Chapter 185
The fourth floor of the School of Arts.
"Ring ring..." The bell for the end of get out of class was gradually ringing. Professor Liu on the podium put the textbook back into his cloth bag, looked up and said to the students below.
"Class, that's all for today. We have another class the day after tomorrow. Please finish your group assignments before the next class."
"I'm an old man, and I know how to examine people." As soon as Professor Liu finished speaking, groans and wails erupted from below.
"Old Liu! You can't treat us like this!"
"Teacher, please let us go, we have other homework."
"The group assignment is due in two days?! I'm supposed to be on a date with my girlfriend tomorrow."
"Damn, Li Wen, when did you get a girlfriend?"
Why can't I have a girlfriend?
"Brother, I won't allow it!!!"
......
Professor Liu listened to the students' "opinions" but still didn't budge: "Students, you are already juniors, you can't act like children anymore."
After saying this, Professor Liu, carrying a clean canvas bag, was about to head to the next classroom when he saw a seemingly well-behaved figure at the door.
"Hello, Professor."
"A girl from the finance department, looking for a boyfriend again?" Professor Liu often saw Ying Ning greet him, so he remembered her.
"Well, Professor, did Duan Shen listen attentively in class today?" She had a distinctly Eastern face, and as she nodded, a slight smile played on her lips, a junior's respect for an elder.
"That kid Duan Shen..." Professor Liu thought of Duan Shen's performance in class today and was about to say something.
Suddenly, a large hand reached out from behind the girl, and then he leaned weakly against her shoulder. His long bangs covered his full forehead, and his phoenix eyes, reflected by his nearsighted glasses, were exceptionally deep.
Duan Shen leaned against Ying Ning, took off his glasses, and rubbed his sore eyes: "Old Liu, you don't have to talk bad about me in front of my girlfriend, do you?"
"You sleep in class, and I can't even tattle on you?" Professor Liu snorted, thinking of Duan Shen sleeping in his class today.
"I was helping Lao Sun with the reports yesterday, it was exhausting." Duan Shen had faint dark circles under his phoenix eyes, clearly indicating that he hadn't slept well last night.
Upon hearing about this matter, Professor Liu naturally knew that "Old Sun" mentioned by Duan Shen had been very busy these days, so he didn't say anything more about Duan Shen. He exchanged a few words with Ying Ning and then immediately picked up his canvas bag and hurried to the next classroom.
Only after Liu left the classroom did Yingning feel a relief on her shoulders.
The man straightened up, no longer yawning, and put his glasses back on. Without looking at Yingning, he said, "Didn't you say you didn't need to come today?"
“I didn’t have class this afternoon, so I just stopped by.” Yingning took out a warm cup of milk from her bag and handed it to Duan Shen: “Here, I just bought it at the supermarket.”
Duan Shen took it but didn't drink it: "I have to work on group assignments and student council matters this afternoon."
"I can't be with you."
Even though the weariness in his phoenix eyes was unmistakable, his tone of voice was somewhat inexplicable, as if he was reluctant for his girlfriend to come to him.
"It's okay, I have other things to do this afternoon."
As soon as Yingning spoke, the man beside her glanced at her. Before Duan Shen could ask why, she took a few steps away.
I'm going ahead now.
Duan Shen was taken aback, feeling that she was acting strangely today. He glanced thoughtfully at the hot milk in his palm, but when he looked up again, her beautiful figure was already fading from his sight.
Then another boy walked up to him and asked, "Brother Duan, haven't you broken up with You Yingning yet?"
Not yet.
"But you've been ignoring her for over a week now, she should have realized it by now." The boy who spoke was Duan Shen's roommate, and he seemed to know some inside information.
"After all, You Yingning is considered the most beautiful girl in the Finance Department. Why would Brother Duan break up with her?" In fact, he never understood Duan Shen's thoughts, especially since You Yingning had always been very good to Duan Shen.
Upon hearing the boy's words, Duan Shen's lips tightened, as if he had thought of something. His eyes were somewhat indifferent, and he glanced at the figure that had already disappeared: "Perhaps even the most beautiful vase will fade if you look at it for too long."
"It can be quite boring, too."
*
"Hello, please sign for your package." Several deliverymen outside carried in a large cardboard box that was nearly two meters long. They moved very gently, as if they were worried about bumping the machine inside the box.
The deliverymen left the room immediately after placing the machine there.
Xia Yueyue was still a little worried after seeing the holographic game pod: "System, this game pod cost me a whole year's tuition and living expenses."
This money was prepared by his parents, who work in another city, for his expenses next year.
"Does it really work...?" This was the first time she had ever spent so much money.
Xia Yueyue's body had lost a lot of excess fat, and even her skin had become smoother. This was mainly thanks to the Cupid system's overall body shaping. After this change, she completely trusted the system within her body.
"According to our system's survey, the male players in this world of Fairnd are of extremely high quality."
"Xiaoyue, if you gain the favor of high-quality men, you will have more favor points."
"This system is all for your benefit," the Cupid system said. "As for money, Xiaoyue has won the favor of men, so why would she be afraid of not having money?"
"It's just a small investment."
"Xiaoyue, don't worry." The system kept brainwashing Xia Yueyue.
Hearing what the Cupid system said, Xia Yueyue felt much more at ease, since the money would definitely come back, and she wouldn't have to worry anymore.
*
Fairnd, as a mainstream competitive game, features seven classes: Assassin, Priest, Mage, Magic Lancer, Priest Wizard, Knight, and Swordsman.
Players operate the game through a holographic game pod. Each class has five default appearances. If players are not satisfied with the default appearance, they can recharge to create their own virtual avatar's appearance.
At this moment, in the lava valley.
A small team is slaughtering hordes of lava sprites to pass the "Lava Demon" level.
Qiao Jiao, wielding a knight in blue armor, used his shield to block the "fireball" spat out by the lava elf. He then took a moment to turn back and speak to the figures fighting behind him: "Brother, are you even listening to me?"
Qiao Jiao's voice was somewhat childlike, but he spoke in a startled tone: "Brother Ye, you've surrounded me again."
"You bunch of little flames who can only spit."
Then, an assassin appeared beside him in an instant, and with two skills, killed five or six Lava Spirits: "Qiao Jiao, stop talking nonsense."
The man's voice was deep, mellow, and quite magnetic.
Seeing that the crisis had passed, Qiao Jiao said with amusement, "I heard that Chen Chen's team has a girl with a really nice voice, and she's got two guys on the team smitten."
"You keep calling me 'little brother,' 'little brother,' when do you think our team will get a girl too?"
"I'm also called 'little brother' by others," Qiao Jiao said, her mind filled with daydreams.
If he gets called "little brother" by girls all the time while playing games, wouldn't that be a chance to show off his masculine charm?!
"Qiao Jiao, you can go directly to Chen Chen's team."
"I'll kick you out." The deep male voice rang out again, immediately startling Qiao Jiao.
"Brother, brother... I was just kidding."
"Don't kick me!" Qiao Jiao immediately lost all interest in bringing the girl along.
He'd rather have Yuanye play games with him than bring girls along.
After hearing Qiao Jiao's words, Yuan Ye didn't say anything more. Instead, he focused even more intently on controlling his character, annihilating the surrounding lava sprites without leaving a trace.
Finally, the lava demon appeared.
The scorching heat immediately enveloped the small group. Fairnd's main focus is on the realistic gaming experience, and when the lava demon appears, the temperature of the holographic game pod will immediately rise.
Yuan Ye explained the next tactic: "Qiao Jiao, you go and draw the boss's aggro first."
"Priest shaman, cast a freezing spell."
"Swordsman, go through your ultimate move first, then don't retreat. I'll follow you."
"When the Lava Demon launches its attack, Jojo activates his Great Shield."
"The magic gunner is using ranged attacks to reduce the boss's health."
"A swift and decisive victory!"
The deep male voice laid out the tactics methodically, Yuan Ye spoke at an extremely fast pace without wasting a single word, and the skills of the character he controlled were dazzling.
Assassins are distinguished by their agility and high lethality.
The weapon in his hand was a Seven Star Sword, a top-tier weapon that had been dropped by the boss Star Constellation Monster a few months ago. The Seven Star Sword had a 10% attack boost, and it was shining brightly in Yuanye's hands.
After several rounds of attacks, the Lava Demon had only 14% of its health remaining.
Jiao Qiao glanced at the Lava Demon's health bar: "Swordsman, hurry up and get in a couple of hits!"
"We must take down the Lava Demon today!" he said excitedly.
At that moment, a water spell ball that seemed to appear out of nowhere suddenly landed on the lava demon!
Qiao Jiao was surprised to find that the hatred on him had been drawn away. He turned around and saw a small team appearing not far away, and it was the team ID of someone he knew.
They rushed to the Lava Demon's side and immediately unleashed several skills.
"Chen Chen, you actually stole the boss?!" Qiao Jiao shouted.
"Sorry, we'll accept this Lava Demon for today." Chen Chen's voice didn't seem to indicate any embarrassment.
Everyone knows that the Lava Demon only spawns once a month, and the first kill was just last month. Killing the boss now will still put you in the top three in the rankings, allowing you to gain a large amount of experience.
Chen Chen actually tried to steal the boss when it was down to its last sliver of health?!
This is intolerable! This is intolerable!
Just as Qiao Jiao was about to use Knight's Charge to draw back the Lava Demon's hatred, he was immediately stopped by a mage, and he was getting anxious.
Apart from Yuanye, almost everyone on their team was a friend, and their skills were only average. There was also a stranger, a swordsman they had randomly picked up from the plaza.
Chen Chen is a well-known pay-to-win player, and the people he plays with are all wealthy second-generation heirs whose equipment far surpasses that of their team.
Today, it was only because I pestered Yuanye that he came with me to fight the map boss.
However, Qiao Jiao felt a little guilty if Chen Chen snatched the boss at this moment, so he immediately said, "Brother Ye, you hurry up and snatch the boss. My brothers and I will hold off some of the others for now."
"Our equipment is so-so... it's okay..."
Before Qiao Jiao could finish saying, "It doesn't matter if they expose me," he was struck by a Sky-Shattering Slash, and the aggro was drawn back to his own team!
"Brother, you're awesome!" Qiao Jiao shouted, drawing Yuan Ye's attention.
The burly man, carrying a massive sword blade, clashed violently with the lava demon's body. Then, taking advantage of everyone's inattention, he unleashed the swordsman's ultimate move—a flurry of swords!
Countless blade shadows swirled in mid-air like a hurricane, suddenly engulfing the lava demon's figure, and the boss's health continued to drop.
8%...
6%...
4%...
3%...
......
Qiao Jiao's heartbeat gradually grew louder, and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous, praying that the Lava Demon's health would quickly reach zero!
As the hurricane gradually dissipated, the demon's enormous figure was revealed once more, and everyone's gaze turned to the health bar above its head.
Health: 1%?
He's not dead?!
After being injured by the swordsman, the lava demon suddenly burst into flames from its arms, its previously empty eyes revealed a bloodthirsty look, its arms crossed and it gave a violent jolt from its head, followed by a long howl to the sky.
Towering lava rained down on everyone's heads, and everyone's health was dropping rapidly!
"grass."
"The boss has gone berserk?!"
"Priest, quickly create a protective barrier!!!"
"Priest, heal! Heal!!"
......
In Fairnd, the boss will deal 200% damage within ten seconds of going berserk. Furthermore, the Lava Demon itself is a boss that deals temperature damage from all sides, causing everyone's health to rapidly approach zero during this time.
"Brother Ye, what do we do?" Qiao Jiao's knight character has relatively high HP and is still alive, but the magic lancer in the team has already died.
Chen Chen's team on the other side has a female priest in their squad, and their overall health is higher than theirs. This kind of attrition-based strategy won't give them any advantage.
If this continues, they'll probably be wiped out before the Lava Demon's 10-second berserk phase ends.
It's obvious that the opposing team is aware of the situation. They were just fighting for aggro, but now they're holding back. It seems they really want to wait until Yuanye and Qiaojiao's health reaches zero before they try to take advantage of the situation.
We finally managed to defeat the boss, and now we're just going to hand it over?!
Yuan Ye was naturally unwilling, and his voice was unusually calm: "Priest, when the protective barrier is gone, let's unleash a powerful attack together."
"Swordsmen, how about you go first?" Yuan Ye turned to look at the burly man carrying the sword. Although Qiao Jiao had brought this man from who-knows-where, this man had somehow managed to draw back the aggro earlier, so he should be reliable.
At least for now, the Lava Demon's aggro is still on their team. Their only chance now is to kill the boss immediately before its health drops to zero!
There is still a chance.
"Okay, leave it to me." The burly man spoke, his voice surprisingly youthful, the last syllable of his tone like ripples on a lake.
Yuanye almost didn't react in time.
However, Qiao Jiao, who was standing nearby, suddenly uttered a startling remark:
"You're a...sissy?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
