Vol. 4: Chapter 14
In the end, the enraged Rat King managed to take down the Stonejaw, Carrion, and Leafcutter Chieftains, but it finally fell to the combined fury of the equally berserk Norlun and Fire Ant Chieftain.
System: Congratulations! You have slain [Rat King Jerry]. You have gained 50,000,000 EXP.
As Jerry’s massive body collapsed, it exploded into a shower of more than ten different items, including three pieces of gear.
"Orion, the chest!" Rena screamed. "Forget the loot, get the chest!"
Ignoring the glittering items on the ground, Orion made a beeline for the battered chest, wrenched it open, and grabbed the contents.
System: You have obtained [Royal Vintage].
The instant he looted the item, a portal shimmered into existence beside him. Without even waiting for Rena, Orion leaped through. His only thought was to get the [Royal Vintage] to Kael. They were already past the three-and-a-half-hour deadline; he could only pray he wasn't too late.
When he arrived in the main hall, he saw the entire group peeking out from behind a large screen, watching something intently. Kael was standing in the open, holding a massive serpent's tail, seemingly about to throw it.
Orion cleared his throat. "Boss, I'm back."
Kael turned, and his eyes lit up with profound relief when he saw the wine jar in Orion's hands. He had already thrown the other three bait items.
If Orion hadn't returned within ten minutes of the last one, the quest would have failed. Starting over would have meant waiting another three days for the instance to reset.
In his past life, this secret quest had been attempted by a top-tier guild more than ten times. It took them over a month, and by the time they finally cleared the level 35 quest, their core members were level 45. When they first released the guide, most of the community called it a hoax. It was only after the guild leader posted the video recordings of all ten-plus failed attempts that players were stunned into belief.
Who designs a quest this sadistic? A 25-man instance that required four separate, incredibly difficult bosses to be defeated simultaneously, not sequentially, forcing the raid to be split into completely isolated groups.
A forum administrator had famously commented on the guide thread: "I refuse to believe any team could actually clear this at level 35."
That comment had sparked a legendary debate. While most agreed with the admin, a few dedicated theorycrafters argued that it was, hypothetically, possible.
One post, which became known as the "All-Star Theorycraft," proposed a dream team composed of the most legendary players of that era from across all servers: the assassins Bloodshadow and Draevan, and others of their caliber. Even after weeks of simulations and debate, the community concluded that this hypothetical god-tier team would have a 30% chance of success at best.
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As the player base leveled up, the topic was gradually forgotten. No one could actually go back in time to assemble that All-Star team.
And yet, here they were. Relying on his own power, Lila's Dragonbane, Hazel's level 60 Ascendant shield, and the Lord-rank Norlun, Kael had cleared the entire instance in a single attempt.
It was nothing short of a miracle. Kael himself had been mentally prepared for two or three failures; the slightest mistake on any front would have cascaded into a full wipe.
He took the wine jar from Orion. Then he turned his attention back to the Plague-Heart Rat, which was contentedly gnawing on the last of the Gluttonous Serpent's tail.
Just then, Rena emerged from the teleport nexus. Seeing the scene, she knew Orion had made it in time and let out a long, slow breath of relief. Only now did she allow herself to look at the loot in her bag. Besides a dozen or so materials, there were three pieces of gear: two Rares and one Epic.
She felt a slight pang of disappointment. She had hoped that having Dawnbreaker's pet lead the charge would have blessed them with some of his insane luck. But the drop rate seemed no better than a standard boss. I guess I was overthinking it, she mused. The man himself probably has to be present for his loot aura to work.
Rena closed her inventory window and joined the others, peeking around the screen.
The Plague-Heart Rat's stomach was now bulging. It patted its belly and lay back on the ground, but it still clutched the [Staff of Whispering Clouds] tightly.
Kael placed the [Royal Vintage] on the floor and gave it a gentle push. The wine jar rolled across the stone until it bumped against the Rat's foot. The rat glanced down and its eyes widened, completely captivated.
It sat up, carefully tucking the staff into the crook of its arm so it rested against its shoulder. Then it picked up the wine jar, tilted its head back, and chugged the entire thing down in a series of deep, resonant gulps. As a final course, it polished off the last few scraps of the serpent tail.
Ten minutes passed. The Rat's face became flushed, its eyes glazed over with a drunken haze. It swayed a few times, trying to stay upright, but failed. With a soft thud, it flopped onto its back. A moment later, a deep, rumbling snore echoed through the hall.
Kael turned to the group. "You can all leave now. Just head back the way we came in."
The players just looked at each other. No one moved.
Kael paused, then understood. He didn't press them.
He gave up and simply threw a warning over his shoulder. "Just don't come any closer. Waking it up would be... bad."
With that, he began to creep silently toward the slumbering Plague-Heart Rat, its precious [Staff of Whispering Clouds] held loosely in its arms.
***
Far away, at the bottom of a deep river, a group of players was gathered.
Cole stood with a team of several dozen, assembled outside the entrance to a watery cave.
"Preston, are you sure this is the place?" he asked, his voice sharp.
Preston nodded eagerly. "I'm sure, bro. There's nowhere else they could have gone!"
Cole touched the shimmering entrance to the cave again, and the same system message appeared: This entrance is highly unstable and may collapse at any moment. Entry is not advised.
They had been waiting here for nearly four hours, and there was still no sign of Dawnbreaker.
Fearing his brother's impatience, Preston quickly added, "Bro, I can show you the recording again. I swear, this is where they went into the water."
Cole waved a dismissive hand. "No need. We'll wait."
He glanced back at the formidable army he had assembled, a cruel smile touching his lips.
Dawnbreaker, he thought. Today, you will pay the price for your arrogance.