In the end, he would flee to the top floor.
Then, he would leap down from the roof.
Below was a garbage heap he had prepared in advance over the past few days, piled with enough cushioning material.
And if the black panther jumped after him, what awaited it would be several gasoline traps Lin Ye had prepared long ago.
Lots of fur meant weakness to fire. Even if it was a mutated beast, it should fear flames to some extent.
If none of this went smoothly—
If the black panther’s intelligence exceeded his estimates and it did not chase him into the building—
Lin Ye had also set up one final safe point for himself.
Two hundred meters from here, there was a sewer entrance.
That entrance was extremely well hidden. The passage inside was narrow, only allowing one person through, and there was also an excellent piece of cover outside.
The difference in their body sizes would allow Lin Ye to hide inside, while the black panther would be unable to squeeze in at the first moment.
As long as he could escape there, he would be able to leave combat and trigger [Out-of-Combat Regeneration].
Lin Ye had considered countless possibilities for the entire hunting plan, doing his best to ensure that even if accidents occurred, he would have contingencies ready.
Even so, Lin Ye still dismissed the idea of making his move tonight.
It was not stable enough yet.
He felt there was still room for optimization.
Without at least a ninety-five percent chance of success, Lin Ye had no intention of acting rashly.
……
Another two days passed.
Lin Ye finished sparring with Chen Meng and returned home.
After dinner, he went back to his room and opened his personal panel.
[Host: Lin Ye]
[Race: Goblin Grunt]
[Level: LV6 (477/1400)]
[HP: 663/663]
[Energy: 139/139]
[Stamina: 302/302]
[BOSS Mechanics: Out-of-Combat Regeneration (White), Soul Furnace (Green)]
[Current Phase: P1, remaining phases locked]
[Strength: 31.1]
[Agility: 29.8]
[Endurance: 33.6]
[Spirit: 24.4]
[Free Attribute Points: 0]
[Skill Points: 0]
[Skills: Normal Attack (LV5), Thick Hide (LV4), Staff Momentum (LV5)]
Compared to three weeks ago, nearly all of Lin Ye’s attributes had more than tripled.
His endurance and HP in particular had increased even more, thanks to the additional growth provided by [Thick Hide].
Closing the panel, Lin Ye put on his CR wristband and sank his consciousness into the virtual network.
Martial Dao Peak, launch!
Arriving at the battle hall that had gradually become familiar to him, Lin Ye did not rush to start matching and complete today’s daily task for Gnashing Teeth and Sucking Blood.
Instead, he opened his friend list first.
This time, Lin Ye’s eyes lit up.
For the past few days, whenever he logged on, he had not seen Lone Wolf online.
But today, he had finally caught him.
Not only was he online, he was not in a match either.
Lin Ye sent him a message.
“Run a round?”
“Come.”
Before long, Lone Wolf’s reply arrived.
Lin Ye opened a custom room, set the map to random, and then invited Lone Wolf.
Lone Wolf entered the room. The two did not exchange much. Lin Ye directly clicked start.
The scene shifted. It was still that familiar abandoned city map.
The countdown for the start of the battle sounded by his ear.
This time, Lin Ye did not wait passively like last time.
The instant the countdown ended, he moved!
His center of gravity sank. His foot stomped hard against the ground, and his entire body shot forward like an arrow loosed from the bowstring, taking the initiative to charge!
Lone Wolf, opposite him, was clearly somewhat surprised as well, but his reaction was extremely fast. His combat saber left its sheath, and with a flash of blade-light, it was still that strange, traceless saber technique as he went straight for Lin Ye’s opening.
Lin Ye’s gaze was more focused than ever before.
The effects brought by his increased Spirit attribute had made Lin Ye’s reactions much stronger than they had been a week ago.
In his eyes, Lone Wolf’s movements seemed to be a fraction slower than last time.
The path of the blade, which he had previously been unable to see at all, was now vaguely visible to him.
“Clang!”
The long staff in his hands arrived later but struck first, tapping with incomparable precision against the spine of the opponent’s blade. The enormous force shook Lone Wolf’s arm until it went numb.
The momentum of attack and defense seemed to reverse in an instant.
However, Lone Wolf’s combat experience was far beyond what Lin Ye could compare to.
After being thwarted in one strike, he had no desire to linger in battle. Borrowing the recoil, he rapidly retreated. At the same time, his blade edge turned, tracing out a tricky arc as it sliced toward the wrist with which Lin Ye held his staff.
Lin Ye could only change moves and block.
This time, Lin Ye was no longer completely powerless to fight back.
At last, he was no longer being knocked down in just a move or two.
The battle between the two began to enter a stalemate.
Lin Ye chose to attack fiercely.
Lone Wolf, meanwhile, fought with defensive counters.
He was like the slipperiest loach, always able to avoid Lin Ye’s thunderous heavy blows at the narrowest of margins with exquisite force-dispersing techniques and strange footwork. Then, the instant Lin Ye’s strength ran out, he would deliver a precise and lethal slash.
Lin Ye narrowed his eyes slightly.
He could sense that Lone Wolf seemed to be deliberately letting him attack.
Giving him the initiative.
That mindset was like that of someone standing above, enjoying the challenge of someone below.
The battle lasted a full five minutes.
Lin Ye’s virtual body was already covered in saber wounds of varying depth.
In the end, perhaps because Lone Wolf had grown tired of defending, he seized the opportunity from one tiny flaw and finally stabbed through Lin Ye’s heart with a single blade.
His vision went black, and his consciousness returned to the matching space.
He had lost again.
But in Lin Ye’s heart, there was not the slightest bit of frustration. Instead, a surge of excitement rose up in him, as if everything was going according to plan.
He was no longer losing without even understanding how!
He could clearly feel that the gap between himself and his opponent was shrinking.
That peculiar power the other party possessed, something above the power of qi and blood, was still difficult for him to deal with, but he could already barely keep up with the other party’s rhythm.
The path of overwhelming with stats was correct!
……
At the same time, on the other end of the city.
An ordinary-looking young man took off his CR wristband and let out a long breath.
He was [Lone Wolf].
“Whew… What’s going on with this guy?”
He rubbed his somewhat numb wrist, his face full of confusion.
“His strength and ability to take hits are way higher than last time, and his reaction speed is a lot faster too.”
Lone Wolf’s real name was Zhou Kai, a student at Dongjiang Experimental High School.
In other schools, Zhou Kai would definitely count as a pretty decent genius.
But in Dongjiang Experimental High School, he was the absolute bottom of the barrel.
At school, he was usually scolded by teachers, and practically anyone could step on him and beat him down.
Pressure had been piling up in both his body and mind.
It had always left him with a need to vent.
But one week ago, during a random match, he had happened to encounter a newcomer called [Goblin Grunt].
After winning easily, Zhou Kai felt the gloom in his heart greatly relieved.
So when Goblin Grunt sent him a friend request, he accepted it.
He had originally prepared himself to flame the other side and defend his family’s honor.
But unexpectedly, the other party only wanted to fight him again.
What was the point of bullying noobs?
Bullying noobs was way too much fun!
Zhou Kai agreed without the slightest hesitation.
But today’s battle made Zhou Kai feel that something was a bit off.
Although he had still won in the end, the victory had been nowhere near as easy as last time.
Mm, maybe he was overthinking it.
He had been scolded all day today and was already exhausted to begin with.
It was just an abnormal performance.
Besides, Zhou Kai had also been afraid that this brain-massager of his would be unable to withstand the pressure, delete him as a friend, and run away.
So he had held back at the very beginning.
Now it seemed that this hot-blooded idiot on the other side had no intention of giving up at all.
Look, he was still over there typing, asking to fight another day!