Volume 1, Chapter 30: The Undead Assassin

"Lin Yu, what should we do now?"

Xiao Xiao glanced at the grim-faced Undead Assassin opposite them, her expression grave as she turned to Lin Yu. The difficulty of this Undead Assassin had clearly exceeded her expectations; passing this level now seemed highly unlikely. The assassin’s attack power reached as high as seven hundred; one touch meant death, and even for Lin Yu, things would likely not be easy.

After all, when she and Lin Yu had killed the Raging Tree King that morning, the monster’s defense had only been around seven hundred. While the damage they took wouldn't be too severe, it would certainly not be as effortless as the previous floors. Most importantly, a boss’s health pool far exceeded that of players or ordinary monsters. Even with their combined efforts, they would need to strike it over a hundred times. Yet, the Undead Assassin could kill her in a single blow, and even Lin Yu would struggle to withstand many hits.

That was assuming the monster didn't dodge, which was obviously impossible. As an assassin herself, she knew full well that speed and concealment were an assassin's greatest strengths. Therefore, in her eyes, there was simply no chance of winning this battle.

"Step back for a moment, let me try."

Lin Yu’s tone remained remarkably calm; his mindset was not affected by the difficulty of the Undead Assassin. After all, his own defense had already surpassed one thousand. Even with an attack power of over seven hundred, the assassin would deal at most twenty damage per hit to him, and even a critical hit would not exceed fifty. As long as he was cautious, he was not without options. He currently had nearly seventeen hundred health points; even if the Undead Assassin landed critical hits every time, it would still take over thirty strikes to bring him down.

With a plan in mind, he lunged forward, wielding his Sword of Light as he slashed toward the Undead Assassin. But just as Lin Yu reached the creature, it moved with incredible speed, pulling away from its original position and causing Lin Yu to strike empty air.

"As expected of an assassin!"

Lin Yu was clearly shocked by this; the Undead Assassin’s reaction speed was much faster than he had anticipated. However, the moment he expressed surprise, the assassin had already darted behind him. The next instant, a dagger plunged directly toward his back.

"-19!"

Fortunately, Lin Yu’s defense was high enough that he took minimal damage.

"?"

Seeing that its attack failed to break through his defenses, the Undead Assassin paused, looking stunned. It had an attack power of seven hundred and twenty—how could it fail to pierce Lin Yu’s armor? Not only the Undead Assassin, but Xiao Xiao, standing to the side, was also left wide-eyed and speechless.

Lin Yu’s ability to take almost no damage from the Undead Assassin’s strike meant his defense had likely surpassed one thousand. Yet, only this morning, his defense had been just over six hundred. It had been such a short time, yet it had increased by four hundred—wasn't that growth rate too fast?

Looking at Lin Yu now, her eyes were filled with growing excitement. It seemed offending the Wang family today hadn't been such a bad trade-off after all.

Lin Yu was unaware of her thoughts. Seeing the assassin’s moment of hesitation, he did not let the opportunity slip. He countered with his Sword of Light, thrusting it straight toward the creature's chest.

"-452!"

The Undead Assassin lived up to its name; sensing it had been wounded, it immediately pulled away, causing Lin Yu’s follow-up attacks to hit nothing but air.

"What a slippery little eel!"

Lin Yu frowned as his attack missed again. This Undead Assassin was indeed troublesome—not only was it incredibly fast, but it was also quite cunning. Even so, this was not enough to make Lin Yu back down. An assassin's strength lay in speed and stealth, and as a warrior, it was impossible for him to keep up. But he shouldn't forget that an assassin’s natural enemies were warriors and knights. Assassins relied on one-hit kills, whereas warriors and knights were thick-skinned, which provided a certain advantage.

Furthermore, Lin Yu’s pride was his defense. As long as he kept his cool, dealing with this shouldn't be too difficult. With his defense over a thousand, and provided the assassin didn't trigger critical hits, it would take nearly a hundred attacks to kill him. And with his own attacks and the damage reflection, he only needed to land about a hundred hits to finish the monster off. Besides, he had Xiao Xiao with him; he wasn't without a chance.

Having decided, Lin Yu steadied his heart. A second later, he activated his damage reflection. If he couldn't easily touch the opponent, he would prioritize defense over offense and reflect the creature to death.

However, the result was somewhat disappointing. In the next few minutes, after the Undead Assassin tried attacking a few times and realized it wasn't dealing much damage while taking over two hundred in reflected damage, it simply chose not to attack proactively. It knew that it could dodge his skills with ease, and since his basic attacks did nothing to Lin Yu, there was no need to engage.

"What a smart guy!"

Lin Yu stared at the Undead Assassin in the distance, feeling speechless. Was this really a monster? It was too cunning. Previous monsters hadn't possessed this level of intelligence.

"Lin Yu, it seems to have realized your defense is high and doesn't intend to attack anymore. What should we do?"

Xiao Xiao darted to Lin Yu’s side, her expression looking quite grim. If things continued like this, they would likely fail due to insufficient online time. Lin Yu’s face darkened slightly; failing under these circumstances would be too frustrating.

After a moment of silence, he looked up at Xiao Xiao, his expression serious. "Senior Xiao, I do have a plan, but I might need your cooperation."

The method Lin Yu mentioned was "Taunt." Given the current situation, he had to use his Taunt skill; only then would they have a chance to win. After all, there was too large a gap between their levels and the Undead Assassin’s, and their speed couldn't keep up. Even though Lin Yu had great footwork, his lack of raw speed made hitting the target a major hurdle. Xiao Xiao could barely manage with her teleportation, but he certainly couldn't.

With his current stats, if he traded blows with the Undead Assassin, he would only manage to drag the opponent down to low health before he himself collapsed. To defeat it, he had to involve Xiao Xiao. With their combined attack power, they could deal nearly nine hundred damage in a single volley. Coupled with the reflection from his absolute defense, if he was lucky and the Undead Assassin didn't trigger too many critical hits, they could grind it down through attrition. After all, this Undead Assassin, while having absurdly high attack and speed, lacked a "Berserk" skill, which meant there were no unpredictable factors. If it had a Berserk skill, he might as well just give up.

"What is the plan?"

Hearing this, Xiao Xiao grabbed onto the hope like a drowning person clutching a straw, a glimmer of light appearing in her eyes.

"I have a skill that can taunt an opponent into attacking only me, but it only lasts for three minutes. If we want to clear the level, we must end the fight within those three minutes."

Lin Yu explained. To clear the level, he had no choice but to reveal his trump card.

"What? A three-minute taunt?"

Hearing Lin Yu’s words, Xiao Xiao was stunned into silence, her gaze toward him becoming increasingly strange. A three-minute taunt—wasn't this the natural enemy of all squishy classes? She finally understood why the Raging Tree King hadn't attacked her earlier and had turned to target Lin Yu instead. If she wasn't mistaken, it must have been this very skill.

Though excited, she quickly regained her composure and said earnestly, "As long as you can pin the Undead Assassin down, I can attack from the flanks."

"In that case, let’s begin. When I use the skill to taunt it, you support me from the side. You must be fast!" Lin Yu urged. After all, he couldn't hold out for long.

As his voice faded, the two did not hesitate. After a brief glance at each other, Xiao Xiao’s figure vanished instantly, hidden within the shadows. Lin Yu’s expression gradually grew solemn.