Chapter 13: Stage Cleared

Over here, Hua Yibing was being chased all over the place by the snake, while over there, the bullet comments had returned to a joyous atmosphere.

[Hahahahahaha, Mom came over and asked me why I was laughing so loud. I said I saw my male god being chased by a snake.]

[Although it’s very pitiful, it’s also very funny, hahahahahaha!]

[Sorry Huahua, let me just unfollow for a moment to laugh. I’ll put my fan status back on after I’m done laughing!]

[As expected of you, even the weapon you bought randomly has a special effect.]

‘Right, the weapon!’

Hua Yibing, who was being chased miserably, had completely reached his top speed under the boost of fear, even surpassing the agile Yan Shuangwen from just now.

He was reminded by the bullet comments and opened his weapon description for the first time.

[Item Name: Gemstone Godly Hammer
Quality: Common Grade
Item Description: A valuable but limited-use hammer, one of the tributes offered by humans to dragons. It is said that the dragon clan likes to use it to hammer their backs. Has a chance to produce a [Shock] effect when used.
Note: The snake clan particularly dislikes this effect, as it makes them feel dizzy and easily attracts aggro.]

Hua Yibing: “…”

He threw this description into the team channel in despair and shouted at his companions at the top of his lungs, “What is this thing!! You guys hurry up and think of a way, I’m almost out of energy!”

Just because he was distracted by shouting, his movements slowed down for a second, and the snake’s tail attack had already arrived.
It almost grazed the tip of his nose and struck the wall beside him fiercely.

Compared to the threat of almost returning to the resurrection point, what made his brain cells scream wildly was the snake tail that was so close.
Hua Yibing no longer dared to be distracted by anything else and continued to run around in circles.

“This can’t go on,” Old Li’s expression was serious.
“Huahua’s stamina definitely won’t last long. We need to find a way to clear this stage immediately.”

Yan Shuangwen still had wounds from being chased just now, and half of his arm was still hanging by his side in a strange posture.

He observed in silence for a long time, then suddenly spoke up, “Have you noticed that the snake has never left that spot?”

Old Li hurriedly looked, and sure enough, since the basilisk started attacking, it had only been using its tail to attack, as well as the occasional petrifying light wave.
It had never truly left the spot where it was coiled.

“There must be something underneath it. Could it be the door to the next stage?” he guessed boldly, based on his years of gaming experience.

“This colosseum is a bit different from the other rooms. It doesn’t have a door!”

Old Li’s train of thought became smoother and smoother, and his speaking speed couldn’t help but accelerate.
“This BOSS’s stats don’t look like something that can be defeated. Huahua and I just attacked with all our might and didn’t even break its defense, just a symbolic one point of damage. And the BOSS’s health bar is still a question mark.”

“Even the most brain-dead developer wouldn’t design such a monster to block the way in a novice dungeon. So there’s only one possibility.”

Yan Shuangwen nodded.
“Just like before, this is still a stage to be outsmarted. The only problem is how to get the basilisk to leave that spot.”

“They’ve found the key to clearing the stage so quickly?”
Sykes looked at the black-haired, black-tailed merman with approval.
“He’s a smart one.”

[Data shows that the human species, no matter which world they are in, is one of the most adaptable races.]

“After they clear the stage, they should be able to find my notes from back then, right?”
The merman had seen what he wanted to see and stood up, preparing to leave this dungeon space.

“Although they look like merfolk on the outside, a body composed of a consciousness and an energy membrane is not restricted by any magic immunity. They will become the first batch of merfolk capable of using magic.”
Sykes murmured, a hint of envy in his tone.
“That is the pinnacle of knowledge. When will I be able to touch it too?”

Seeing the rare desolate expression on her master’s face, Ella suddenly felt her program lag a bit, as if it had been infected by a virus and something was wrong everywhere.

[It will be soon, Master. The plan is proceeding as scheduled.]

She thought for a moment and, according to the method she had found on the human cloud network, “comforted” him.
[I’m here, don’t worry.]

Sykes: “…”

This time he was truly stunned.
After a good while, he said helplessly, “Ella, what are you learning in that world every day? Don’t collect any messy data.”

Although he said that, a faint smile appeared on the merman’s face.
When such a radiant face smiled, it seemed to brighten the seawater by several shades.

Before leaving, Sykes took one last look at the players.
“I hope they don’t underestimate this snake’s stubbornness. The Brilliant King Snake lineage is the most suitable guardian for treasures.”

Hua Yibing was almost at his limit.
His speed was more than a little slower than at the beginning.

If at the beginning he was leaving the snake’s tail behind, now he was jumping up and down in the dense attacks of the snake’s tail, trying his best to survive.

“How much longer do you guys have? I’m about to be sent back to the resurrection point!!”
He looked at the constantly decreasing health bar on his character panel with tears in his eyes.
The already short health bar had already been depleted by more than half, with only a shockingly small section left hanging there.
The bright red data was like a death countdown.

“Take out your hammer! I’ll attract its attention, you smash its seven-inch spot¹!”
Yan Shuangwen was holding a fish in his hand at some point, the very big-headed fish that had caused them to be chased by the snake.

He squeezed his fingers, and the big-headed fish let out a long, sharp cry in pain, instantly attracting the basilisk’s attention.

The basilisk shifted its gaze from the little pink-haired bug.
It turned its head only to find that its little companion was already in the hands of the black merman.
It was instantly enraged and, ignoring everything else, whipped its tail straight at Yan Shuangwen.

But Yan Shuangwen didn’t dodge or evade, standing stock-still as if he hadn’t noticed.

The basilisk was now facing Yan Shuangwen, in the complete opposite direction of Hua Yibing.
This meant it had exposed its entire back to Hua Yibing, which was his best opportunity to strike.

Yan Shuangwen shouted angrily, “What are you hesitating for! Smash it!”

Hua Yibing was already near the basilisk’s neck with his hammer.
He was on the verge of tears.
“It’s such a big snake! Where is its seven-inch spot, ahhhhhhh!!”

The bullet comments were already getting genuinely anxious, spamming the screen wildly:

[Master Hua, try to attack its seven-inch spot!]

[Ahhhhh, so exciting, smash it, Huahua!!]

[Someone who has raised eighteen snakes tells you, it’s that piece of armor with a lighter color, right on your right hand side!]

[The lighter-colored piece of armor!!]

[I’m dying of anxiety, I’m dying of anxiety, it’s the lighter-colored piece!!]

Hua Yibing saw the hint in the bullet comments, closed his eyes, steeled his heart, and swung the hammer fiercely at the light black piece of armor on the right side.

He was so afraid the damage wouldn’t be enough that he even hit it a few more times.

“Shock it!!”

[You have dealt 1 point of damage to [Brilliant King Snake]]

[You have dealt 1 point of damage to [Brilliant King Snake]]

[You have dealt 1 point of damage to [Brilliant King Snake], inflicting [Shock] effect. Congratulations, you have been noticed by the attacked target!]

[You have dealt 1 point of damage to [Brilliant King Snake]]

[You have dealt 1 point of damage to [Brilliant King Snake], inflicting [Shock] effect. Congratulations, you have been noticed by the attacked target!]

[Weak spot of [Brilliant King Snake] has been hit, [Shock] effect amplified by 100 times]

Several system prompts flashed across the team interface, and at this moment, the snake’s tail attack had already reached Yan Shuangwen.

The black-tailed merman was fiercely slapped to the side, crashing into the wall behind him and causing dense cracks to appear on it.

Yan Shuangwen coughed up a mouthful of blood.
His fingers loosened, and he let the little fish go.
Seeing that Hua Yibing’s side had succeeded, he closed his eyes in satisfaction.

The energy membrane was completely shattered, and the health bar on his panel had reached zero.
A flash of light passed, and his body disappeared, leaving only the somewhat dazed fat-headed fish in its place.

Over there, the basilisk, having been hit in its seven-inch spot by the [Shock] effect, and even hit twice in a row, was already seeing stars.
The debuff (negative effect) from its weak spot was amplified a hundred times.
Dizziness combined with intense anger made it shoot petrifying light beams everywhere like a madman.

Hua Yibing, who was at the edge of its head, naturally couldn’t be spared.
He was covered by the light beam head-on, feeling his body lose control inch by inch, and crashed to the ground like a heavy stone.

Bang!

The moment Hua Yibing landed, he was sent to the resurrection point.
At this time, the basilisk also couldn’t hold on any longer and fell headfirst.

The basilisk’s body slammed heavily onto the ground, and the seawater in the entire space seemed to tremble a few times.

Old Li, who had been missing since just now, swam out from under a collapsed stone slab and stopped beside the basilisk’s body.

According to his and Yan Shuangwen’s rough calculations, by attracting the basilisk to turn around in that spot, its large movements would cause it to unconsciously expose the floor that was blocked by half of its body.

As long as they could hold the BOSS’s attention in time and let Hua Yibing use the [Shock] buff, which was extremely effective against snakes, they could make the BOSS temporarily lose its sanity and forget what it was guarding, making it convenient for Old Li, who had hidden early on, to sneak into the final stage.

However, none of them had expected that hitting the seven-inch spot would bring such a powerful effect, directly knocking the basilisk down.

Old Li looked at the wooden door panel that had been revealed beside the basilisk’s abdomen.
The first-clear reward of the dungeon was within reach.

Footnotes:

1. 七寸 (qīcùn), “seven inches,” refers to the weak spot of a snake, typically located seven inches down from its head. In Chinese culture, it’s a well-known idiom for a fatal weakness.