How Do We Play If This Boss Isn't Nerfed?-Chapter 75 - 73: Rendezvous

With a flick of his wrist, Lin Ye swung the spear impaling the hound’s corpse with a single hand. Transforming it into a heavy warhammer, he swept it outward with a shriek that tore through the air!

WHAM!

Another hound, charging at the front, was viciously slammed across the back by its companion’s corpse. The crisp snap of breaking bones was unmistakable.

It was sent flying sideways like a broken sack, crashing into a wall before sliding to the ground. It twitched twice, then fell silent.

At almost the exact same moment, Lin Ye took half a step forward with his left foot and lowered his center of gravity, dodging the wild boar’s charging tusks.

Meanwhile, he brought the spear in his right hand down, using its head like an iron rod to smash heavily onto the third hound’s skull!

CRACK!

Its skull shattered.

The mutated hound collapsed with a thud, unable to even let out a pained cry.

Only the final mutated wild boar, a Level 9, was left.

It let out a terrified roar. Its massive body displayed an agility that belied its size as it turned to flee.

But Lin Ye wasn’t about to let it get away.

He surged forward, his spear held so low it seemed to merge with the ground, and then viciously thrust it upward!

A condensed beam of black light shot from the spear, precisely piercing through the boar’s soft underbelly!

The battle was over.

From the first strike to clearing the area, a mere ten seconds had passed.

Lin Ye flicked the beads of blood from his spear tip, then turned and vanished into the shadows of another alley.

For him, this was just a warm-up.

The real hunt was only just beginning.

...

[You have slain a Level 10 Mutated Wolf.]

[You have slain a Level 10 Mutated Wolf.]

[...]

[Ding! Your level has increased to Level 13!]

His experience points were skyrocketing at an incredible rate.

His experience bar, already on the verge of Level 13, filled completely.

Lin Ye added the newly obtained 1 free attribute point to Spirit.

The boost to his Spirit attribute had an immediate effect.

His perceptive range expanded, and he grew more sensitive to the subtle changes in his surroundings.

As for the skill point, he allocated it to [Spear Force].

Just as Lin Ye passed an alley entrance, a powerful gust of wind, thick with the stench of blood, shot toward him from above and to his left rear!

Lin Ye didn’t even turn his head.

He swiftly sidestepped.

A black-and-yellow blur lunged past, almost scraping the tip of his nose, and landed heavily on the ground before him.

It was an agile mutated leopard, a high Level 11.

Having missed its first strike, it immediately arched its back and let out a threatening growl, its golden, bestial eyes locked on Lin Ye.

Not far behind it lay another disemboweled corpse. Judging by the uniform, it was another contestant from one of the schools.

Evidently, Lin Ye’s passing had disturbed its meal.

However, before it could launch a second attack, Lin Ye struck first.

The mutated leopard instinctively tried to dodge, but it discovered in horror that its movements were incredibly sluggish!

His [Overwhelm] aura was fully activated.

With a two-level difference, the leopard became as helpless as a kitten.

PUFFT!

The spear plunged accurately into its abdomen.

Lin Ye put force into his wrist, viciously flicking the spear upward!

The mutated leopard let out a piercing shriek as its entire body was flung into the air!

Before it could fall, Lin Ye’s spear struck like a dragon, lashing out in mid-air!

A direct hit to the heart.

[You have slain a Level 11 Mutated Leopard.]

Lin Ye retrieved his spear and continued deeper into the ruins.

...

「Several hours later.」

After these few hours of hunting and exploration, Lin Ye was certain of two things.

First, for the other so-called martial arts geniuses who had been raised in a greenhouse, this place was a true hell.

The unknown environment, the grotesque monsters they had never seen before, and the fear that death was a very real possibility—it all weighed on them like mountains, shattering their nerves.

In such a state, anyone who could display even half their usual strength would be considered mentally resilient.

The Level 12 Martial Artist who pissed himself in fear of a Level 9 boar was definitely not an isolated case.

’This must be the result the tournament organizers wanted to see.’

’Use the harshest reality to weed out everyone but the true Warriors.’

Of course, Lin Ye also believed that among the hundreds of contestants, there had to be others like him who were in their element here.

Second, to increase the efficiency and difficulty of the screening process, the tournament committee had deliberately increased the monster density in these virtual ruins.

The number of monsters here far exceeded that of a real-world ruined city.

You could barely take a few steps without running into one, and a little deeper in, you’d stumble upon a whole pack.

’For others, this was a hopeless situation. But for Lin Ye...’

’...it was paradise.’

Lin Ye came to a stop before a relatively open city square.

In the center of the square, a giant fountain, long dry and covered in cracks, served as a temporary landmark.

At this moment, twenty or thirty contestants were scattered around the fountain.

Most were in small groups of three to five, huddled together warily. Their faces showed either the lingering shock of having survived or poorly concealed exhaustion.

Every one of them was injured to some degree, their combat uniforms stained with dark red blood and dust, leaving them in a sorry state.

The atmosphere of the entire square was oppressive and tense. Besides occasional low-voiced exchanges, almost no one dared to speak loudly.

Because the rules of the first stage strictly forbade contestants from attacking each other, a fragile peace was maintained here.

Lin Ye’s gaze swept across the crowd, and soon he saw a familiar figure in a corner.

Zhang Yuqing.

She was leaning against the edge of the fountain’s basin, carefully cleaning a wound on her right arm with a strip of cloth.

The wound wasn’t deep, but the flesh was torn open. It was clearly caused by some kind of sharp claw, and was still slowly oozing blood.

Her face was a little pale, and her breathing was slightly rapid, but her eyes were still sharp, constantly vigilant of her surroundings.

Lin Ye’s approach put her on high alert.

"Who’s there!"

She spun around abruptly, holding Rain Listening horizontally in front of her, its blade glinting with a cold light.

When she saw clearly that the person was Lin Ye, her tense body suddenly relaxed, and she let out a long sigh of relief.

But a second later, her eyes filled with utter shock and disbelief.

’All this way, I’ve been ambushed by mutated beasts several times. I had to fight with everything I had just to break free, and I still got injured.’

’But Lin Ye...’

’...he’s completely unscathed?’

’At worst, his clothes are just a little dirty.’

’Did he... not run into any mutated beasts?’

’How is that possible!’

’This godforsaken place is too dangerous. You get ambushed the second you let your guard down.’

’That’s how I got this minor injury, from an ambush.’

Lin Ye walked straight to the edge of the fountain and took two crude bags made of beast hide from his back.

He had fashioned them from the hides of mutated beasts he’d killed along the way.

To survive for three days in these ruins, clean water and food are necessities.

Lin Ye squatted down and aimed the mouth of one of the hide bags at a thin trickle of water flowing from the fountain’s pipe.

The stream of water was incredibly murky and had a rusty smell.

Watching this, Zhang Yuqing frowned slightly, about to warn him that the water wasn’t safe to drink.

But she saw Lin Ye, after filling one bag, pour the water into the other hide bag.

Something amazing happened.

As the originally murky water flowed from the first bag into the second, it became visibly clearer!

By the time the second bag was full, the water inside was crystal clear, a world apart from the foul liquid it had been moments before.

Zhang Yuqing’s pupils slightly dilated.

She instantly understood. ’He must have filled the first bag with sand, gravel, and charcoal to create a makeshift filter!’

’He... he’s incredibly experienced!’