Chapter Thirty-Eight: Rebirth, Passive

After dealing with the Sentinel Captain, everyone was disappointed with the loot, but the minor monsters still had to be cleared. It took nearly two hours to finish them off; many players leveled up, and Zhang Shan’s experience points had already surpassed two hundred thousand.

“I’m exhausted. This dungeon is mainly designed for grinding and leveling up, isn’t it? Otherwise, why are there so many mobs?”

“Maybe so.”

“But only being able to enter once a week is too little. How are we supposed to level up?”

“Perhaps the dungeon mobs are meant for casual players, while the main objective for professional players is the dungeon boss.”

“That makes sense. Most players in the game are casual anyway, so they need some room to thrive.”

“The problem is, the dungeon bosses don’t drop good items either—just junk. It’s not useful for us. If this keeps up, no one will want to run dungeons anymore.”

“The poor loot earlier might be due to the difficulty. We chose the normal setting, so the drops were downgraded by several tiers.”

“Yeah, that’s probably it.”

“Haha, in that case, next time we’ll choose extreme mode.”

“Are you crazy? Do you know how insane extreme mode is?”

“How bad can it be? Isn’t it just clearing mobs and killing the boss? The boss might be harder, but that’s it.”

“In extreme mode, you won’t even get to the boss. The mobs are all enraged, their attack power is through the roof, and they move lightning fast. You get killed in seconds.”

“No way, is extreme mode really that insane? How can anyone beat it?”

“You’re not supposed to beat it. That’s why it’s called extreme mode.”

“Ridiculous, such a crazy design.”

“Forget discussing difficulty; where’s our gatekeeper boss? Why hasn’t it appeared yet? Don’t tell me clearing the mobs means we’ve finished the dungeon.”

“That’s right, it’s been a while. Why hasn’t the boss appeared? Let’s search for it.”

Everyone was running a World Dungeon for the first time. No one knew exactly how it worked—maybe the boss would appear after all mobs were cleared, or perhaps it was hiding somewhere and they hadn’t noticed. Anyway, it was worth looking around. As for the idea that clearing the mobs finished the dungeon, that was just a joke; there would be a notification for completion.

The players spread out and searched carefully. The dungeon map wasn’t small; with more than forty people, it would still take several minutes to comb through the entire area.

Zhang Shan picked a direction and ran, watching the minimap for any red dots. Not even two minutes had passed when he spotted a red dot on the left side of the map. Could it be the boss? He cautiously approached, only to find it was just a stray mob.

Damn, who was supposed to clear this side? Someone missed a mob and didn’t say anything. He killed it quickly with two shots, and a system notification sounded:

System Notice: Due to heavy losses among the demon militia, the demon tribe priest will arrive with guards to investigate.

The system also provided a coordinate, presumably where the gatekeeper boss would appear.

“The main boss finally shows up—what kind of twisted design is this? We waited so long, everyone’s scattered all over the map.”

“It’s not the design’s fault. There was a mob left here that hadn’t been killed. I just finished it, and the notification popped up,” Zhang Shan complained.

“Who was blind enough to miss a mob? At least say something.”

“Let’s drop it, everyone head to the indicated spot. Don’t attack if you get there first—keep your distance. Don’t get yourselves killed,” Stormworld urged, cutting off further discussion about the missed mob.

With such a large map, it was normal to miss one occasionally.

When Zhang Shan arrived at the coordinates, the rest of the guild was also gathering. Not far off, an altar materialized out of thin air, with the demon tribe priest and four guards standing atop it—just like what Zhang Shan had seen on the Bo Wang Wasteland earlier.

Once everyone had arrived, Stormworld spoke up: “Stay back, let Six-Bar handle the guards and level up. Don’t share his experience.”

Alright.

Zhang Shan advanced slowly toward the altar. Now that he had learned the Hawk Eye skill, his attack range had increased by twenty percent, making it easier to lure guards away from the altar. He fired a shot to draw one away, then sent his Panda Baby in to tank. It was easy to knock out one life, and after it revived, he killed it again. One guard down, and over a hundred thousand experience gained.

As for loot, it was barely worth mentioning: one blue, one green item—throw them in the auction house and no one would probably even want them.

“What, these guards have two lives?” Some players who had logged off early yesterday hadn’t seen Zhang Shan fight and asked in surprise.

“Yes, the guards have a passive resurrection skill—two lives. It’s a bug, really, but luckily they’re not too strong. Otherwise, this would be tough,” Zhang Shan answered.

“Six-Bar, if you manage to get this passive skill, you’ll be a man with two lives,” Lone Walker joked.

“I can’t even imagine it. Not every boss is as generous as the Boar King, who gave me a passive skill with just one kill.”

“Don’t give up on your dreams. Maybe you’ll get it.”

“That’s not a dream, it’s pure fantasy.”

Zhang Shan coveted the guards’ resurrection passive—who wouldn’t want an extra life? But there was no way to farm it; there were only four guards, and the dungeon could only be entered once a week. Worse yet, he was about to hit level twenty. After that, he’d only be able to enter the second tier of the Demon Suppression Platform. Once the four guards were killed, he might never see them again.

The miraculous resurrection passive was destined to elude him.

He didn’t want to dwell on such gloomy matters. He lured another guard down and focused on reaching level twenty, which was more reliable.

Soon enough, another guard fell, losing both its lives. The loot was still garbage, but at least Zhang Shan leveled up.

System Notice: Congratulations on reaching level twenty.

System Announcement: Because player Six-Bar Bodhisattva has reached level twenty, the Demon Tribe Siege Event is now unlocked.

Every Saturday at eight p.m., generals under the Demon God will lead their troops to attack all sub-cities. Players can defend the cities for rewards. All are welcome to participate.

Player Six-Bar Bodhisattva is the first to reach level twenty, unlocking the Demon Tribe Siege Event. Reward: +1 skill point, +100 merit.

System Notice: Your passive skill King of Talents has been triggered by killing a Demon Priest Guard. You automatically acquire the Resurrection (Passive) skill.

Not bad—being the first to reach level twenty even unlocked an event and earned a free skill point. Now he had five skill points saved up.

Wait, something’s off—there were three notifications.

Holy crap, did he actually get the resurrection passive? His luck was beyond extraordinary; this wasn’t luck anymore, it was destiny.

Could it be that boss passives are easier to obtain? He’d farmed nearly ten thousand rabbits for the rabbit’s passive, which was already considered amazing luck. For the demon’s magic resistance passive, he’d killed thousands of ordinary demons with no result.

But bosses seemed different. The Boar King’s heavy strike passive dropped with just one kill, and now the guard’s resurrection passive appeared after killing six guards.

It looked like the chance to trigger a talent was much higher with bosses.

Maybe boss passives really are easier to farm. Seems he should focus more on bosses from now on—and make sure to land the final blow.

Definitely worth trying more often in the future.