Chapter 7: The Terrifying Leader-Class Monster!
“Ah!”
There was no time to react at all.
A sudden, agonized scream pierced the air.
Jiang Ningyu and the others suddenly snapped awake from a daze, their eyes wide with horror at the scene before them.
The main tank, Ye Tao, had lost an arm from just a single encounter.
His pride in his endurance stats was shattered—against this gigantic wolf-like demon, it was as fragile as thin paper!
“What... do we do?”
A support class member asked in a trembling voice.
“Run!”
Jiang Ningyu barely hesitated before turning and fleeing, completely abandoning her usual goddess-like composure.
The other students hurried to follow.
Hearing the chilling screams behind them, the support player felt a pang of sympathy.
“What about Ye Tao?”
“He’ll be fine.”
Jiang Ningyu, at the front, didn’t even look back, speaking rapidly.
“The map watch the instructor gave us is actually an emergency item.”
“It teleports you out of the dungeon before you suffer fatal injuries.”
“The principal didn’t tell you all this to prevent overreliance on the item, so it wouldn’t undermine the training experience.”
Principal Li had confided this to Jiang Ningyu privately, essentially giving her a special advantage.
This allowed her to venture deep into the dungeon without worry, focusing solely on leveling up safely.
Hearing this, the support player relaxed and followed Jiang Ningyu without hesitation.
What Jiang Ningyu didn’t share with the others was this: once the emergency item was activated, the user would be barred from entering any federation-controlled dungeon until their martial exam.
After running for a long time and hearing no more screams, the group hid behind a large tree.
They collapsed to the ground, still shaken, gazing warily into the forest’s depths.
“That has to be the final boss of the newbie dungeon, right?”
The B-rank sharpshooter in the group panted as he spoke.
When facing that giant wolf, he hadn’t even had the courage to glance directly at it, fleeing on pure instinct behind Jiang Ningyu and the others.
“Exactly,” Jiang Ningyu wiped the sweat from her brow. “An 8th-level leader-class creature, it’s the only monster in the newbie dungeon that hasn’t been nerfed.”
“Nerfed? That’s ridiculous!”
The support player grumbled, recalling the scene just now.
“Ye Tao is a B-rank main tank Silver Shield Knight, maxed out in endurance, and he didn’t even last one encounter. Who could possibly withstand a blow from that monster?”
“I think they never intended for us to even enter the forest’s depths.”
“Who would dare go near something like that?”
Jiang Ningyu moved her lips, hesitating to speak.
To prepare for going deeper into the dungeon, Principal Li had warned her about many dangers, including that giant wolf—the Bloodthirsty Forest Wolf.
For professional players, the newbie dungeon was the federation’s best gift to newcomers.
As long as they fought monsters appropriate to their level, the dungeon was safe, allowing them to survive their weakest days.
Top teams composed of A and B ranks could easily crush monsters and even push into deeper areas for training.
Stronger professionals above A rank were rare but did exist.
The true prodigies found the nerfed monsters insufficient for training.
The Bloodthirsty Forest Wolf was designed for those elite players.
An 8th-level leader-class creature.
Just thinking about it was despairing...
Jiang Ningyu sighed.
The gap between her and that wolf was like the chasm between herself and the S-rank professionals.
Like an impassable chasm.
But Jiang Ningyu thought harder.
Even a team led by an S-rank player couldn’t easily defeat an 8th-level leader monster during the newbie phase without a desperate battle.
After resting awhile, Jiang Ningyu regained her spirit.
From a mere civilian to an A-rank prodigy, she wasn’t one to be easily defeated.
Her priority now was to level up quickly.
To become the number one ranked player in Jiangzhou!
Picking up her staff from the ground, she stood and said, “Rest up, everyone. Let’s continue deeper for training.”
“Jiang, are you crazy? You still want to go deeper?!”
The support player jumped up from the ground, disregarding Jiang Ningyu’s goddess status.
Jiang Ningyu glanced at him calmly and said, “As long as we avoid that area, there won’t be any problems.”
To prevent accidental harm to ordinary players, the leader monsters placed in the newbie dungeon had extremely strong territorial instincts.
Principal Li had said that if you had no bloodstains on you and kept more than 700 meters away from the Bloodthirsty Forest Wolf, it wouldn’t relentlessly pursue you.
Wait!
Bloodstains?!
Jiang Ningyu suddenly realized.
The image of Ye Tao’s torn-off arm, blood splattering everywhere, flashed vividly in her mind.
At that moment, the bushes nearby rustled with rapid friction.
Without hesitation or warning, Jiang Ningyu dashed in the opposite direction.
The others, seeing her desperate flight, quickly followed—not fools.
But in that split second—
The Bloodthirsty Forest Wolf burst from the trees, lunging at the support player.
“Ahhh!”
Unlike Ye Tao’s tanking class, the wolf bit into the support’s waist and abdomen, nearly biting him in two!
A flash of white light shimmered as the support player slowly vanished from the wolf’s jaws.
Just before disappearing completely, the support player bit back through the pain, glaring resentfully in Jiang Ningyu’s direction and cursing,
“Jiang Ningyu! Damn you...”
Yet Jiang Ningyu, sprinting forward, paid no heed to the curses.
Her mind was filled only with terror.
This was a leader-class monster!
Even fleeing required sacrificing teammates—there was no thought of fighting back.
What now?
What should she do?
With bloodstains on her, the wolf would pursue her relentlessly wherever she ran.
Jiang Ningyu thought furiously as she fled.
Should she lure it to one of the other A-rank teams from different schools and then try to kill it together?
No!
Impossible!
Even combining all three A-rank teams wouldn’t be a match for that monster!
Jiang Ningyu, as an A-rank professional herself, knew well the gulf between her rank and that beast.
Suddenly, the ominous rustling sounded again behind her.
In desperation, she thought of only one plan.
She cast a dark look toward her remaining teammates.
The sharpshooter hesitated, then realized what she meant.
Just as he opened his mouth to curse—
Ahead, a lone professional was approaching quickly.
This was the deepest part of the secret realm—who dared come here alone?
Jiang Ningyu also spotted the figure suddenly appearing ahead.
They exchanged a glance and quickly closed the distance.
“Li Yao?”
Seeing the newcomer clearly, Jiang Ningyu didn’t know why he was here alone.
But given the situation...
He was simply out of luck.
Li Yao walked calmly while Jiang Ningyu and the others ran desperately.
In this dense forest, the contrast was stark.
Li Yao had already noticed Jiang Ningyu’s group early on.
From his Void Mantis’s senses, he also perceived the enormous creature trailing them.
In a blink, the two parties were nearly face to face.
Jiang Ningyu cast only a cold glance at Li Yao.
Her eyes shining with a faint joy at this last chance for survival—and pity for Li Yao, who was about to lose his dungeon entry privileges.
They passed each other by.
The next moment—
“Boom!”
A massive tree, a meter wide, crashed down.
The Bloodthirsty Forest Wolf, covered in dark red fur like bristles, stepped on the fallen tree, appearing before them.
“Roar, roar, roar!”
Jiang Ningyu glanced back and saw Li Yao still standing frozen in place.
Frozen with fear?
She withdrew her gaze contemptuously.
How could someone face such a foe without even running? How could they dare come here?
At that instant, the Bloodthirsty Forest Wolf lunged at Li Yao with terrifying speed.
But just as its jaws were about to clamp down—
The air beneath the wolf distorted suddenly.
Two deep purple scythe claws, shimmering with chilling intent, silently appeared.
“Swish!”
The two scythe claws crossed and slashed through the air, leaving a cross-shaped shockwave.
The massive wolf froze midair.
Beneath it, Li Yao shook his head lightly.
“Still can’t withstand a single hit...”
[-12841]
[Overlevel kill of leader-class monster, Bloodthirsty Forest Wolf, experience +142%]
[Level increased to 5!]
[Hedge Fund triggered, received 10 gold coins!]
[Combat Training triggered, Void Mantis strength +1]
Two dark lines slowly appeared over the wolf’s body.
The next moment—
Blood sprayed out like a fountain!
The Bloodthirsty Forest Wolf died without even realizing who its killer was!
...