MMORPG: Divine Mech Hunter

Feng Yi’s livestream room was boiling over.

“Where’s that braggart who was just shoutingWhy has he SLIddenlY gone silent?”

“Quick, start splurging.”

“You talk as if you’re just spewing hot air, Liu Er Xiaobao, I’ll remember you, you were the most excited just a moment ago, where are you now?”

Feng Yi’s smile was tinged with glee as she watched the barrage of comments flashing across the screen in the corner of her eye. “You’ve really made a killing today, just in this short while, you’ve already received several hundred gold coins.”

“Those are your gold coins.” Li Yao, sitting on top of the dome and gasping for breath, had just killed thirty elites. His experience points had already reached 88% — he would level up after clearing the second platform.

Even Li Yao found the leveling process exhilarating, not to mention his few teammates. This was the result of slaughtering level 5 monsters, including elites.

Li Yao had exerted a lot of effort to get Tongtong and Feng Yi onto the dome.

“Leveling up like this is really exhilarating, but we seem to be holding you back, huh.” Tongtong was both thrilled and worried.

Li Yao patted her little head and said, “There’s no way I could have been leveling up like this without you guys. I couldn’t have done it without your help. Besides, we still have an important part to play later. We are still at the beginning of our journey.”

“Really?”

“Of course, it is true,” Li Yao said seriously.

“Boss, can we summon someone else to help? I also want to get up there. I can’t see anything from down here and can’t learn any techniques.” Shadow Dance was all alone on the small hill, looking pitiful.

Before Li Yao could speak, Tongtong impatiently waved her hand and said, “You go and watch Xiayao’s livestream. Stop talking nonsense. If you don’t want to, I’ll replace you with someone else.”

Shadow Dance quickly pleaded with a bitter face, “No, no, my dear lady, didn’t you promise to help me become an expert player?”

“Then, be prepared to follow Big Brother’s orders. If not, I really will replace you.” Tongtong threatened authoritatively, with a look of pure naivety on her face.

“Yes, yes.” Shadow Dance quickly tried to win Tongtong’s favor.

Countless fanboys and audience members burst into laughter. This little goblin is so funny, like a child, they thought. But what they didn’t know was that Tongtong really was a child.

Li Yao was dumbfounded. Things were taking a strange turn. Where had the dominant and cold demeanor of this Shadow Dance gone? He was completely looking like a pushover.

“My fanboys state that unless you’re a god, you won’t be able to get to the second platform and definitely won’t be able to slay the monsters like you did on this platform.” Xiayao laughed: “One of my fanboys asked me to ask you. Do you admit defeat?”

“KB did get one point right, the strategy used on the first platform won’t work on the second. But, as for him saying I can’t get to the second platform, I must prove him wrong.” Li Yao glanced at the two of them and said, “The time has come for you guys to play an important part. Hopefully, you can meet my expectations.”

“We can take on any challenge; I am very strong,” Tongtong said, sweetly clenching her little fists.

“I should be able to meet your requirements too,” Feng Yi chimed in confidently.

“Alright, let’s test you out. Shadow Dance, you stand on the hill and move around slowly, maintaining the same rate as the elite monster. Can you do that?” Li Yao asked Shadow Dance.

Shadow Dance watched the elite’s stride in the spiral passage for a while, then nodded, “The distance of their strides and their frequency are fixed, easy to mimic.”

Without waiting for Li Yao to speak, Shadow Dance started walking around the hill, imitating the elite’s stride.

“Why did you ask him to mimic the patrolling of the elite?” Tongtong asked curiously. She felt thrilled. Following Li Yao was definitely a fun experience.

“It’s quite simple. I just want Tongtong’s Lava Eruption and Fen, um, Xiayao’s Bone Spear to hit Shadow Dance at the same time. Even if they can’t hit him simultaneously, their timing shouldn’t differ by more than half a second. If you can’t meet this requirement, I won’t be able to get to the next platform.”

Tongtong and Feng Yi looked at each other. Tongtong asked, “Xiayao, how much time does your Bone Spear take to cast?”

Xiayao said: “My Bone Spear requires a 1.25-second casting time.”

Nodding, Tongtong said, “My Lava Eruption takes 1.75 seconds to launch.”

Xiayao nodded back, “Your Lava Eruption also involves launching a Magma Ball, and my Bone Spear is a projectile skill too. To the best of my knowledge, generally, for all projectile skills, the trajectory speed is the same. Therefore, you start casting first, I’ll follow, and we’ll try to sync up.”

“Okay.” Tongtong agreed, and Li Yao signaled the start. The two of them began to cast their skills one after another.

At the TV station,

KB watched as the duo, after about a dozen attempts, managed to hit Shadow

Dance (who was imitating the patrolling elite) simultaneously and remarked, “Impressive.”

Tian Na, who was a pure presenter and didn’t have an in-depth understanding of the game, asked, “It didn’t really seem that difficult.’

“It’s quite difficult,” KB explained, “Don’t you think if Tongtong begins to chant the spell first and Xiayao follows after a moment’s pause, they would be able to meet the target set by Prairie Fire?”

“Isn’t that the case?” Tian Na’s confusion also mirrored that of the vast majority of players, who thought achieving this would not be difficult.

“You’re mistaken, hitting both at the same time is extremely hard. Don’t forget, this is free-style now, and it has to be free-style. Only in free-style can this hidden effect be triggered. Look, Shadow Dance was knocked back two small steps by the two skills, indicating that each skill pushes him back by one step. If it was in lock-in mode, sure, it would hit 100% of the time, but there would be no knockback effect. I don’t know what Prairie Fire is going for, but clearly, he wants this effect.’

“Hmm, you’re not wrong, but I still don’t see what the difficulty is?” Tian Na still didn’t understand.

KB chuckled, explaining: “In free-style, you can’t just chant a spell and it’s over. You also need to control the angle of the skill. You have to realize Shadow Dance is constantly moving, and both players need to predict where to release their skills in order to hit him. Take note, both Lava Eruption’s Magma Ball and Bone Spear have a trajectory when thrown, and the distance and timing needed to predict varies with different distances. It’s essentially like shooting a gun there’s a difference between a stationary target and a moving one. No matter how good you are at shooting stationary targets, it doesn’t mean you’ll be good at hitting moving ones. Both of them are really incredible, at least on a professional level.”

“So that’s how it is.” Tian Na and the audience finally understood: “I can understand why Xiayao is so good, but who is this cute girl? Looking at how well they’re coordinating, it’s like they’ve hit the bullseye every time. KB, do you know who this little Goblin is?”

KB replied: “With free-style enabled, professional players face a huge challenge – the emergence of numerous unfamiliar masters.”

“So, do you now admit that Prairie Fire can reach the second platform?” Tian Na teased.

“Don’t set me up! I didn’t concede that. I just said both of them are really good, but I didn’t admit that they could reach the second platform. It’s extremely difficult. Neither of them can be hit by a monster; if they are, they’ll be killed instantly.”

“How are they going to start a fight on the dome?’ Tian Na voiced a question shared by many.

KB, reluctantly pointing at the screen, said: “You see, there are spiral stairs inside the platform too, so they can get on top of the dome. But given their damage, they won’t even manage to take down one-tenth of the Elite Monster’s health from the time they draw it in until it gets to the dome. Once the Elite is on the dome, that means a reduction in numbers, and it’s too risky.”

Atop the dome, Li Yao said: “Alright, I didn’t expect you two to coordinate so well. We are now going into the real battle – clearing the second platform.”

From their elevated position atop the vast dome, Li Yao and his team were essentially at level with the second platform, where they were staring down the monsters. The second platform was even more expansive, teeming with about fifty Mindless Ones.

“So which one are we taking out?” the cute girl frowned and said: “When our skills hit it, it’ll definitely react and send out a signal. Then, it’ll definitely come running down the corridor that connects the first and second platforms. With so many of them, we’re done for.”

“Moreover, these monsters’ patrol routes seem random and too chaotic.” Xiayao frowned.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let it send out a signal or call for help. Plus, while these patrol routes seem random, they actually follow a complex pattern of rotation. I’ve been observing from the moment I reached the top of the dome and simulating it in my mind, and I’ve found eight intersections where all the monsters cross paths. Our target is the spot five steps away from us, next to the second pillar on the right of the platform from our perspective.”

The cute girl and Shadow Dance sent out a string of ellipses before both turned to look at Li Yao, dumbfounded.

Feng Yi’s eyelids twitched. She remarked: “Some viewers said your calculating and deduction abilities border on the insane. Remembering so many monsters’ movement routes and simulating them in your mind – most people would be booted offline if they were this jittery.”

“Master, teach me, teach me.” Shadow Dance pleaded excitedly.

“Me too, me too.” The cute girl shot up her hand.

“This isn’t that complicated. I’ll teach you guys when we have the time.” Li Yao took out his crossbow, loaded a Steel Arrow and said: “Watch closely, just as we did earlier. Remember the location I just pointed out.”

Li Yao held up his crossbow, carefully observing the patrol route of the Elite

Monster. After a while, a monster was about to approach the second pillar, and

Li Yao locked his sights onto this Level 10 Elite. “Begin.”

The two executed flawlessly once again. In a moment, a Magma Ball from Lava Eruption trailed by a Bone Spear from a different location rapidly closed in on their target.

All those watching Li Yao lead his team broke out in a sweat. If Li Yao didn’t have any tricks up his sleeve, their team would surely be wiped out. At this point, they’re even more anxious than if they were the ones leading the attack. Some harbored mixed feelings, hoping for the legend to continue but also for it to fall.

Bang…

The Lava Eruption and Bone Spear hit the level 10 Mindless One Elite on the left and right chests respectively. The Mindless One was jolted back two small steps by the powerful impact, but was still at least three small steps away from the edge of the platform.

Just as the explosion went off, the Elite’s eyes lit up as it started to search for the enemy.

Thud…

A Steel Arrow dug into the Mindless One’s knee. The Mindless One had just been knocked back and was struggling to steady itself when a finger-thick Steel Arrow penetrated its knee.

Before the disbelieving eyes of everyone, the Level 10 Mindless One Elite fell. And behind him was a void. Everyone then watched as the Level 10 Elite rolled off the second platform.

A moment later, a thud was heard. Falling from nearly 200 yards away, even a Level 10 Elite couldn’t withstand the impact and was instantly killed.

All those watching Li Yao’s team take on the event were stunned. The live commentary had also gone silent.

“Holy shitninainai, that actually worked?” KB was so shocked that he stood up from his chair, cursing without realizing it.

The players on the live platform also recovered, the live chat blowing up instantly with ‘6’ flooding the screen. Then gold tokens began to shower down, turning the screen golden.

“Nothing left to say. Only these gold tokens can express my feelings.” “Prairie Fire is a god. I’m speechless. From this day forward, I’m a fan.”

Players with insight expressed their excitement….