Chapter 11: Crushing Defeat, Triggering the Announcement!

[System Notification: Killed Level 8 Enhanced Elite "Mist Tree Python Guard," gained 50% level-gap bonus, EXP +180.]
[System Notification: Killed Level 8 Enhanced Elite "Mist Tree Python Guard," gained 50% level-gap bonus, EXP +180.]

Two system prompts rang out, but Su Mubai ignored them entirely.
With a wave of his magic wand, a streak of ghostly blue flame shot forth, instantly striking the head of the Mist Tree Python King and signaling the start of the onslaught.

-288

Faced with 24 skeletons, the Mist Tree Python King’s pupils flickered with a spectral light as it hissed a warning.
However, it was useless. The skeleton legion only followed Su Mubai's commands, raining various weapons down upon the boss.

"Hiss!"

The Mist Tree Python King, feeling the pain, opened its blood-stained maw and swallowed one of the skeletons whole. At the same time, its massive body coiled around another.
Yet, such attacks were far from fatal against skeletons with a massive 5,830 HP.
The remaining skeletons did not falter for a moment; each round of attacks shaved nearly ten thousand HP off the Python King!
What made it even more desperate was the sight of that human in the distance, who simply flickered his wand to summon two more skeletons!
As the gatekeeper boss of a Hell-difficulty five-man dungeon, the Mist Tree Python King had never dreamed that it would one day be mobbed by over twenty skeletons.

Rumble...

Seeing its HP plummet like a waterfall, the Mist Tree Python King unleashed its ultimate move.
It raised its tail high and slammed it against the ground with blinding frequency.
The next moment, a shockwave swept through the area. Su Mubai felt the earth tremble and shake, rendering him unable to cast any skills.
Simultaneously, the Python King spat out a ball of green energy, aimed directly at Su Mubai!
As a Silver-rank boss, its intelligence was clearly not low; it knew these skeletons were controlled by this human. Kill him, and the crisis would be resolved.
As the venom was about to strike, a flash of cunning crossed the Python King's eyes.
Foolish human, once poisoned, it is your end!

However, the result left the Mist Tree Python King stunned.
The venom did hit Su Mubai, but he stood as if nothing had happened.

-938, -196, -196...

A series of damage numbers floated above Su Mubai's head, accompanied by a 30-second poison effect.
Such damage would indeed be fatal to a Level 5 player.
But to Su Mubai, it was not worth mentioning.
He had now summoned a total of 24 skeletons, and with shared life, his HP cap approached 280,000!

Even if he stood here and let the Python hit him, he wouldn't feel any pressure.
A Level 5 player with more than double the HP of a Level 8 Silver-rank boss—who could argue with that?

Before the tremors ceased, the Mist Tree Python King had been hacked to death by the score of skeletons.
The swallowing skill it had used earlier hadn't even finished; the consumed skeleton crawled out of the snake's mouth, and the boss's HP bar had dropped less than one-fifth of the way.

[System Notification: Killed Level 8 Silver-rank Boss "Mist Tree Python King," gained 50% EXP bonus, EXP +14,400.]

The boss provided generous experience, pushing Su Mubai’s recently leveled bar instantly to 73%!
After reaching Level 5, the EXP required for leveling skyrocketed to twenty thousand.
This level was likely a minor watershed, where players would begin to pull away from one another.
But to Su Mubai, leveling still felt easy, as his summoning capacity for skeletons had increased fivefold!

The system prompts did not end there.

[Congratulations on being the first player in Novice Village 9527 to solo a boss. Reward: Primary Life Soul Stone x1, Gold Coin x1.]
[Congratulations on being the first player in Novice Village 9527 to solo a Silver-rank boss. Reward: Primary Life Soul Stone x5, Gold Coin x5.]
[Hint: A Novice Village announcement is about to be broadcast. Do you wish to hide your name?]

"No!"
Su Mubai raised an eyebrow and made his choice.
The next moment, the mysterious voice that had announced the selection of Blue Star echoed throughout Novice Village 9527.

[Novice Village 9527 Announcement: Congratulations to "White Night" for becoming the first player to solo a boss. This is a special announcement; we hope other players will learn from them to obtain generous rewards!] x3
[Novice Village 9527 Announcement: Congratulations to "White Night" for becoming the first player to solo a Silver-rank boss. This is a special announcement; we hope other players will learn from them to obtain generous rewards!] x3

Six consecutive system announcements thoroughly ignited the players in Novice Village 9527.
The village's chat channel instantly erupted.

"Solo a boss? And a Silver-rank one at that! Are you kidding me?"
Faced with this sudden announcement, countless people were tongue-tied, unable to believe someone could accomplish such a feat.

"Is the gap between people really that large?"
Watching the wandering chickens and red-eyed rabbits before them, many players stood dazed, only to soon fall as corpses. Being killed by a chicken was a mental humiliation; being killed by a rabbit was a double blow to both body and spirit.

"Does anyone know this 'White Night'? I really want to know what kind of monstrous talent they awakened."
"At least S-rank, maybe even SS-rank! Otherwise, it would be impossible to solo a Silver-rank boss so quickly."
"The Myriad Worlds game is so unbalanced. I struggle to even kill a minor mob, and someone is already soloing bosses. By what right?"
"Fairness? Where is there absolute fairness? Just accept your fate."
"Heh, I was a wage slave before crossing over, didn't expect to be cannon fodder after crossing over too."

...

Countless messages flooded the screen, filled with shock at the news.
Many powerful teams had already begun looking for ways to find Su Mubai, hoping to recruit him.
Others took this opportunity to start recruiting in the chat channel.

In the Level 4 monster zone, a small team was clearing mobs with clean, efficient movements. Their strength was clearly a notch above the average player.

"So, you have to solo a boss to trigger an announcement? If I’d known, I would have let Maple Leaf solo that Black Iron-rank boss earlier."
In the center of the team, a portly middle-aged man complained.

"Who would have known? But there will definitely be more opportunities."
Maple Leaf Xiaoxiao stabbed out with a spear, instantly killing the wild monster in front of him. The damage numbers exceeding four hundred were enough to show he had awakened an extraordinary talent.
Picking up the dropped copper coins, Maple Leaf Xiaoxiao handed them to the portly man, his expression solemn.
"This White Night is stronger than me. I'm no match for a Silver-rank boss yet."

"You mean his talent is SS-rank?"
Rich Around the World took the coins, his eyes filled with shock. Maple Leaf Xiaoxiao had awakened an S-rank talent, yet White Night was even stronger than him!

"Very likely." Maple Leaf nodded. "And it must be a combat-type SS-rank talent!"
"Uncle, do you think this White Night would agree to join us?" another teammate stepped forward and asked the portly man.
It seemed the leader of this team wasn't the S-rank talent, Maple Leaf, but the unassuming man known as Rich Around the World.

"I'll try sending an invitation."
Rich Around the World nodded slightly, not making any promises. But from his expression, it was clear he was quite confident.