Chapter 1 The Beginning
In the first boss room, the boss's four health bars were almost depleted.
"Roar!"
The boss let out a furious roar, its aura surging outwards like an unstoppable tide.
Having experienced countless battles, Ling Feng had long developed a sense for and methods to deal with such aura shocks.
He stepped onto the boss's round shield, raising his long sword to block in front of his chest.
Whoosh!
Ling Feng was sent flying a considerable distance. He somersaulted in the air before sliding towards the ground, his long sword scraping sparks on the floor.
Being thrown back was normal; it was difficult to exert force while standing on a round shield.
Despite being flung away, Ling Feng hadn't taken much damage. His health bar hadn't dropped below ninety percent, remaining in a healthy state.
"Good opportunity!"
"Stand down, I'll go!"
Seeing Ling Feng sent so far and the boss nearing its end, Diabel rejoiced.
After ordering everyone back, he charged forward with his sword and shield.
At the rear of the party, Kirito and Asuna stood on either side of Ling Feng, fending off the boss's elite guards.
Kirito said to Ling Feng,
"Ling Feng, you're too much. I told you to fight the guards, but you went after the boss and brought it to critical health."
"It feels like you could solo the first-floor boss by yourself."
Ling Feng stood up, a breezy smile on his face.
"I didn't expect the boss to be so weak."
"Uh..."
Kirito and Asuna were speechless.
Kirito glanced at Diabel, who had rushed towards the boss alone, and frowned, puzzled.
"Logically, we should all surround and finish off the boss now."
"Could it be that Diabel wants to try soloing the boss like you?"
Diabel stood at the forefront of the party, charging a powerful attack. Yellow light flickered; one hit from this move would surely slay the boss.
Diabel felt that rare items were now within his grasp.
"Roar!"
The boss roared, spitting saliva. It discarded its weapon and pulled out a nodachi from its back.
Kirito's expression instantly darkened upon seeing the nodachi. He shouted,
"No! Jump back with all your might!"
But before he could finish, Diabel, sword and shield raised, charged at the boss.
Seeing Diabel approach, the boss stomped heavily and leaped into the air, bouncing off the room's pillars with such speed that it was reduced to a blur.
Diabel's eyes couldn't keep up with the boss's movements. Then, the boss unleashed a charged overhead smash.
"Ah!"
Diabel was sent flying by the boss's blow. Before he even hit the ground, as the boss slid across the floor, it turned and delivered another strike.
Throughout the entire encounter, Diabel was utterly defenseless, annihilated in a one-sided battle.
"Diabel!"
Everyone saw that something was wrong. How could Ling Feng have made it look so easy, only for Diabel to be crushed?
But before they could worry, the boss landed heavily amidst the crowd, roaring at them.
"t
The others then charged forward to engage in a group assault.
Ling Feng, having dealt ninety-five percent of the damage, was deemed to have soloed the boss by the system, so he didn't join the fray.
Instead, he opened his inventory to view the rewards for completing the quest.
However, their respite was short-lived. The boss's aura shockwave sent them flying. The boss charged up, leaped high, and was about to bring its sword down on them.
"No!"
Kirito roared, executing Sonic Leap once more and striking the boss's throat, ending the fight.
As the boss was defeated, the room's lights extinguished, plunging it into dimness.
Everyone celebrated the boss's demise, but soon, someone spoiled the mood. Ya Wang pointed at Kirito, at the front of the group, and accused him.
"Why? Why... did you abandon Diabel?"
"Wasn't it? You knew the boss's moves, right? If you had warned us earlier, Diabel wouldn't have died."
After speaking to Kirito, Ya Wang turned to Ling Feng.
"And you! With your strength, why didn't you step in to save him just now!"
Hearing Ya Wang's words, everyone seemed to snap out of a daze, and they began to accuse Ling Feng and Kirito.
"Both of them must be beta testers! That's why one knew the boss's combat patterns and the other is so strong."
"There must be other beta testers here! Find them all!"
Seeing this, Kirito broke out in a cold sweat. If this continued, the reputation of beta testers would be severely damaged, and it could even lead to internal chaos within the strategy group.
Kirito bit his lip and made a decision, choosing to take the blame himself.
Ling Feng watched this without intervening, closing his eyes. This was Kirito's path, and he couldn't interfere.
After Kirito finished his self-sacrifice, declaring himself a "cheater" and leaving,
Ling Feng opened his eyes, put away the sword in his inventory, took out a sword with a dominant crimson color, and walked towards Ya Wang step by step.
At this moment, Ya Wang was still barking like a dog, his name befitting his actions.
"That guy is a cheater! We should stop him and make him hand over all his money and items."
"Clang!"
Ya Wang was about to continue his tirade, but his voice abruptly stopped. A sword was pressed against his neck, and a slight push would be enough to kill or severely wound him.
"You! What are you doing!"
As Ya Wang followed the sword to meet Ling Feng's cold gaze, his body trembled, and he began to sweat profusely.
"What am I doing? Why don't you check the color of my cursor?"
Ling Feng smirked. The two-hour duration of his cloak had just expired.
"You, I'm telling you, there are explicit rules between players that prohibit..."
As he spoke, Ya Wang curiously glanced up. The moment he saw the blood-red cursor above Ling Feng's head, he panicked, stammering in fear,
"Red-named player! Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I have elderly parents and young children, and I haven't even found a wife yet."
Everyone else turned to look at Ling Feng's cursor. Upon seeing the red name above his head,
everyone in the strategy group panicked, drawing their weapons and warily eyeing Ling Feng.
Sweat beaded on their foreheads, and they swallowed hard, backing away.
They knew how strong Ling Feng was, capable of soloing the boss, and his health was still at ninety percent.
It was clear that if Ling Feng decided to kill them, no one present could stop him.
Ling Feng ignored the retreating crowd and shouted,
"You're called Ya Wang? Quite capable, using moral blackmail?"
"Do you know how incredibly idiotic your words were? How utterly useless?"
"Back in the theater, I wanted to say this: no one is obligated to help anyone. Don't always take others' kindness as your entitlement, their politeness as your luck, and don't treat their good deeds as a given."
"When beta testers help ordinary players, it's a favor; remember it. If they don't help, it's their prerogative; don't harbor resentment."
"No matter what, when someone helps you, you should be grateful. If you're not grateful, it's okay, but don't repay kindness with enmity."
"And you, Ya Wang, in my eyes, you're not even human, a heartless wretch. Compared to me, a red-named player, you are the true scum of society."
After saying this, Ling Feng turned and walked out of the boss room without looking back.
The others watched Ling Feng's retreating back, their minds silently pondering his parting words. They couldn't help but nod in agreement.
Their gazes towards Ya Wang now carried a hint of disgust.
...
After leaving the boss room, Ling Feng didn't linger. He returned to the inn as quickly as possible.
At the inn, Sagiri's eyes were filled with worry. It was already noon, and Ling Feng hadn't returned. Had something happened?
Sagiri hopped onto the bed and suddenly felt something press under her. She lifted the covers and looked.
It was a letter.
[Sagiri, please forgive me for leaving without a word. If I don't return from this boss讨伐, you must take care of yourself.
Don't go out into the wilds alone. It's best to join a guild.
You like to draw, right? I've marked the places where you can collect materials. You can ask someone to gather them for you.
Finally, you must persevere until this death game ends. In at most three years, this game will be cleared.
Don't be sad for me. I haven't died, but have gone to another world.
—Ling Feng]
Sagiri immediately covered her mouth, her eyes welling up with tears. A tear dripped onto the paper, soaking it.
This was Ling Feng's suicide note.
Sagiri sobbed, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. She recalled her experiences with Ling Feng over the past month.
When faced with danger, although Ling Feng told her to learn to face it alone, he always acted decisively.
When she wanted to draw, although Ling Feng said leveling was more important and asked if drawing was more important than survival, he later gathered a full set of drawing tools for her.
Although they spent the days leveling up in the wilds, Sagiri felt truly happy. They would joke and play, unburdened by the threat of death.
Sagiri jumped off the bed, picked up her sword, and rushed to the door, intending to find Ling Feng in the labyrinth.
"If I'm going to die, I'll die with you. If it weren't for you, I would have died a month ago."
"Creak—"
The door opened, and a person dressed in blue and white walked in.
Seeing the newcomer, Sagiri was overjoyed, dropped her weapon, and leaped forward, embracing the person tightly.
Ling Feng, seeing Sagiri bury her head in his chest and cry inconsolably, asked in confusion,
"Sagiri, what's wrong? Did someone bully you? Who was it? Don't worry, I'll teach them a lesson."
"It was a big jerk."
After some time, Ling Feng finally managed to comfort Sagiri. Upon learning what had happened, he sheepishly scratched his head.
He had left that letter as a precaution. If the first-floor boss battle had differed from the original story and he had died there, at least his affairs would have been in order.
And if he had returned alive, he could have used it for the next boss.
However, who would have thought the boss was so pathetically weak.
"Alright, stop crying. I'm perfectly fine, aren't I? Get down, my back is about to break."
Ling Feng wiped the tears from Sagiri's eyes and smiled.
"No, you have to promise me, you'll take me with you when you fight bosses from now on."
"This..." Ling Feng hesitated.
"If not, I'll never get down. I'll go wherever you go."
Sagiri held onto Ling Feng tightly and said.
"Alright, alright, I promise. Get down quickly."
Ling Feng nodded repeatedly.
"No, promise me one more thing."
"What is it?"
"Promise me we'll escape this death game alive, together."
"Isn't that obvious?"
"No, pinky swear."
"Are you a child? So childish?"
"I'm only twelve years old. Am I as old as you?"
"Fine, fine, I give in. Pinky swear." Ling Feng said with a helpless smile.
After they pinky-swore, Sagiri hugged Ling Feng again.
Ling Feng sighed, his voice filled with helplessness,
"What now?"
"Promise me one more thing: help me find drawing materials. I want to draw."
Sagiri stopped crying and said with a grin.
"Sure. Wait, no, you little trickster, you're manipulating me."
Ling Feng nodded repeatedly, then realized something was amiss after a while. He pointed at the escaping Sagiri and playfully scolded,
"You're pushing your luck! Three days without a beating and you'll climb the roof. Do you know who's in charge of this party!"
Saying this, Ling Feng lunged towards Sagiri.
"Come and catch me! You can't! Are you angry?"
"Heh, you're provoking me. You wait, when I catch you, I'll show you who's boss."
The room instantly devolved into chaos, as if undergoing demolition.