Chapter 165: Leap of Faith
Yuliya was venturing deeper into the chaos, where the monsters kept getting stronger. The BOSS’s power crawled up from a humble 0.4 to an impressive 0.5, edging toward 0.6. But honestly, that was about the limit—anything stronger would be just plain rude.
The mid-level exploration point BOSS, outside, was pretty much at this level too, aided a smidge by the terrain advantages. Don’t even get me started on how the final BOSS at a mid-level exploration point was just running around like a stray dog at a big exploration site. They have their pride, you know?
While Yuliya was doing just fine, the rest of the players were in all sorts of trouble. First off, there was the chaos brought by the Huaxia Server strategy team crashing in like a herd of confused elephants. As Yuliya had suspected, they were slowly but surely getting split up. By the time Fenghuo Liantian realized what was happening, the first three teams had vanished without a trace! He urged what’s left of his crew to stick together, but it was no use—the deeper they went, the crazier the terrain got, and surprise, surprise, elite monsters were throwing their weight around too. Even with their best efforts, they were all over the place.
In the end, only about three hundred players were left under his control. And that was after some serious micromanagement! The rest? Good luck getting them back together. Fortunately, the density of bamboo monsters in this third layer was pretty low, and at least they were all elite monsters with a sense of territory. They could gang up on those elite monsters without too many issues.
As for the other teams that dove into the Illusion Forest? They were having a rough time. The European Server and M Zone Server players had barely managed to get through the first layer of the forest and were utterly befuddled. Even after a breather at the teleportation array, they were still sweating bullets facing a horde of beasts in the second layer. Struggling was their new pastime.
The European Server had a few more folks to work with, so their situation was a little better, while the M Zone players were about to lose it. And as for the other so-called “fourth faction” that wandered in? They got lost in mere moments and scattered like leaves in the wind, most still wandering around in the fog. The lucky few who made it to the second layer… well, they paid the price of losing some teammates just to teleport back to the first layer.
Meanwhile, back in Green Shade City, a major exploration point with straightforward terrain, all factions were progressing steadily. Their strategy was pretty similar: enter through the four main gates and push down the main road toward the inner city. A few players split off to check out the outer city areas, but the main goal was tackling the final BOSS. Scoring points could wait until after the epic showdown.
After over two hours of pushing, various factions finally arrived at the gate between the inner and outer city—four gates, one epic showdown. Now, they were each taking on the BOSS at their respective gates, with a bit of variance in speed. As for the rest of the players outside the major exploration point, picking up scraps and snacks? Let’s not even go there.
Back to Yuliya’s thrilling saga! She had just taken down a half-score BOSS, snagging 8,000 points. Her score was just breaking the 200,000 barrier. And guess who sneaked up to over 20,000 points? Our old pal Fenghuo Liantian, that’s who! Quietly rolling in the dough, that rascal!
Yuliya clenched her little fist, thinking, “I really need to step it up lest I get overtaken!” Full of determination, she marched forward, ready to find her next lucky victim for a quick kick.
But then, her nose twitched again. “This scent… it’s different!” A deeper, muddier aroma wafted through the air.
“Could it be… fortune’s smile?” Yuliya’s heart raced with excitement. This could be the guardian BOSS of this layer! She changed direction, following the peculiar scent.
Soon enough, she found herself facing a bamboo wall. With her Golden Eyes activated, she quickly squinted at it. “Fake!” Without a backward glance, she charged right through it, her body magically passing through.
Surprise! Behind that fake wall was yet another wall, and this one was definitely real. But as a wise person once said, “There’s no road in the world, but when I kick one down, it becomes a highway!”
Boom! “We’ve got a path!”
After somehow barreling through a mix of real and fake bamboo, Yuliya finally arrived at…
A cliff’s edge! She had blazed a trail right out of the bamboo maze!
The bamboo grove was way up here? She squinted in the direction of the scent. “Wo Ri! That mountain over there!” Turns out the aroma wasn’t from a BOSS in the maze at all!
Now what? Head back to the bamboo? Yeah, that was an absolute no-go. Still, retreat wasn’t an option!
“Onward!” Yuliya declared. It’s all about that unconventional glow, baby!
Taking a quick assessment of the distance, she peeked over the edge of the cliff. After a bit of mental math—she could do this!
Yuliya took a deep breath, readied herself, and then launched into a leap of faith off the cliff.
In the game “Otherworld,” falling does entail damage, calculated based on the vertical distance fallen, with a max of 100%. At this height, hitting the ground? Let’s just say she’d be toast.
The chat exploded at this moment.
“What the?! What is Wind God doing?! She’s a goner for sure!”
“Don’t doubt, just believe! I think she’s fishing.”
“Fishing? In the air? Like, really? I think maybe she lagged and fell.”
“No kidding, what happens to our Huaxia Server if Wind God bites it?”
“Wind God isn’t the only one in Huaxia Server! Look at her score—200,000! Nobody’s overtaking that by the end!”
“Maybe she’s just tired from gaming and logging off for a nap.”
“If Wind God goes, what am I supposed to watch?”
“No, no, look at her moves! She’s not acting like she’s giving up!”
As Yuliya sped down, her lips subtly moved as if counting something. Her expression was serious, eyes locked on the mountain face across from her.
Suddenly, she stopped mouthing words, reached out her right hand, and snagged a long vine from the cliff. She was still falling but began to slow down, pushing off the cliff with her legs, swinging sideways on the vine like Tarzan’s distant cousin.
As she decelerated to a complete stop, the vine was now at a 45-degree angle from where it started, the lower end of the vine mysteriously severed at some point she didn’t bother to remember.
Holding onto the end of one vine with one hand, she dangled, clutching another vine with her other. Yuliya smirked, “Time to soar!”
As the words left her lips, she let go of the second vine, swinging side-saddle towards the mountain wall.
