Chapter 15: The Treant Trap and the Exploding Nut

“Hey, babes, what are those things up ahead?”

As they encountered more and more powerful monsters, the three members of the “girls’ team” had grown significantly more coordinated, and their interactions had also become much more intimate.

“The monsters before were clearly ordinary beasts, or small, cute, Q-version spirits, but those few monsters up ahead, they look a bit different, don’t they?”

“Ew, how disgusting! Those little animals before were so cute, but that thing up ahead is so ugly!”

Xingxing, having gradually grown familiar with the other two, now spoke normally without a stutter.

She gazed at the monsters ahead and exclaimed, “They look like trees, but they have faces, noses, and mouths! It’s so gross!”

“These are probably treant-type monsters, right?”

“Such creatures are only ever seen in games; they couldn’t possibly exist in real life.”

Xue Hu, observing these “magical creatures,” meticulously wrote on her wooden board, “These fellows might use magic, so we’d best be careful.”

“Magic? Are you talking about the kind where you chant a long string of spells, and then a fireball pops out, or you turn invisible?”

Chen Lili, seeing Xue Hu’s written warning, asked with a curious tone, “Ah! Ha-rry Po-tter—is that how it works?”

“No, I don’t think it’s like that.”

“Magic in games usually involves throwing a ball of light forward, which then explodes into something like fireworks.”

Xue Hu was already too exasperated to comment on Chen Lili’s unique logic.

‘Was she reading too many novels?’ Xue Hu wondered, ‘Real RPGs don’t have that kind of magic.’

“These spells likely deal considerable damage, so everyone, please be careful.”

“Argh, never mind! I’m going in first!”

“Anyway, the previous monsters were all so weak; how strong could these possibly be?”

Chen Lili, seemingly not having absorbed any of the warnings, charged alone towards the treants.

Clutched in her hand was a handful of something, which she hurled forward, shouting, “Eat my Exploding Flame Nut!”

The “Exploding Flame Nut” was an item dropped by a Level 26 mutated squirrel monster the trio had encountered earlier on their journey.

It could be thrown like a bomb, inflicting 350 points of area damage and causing a burning effect for 10 seconds, deducting 50 HP per second.

It was crucial to note that monster HP and player HP were calculated using different algorithms.

Thus, while a Level 26 player possessed 2600 HP, a Level 26 monster’s HP varied; some types had more, others less.

These treants were all Level 32, with unknown HP.

When Chen Lili’s “Exploding Flame Nut” landed, the treants merely lost a sliver of their health.

A peculiar aspect of this game, however, was that thrown items did not factor in the user’s attack power.

This meant that a Level 1 player would deal the same damage as a Level 100 player when using such items.

A player’s attack power was only reflected in melee combat—swinging fists or wielding weapons like swords, knives, or clubs—to achieve effective damage.

“Jili guagua, jili guagua!”

Although she had only chipped away a tiny bit of health, Chen Lili’s action clearly enraged the treants.

Muttering incomprehensible words, they charged forward, raising their branch-like arms.

Two of the treants, however, differed from the others; they remained rooted in place, their branch-like arms emitting a faint green glow.

“This nut is useless! It only deals a tiny bit of damage; I could do more with my own fists!”

Chen Lili, seeing the low damage from the “Exploding Flame Nut,” remarked disdainfully.

She then truly began swinging her fists, charging forward.

“Hehehe, taste the iron fist of your Sister Chen’s retribution!”

When one treant was struck by Chen Lili, it instantly lost half its HP.

However, under Xue Hu’s careful observation, she noticed that the HP burned away by the “Exploding Flame Nut” significantly exceeded the HP lost during the explosion itself.

This implied that a portion of the “Exploding Flame Nut’s” explosion damage had been negated by the treants’ defense.

The burning damage, however, was fixed damage and thus could not be mitigated by defense.

Just as Chen Lili struck a treant, a green magic circle illuminated beneath her feet.

Chen Lili also noticed this dazzling green phenomenon but had no idea what purpose it served.

Xingxing cried out loudly, “Sister Chen, there’s something under your feet! Get out of the way, fast!”

“I know, but I can’t move!”

“I feel like my feet are tangled by something!”

Chen Lili attempted to escape the magic circle’s range but was astonished to find herself bound in place.

She desperately strained her feet, yet remained unable to budge.

“Quick, quick, help me figure something out! What exactly is this thing?”

“It’s no use, Sister Lili.”

“This must be the treants’ magic.”

“The effect of this magic circle is likely to bind you here; it’s essentially applied a ‘Bind’ debuff to you, so no matter how much force you use, it’s pointless.”

Xue Hu calmly wrote, “Once the magic circle’s duration expires, this ‘Bind’ effect will automatically be removed. You just need to wait it out right where you are!”

“W-what do you mean, ‘wait it out’?”

“If I stand still here, won’t they just hit me?”

Chen Lili anxiously cried, “You two should hurry up and come help me get rid of them! Aren’t we on the same team? We’re supposed to help each other!”

Xingxing and Xue Hu simply observed from a distance, silently watching their teammate Chen Lili, who was stuck in the “mire,” doing nothing.