"What? You want to solo a raid? I think you've lost your mind, man!"
After hearing Jiang Yuan's words, his best friend Ding Ye looked utterly incredulous, staring at him as if he were an idiot.
"What? Don't you believe in my skills?"
Jiang Yuan crossed his arms, glanced at his friend, and smiled faintly.
"I don't know where you get your confidence. Let me tell you, this raid only allows one entry per week. If you don't clear it, the cooldown kicks in, and you can't re-enter until the next week."
Seeing that Jiang Yuan wasn't fully aware of the raid's mechanics, Ding Ye quickly added.
"Only once a week? Then I need to take this seriously."
Hearing Ding Ye's explanation, Jiang Yuan realized the importance of this large raid and nodded thoughtfully.
"Exactly! I'll contact the guild leader right now!"
As Jiang Yuan spoke, Ding Ye nodded in agreement, opened his friend list, and prepared to message Cang Shu Bu Ding, the leader of the Genesis Guild.
"Who said anything about contacting her? I meant I need to prepare properly to ensure I solo it without any hiccups."
Jiang Yuan's words made his friend freeze mid-action, his face shifting back to disappointment.
"Dammit, I think you've really lost it! Throwing away such a precious opportunity like that. I'm not going crazy with you. I'm going to find the guild leader and join their first run."
Seeing Jiang Yuan's stubbornness beyond redemption, Ding Ye felt a mix of frustration and pity. He stomped his foot, shook his head, and chose to leave.
Watching Ding Ye walk away, Jiang Yuan wasn't angry. After all, this large raid could only be entered once a week, and Ding Ye was just playing it safe to secure the generous rewards.
"Meow Meow, let's go!"
Jiang Yuan looked down at the silver-white Persian cat, temporarily naming it "Meow Meow," and said to it.
"Meow!"
The silver-white Persian cat didn't seem to mind the name Jiang Yuan had given it. It let out a meow, strutted with a swaying gait, and followed behind Jiang Yuan.
Jiang Yuan's destination was the auction house in Peace City. On the way there, he opened his backpack and opened all five random epic equipment boxes he'd received as the number one on the level leaderboard.
"Ding! Congratulations! You've drawn epic equipment: Moonlight Rosary!" "Ding! Congratulations! You've drawn epic equipment: Shipbreaker's Bow!" "Ding! Congratulations! You've drawn epic equipment: Ancient Archmage Earring!" "Ding! Congratulations! You've drawn epic equipment: Barbarian Warrior Armor!" "Ding! Congratulations! You've drawn epic equipment: Sage's Wand!"
Five notification sounds rang out in succession, and five epic pieces of equipment appeared in Jiang Yuan's backpack slots. He quickly checked them and found that aside from the level 65 "Ancient Archmage Earring" and level 70 "Sage's Wand," which suited his class, the other three epic items were meant for priests, archers, and warriors.
Setting aside the unusable items, Jiang Yuan focused on the other two epic pieces.
[Epic Equipment: Ancient Archmage Earring (Binds on use, cannot be discarded, can be decomposed into epic fragments)] Equip Level: 65 Class Requirement: Mage/Summoner HP +1500 MP +1500 All Stats +35 All Elemental Enhancement +20
[Epic Equipment: Sage's Wand (Binds on use, cannot be discarded, can be decomposed into epic fragments)] Equip Level: 70 Class Requirement: Summoner Magic Attack +1500 Intelligence +55 Spirit +35 Magic Crit Rate +10% Magic Crit Damage +20% Special Effect: [Sage's Blessing]: After entering a dungeon, gain an additional 100 Intelligence and 10% Magic Attack.
These two epic pieces were far superior in stats to the level 30 gear Jiang Yuan was currently wearing, so he quickly equipped them, replacing his old items.
Arriving at the auction house, Jiang Yuan spent over 3 million in-game currency to buy a level 80 mythic item and several level 85 purple rare pieces, raising his overall equipment level to an average of around 80.
After this major gear overhaul, Jiang Yuan opened his character panel to check his stats and nodded with satisfaction.
[Character Name]: Jiang Yuan [Character Class]: Nine-Soul Summoner [Character Level]: 85 [HP]: 48,500 [MP]: 42,300 [Magic Attack]: 4600-5200 [Physical Defense]: 4900 [Magic Defense]: 5150 [Strength]: 204 (Affects physical attack and physical defense) [Intelligence]: 345 (Affects magic attack and magic defense) [Constitution]: 291 (Affects HP and HP recovery speed) [Spirit]: 329 (Affects MP and MP recovery speed) [Agility]: 200 (Affects physical and magic crit rate) [Toughness]: 170 (Reduces physical and magic damage taken) [Elemental Enhancement]: Fire +60, Ice +70, Light +50, Dark +50 [Elemental Resistance]: Fire +45, Ice +45, Light +45, Dark +45 [Equipped Gear]: Sage's Wand, Feather Beast Forest Shoulder, Frost Wind Snow Shadow Robe, Sad Caesar's Trousers, Empire Linen Boots, Ancient Archmage Earring, Super Energy Demon Stone Ring, Netherstone Necklace [Learned Skills]: Summon Beast Frenzy, Summon Wild Boar, Arcane Mark, Summon Beast Follow, Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Ice Arrow, Soul Sacrifice, Nine-Soul Summon Prairie Wolf, Nine-Soul Summon Mang Mountain Bear, Nine-Soul Summon Thunder Swamp Bull
"Not bad! It's like a complete transformation!"
Looking at his stats after the full gear upgrade, Jiang Yuan was now fully confident he could clear the large raid!
"Let's go!"
In high spirits, Jiang Yuan waved his hand, and Meow Meow leaped onto his shoulder. The pair headed toward the NPC responsible for initiating the large raid.
After walking for less than ten minutes, Jiang Yuan spotted over a hundred players crowded around the raid-starting NPC. The public chat channel was rapidly scrolling with various team recruitment messages.
"40-man raid looking for 65+ players!" "Level 60 hidden class Ruin Archer seeking 40-man raid group!" "40-man raid needs strong DPS, 10K+ attack required. MMMM if you qualify!" ...
"Look, the number one on the level leaderboard is here!"
Someone in the crowd spotted Jiang Yuan and called out, and soon a stream of team invitations appeared above his head!
Rejecting all the invitations, Jiang Yuan pushed through the crowd to reach the NPC and said, "I want to enter the dungeon."
The NPC named "Ye Qiguang" glanced at Jiang Yuan and shook his head. "Honorable warrior, entering the dungeon 'Lost Land' requires a team. Please find a suitable group first!"
"What a hassle, having to form a team."
Jiang Yuan's hope of entering the raid solo was dashed. In the game "Myriad Realms," at least two players were needed to form a basic team.
"I'll bring a healer to improve the margin for error."
Making up his mind, Jiang Yuan started searching the public chat for a priest-class player.
"Level 60 priest seeking 40-man raid group!"
After staring at the dizzying chat box for a while, a recruitment message caught his eye. A player with the ID "Learn Medicine Heal Stick" was a hidden-class priest looking for a group.
"She's the one!"
Jiang Yuan immediately sent a team invitation, and the other player quickly accepted.
"Thanks, big shot!"
Once in the team, the female player named "Learn Medicine Heal Stick" saw Jiang Yuan's level and typed a few words in the team chat.
After successfully forming the team, Jiang Yuan quickly spotted the female player in the crowd and got her info.
[Character Name]: Learn Medicine Heal Stick [Character Class]: Holy Healer [Character Level]: 60 ...
Converting the team into a raid group, Jiang Yuan approached NPC "Ye Qiguang" again and requested entry into the dungeon.
"Team formed successfully! Entry to the dungeon granted. Countdown begins: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6..."
As the NPC's countdown ended, Jiang Yuan's figure gradually blurred. When he reappeared, he had stepped into the 40-man dungeon "Lost Land."
"Uh... big shot, is it just the two of us?"
The healer, who had been teleported in as well, looked at the raid icon, then turned to Jiang Yuan, asking uncertainly.
"Meow~~ Meow!"
Just as Jiang Yuan was about to speak, two meows came from his shoulder. The silver-white Persian cat "Meow Meow" called out to the female healer, as if saying, "And me! And me!"
"Huh? Meow Meow, how did you get teleported in too?"
Jiang Yuan turned his head to look at the Persian cat perched on his shoulder, speaking in surprise.
"Meow!"
Meow Meow raised its tiny head high, letting out a proud meow, as if saying, "I'm awesome, right?"
"Ding! You have entered the dungeon 'Lost Land.' A story quest has been triggered. Please reach the teleportation array's location as soon as possible."
A notification sounded, and both Jiang Yuan and "Learn Medicine Heal Stick" received the system-assigned story quest.
Jiang Yuan then began to observe his surroundings. He found himself in what seemed like a city abandoned for countless years, with ruins everywhere, making it impossible to tell north from south.
"Where's the teleportation array?"
The healer player "Learn Medicine Heal Stick" looked at Jiang Yuan with a blank expression after receiving the quest, unsure of what to do.
"No idea. Let's wander around first."
Jiang Yuan glanced at the mini-map, which didn't mark the teleportation array's location. He pointed randomly at a path, said to the healer, and took the lead.
"Hiss! Hiss!"
Just a few meters in, a group of snake monsters, several meters long and over a meter thick, blocked their path, their long tongues flicking out.