“Is that it?” Han Ming had thought carnivorous plants grew on the ground, but the sight before him completely overturned that assumption. At the top of a thirty-four-meter abandoned building, a gigantic carnivorous flower had taken root, greedily absorbing the sunlight.
It had completely taken over the entire building. On every floor, smaller carnivorous flowers had sprouted from it, along with Corrosive Bees that depended on those flowers to survive. Ordinary players’ attacks simply couldn’t reach that far. To challenge the giant carnivorous flower, they’d have to climb the building floor by floor and fight it on the rooftop. The whole building was practically a dungeon of its own!
『Red Vine Carnivorous Flower King (Boss) Level 30 HP 5000/5000』!
Xue Yun had previously predicted that the Carnivorous Flower King was level twenty, but in reality, it was a full ten levels higher! Even a level-twenty team would have a hard time fighting a monster this powerful unless their teamwork was flawless.
On top of that, it was perched on the building’s roof. Clearing out all the low-level trash along the way would cost them a great deal of resources and energy. By the time they reached the boss, how many of them would still be in good shape?
Fortunately, he was already here. With a long-range gun skill, he could kill the Carnivorous Flower King from where he stood. The loot would still drop onto the rooftop, though, so he’d have to climb up to collect it.
In Infinite Fantasy World, outdoor bosses had no kill-bind mechanic. In other words, whoever grabbed the drops got to keep them. This made the game even more competitive, adding even more tension to this gamified real world!
“Wait, looks like there’s a group of people!” Xue Yun spotted twenty or thirty people gathered beneath the building where the Carnivorous Flower King was. They were all human, each above level ten and with a class of their own. The person leading them had even reached level nineteen, with a Jade sword strapped to his back!
Han Ming recognized the guy with the spiky hair who’d run off after being scared by him earlier. “So this is the Blade-Skull Group you mentioned? What a small world.”
“They look pretty battered. Guess they just got their butts kicked.” An’an covered her mouth and giggled. Good riddance if every last one of those scumbags died!
Han Ming guessed they’d tried to take on the Carnivorous Flower King, but the monster’s firepower had forced them back before they could even reach the top floor.
A bunch of players who hadn’t even reached level twenty wanted to challenge a level-thirty boss. They’d need at least a hundred people—and most of them would have to serve as cannon fodder.
“This isn’t working, Leader! These monsters are higher-level than we expected. We’re nearly dead after just a few hits!” The group might be a bunch of bullies, but they weren’t stupid. Nobody wanted to die here.
Ning Yu, leader of the Blade-Skull Group, cast a resentful glance at the Carnivorous Flower King on the rooftop, then drank a red potion. “Even these smaller carnivorous flowers are level fifteen to twenty. The King has to be above level twenty. We’ll retreat for now and come back once I’m level twenty and the whole group is level fifteen!”
Just then, the spiky-haired man stepped forward and said with a pitiful look, “Boss, I ran into a group of people on the way here. They’d gotten a level-fifteen blue staff, and since the deputy leader’s a level-fifteen mage, I figured I’d negotiate a price and buy it for her. But they said my offer was too low, then used their numbers to beat me up and drive me off. They even turned down twelve thousand World Coins. They’re unbelievably greedy!”
“That happened?” Ning Yu was already in a foul mood, and now someone had dared to lay hands on one of his men. “Didn’t you tell them you were with my Blade-Skull Group?”
“I did! But they said they’d never even heard of the damn Blade-Skull Group. They called us a bunch of nobodies who’d never amount to anything!” The spiky-haired man kept piling it on. His leader was already hot-tempered, and now he’d managed to rile him up.
Ning Yu drew his Jade sword and unleashed a blast of sword energy, chopping down an abandoned utility pole. “Unbelievable! Where are they? I’ll see for myself what kind of big shots dare look down on us!”
The spiky-haired man had gotten what he wanted. He couldn’t help chuckling to himself. “I ran into them not long ago. They shouldn’t have gotten far.”
“‘Never even heard of the damn Blade-Skull Group. They’re a bunch of nobodies who’ll never amount to anything.’” Han Ming’s hearing was far sharper than an ordinary person’s, and he repeated the spiky-haired man’s words as he stepped out into the open. The people behind him, on the other hand, hung back nervously, looking rather scared. “Brother Han Ming, are you sure this’ll be okay?”
“Boss, it’s them! They beat me up, and now they’re insulting your honor too. They’re absolutely despicable!” The spiky-haired man hadn’t expected Han Ming and the others to show themselves. The people with Han Ming were all below level ten, but he couldn’t see through the guy standing at the front.
“So you’re the ones who keep provoking our Blade-Skull Group?” Ning Yu looked down at Han Ming and the others from his superior position. In the game world, low-level players couldn’t see through high-level players, so he guessed Han Ming was around level twenty. But he had the advantage of a hidden class. Even if his opponent was level twenty, that didn’t mean he could beat him—and his own group outclassed the other side in both numbers and strength.
Han Ming shook his head and let out a sigh. This guy was only level nineteen, yet he’d brought a whole group to hunt a level-thirty Carnivorous Flower King. He clearly had no idea what a total party wipe meant. And yet the more ignorant people were, the more fearless they seemed, as if they were the best in the world.
“I’ve never liked looking for trouble, but I’m not afraid of anyone who comes looking for it either.” These people were far too low-level. Even without any gear, one basic attack from him could wipe out ten of their health bars. What was the point of picking on them?
“Well, if you’re not talking, I would’ve thought you were a girl. Turns out you’re a guy. My men told me you’ve got a level-fifteen blue staff. How about this? I’ll buy it for a thousand gold. That’s a pretty good deal, right?” Ning Yu had always been arrogant. Even the captain of the human camp’s guard was only a regular-class player. Once Ning Yu reached the same level, who in this place could possibly beat him?
“A thousand? That’s outright robbery!” Anyone could see that this price was less than a tenth of the market value—and far more outrageous than the five thousand the spiky-haired guy had offered earlier.
Han Ming looked indifferently at the Blade-Skull Group members snickering around him. “I don’t understand. With humanity’s survival on the line, why would anyone oppress their own people instead of standing together against the threat?”
Han Ming’s naïve, childish words made Ning Yu laugh. “Hahaha! Who do you think you are? Some kind of saint? As long as I’m enjoying myself, why should I care if anyone else lives or dies? As long as humanity survives, there’ll always be oppressors and the oppressed. Because humans… are greedy by nature!”
