“Brother Nie, you’ve got some amazing eyesight to find such a great spot!” Hui Ming exclaimed in admiration. His experience was much broader than Yu Lan and Bai Kaishui, as he often followed the leader of the Fox Gang into difficult-level dungeons. He had a good grasp of techniques for dealing with dungeon challenges.
“Tell me, what was his intention?” Yu Lan asked. Although she was the team leader, their team was only of average caliber. They weren’t particularly skilled at tackling dungeons, otherwise they wouldn’t have wiped out in the Treant Grove dungeon on easy difficulty.
“In dungeon runs, there’s a task where someone must find an appropriate position to attack one monster within a cluster, drawing one or two monsters away from the group so that the entire cluster can be defeated piece by piece. This task is usually handled by a rogue using a crossbow. I’m sure you all understand this. Those eighteen treants ahead are very close together; if one is disturbed, the others will follow. This is what makes it an expert-level dungeon, even the small sections are so difficult to handle. I just observed earlier that there was no suitable spot to attack from, until Brother Nie climbed up onto the tree branch, and suddenly everything became clear. That was the optimal position. Without exceptional eyesight, you’d never find it! If we had a rogue like that in our team, our survival chances in the dungeon would increase by at least 30%.” Hui Ming explained, clearly showing his admiration for Nie Yan.
Yu Lan remained silent. She had thought she was capable of leading a team well, but now she realized her confidence was somewhat naive.
When Yaoyao looked at Nie Yan, her eyes sparkled with admiration. Nie Yan’s status in her mind had risen; he was now the second person she admired most, after Yu Lan.
“However, even if you find the best position, drawing a few treants away from the group is a test of a rogue’s eyesight and agility. The slightest mistake could attract all the treants, potentially leading to a wipe. Even elite rogues would find it hard to perform flawlessly,” Hui Ming said nervously as he looked at Nie Yan.
Nie Yan stood between the tree branches, his dagger strapped to his waist. He took out his crossbow, resting it on his left arm, and looked through the sights at the moving treants ahead. Sweat beaded on his forehead. At this moment, Nie Yan was extremely tense; in his hands lay the lives of all nineteen people in the party!
The air was thick with tension. Nie Yan felt as if everything around him had gone blank, leaving only the crossbow in his hands and the target in his sights.
Time passed second by second, and he was still waiting for the opportunity.
Most of the treants were stationary, only occasionally moving around. The distance between each treant was only about two yards, a dangerously close proximity.
Behind him, the eighteen team members were watching Nie Yan’s every move. Before Hui Ming’s explanation, they hadn’t felt the gravity of the situation, but now they realized their lives were in Nie Yan’s hands. If the treants ahead discovered them and surrounded them, where could they possibly escape to in the enclosed Treant Grove dungeon?
Nie Yan stood on the tree branch, crossbow in hand, motionless like a statue.
Time seemed to freeze.
Nie Yan’s eyes, the crosshair, and the distant treants formed a straight line.
A breeze occasionally passed through the forest, causing leaves to fall like fluttering butterflies.
Nie Yan glanced at the drifting leaves, noting the moderate wind speed.
Suddenly, Nie Yan raised the crossbow, pulled the trigger, and the crossbow gave a violent tremble. After firing the first shot, the direction sharply veered, and with a swish, three arrows shot out. The three arrows flew in different directions, not along a straight line.
“Oh no, Brother Nie’s hand must have trembled!” Hui Ming thought in alarm. He knew that at the moment of firing the crossbow, one’s hand absolutely couldn’t tremble or show any nervousness. Any slight mistake could cost the entire party their lives.
Whoever fired this shot, regardless of their class, had to first have excellent psychological resilience because this single shot determined the fate of the entire party. Under such intense psychological pressure, even a technically skilled veteran could make a mistake due to nervousness, and the consequence of such a mistake would undoubtedly result in a wipe.
It seemed Nie Yan’s psychological resilience wasn’t strong enough, Hui Ming thought.
Upon hearing Hui Ming’s words, everyone in the party felt their hearts tighten.
“Bai Kaishui, get ready, block at coordinates 289.288.212!” After firing the arrows, Nie Yan didn’t even check if they hit their targets. He turned around, jumped down from the tree branch, and ran toward the team.
Hui Ming and the others looked toward the treants. The first arrow passed between them and struck the trunk of the farthest tree. The second arrow hit a short tree to the west. Neither arrow hit a treant. The two arrows pierced the tree bark, producing dull thuds that startled nearby treants. More than ten treants moved toward the source of the sound.
The remaining arrow struck the nearest treant, and two treants noticed Nie Yan. They lunged toward him, claws bared.
These two treants quickly broke away from the group and chased after Nie Yan.
Only two were drawn out, without alerting the others!
“Wow, amazing! That was incredible technique,” Hui Ming exclaimed. The others couldn’t see clearly what had happened, but he did. Nie Yan was using a repeating crossbow, and the three arrows hit three different spots. The first two arrows distracted other treants, while the third arrow attracted two treants. Just now, when Nie Yan fired the crossbow, his hand didn’t tremble—he violently changed the shooting direction while firing! Such an advanced technique was something Hui Ming had only heard about in legends.
The same crossbow, used by different people, could produce completely different results!
Hui Ming secretly recorded this video. Though such videos couldn’t be published online without the subject’s permission, they could be shared among friends. He thought he should definitely show it to the Fox Leader.
This was what it meant to be a top-tier rogue!
This entire process of drawing aggro could be used as a textbook example for most rogues.
Dealing with just two treants wasn’t particularly difficult. Bai Kaishui blocked the position and intercepted one treant. Nie Yan used a stun attack on the treant chasing him. The melee fighters in the back surrounded them, and the mages launched their spells. Boom! The spells exploded on the treants.
The treant swung its arms, knocking back the melee fighters. Bai Kaishui roared and, without retreating, used a shield bash.
“The key to being a shield warrior is that the impact doesn’t have to be powerful, but it must be stable. No matter what, your center of gravity shouldn’t lean forward,” Nie Yan commented as he looked at Bai Kaishui’s fighting stance. Honestly, Bai Kaishui’s skills were decent, but compared to the experts Nie Yan had in mind, he was still several levels below.
In fact, in his previous life, there were countless people stronger than Nie Yan. Now, everyone was just starting out in the game, still exploring and familiarizing themselves with various combat techniques. Nie Yan was different—he had played as a rogue for ten years, mastering all sorts of combat techniques. There’s an old saying: practice makes perfect. After ten years of refinement, Nie Yan’s skills had far surpassed those of any current player. The astonishing techniques he displayed now would be common knowledge among experts ten years later. Some truly difficult techniques, Nie Yan wasn’t even confident he could pull off yet—those were the real ultimate skills!
After adjusting his stance, Bai Kaishui felt the pressure ease. Although he hadn’t been particularly impressed by Nie Yan before, Nie Yan’s earlier display, though he hadn’t seen it clearly, had stunned him. He naturally now regarded Nie Yan as an expert, and he deeply believed every word Nie Yan said.
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