Chapter 112 – Third Time’s the Charm

Dagger, axe, crossbow, grenade.

The number of combat-ready slots expanded to four. Thanks to the selfless sacrifice of Water Phantom from the Meteor Blitz squad, it was confirmed that as long as a Wandering Physician held an item, they could still dish out heals. Thus, the crucial question became how to arrange these four slots. Based on the earlier battles, the mobs had high attack power, moderate defense, but overall, they were mindless physical attackers. Against such opponents, tactics weren’t necessary—brute force was the way to go. The key was ensuring they could survive the onslaught while dealing damage.

Plan A—Three melee DPS and one healer, prioritizing healing efficiency for a no-brainer DPS team.

Members:

– Mad Lad (Assassin)

– Nicknamed White Dragon Horse (Berserker)

– Kill Gods If They Block Me (Berserker)

– Summit of Mount Tai (Wandering Physician)

The reason for choosing melee DPS over mages was that the mobs also had ranged attacks. Mages couldn’t guarantee they wouldn’t take damage, and they were squishy. In comparison, since both would take damage, it was better to pick the tankier DPS classes.

At first, everything went smoothly. The three well-balanced, high-skill melee classes made the fight look much better than when only 438 was around. The first mob fell quickly. The second one, on the brink of death, summoned two more mobs. The sudden 3v3 ratcheted up the tension, but Summit of Mount Tai’s perfectly timed AoE and single-target heals pulled them through. They managed to take down two of the three mobs in one go. By the time only one mob remained, Summit had regained his rhythm, steadily topping up his teammates’ HP. The three DPS took a deep breath, ready to finish off the half-health mob with a single skill.

Just as the skill effects enveloped the mob, a giant MISS appeared above its head—not just one MISS, but all three skills missing!

The three players exchanged glances through their avatars, a sense of foreboding creeping in…

[System] Cave Monster: Rooooaaarrrr—

The moment the system message appeared, the remaining eight mobs within a hundred-mile radius stampeded over like crazed bulls breaking free from a pen.

And then…

Well, you know what happened next. There was no “then.”

Mad Lad: “Fuck, it’s Dawn of the Dead in here!”

White Dragon Horse: “Brother, I’ve got no clue how to handle a zombie horde…”

Summit of Mount Tai: “Even the medic gets killed?! Where’s the decency?! The morals?!”

Fang Zheng: “You guys are so weak you shouldn’t even be making noise~~~ Just chill~~~ Alright, let’s brainstorm Plan B~~~”

No, scratch that. Compared to the Ghost Server Legion Leader, these mobs were practically paragons of virtue and righteousness!

Plan B—Three crowd controllers and one melee DPS. The idea was to ensure that when mobs were summoned, there’d be enough CC to keep them in check. Having only one melee DPS to kill mobs was slow, but as long as the crowd control was on point and potions were used wisely, they could grind the mobs down bit by bit.

Members:

– Refined Into a Demon 715 (Demon Refiner)

– Hu Yifei 12138 (Demon Refiner)

– Fire Cloud Evil God (Spirit Master)

– Polly (Zombie)

Strictly speaking, Demon Refiners weren’t pure CC classes, but Bell Maiden’s Airborne skill had stunned everyone earlier. Compared to the Spirit Master’s Sleep or Cactusfication—single-target debuffs that broke the moment the mob was attacked—Bell Maiden’s Airborne was far more OP. It could lift multiple mobs at once, and even if airborne mobs were attacked, the status wouldn’t break. The only downside was the long cooldown, but with Hu Yifei and Fire Cloud Evil God backing up, chaining the skill shouldn’t be a problem.

Since there was no healer, the melee slot went to the Zombie class—a self-sustaining profession that wouldn’t need much healing even if a healer were present.

At first, things went smoothly again. Even when the second mob summoned two more at low health, 438 effortlessly Airborned them. However, Birdy noticed that airborne mobs had a higher chance to evade attacks, and the same skill dealt different damage to airborne versus grounded mobs. It seemed the game had balanced Bell Maiden’s OP skill post-update—retaining its crowd control utility while nerfing its offensive potential. Otherwise, whether mobs or players, once airborne, they’d be sitting ducks.

“Don’t Airborne all of them. Leave one grounded for me to hit,” Birdy decisively adjusted tactics. “Grounded ones take more damage.”

438 was sweating bullets: “Deputy, the number of airborne mobs… isn’t something we can control…”

The moment 438 finished speaking, his Airborne skill ended. Birdy immediately warned Hu Yifei: “Don’t chain it yet, 12138.”

Hu Yifei didn’t move—clearly, she’d already caught on. Even if Birdy hadn’t spoken, she wouldn’t have acted. But idle hands led to idle mouths: “Handsome, usually when you want someone to do something, you call their name first, then give instructions, no?”

Birdy: “If I called your name first, you might’ve thought I was rushing you.”

As he spoke, the poor mob had already been kited away by the Zombie. Hu Yifei quickly Airborned the rest, leaving them floating helplessly: “You overthink things.”

Birdy immediately apologized: “Sorry, my teammates have conditioned me.”

The teammates in question stood on the rock wall, exchanging glances—especially 438 and Your Uncle, whose hearts were particularly conflicted. Deputy, we’re sorry for all the trauma we’ve caused you TAT

With the mob kited away, Hu Yifei and 438 took turns Airborning with ease. Only when Birdy had whittled the kited mob down to nothing did they pause, chugging potions while running around with their pets to minimize damage from the mobs’ ranged attacks. They dodged while waiting for Birdy to pull another mob, then resumed their alternating crowd control.

Their seamless coordination left the mobs with almost no chance to strike.

And in this regard, Fire Cloud Evil God shared the mobs’ profound frustration =_=

Then came the fourth mob’s MISS!

The earlier Airborne had drawn a large group of mobs, but two remained untouched in the distance. The moment the fourth one summoned them, those two dutifully charged over. Just as 438’s Bell Maiden’s Airborne ended, the two newcomers and the six freshly landed mobs all rushed toward 438. Birdy was still grinding down the fourth mob’s last bit of HP, so there was no need to pull more. Without hesitation, Hu Yifei took over 438’s role and Airborned the mobs!

But this time, there were simply too many mobs, scattered in three directions. Hu Yifei’s Airborne missed two!

Fire Cloud Evil God, who had been a mere spectator until now, finally unleashed his first skill—Sleep! Followed by Cactusfication to immobilize the second mob!

Fire Cloud Evil God was ecstatic—he’d finally found his purpose!

The YY comrades erupted: “Oh? So you were here all along?”

From then on, the Spirit Master resigned himself to being pure DPS, casting spell after spell to mourn his shattered dignity. Perhaps his spirits were too low, but in a moment of distraction, he forgot to potion up. A ranged crit from a mob sent him crashing to the ground.

Losing one DPS didn’t disrupt Birdy’s grinding rhythm, but what worried him was that the mobs’ attack power seemed to have stealthily increased. Previously, one potion could withstand four hits, but now it was down to three. However, the cooldown for HP potions was longer than the time between three hits, forcing Birdy to rely on movement to dodge attacks and buy time. But if he could reposition, so could the mobs. If he ran too far, they’d switch to ranged attacks, leaving the Zombie with no escape.

Lose three-quarters of HP, recover half. Lose three-quarters again, recover half again. Finally, the Zombie was one poke away from the grave. Hu Yifei and 438 seized the moment during their rotation to Airborne the mob, giving Birdy breathing room. By the time his HP was back to three-quarters, the Airborne ended, and the nearly dead mob rushed at him—no matter how long it had been Airborned, it couldn’t resist the aggro Birdy had built. Birdy kited it away again, while 438 timed it perfectly to Airborne the remaining mobs.

But the moment the other mobs floated up, the kited mob landed a hit on Birdy—this time, it wasn’t a quarter or a third of his HP, but half! Birdy reflexively potioned up and dodged the second attack, but the third came right after! Not only had the attack power increased, but the attack speed had too!

His potion cooldown was far from over. Birdy stopped resisting—whether he ran or not, the ranged attacks would hit him. At this point, grinding was impossible, and death was inevitable. So he calmly accepted his cruel fate, crushed beneath the gears of destiny.

His teammates on the rock wall saw it all too clearly. No one mocked him for losing—truthfully, they didn’t even know what to feel anymore. From head to toe, they were numb, dazed. The despair of too tired to love only came when emotions still existed. Now, they couldn’t even feel tired—just numb. Compared to the mobs, they were the ones who looked like a zombie horde.

“What if Hu Yifei and 715 take turns Airborning? Even if the damage is low, they’ll eventually grind the mobs down. It’s just a battle of attrition,” someone suggested.

“You think Airborne doesn’t cost MP?” Hu Yifei scoffed. “It’s the same as the Zombie’s potion problem. If our DPS isn’t enough, the mobs just get harder to kill. We’ll never outlast them.”

“We need a healer. Otherwise, we can’t keep up with HP and speed,” Birdy summarized. “One healer, one DPS, plus 12138 and 438. We can try that.”

His words were perfectly reasonable, but YY fell silent.

The awkward silence slowly fermented into something worse.

Finally, someone voiced the unspoken thoughts of many: “You guys can try if you want. I’ve got no energy left for this.”

And who exactly were “you guys” besides Birdy?

Who the hell knew.

“Let’s take a break for now. Everyone, grab a bite, drink something, or just stretch your legs,” Drink Till You Drop’s bright voice had a remarkably soothing effect. While it couldn’t erase the team’s frustration entirely, it pulled them back from the brink—just enough to breathe.

Big H: “Sigh, I’m gonna make some flower tea.”

Hu Yifei: “Alright, I’ll grab a beer.”

White Dragon Horse: “You two swapped scripts or what…?”

The tense atmosphere finally loosened slightly, beginning to flow again.

Water Phantom: “Anyone up for QQ Mahjong?”

Kill All Who Block Me: “Mahjong every day, can’t you be more creative?”

Water Phantom: “Like what?”

Kill All Who Block Me: “Puzzle Bobble.”

As the Meteor Blitz squad bantered, lightening the mood, Five Peaks Pavilion’s newcomer Marilyn MengPing suddenly said: “Commander, I don’t want to continue.”

Her voice was quiet, but it effectively silenced YY again.

Drink Till You Drop quickly reassured her: “Don’t rush. Let’s try once more as Polly suggested. If it still doesn’t work, then third time’s the charm—we’ll call it a day.”

“I don’t want to try,” MengPing said bluntly. “I just feel so frustrated.”

Games were meant to be fun—that’s why people kept playing. But now it was pure torment. Why force themselves to keep going?

Under normal circumstances, anyone backing out mid-battle would’ve been drowned in their teammates’ scorn.

But today was different. MengPing had voiced what many hadn’t dared to say. So while no one openly agreed, their silence spoke volumes.

Drink Till You Drop fell quiet for a long moment, then sighed softly: “I’m not stopping you from leaving. But if you go, we’ll drop below thirty members, and the whole team will be kicked out of the instance.”

He wasn’t guilt-tripping her—just stating facts.

Marilyn MengPing hadn’t considered this. She fell silent.

The situation seemed stable again, but the atmosphere was even more awkward than before. No one mentioned tea, beer, mahjong, or Puzzle Bobble. YY was filled only with the sound of suppressed breathing and static.

“If no one wants to chat, let’s listen to music,” the Ghost Server Legion Leader said, uncharacteristically serious as he switched YY to karaoke mode. Soon, a somber, mournful melody filled the channel, and the Leader’s voice, tinged with emotion against the melancholic backdrop, carried an extra layer of feeling: “MengPing, it’s a good thing you didn’t leave. Otherwise, how heartbroken would everyone be…”

The Leader’s voice faded.

The singer’s voice rose.

“Ever since you left, I fear~~

The iron lions will rust from tears~~

The night wind pierces my window sheer~~

The stars and moon all disappear~~”

“Ever since you left, I fear~~

My heart and soul ache severe~~

Yearning month after year~~

Sleepless night after night, oh dear~~”

“When shall we meet again~~~

When shall we reunite~~~~~~~~~”

Entire YY: “STOP IT!!”

If it were just the singer’s mournful crooning, they might’ve endured it. But this guy had to duet with himself!

The interrupted Leader turned off the music, sighing tragically: “So tired… I don’t think I’ll ever flirt again…”

Thank you, TAT.

First, a herd of alpacas trampled across their hearts, injecting new vitality. Then, the Ghost Server Legion Leader’s vow of celibacy gave them the courage and hope to keep living. So without anyone encouraging them, the team automatically launched into their third attempt countdown!