[So, from here on we all need to take separate roads. We need to clear three roadblocks and then meet up in the central room. Do you think you can do this on your own, kid?]
The mage and leader of Terry's guild asked. He seemed to be looking down on Olivier a lot.
[Hey boss Xiao, why are you doing all this? I thought you agreed to give this kid a chance?]
Terry asked once more. His question must have agitated his boss because the text message that was typed in the group chat was written in all cps.
[TERRY, STOP COMPLAINING. THIS IS A TEST!]
Olivier looked at the dungeon and it was glaring lvl 50. It was 10 levels above his avatar, but there was nothing complex about this dungeon. Technically, it could be cleared by under-level players.
There were a lot of walk-thoughts for it as well.
So, while the two in front of Olivier fought, he looked through his feed and watched the wall-though on double speed.
The more he watched, the more he was sure he would be able to solo clear it with his shooter. The monsters were easy to deal with if you know their weaknesses.
[Hey Olivier, I know I promised you a chance but you should not fall victim to his scam. There is no need for you to go through this dungeon all alone. You are still under-leveled and…]
[I do not mind. This dungeon does not look so complicated and I am sure I can handle it. Though, I might require a little more time than both of you due to my current level.]
Olivier's words caused Terry to fall silent.
The elder teen had tried very hard to save Olivier from feeling alone and ganged up on. But if the younger said it was alright, then he did not need to care that much.
[Oh, you seem confident in your answer. Then, show me your skill. Show us what you can do and why I should let you into my guild.]
The mage ordered and quickly took one of the easier routes in the dungeon.
Both Olivier and Terry watched him go with minute shock.
[I am sorry Olivier. Boss Xiao means well, but there are a lot of frauds who want to join our guild so he is a little critical at times. How about I help you out once I am done on my side?]
Terry seemed genuine in his offer but Olivier wanted to prove himself. And this dungeon was a good test to see if he still had what it took to play this game or not.
[Nah, I will be fine. This is a test and your boss will not be happy if I do not solo my zone.]
Olivier's easygoingness Terry down. It also pushed down his feeling of guilt and other things he was feeling.
[Alright, if you say so. Then, have fun and back down if it gets too much.]
Terry left to travel the most difficult road of this dungeon. But since he was above lvl 100, it would be quite easy for him to clear.
Olivier quickly took his route as well and opened the gate.
Once he was inside, he would either be able to clear the dungeon's path or end up dead and outside the dungeon.
"Hmm, let us see. The guide said that the first wave of mobs in here was the undead. If I hit their foreheads, I will be able to kill them despite the level difference."
The undead began to pour out in waves and Olivier quickly began to clear them up. He needed to kill a hundred to advance through the first gate.
[10/100]
Olivier's screen pointed toward his current score and he was surprised to see that he had already gotten through so many mobs.
At this rate, he would be finished far sooner than he had expected.
It was a mindless routine for Olivier to utilize a wall start to clip into the wall and shoot from the hidden location. The mobs were falling one after another and new ones spawned to take the place of already fallen ones.
Olivier was not cheating; he was just being creative with his approach. Soon he was able to clear out the first chamber and now it was time to face the second.
This was the chamber that would give Olivier the most trouble since it was a single-battle boss fight.
The boss had a 50% resistance to any attack Olivier would be able to dish out at it if it had its shield up.
The fastest way to solo this chamber was to take tons of potions and buffers to overwrite the resistance. But Olivier was not going to go down that route.
It was a waste of resources and not healthy in the long run.
Instead, he was going to utilize the well-tried and well-loved strategy of shooting from afar.
If Olivier could maintain his range from the boss, none of that boss's attacks would be able to hit him.
The only problem was - his latency issue and the lag. That could majorly screw him up.
"One time. Please do not fail me this one time."
Olivier prayed as he went into the battle. The boss was triggered and it locked its target at Olivier's back.
The first few attacks were easy to dodge but the shield this boss had prevented from damaging the boss any further.
But the good news was, every attack this boss made caused his shield to be depleted. There would be a 30-second dps window where Olivier would be able to dish out a lot of damage.
"Here it comes. And, roll to the right."
Olivier was surprised to see that he still remembered which direction he needed to dodge in and which attacks had which effect.
He was also lucky that this was one of the old dungeons he had soloed the heck out of at one point. It had been a good place to train his hand speed.
"Here it comes. It will be a downward thrust next."
The boss jumped and the landing could cause an impact on the area surrounding the boss.
But the shield would also fall apart completely, starting the dps window for Olivier.
"That is not a concern for me right now. I am a shooter and my range is bigger than the boss's impact range."
Olivier ran out of the circle and watched the boss fall apart on the ground. The boss stopped moving and shook his head in confusion.
It was time to unleash all the skills Olivier had been saving.
By the time his skill points hit zero, the boss was left with 40% of his health. But as Olivier had expected, the 30s window was not enough and now would come the tough part of this fight - the enraged mode.
[Warning: The boss is entering enraged mode. All attacks will gain a +150% ATK boost and +5 speed]
Olivier gritted his teeth as he readied himself for this fight. His game was beginning to lag and Olivier would have to trust these guts from here on.
The boss locked eyes with Olivier and let out a threatening roar. Olivier flinched as soon as he heard that road and quickly readied his weapon.
Since the shield was back up, Olivier would not be able to hurt the boss a lot.
"Oh shit. This is faster than I expected."
The boss was fast in his first counter-attack. Olivier was barely not able to make it out of the boss's attack range. But he was far enough to not take the full impact.
Olivier gritted his teeth as his health fell below 50%. The boss's counter-attack was a one-shot kill for sure.
"This would not have happened if I was level 50 or above. That 30-second DPS window would have been enough to kill this stupid thing.'
Olivier complained as he got ready to receive more attacks.
He could not afford to take another heavy hit. So, it was dodge and survive from here on.
The boss made quick attacks in Olivier's direction but he was able to make his avatar dodge them.
"Thank God for I-frames in games. They are saving me a lot."
Olivier was using his game knowledge to dodge the attack's damage. His meter was still falling but at a very slow pace.
At this rate, Olivier would be able to kill this boss alone….
And then the boss jumped, trying to do his biggest attack. Olivier knew he would not be able to get out of the range in time.
Was this the end of his run? His meager 35% HP would not be able to survive that direct hit from the boss.
"Well, looks like I will have to try that technique I saw in the video. I think I will be able to pull it off if I play my character fast enough. So, internet, please do not fail me this one time and eat up my commands."