Chapter 12 – Finally, Some Loot

The benefit of frequenting the Heavenly Lake was that his sense of direction underwater had become razor-sharp. With an eight-minute time limit, Fang Zheng resurfaced in just four and a half minutes—only to find Polly already standing on the shore, gazing at the sky.

By then, the river was no longer underground, but the sky remained a dull gray-black.

“You’re fast,” Fang Zheng praised generously in YY.

Polly remained indifferent: “Not bad.”

“……”

Honestly, accepting praise without hesitation was the ultimate flex =_=

Soon, Crossplayer, Your Uncle, and Mad Lad came out of the water one after another.

There were still two minutes left, and one person remained submerged.

“Demon Refiner, just give up,” Fang Zheng sighed. “We’ll have Blesscaller resurrect you later.”

YY soon transmitted 438’s dejected reply: “I gave up a while ago…”

The team fell silent, instinctively gathering on the shore for a moment of mourning.

With nothing else to do, Fang Zheng reached for the half-empty bag of crackers on his desk and pulled out another piece, munching away. Just as he’d barely chewed twice, he suddenly heard 438 shout in YY: “Ah, I ran into a boss!”

Fang Zheng froze—there was a boss in the Underground River?

The others were equally baffled.

“What boss?” Even Polly asked.

“It looks like the catfish that capsized our boat!” 438’s voice was urgent, clearly locked in a fierce battle with the boss.

This was Fang Zheng’s first time capsizing, having only caught a glimpse of the culprit’s whiskers as he fell into the water. Though it was Polly’s second time, he’d also lost sight of the thing after the first capsizing. He’d always assumed it was just a system NPC—turns out it was a hidden boss?

“Go for it! Take it down! It’ll definitely drop good loot!” The healer was already hyped.

Polly didn’t speak, but there was a glimmer of anticipation in his silence—he’d been playing this game for so long that even the smallest novelty piqued his interest.

“Huh?” The Demon Refiner’s reaction was adorably clueless.

“What do you mean ‘huh’? Do I need to teach you how to fight a boss? Release your demons to bite it!”

“But I already captured it…”

Capture—a Demon Refiner skill with a certain chance to imprison a monster in their pouch, summonable for battle assistance or as refining material. PS. Does not work on Bosses.

Fang Zheng spat a mouthful of cracker crumbs all over his screen like a tiny sandstorm: “Didn’t you say it was a boss?!”

The Demon Refiner was innocent: “I thought it was…”

“Then why did you try to capture it?!”

“I just wanted to see if it would work…”

[Party] Milk is Mom: qazdedxcrgvtbyjiklo

“What’s wrong with the healer?” Mad Lad stared at the string of gibberish in the bottom-left corner, confused.

“It’s fine,” Polly understood perfectly. “He’s smashing his face into the keyboard.”

Jiang Yang, who’d been about to light a cigarette, froze—were these two living together?

Fang Zheng, sprawled over his keyboard, also froze—Holy shit, did this guy plant a hidden camera in my house?!

The Demon Refiner’s status in the party window turned gray. This time, Crossplayer didn’t need prompting before dutifully casting Remote Resurrection. Soon, the weakened Demon Refiner slowly reappeared.

Beijing Time, 10: 30 PM.

“We’ve been in this dungeon for two and a half hours now,” Mad Lad kindly reminded them.

“Maybe we should call it and try again tomorrow,” Fang Zheng said, wanting to kiss him.

“I don’t mind…” Crossplayer was a little reluctant.

Your Uncle and 438 knew they had no say in the matter.

At his computer, Polly thought for a moment before decisively stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray: “We’ve already endured eighty hardships—what’s one more to finish the scripture?”

They say lonely people play games, but the truth is, the more you play, the lonelier you get.

The expert had spoken. Though Fang Zheng could still chicken out and leave, his trust in the expert gave him the courage to struggle on: “Everyone, recover your stats. Next round, we’ll push through in one go.”

In a suburban villa, Boss Jiang Yang—who had to deal with mining affairs at 6 AM the next morning—tilted his head back at a 45-degree angle, exhaling smoke rings as he contemplated a profound philosophical question: Should I change my alarm ringtone to ‘The Doxology’…?

Not long after reaching shore, the group entered the territory of the second boss: the Haunted Grove.

True to its name, the map was densely packed with mobs and treacherous terrain, where a single misstep could leave you lost forever. Fortunately, Polly seemed to have the entire map memorized—his navigation was so confident and efficient that the team followed effortlessly, their cohesion reaching unprecedented heights. No matter how aggressive the mobs were, they fell to the harmonious teamwork, slaughtered without mercy.

The biggest surprise? A Yellow-tier Gear actually dropped from one of the mobs!

At the time, Milk is Mom was shamelessly looting Huaxia Coins from a fallen mob when suddenly, a loot roll window popped up on his screen. A closer look—holy shit, Haunted Forest Zombie Bracers!

A Yellow-tier Gear from trash mobs? Fang Zheng’s frustration from the entire night almost dissipated. Even though the gear wasn’t for his class, who wouldn’t be happy to see gold?

“Whoa, who looted that?” Crossplayer’s bright voice rang out in YY.

“Not me.” With absolute calm, Polly rolled a 2 and pocketed the gear.

No one responded in YY. Finally, someone in the party claimed credit—

[Party] Your Uncle: Raises hand quietly…

Ah, this guy was still muted.

Fang Zheng chuckled and was about to ask Polly—the only one with mod powers—to unmute Your Uncle when he heard the latter’s nervous yet delighted voice: “Huh? I can talk now?”

The expert worked fast…

Truly, the one who takes the loot must oblige =_=

Though the Zombie King’s Corrosion Set had its bonuses, it couldn’t compare to the Yellow-tier Gear from the Haunted Grove. Naturally, Polly swapped out the old gear, sacrificing the small DPS bonus from a full set for a massive boost in Defense.

For a tanky Zombie, Defense was king ╮(╯_╰)╭

Buoyed by the thrill of their first gold drop, the team soon clashed with the second boss.

The boss of the Haunted Grove was a female zombie—three parts terrifying, seven parts sorrowful. Her favorite line was Slay all the heartless scum in the world, and her signature move was Endless Grudge. Her attack power wasn’t much higher than the first boss, but she was a true damage sponge. Countless teams had proven with hard data that if you wanted to take her down, you’d better visit the bathroom first.

Since she was a damage sponge, the strategy used against the first boss wouldn’t work here. If they still relied on Polly to whittle her HP down halfway before the DPS joined in, well, everyone might as well freshen up and eat breakfast after the fight.

“Assassin, your DPS is the highest—the boss will focus you the entire time.” Polly wasn’t asking if Mad Lad could handle it; he was stating a fact. The implication was clear: This is the situation. Deal with it. If he stays alive, we win. If he dies, we wipe.

But was Mad Lad the type to shoulder such responsibility?

“Healer, you hear that?”

Fang Zheng, now in the hot seat, broke out in a cold sweat and immediately passed the buck: “Off-healer, you got this!”

Crossplayer, caught in the crossfire, still tried to resist: “Your Uncle, shut up later!”

The Blesscaller was on the verge of tears—It’s been so long since I was the main guy…

With everyone sufficiently motivated, Mad Lad charged at the boss, his golden figure cutting a dashing silhouette.

The others didn’t have to wait long—once the Assassin landed the first hit, they swarmed in. The DPS gap ensured that aggro wouldn’t be an issue.

Milk Mom and Crossplayer stood about five meters from the boss, ignoring everyone else to spam heals on the Assassin.

The female zombie had no AoE skills, focusing solely on the Assassin as if he were the heartless scum who’d wronged her. Mad Lad’s DPS was high, but his Defense was pitiful—every boss hit took half his HP. Fang Zheng had to focus intensely, cycling through healing skills, calculating HP thresholds, cooldowns, and coordinating with Crossplayer to avoid overlapping heals.

Fortunately, Crossplayer was easy to work with—because all he did was spam Blessing of Healing, Blessing of Healing, Blessing of Healing…

After about ten minutes of grinding, the female zombie showed no signs of falling. Milk is Mom’s healing had settled into a rhythm (Crossplayer had been in one from the start), and gradually, the team relaxed, chatting idly in YY while casting skills—

“This chick is way too sturdy,” Your Uncle yawned, his DPS on autopilot.

Crossplayer yawned too: “She’s still a lady—show some respect.”

“Damn it, yawning is contagious, you know…” 438 couldn’t resist either.

Fang Zheng didn’t yawn, but: “I’m hungry…”

Mad Lad broke into a cold sweat: “Now that you mention it, I’m hungry too…”

The sixth member remained silent.

Fang Zheng wondered: “Birdy?”

“Hm,” came the quick reply in YY. “The boss is about to Berserk. Be ready.”

This guy’s more unshakable than the boss =_=

The female zombie’s Berserk skill was an AoE attack, but it had a long cast time. Anyone who’d run Corpse King Necropolis a few times knew when to scatter. This time was no exception—the moment the boss stopped attacking, everyone dispersed without Polly’s guidance. Your Uncle even quipped while running: “Good thing zombies can’t fly…”

Then, the next second, the boss finished casting—and flew.

The female zombie suddenly grew two feet taller, her once-beautiful face sprouting fangs as she transformed into a bolt of lightning, appearing in front of Mad Lad in an instant. Two swipes later, the Assassin’s HP dropped by three-fourths!

Fang Zheng was busy maneuvering Milk is Mom to safety, but his healer instincts made him instinctively check the Assassin’s HP bar. Realizing the crisis, he immediately turned back and cast Ten Thousand Blossoms on Mad Lad.

Instantly, every teammate within range had their HP topped up. At the same time, they noticed something strange—

“What’s going on? I’ve never seen Corpse Sister use this Berserk skill before!” 438 exclaimed, summoning his pet to DPS furiously.

“At this point, nothing surprises me…” Mad Lad, the primary victim, had entered a state of numbness.

Crossplayer sighed: “Your Uncle, you really are the uncle…”

Fang Zheng had no time for this—after spamming a few heals on the Assassin, he realized a dire problem: He and Crossplayer couldn’t keep up!

A Berserking Corpse Sister wasn’t scary, but now she’d transformed mid-Berserk! Not only was her attack power boosted, but her attack speed had skyrocketed! This isn’t fair!!

“Assassin, start using potions. We can’t keep you alive alone,” Fang Zheng said urgently, his APM¹APM= actions per minute. The number of actions the player is able to perform per minute. Operation speed. rising, but cooldowns wouldn’t shorten no matter how fast he clicked.

“I can’t hold out much longer either,” Mad Lad knew the situation was dire. “We have to burn her down now!”

Burn phase:The entire team unleashing everything to deplete the boss’s HP as fast as possible.

Fang Zheng knew time was of the essence—a Berserking boss was dangerous, but she had to be on her last sliver of HP. But what could a healer do? Throw healing potions at her?

As panic set in, a plume of white smoke erupted at the edge of the screen—not the usual skill effect, but something eerie and ethereal.

Fang Zheng blinked. Before he could make sense of it, a greenish figure shot out of the smoke!

No—that wasn’t human. A face like a demon, with fangs and claws like blades!

Did Corpse Sister summon a minion after transforming?!

Fang Zheng was ready to cry, but in the next second, the fanged monster lunged at the boss…

“Healer, stop staring and heal the Assassin,” Birdy’s calm voice reminded him over the headset. “That’s me.”

Fang Zheng’s jaw nearly hit the keyboard. He hastily cast Silent Nourishment, followed by Revival of the Withered. During the cast time, he finally saw the English letters floating above the fanged monster’s head.

“What skill is this?!” 438 felt like the night’s discoveries could fill an encyclopedia =_=

Polly didn’t answer, instead posting an item link in party chat between attacks.

[Party] Polly: [Drought Demon Transformation Potion]

Fang Zheng didn’t have time to check the details, so he observed while healing. The transformed Polly, like Corpse Sister, had a massive boost in speed and attack power. A closer look at his damage numbers showed they were nearly on par with Mad Lad’s!

Two transformed zombies clashed, but the one with backup came out victorious. Corpse Sister collapsed, generously dropping a Haunted Grove Blesscaller Robe—straight-up Orange-tier Gear!

The beneficiary, Your Uncle, was overjoyed and burst into song in YY: “Today is a good day~ All my wishes come true~~”

The other five shared a rare moment of telepathy—Damn, this song fits perfectly =_=

……

After the battle, Fang Zheng finally had time to check the item Polly had linked—

[Drought Demon Transformation Potion]

Valentine’s Day Event Reward

For 90 seconds:

+40% Speed

+50% Magic Attack

+50% Physical Attack

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  APM= actions per minute. The number of actions the player is able to perform per minute. Operation speed.