report cards, mock competition certificates, and classroom performance records. If anyone present knew Su Mu best, it was her.
Teacher Zhou was silent for quite a while.
She knew what the principal wanted to ask.
"To be honest, judging by the raw strength Su Mu has shown so far, I don't think he can get past the first wave."
Teacher Zhou spoke calmly, as though stating a fact. "His dungeon has only one combat creature card. His core card deals no damage, and he has no traps or support. You all know how strong the first wave of a nightmare dungeon is. With just one card, it's too difficult."
The teachers around her nodded one after another.
"But." Teacher Zhou paused. "I've taught Su Mu for three years. Ever since he designed his first dungeon in his first year of high school, I've never seen him do anything he wasn't sure of."
Everyone fell silent.
"This student seems easygoing on the surface, but deep down, he's steadier than anyone. The fact that he dared accept Wang Hao's challenge in public today shows that he has absolute confidence in his own judgment. That kind of confidence can't be propped up by bluffing."
When Teacher Zhou finished, she turned her gaze toward the dark red light screen.
"So I think we might as well wait. Perhaps he'll give us an unexpected answer."
Zhao Jianguo looked at her and nodded.
"Then we'll wait."
No one spoke again. Everyone's eyes returned to the light screen.
Meanwhile, inside the dungeon.
The sixth wave of monsters poured out of the rift.
Su Mu had already prepared himself for a bitter fight.
But when he glanced at the monsters' panels, he was surprised to discover that the gap between this wave and the fifth was nowhere near as large as he had imagined.
Twenty goblin elites, still at level ten. Their attack, defense, and speed had improved slightly compared to the fifth wave, but only by a small margin.
More importantly, Little Drill Wind was level six.
The previous level suppression had been level five against level ten, a full five-level difference.
Now it was level six against level ten, and the gap had narrowed considerably.
Although the suppression remained, it was no longer as though every slash struck an iron plate.
The stat increase from Little Drill Wind's level-up further narrowed the gap between the two sides.
He can win, Su Mu decided.
Little Drill Wind did not disappoint him.
This wave, he fought much more easily than in the fifth.
He did not even use guerrilla tactics, instead meeting the enemy head-on at the entrance to the valley.
Using the narrow pass he had modified earlier, he forced the twenty goblin elites into a long, snaking line. Little Drill Wind leaped back and forth along the stone platform, his blade flashing like lightning, one slash for each enemy.
From the start of the fight to the complete wipeout, it took less than four minutes.
Sixth wave cleared.
The seventh wave arrived.
They were still level ten and twenty in number, but there were four throwers as well.
Little Drill Wind had an easy fight. The throwers were like slow motion before him, and their stones could not even touch his shadow. He cut down the back row first, then turned around to deal with the melee fighters, the whole process flowing like clouds and water.
Seventh wave cleared.
The eighth wave: twenty-three level-ten monsters.
Little Drill Wind began making use of the terrain.
He lured the monsters to the middle of the mountain path, using the differences in elevation to split them into two groups. Then he concentrated his attacks on the front half before turning back to fight the rear half.
The fight had some perilous moments, but he ultimately won.
The ninth wave.
This wave's numbers increased to twenty-five, including three elite monsters that were noticeably larger.
Little Drill Wind did not meet them head-on. Using the staggered terrain in the valley, he maneuvered around the monsters for nearly ten minutes, constantly luring them deeper, splitting and surrounding them, and picking them off one by one.
Every move was precise to the utmost, every slash robbing an enemy of its ability to fight.
When the last elite monster fell, Little Drill Wind had several new wounds, but his bearing was even fiercer than it had been before the ninth wave.
Ninth wave cleared.
Su Mu let out a long breath.
He glanced at the experience bar.
Over halfway through level six.
"The tenth wave." Su Mu turned his gaze toward the rift.
He had a vague feeling that the tenth wave would be a new threshold.
Sure enough, when the tenth wave of monsters poured out of the rift, Su Mu felt an aura entirely different from the previous nine waves.
Fifteen level-eleven goblin elites.
Behind them, a figure slowly walked out.
It was a monster unlike any of the goblins before it.
It stood only about 1.8 meters tall, about the same as an ordinary human. Among goblin bosses, that was small.
But it felt more dangerous to Su Mu than the fifth wave's warlord, which had stood over three meters tall.
Because it was too fast.
Name: Goblin Assassin (nightmare elite boss) Rank: B Level: 11 HP: 21000/21000 Attack: 1280 Defense: 520 Speed: 480 Combat index: 17632 Skills: Shadow Assault (enters stealth; the strike that breaks stealth deals 2.5 times damage), Poisoned Short Blade (attacks inflict poison, causing the target to lose 2% of its current HP per second for three seconds), Chain Stab (five consecutive rapid attacks, each dealing 60% damage)