Chapter 51 – The Golden Hoop Emerges

The Djinn of the Box looked like Aladdin but with skin the color of an Avatar. However, he had no legs—his lower half was entirely serpentine, wielding Poseidon’s trident in one hand and wearing Yang Erjie’s big red flower on his head.

“No wonder no one wants to let him out, looking like that…” White Dragon Horse grumbled bitterly.

Of course, the reason he had the leisure to complain was that he had already died the moment Celestial Maiden Scattering Blossoms landed—snap, dead.

Fang Zheng was the first to get up. Without bothering to revive his fallen comrade, he immediately cast the AoE Heal Ten Thousand Blossoms. But right after, the Djinn of the Box unleashed another AoE attack! The HP he had just restored was almost entirely wiped out!

“Those with potions, use them! Those without, pray for luck!” Fang Zheng unconsciously raised his voice. “438, Capture!”

As if reading his mind, before Fang Zheng even finished speaking, the Demon Refiner’s skill was already cast, a glowing ring instantly enveloping the monster!

Unfortunately, half a second later, the light dissipated, and the monster’s ultimate skill followed.

This attack landed squarely on Milk is Mom!

Fang Zheng immediately understood—right now, since none of them were dealing much damage, the AoE Heal naturally drew the most aggro. He quickly healed himself twice while trying to run, but unexpectedly, Polly suddenly dashed over from the side and landed three consecutive hits on the Djinn of the Box!

The monster immediately turned to attack Birdy, but Drink Till You Drop arrived at the same time and quickly used two skills to pull the aggro back.

For failing the capture, 438 felt guilty. While controlling his pet to attack, he apologized, “Sorry, Commander, I couldn’t capture it…”

“No worries,” Fang Zheng said confidently. “Just try a few more times. I believe in you.”

“I believe in myself too!” 438 said firmly, then chuckled sheepishly, as if suddenly embarrassed. After a pause, he added belatedly, “But Commander, before I led him to you guys, I’d already tried capturing him six times…”

You can go die now =_=

Clearly, this was a boss, albeit one with an extremely novel entrance.

After a long struggle, just as the eleven players finally stabilized their formation, the Djinn of the Box suddenly shot into the air at lightning speed, breaking through the encirclement and darting into the forest without looking back!

The combined team was stunned. They’d only ever known players running away when outmatched—since when did bosses adopt such a cowardly playstyle?

What could they do? Chase, of course.

So the eleven of them turned back and charged into the forest in full force.

But the Djinn of the Box’s agility far exceeded their expectations. Soon, its gem-blue figure vanished into the dense woods, leaving them no way to track it.

Drink Till You Drop: “What now? Keep searching or move forward?”

Mount Tai: “I suggest moving forward. We already dropped two pieces of gear earlier, so other teams must have entered the dungeon by now. Wasting more time searching would be a shame—we were the first in, might as well secure the first clear.”

Suave Not Sleazy: “Also, didn’t we leave a boss corpse un-looted?”

White Dragon Horse: “Boss corpses matter but Deputy Commander corpses don’t?!”

Right, there was still someone lying dead in the distance =_=

“Blesscaller, what are you waiting for? Remote rez me,” the fallen Deputy Commander naturally demanded now that his teammates had given up chasing the boss.

Crossplayer didn’t move, sighing softly instead. “I’m just a Rally-style player, I don’t know anything about remote something or whatever…”

White Dragon Horse =_=

The others >_<

Truly, it’s better to offend men than women, and better to offend women than crossplayers¹The term used for his name can mean transgender, specifically MTF trans..

Something came up at Jiang Yang’s mine. He’d planned to return by noon to log into the game, but not only did he fail to make it back, he’d been worked like a dog all afternoon. Yet, the moment he got home, Mad Lad logged in within two minutes. He had to admire his own dedication.

How many years has it been since I’ve been this invested in something other than money? he mused. Interesting.

His legion comrades were all online. Out of habit, he entered YY, but the voice channel was empty. He found it odd—lately, even when not running dungeons, everyone liked hanging out in YY, pretending to be one big happy family.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Where are you?

He could’ve sent this to the Legion channel, but Jiang Yang instinctively whispered Fang Zheng instead. It was purely reflexive—by the time he realized it, the message was already sent.

The reply was slow and brief—

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: In a dungeon.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Which one?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Hanging Gardens.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: What’s that?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Can’t explain now!

The healer was clearly in a hurry—the battle must’ve been intense, leaving no room for chat. Yet, Jiang Yang found amusement in teasing him.

But this guy was like his nickname, Kite—you had to tug the string just right, loosening and tightening as needed. Pull too hard, and the line would snap.

Returning to the login screen, Jiang Yang entered a different account. The system prompted him to rename. After a moment’s thought, a mischievous smile curled his lips.

With his left hand pressing skills, his right clicking the mouse, his eyes tracking the monster and his teammates’ statuses, all while occasionally glancing at the whisper channel in the bottom-left corner, Fang Zheng wanted to crawl into the computer and strangle the clueless guy screaming, HEALERS ARE BUSY, BRO!

By then, the combined team had reached the final boss. They’d failed to catch the Djinn of the Box, and the Willow Tree Monster had blacked out. But after the Willow Tree Monster’s corpse disappeared, a hole appeared in the ground. The group descended, cleared a path of mobs, and finally arrived at this dungeon, where the ultimate boss—Nebuchadnezzar II, master of the Hanging Gardens—was imprisoned.

The specifics of the lore didn’t matter. The point was, this king, chained in the center of the dungeon with limited mobility, still managed to deal near-fatal blows to the combined team within his restricted range.

Fang Zheng died once.

Mount Tai died once.

Polly, 2B, and Drink Till You Drop each died twice. The rest died three to four times—except for Crossplayer and 438.

The former died five times, almost dropping back to level 54.

The latter? Not once. Like Super Mario after eating a star.

[System] Mad Lad has logged out.

Why’d he leave?

The thought flitted through Fang Zheng’s mind for half a second.

“Commander, my HP potion’s on cooldown, heal me… er, just revive me.”

Crossplayer’s Blessing, sixth death.

At the same time, Birdy sent a gentle reminder—

[Whisper] Polly: Don’t get distracted.

Fang Zheng felt the shame of a thief caught red-handed, though he doubted Polly could actually discern his whispered exchange with the Assassin amidst the chaotic skill spamming.

Shaking his head, Fang Zheng refocused and prepared to revive Crossplayer—but Mount Tai beat him to it.

Their roles were clearly divided, each managing their own team, but if one side was struggling too much, they’d lend a hand.

At the center of the dungeon, the king’s HP bar was down to 30%.

Drink Till You Drop: “Ranged players, stay near the dungeon exit! When the boss starts casting his ultimate, run!”

White Dragon Horse: “Especially the healers. If both of you die, we’re looking at a full wipe.”

Crossplayer: “Uh, actually, about reviving—”

Combined Team: “Someone who died six times has no right to speak!”

As they spoke, the massive king suddenly yanked violently on his chains and began chanting Broken Heart!

No one knew what Broken Heart was, but they saw the skill’s cast bar fill rapidly—there was no time to run!

Oddly, after the chant ended, no actual damage seemed to hit them.

Must be a buff skill, Fang Zheng quickly deduced, about to relax—when suddenly, everyone’s HP bars in the party status window plummeted to critical levels!

What the hell???

At the same time, Birdy and Drink Till You Drop exclaimed in unison: “Damage Reflect!”

Damage Reflect was a skill bosses occasionally used, reflecting the damage taken during a certain period back onto the attackers. In experienced dungeon runs, players knew when to expect it and would stop attacking beforehand. But for a pioneering team, the only teacher was failure.

The problem was, the lesson was too harsh. Seeing the boss not attacking, everyone had gone all-out, trying to burn down its HP in one go—only to have their own HP bars emptied by the reflect.

The first to fall were the magic classes. The Spirit Master Fire Cloud Evil God died instantly. The Demon Refiners Suave Not Sleazy and 438’s pets died without question. Suave Not Sleazy had no pets left to summon, while 438 still had his 502 Sister—but in this situation, should he summon her? If he did, the damage would just reflect back onto himself.

While the players hesitated, the boss didn’t. After Broken Heart came another roar—My Heart Will Go On!

2B Fighter Jet: “The name sounds gentle…”

Blood Bull: “But I think we should run.”

No one dared to hesitate. They all scrambled for the exit!

Milk is Mom, blessed by geography, led the charge!

Just as he was about to cross the dungeon’s threshold, the visual effects of My Heart Will Go On enveloped the group. A figure not part of the combined team lurked within the light. Fang Zheng was puzzled—they should’ve been out of range by now—when a luxurious robe swished past his vision. A second later, he was dead.

To be precise, the entire combined team was dead.

Drink Till You Drop & Polly: “Fuck!”

For these two to curse, the situation must’ve been infuriating. They’d been this close to defeating the boss!

As the light faded, the culprit revealed her beautiful face—Queen Amytis.

My Heart Will Go On was a summoning skill, TAT

This is just an upgraded version of Grandpa Wang, dammit!!!

Having fulfilled her duty, the queen gracefully returned to the dungeon’s center, nestling affectionately against the chained king.

Silence reigned in YY.

Facedown on the ground, the team miserably awaited the dungeon gods to teleport them out.

One second.

Two seconds.

Five seconds…

Normally, if the entire party died in a dungeon and no healers or revivers were left, the system would prompt players to return to the respawn point. But this time, despite the wipe, no prompt appeared.

2B: “I think I’m stuck. Why won’t it let me respawn?”

Crossplayer: “Same.”

438: “Should we force-quit?”

Fang Zheng: “How about you guys check your status bars first?!”

2B & Crossplayer & 438: “Commander, you’re not dead?!”

Why do you sound vaguely disappointed =_=

He had died—but revived instantly. And in the split second between his revival and the queen finishing her attack and turning away, she had only managed half a step. But that half-step was enough to take Fang Zheng out of her range, allowing her to elegantly restore her HP and return to her beloved’s side.

Golden Hoop, so you’re not just for show, TAT

First, he revived Crossplayer, who then teleported the rest of the team outside the dungeon. They sat on the ground to recuperate, taking the chance to discuss the miraculous revival.

Refined Into a Demon: “Commander, this thing’s a divine artifact! A divine artifact!”

Fang Zheng: “Not as divine as your pets…”

2B Fighter Jet: “You’ve been hiding this treasure all along?!”

Fang Zheng: “I’ve been wearing it on my head every day.”

White Dragon Horse: “Healer, where’d you get this?!”

Fang Zheng: “Someone gave it to me~~”

Suave Not Sleazy: “A girl?”

Fang Zheng: “A guy.”

Blood Bull: “If a guy gives you top-tier gear, just marry him.”

Fang Zheng: “…”

Birdy had been quiet the whole time. Fang Zheng suddenly felt like teasing him.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Hear that? They’re telling me to marry you~~~~

A pause.

[Whisper] Polly: Sure.

• 1
  The term used for his name can mean transgender, specifically MTF trans.