He Came Out
A massive tide of bones surged toward Flower-Fruit Mountain, their greyish-white forms blending together in the mist like a river of bones extending from the depths of the cemetery.
Su Mu stared at the river of bones, his face expressionless.
He had been prepared for this for a long time.
"Little Drill Wind, kill the Corpse King first."
Little Drill Wind didn't hesitate. It sidestepped the Corpse King's second claw, ducked low, and slipped under the Corpse King's ribs. The short knife flipped, blade facing upwards, and slashed fiercely at the Corpse King's ribs.
"Click..."
A rib as thick as a human arm was cleaved in two, bone fragments flew everywhere, and dark green Soul Flames spewed out from the crack.
The Corpse King let out a painful roar and swung its claw back. But its agility was only 120, while Little Drill Wind's was 17,900. To Little Drill Wind, this claw was as slow as Tai Chi.
Little Drill Wind didn't even dodge. It rushed up the Corpse King's arm, stepping on its bony arm as it ran wildly, reaching the Corpse King's shoulder in three steps, and standing on top of the Corpse King's skull in the fourth.
He raised his short sword high.
Fall.
The blade cleaved through the center of the skull, piercing the entire head and splitting the dark green Soul Flame within in two.
The Corpse King's massive body stiffened abruptly, then began to tremble violently.
Bones crumbled off its body piece by piece, like a collapsing bone tower. Dark green flames surged from every crevice of the bones, then quickly went out.
The massive, five-meter-tall skeleton collapsed with a deafening roar, its shattered bones forming a small mountain.
Corpse King, die.
Little Drill Wind leaped out of the pile of bones, its body covered in dark green embers of Soul Flames. It didn't stop, but turned and charged towards Flower-Fruit Mountain.
Su Mu glanced at the time.
The Corpse King's battle lasted less than forty seconds, from the start of the fight to his death.
More than two hundred skeleton soldiers had already reached the foot of Flower-Fruit Mountain and were preparing to climb up. Little Drill Wind caught up from behind and cut into the bone tide like a dark blue lightning bolt.
What followed was a one-sided massacre.
More than two hundred level 17 skeleton soldiers had no chance to fight back against Little Drill Wind.
It fought its way up the mountain path of Flower-Fruit Mountain, from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside, each step treading on shattered bones.
What Su Mu was focused on at that moment was that after the Corpse King fell, among its pile of broken bones, there was a card that was faintly glowing.
He walked over, squatted down, and picked up the card.
[Name: Skeleton Summoning Skill Card]
[Rank: E]
[Applicable to: Skeletal creature cards only]
[Effect: Active skill. Summons ten skeletal soldiers, each three levels lower than the summoner and of common rank. The skeletal soldiers exist for ten minutes, with a thirty-minute cooldown. The summoned skeletal soldiers can execute simple commands but cannot use skills.]
[Note: Formed from the residual command power of the Corpse King. For use only by skeletal creatures; other types of creature cards cannot equip it.]
Su Mu looked at the card and shook his head.
He summoned ten ordinary skeleton soldiers, each three levels lower than himself.
In the hands of other dungeon raiders, this card might be somewhat useful. But for him, ten ordinary skeleton soldiers are too weak even to serve as cannon fodder. What he lacks is a backup plan that can defend his core cards, not these mass-produced grunts that break at the slightest touch.
It's not the Corpse King Card.
Su Mu was indeed somewhat disappointed.
But then I thought about it again, and it's normal.
This is just a normal dungeon; the probability of getting a BOSS card is extremely low.
The Corpse King Card is at least a D-rank card, and it doesn't drop in normal dungeons at all. Getting an E-rank skill card is already considered pretty lucky.
He carefully put away the skill card, then took one last look at the shattered bones scattered on the ground.
Then, on a whim, he chose to exit the instance.
A flash of grayish-white light, and Su Mu's figure reappeared outside the entrance to the Land of Buried Bones.
As soon as he stood firm, he felt dozens of eyes fall on him.
The people who had been gossiping about him were still by the railing outside the entrance. The burly man with the thick beard was leaning against the railing, holding a water jug and about to drink. When he saw Su Mu come out, he stopped the water jug at his lips and stared wide-eyed.
"They're out?"
"He's out!"
"Wait, let's check his level first... Level twelve?!"
"What? Level 12? Wasn't he level 10 before he went in?"
"He went in at level 10 and came out at level 12? How long was he inside? Less than half an hour, right?"
"Leveled from level 10 to level 12 in half an hour? What kind of efficiency is that?"
A group of people gathered around, chattering amongst themselves. Someone used their Appraisal again, scanning Su Mu's information panel.
"The core card is still an F-grade stone, unchanged."
"The theme is still Journey to the West, it hasn't changed."
"But his level... is already level twelve. He went in at level ten and came out at level twelve, gaining two levels in between."
"What does this mean? It means he reached at least the fifth wave. A normal dungeon has ten waves in total, and the experience gained from the fifth wave is enough for him to level up from level ten to level twelve."
"A level 10, F-rank core card, soloing a level 15 dungeon, reaching wave 10 or higher?"
How did he do that?
The burly man with the thick beard put down his water bottle, stared at Su Mu for several seconds, then shook his head, his tone complex. "I admit, I misjudged him before. No matter what method he used, the fact that he survived and even leveled up twice proves that he's not simple."
"Do you think he has some kind of card that forces him to leave the dungeon?" a tall, thin dungeon master suddenly spoke up. "If he can't beat them, he can force himself to leave. Although it will deduct experience, at least it can save his life. The fact that he could reach level twelve means that he cleared the first few waves well, and then he just ran away when he couldn't beat them later."
"Cards that force you to leave a dungeon aren't cheap," someone chimed in. "The cheapest ones on the market cost hundreds of thousands. Where would a level 10 newbie get the money to buy such a life-saving item? Unless they have connections."
"So he's a rich kid?"
"Doesn't look like it. His gear is all the cheapest outdoor stuff."
"That means he has some special abilities."
The crowd buzzed with discussion, their gazes shifting from initial mockery to curiosity, and then to various speculations as they looked at Su Mu.
Su Mu ignored these comments.
He stood there, quickly calculating in his mind.
Even if these monsters actively split up to attack the core card, with Little Drill Wind's current stats and monster-killing efficiency, he can easily handle the difficult dungeons.
The threat from the core card is indeed there, but Little Drill Wind's defensive speed is fast enough that as long as the game isn't dragged out for too long, there won't be any real danger.
Moreover, he needs more experience, more Momentum Points, and better drops.
A regular laptop is no longer enough for him.
Su Mu raised his head and looked at the grayish-white vortex at the entrance to the Land of Buried Bones. He stepped forward again.
"Wait, he's heading towards the entrance again?"
"He wouldn't be going to..."
"Difficulties Book?"
"He just came out of a normal dungeon, didn't even rest, and went straight into a hard dungeon?"
"Damn, this kid is really fearless."
"Maybe they escaped from normal dungeons by forcibly leaving, and now that they've recovered, they want to try and make another killing in hard dungeons?"
"What are you trying to salvage? We can't even finish the normal dungeons, so the hard dungeons are practically freebies!"
"Not necessarily. Did you see his expression when he came out? He was so calm. He didn't look like he was being chased and beaten inside."
"So you're saying he cleared the normal difficulty level?"
"I don't know, but he definitely didn't suffer any losses."
The group watched Su Mu's retreating figure, and their murmurs grew louder than before.
Su Mu walked to the entrance and brought up the control panel.
Difficulty.
Confirm.
The grayish-white vortex spun faster again, drawing in a powerful suction. His figure was sucked into it.
Outside the entrance, the burly man with a thick beard remained silent for a few seconds, then grinned.
"Alright, I'll wait here. I want to see if he can survive this ordeal."
The hooded young man next to him chuckled, "I'm waiting too. This guy's interesting."