Chapter Ninety-Two: The Champion’s Aria

The Twin-Hound’s Kiss was a universal set, with one for each of the five weapon types. What Huang Yunshuo was looking at were the two-handed sword used by the largest number of players, and the bow used by archers.

The battered hand crossbow he had given Light Frost on the novice island had an attack of only four to five, and she was still using it to this day. Now that she had seen this bow, she probably would have no reason not to switch at last.

After all, though that little crossbow was light and could automatically replenish its bolts, its attack bonus was far too small, and it lacked the heavy bolt skill that could save a life in a critical moment.

With an attack of fifteen to eighteen, Light Frost’s damage would rise sharply once she equipped it.

The points she had earned in this instance should have been close to two thousand, at most around that number. The only question was whether her previous two runs had also reached two thousand. If they had, then she should be able to exchange for it now.

Clearly, these four-thousand-point items were prepared for the truly skilled players of the present.

It was not that mediocre players could not earn that many points; rather, once they equipped the Twin-Hound’s Kiss, their attack would generally rise to the thirties or forties, roughly equivalent to his own attack when he equipped the iron sword, which was already quite impressive.

[Point Item] Champion’s Aria, spear, green, level 15, bound

Attack: 30-35

Physical Penetration: +1

Leaping Strike: Suddenly leap upward and land at any point within five meters. The landing point deals trampling damage. Upon landing, Champion’s Aria thrusts three times in succession at all nearby targets, each strike dealing fifty percent of a normal attack’s damage, while crit rate increases by thirty percent. Cooldown: 600 seconds.

Exchange Price: 20,000 points

“Holy hell.”

Huang Yunshuo stared at Champion’s Aria, utterly dumbfounded, at a loss for words.

Too much attack.

Too absurd a bonus.

Too powerful a skill.

And the price was outrageous too.

Twenty thousand points—wasn’t that something Beauty Frost would need to run ten instances before she could afford?

He himself would need two more runs, and even then only if he earned no less than this time, before he could buy it.

Thirty to thirty-five attack was a brutal boost. His rocket launcher only added twenty-five to thirty, and even that came with a ten-point agility penalty.

This one not only didn’t reduce agility, it also added one point of physical penetration.

With physical penetration, attack bonus, and damage bonus all layered together, one point translated to ten percent. Add in the one point from the title “Chicken-Slayer Hero,” and after he got his hands on it, wouldn’t Huang Yunshuo be dealing one hundred and twenty percent of his original damage each time?

That would be enough to make him ecstatic to death.

Leaping Strike, with a ten-minute cooldown, was another displacement skill. In a critical moment, one explosive burst: a trampling hit for one instance of damage, then three thrusts for one and a half times damage total, and with a thirty percent increase in crit rate, one of those three strikes on average would crit. That amounted to double damage. It was a lethal move!

“All right, this is the one!”

He quickly glanced through the other types of equipment under Champion’s Aria, and the cooldowns were terrifying.

Huang Yunshuo felt that, at this stage, there probably wasn’t a single player who could outperform him in the instance. The control skills of his rocket launcher gave him too many points. Otherwise, even a top player with roughly his awareness and strength would be lucky to get five thousand points.

Of course, that was of no use whatsoever. With yesterday’s three runs, plus the three more available today, a top-tier player averaging over three thousand points per instance could already afford Champion’s Aria. On careful calculation, this weapon line had a high threshold, but not one so absurd as to be变态.

He looked at the other exchangeable items.

There were all kinds of things, a great many categories. What Huang Yunshuo paid the most attention to were recovery potions, buff scrolls, and various rare materials.

Mana recovery spray, twenty points, ten points each.

Mana recovery spray, fifty points, thirty points each.

Universal small life recovery scroll: heals within a ten-meter range for one hour, one thousand points.

Universal medium life recovery scroll: heals within a fifty-meter range for one hour, five thousand points.

There were also space-time scroll fragments, one hundred points each.

Ten fragments could be exchanged for one complete space-time scroll.

To begin teleporting to a designated town required one space-time scroll; the farthest towns needed ten scrolls. If all were purchased with points, the total would be ten thousand points, which was very expensive.

However, by fully participating in one instance and winning, one could obtain three scroll fragments. Over the course of a day, by spending another one hundred points to buy a fragment, one would have a space-time scroll. For ordinary players, that was nothing short of a blessing.

If one day was not enough, then two would do. If push came to shove, one could always exchange points for them. At last, they could go meet friends and family—would that not be wonderful?

In any case, for ordinary players, the ultimate goal was simply to exchange for the eight-hundred-point class weapon. If there were extra points, they could not afford better weapons anyway, so the most cost-effective choice was to buy scrolls.

The rare materials came in many varieties, and most importantly, they were unbound.

Of course, the prices of each and every one were absurdly high.

Huang Yunshuo immediately spotted several materials needed for his own booster that could not be found in the system shop at all, nor searched in the all-server general store.

Yet even the cheapest ones were over one hundred points apiece, and the most expensive ones went straight up to three thousand. It was simply murderous.

“Maybe this is Frosthawk Glacier’s way of making me enjoy outrageous stat bonuses while also burdening me with suffocating financial pressure.”

He clutched at his liver. He still had three instance attempts left today. One material worth three thousand points he could afford; two would be tight; three was impossible. In the end, this stuff would still have to be bought with credits. Huang Yunshuo heard the sound of his wallet collapsing inward, and it broke his heart.

After some thought, he bought ten fifty-point mana recovery sprays. His point balance was now 6,810. At last, he no longer had to fret over the mana cost of his skills, only over the fact that he did not have enough skills.

Combos, charged assault, and wandering dragon were far from enough, and charged assault would disappear after three days together with the title.

When he came back to his senses, the area around him was packed with players, jostling this way and that, yet none could budge Huang Yunshuo, whose strength was 107. He stood there like a stabilizing pillar, no matter how fierce the waves in the sea.

Not far away, Light Frost leaned in a corner, lost in thought. It was unclear whether she was browsing the forum or something similar; likely she was waiting for him.

Huang Yunshuo squeezed over and tapped her on the shoulder. “Wake up.”

Light Frost snapped back to attention. “Still want to go again?”

Huang Yunshuo was itching to equip Champion’s Aria, so of course he nodded.

Light Frost smiled. “I got two thousand points. Yesterday, for the first two runs, I went alone. I won one and lost one. Altogether I only got 2,200 points, but I’ve already exchanged for the Twin-Hound’s Kiss.”

A half-man-tall straight bow appeared in her hand, the bow body carrying a slight curve. It looked light and simple, yet its killing power was formidable.

“That crossbow depreciated way too badly. I doubt anyone would buy it except maybe someone from the novice island.”

Huang Yunshuo said with some regret.

“This was the first real weapon I ever got. Why would I sell it? Of course I’m keeping it as a collection piece.”

Light Frost said, showing no intention of parting with it at all.

“All right... Do you know any strong friends? I can look for people too. It’s easier if we run as a five-man party.”

Huang Yunshuo said. Queueing with just him and Light Frost was rather exhausting. If a few more people could help carry, the fight would end much faster.

“Sure, I’ll bring one.”

Light Frost nodded.