"Everyone, be careful! According to the intel, there's a boss level 50 or higher hidden here."
Asuna and the others were only around level 35 on average, with only Tenya reaching level 45. However, compared to the boss, there was still a significant gap.
"If there's danger, use the teleportation crystal immediately."
Mito cautiously held the crystal that could perform spatial teleportation.
"I can sense it."
"It's nearby."
Yui opened her eyes wide, her gaze sweeping through the dark labyrinth, finally locking onto a certain gloomy corner.
"The entrance."
"It's right there."
Yui's face lit up with joy, and she was about to walk forward.
"Wait a moment."
Tenya held Yui with one hand, and with the other, gestured for everyone to stop.
"It's coming."
"The boss."
A dark shadow appeared from above without any warning, swinging a scythe, slashing towards everyone.
Boom!
A massive area-of-effect slash attack.
Except for Tenya, Asuna, Mito, and Silica were all sent flying. With just one hit, the three girls lost nearly half of their HP.
Tenya glanced at his status bar, HP: 95%, which was nothing to worry about.
"This power..."
"This isn't good!"
"This boss isn't level 50 at all!"
"Run!"
"The teleportation crystal, it can't be used?"
Asuna and the others panicked.
"Calm down."
"You guys keep moving forward, that should be the entrance to the program's backend."
"I'll hold off the boss."
Tenya chose to face it head-on.
"Tenya-kun, you absolutely must be careful!!"
Asuna's heart pounded, but she still chose to believe Tenya's words unconditionally.
"The entrance is right there."
Under Yui's guidance, the three of them carefully avoided the boss and advanced towards the unknown area ahead.
The boss's eyes darted, and it turned to attack the three.
Clang!
Tenya swung Zangetsu, blocking the boss's scythe.
"This power... it's at least level 60."
After using enhancement skills, Tenya still felt a bit strained, roughly estimating the enemy's level value.
"Hiss."
The boss extended its skeletal claws and quickly swiped at Tenya.
Whoosh!
Tenya's eyes turned red, using his Magic Eye skill to see through the opponent's astonishingly fast claws, and dodged with a flash.
The boss continuously swung its scythe, launching a dazzling ten-hit combo.
Whoosh...
Tenya used his Swift movement skill, moving left and right, up and down. Relying on his agile footwork, he avoided the boss's sure-kill combo.
Seizing the opportunity, he heavily slashed the boss across the face with his sword.
Triggered Advanced Sure-Kill Skill: Deals 200% critical damage!
Boss Current HP: 96%
"After enhancement and triggering a sure-kill critical hit, it only dealt 4% damage?" Tenya raised an eyebrow.
A level 45 challenging a level 60 was indeed not an ordinary level of difficulty.
Bang!
Tenya failed to dodge in time and took a hit from the boss.
Current HP: 90%
For an ordinary player, this one hit would have reduced their HP to zero.
Relying on the Indestructible skill, which increased HP by 1000%, Tenya's HP was astonishingly high.
Just like that, both sides engaged in a fierce exchange of blows and mutual killing.
BOSS Current HP: 26%
Tenya Current HP: 11%
"Tenya-kun!"
"Your HP!"
Asuna and the others watched his HP rapidly decrease and couldn't help but feel their hearts pound.
"Calm down, this much is nothing."
Tenya stood his ground and went head-to-head with the boss without backing down.
BOSS Current HP: 19%
Tenya Current HP: 4%
"Divine Heal!"
A holy light enveloped Tenya's body, and his HP instantly rose to 84%.
"Tenya is amazing."
"This healing amount is ten times Pína's."
"Aowow?"
The little winged dragon familiar perched on Silica's shoulder indicating that this was fake, a lie.
"Is this for real?"
"A level 45 counter-killing a level 60?"
Mito looked completely disbelieving.
"Papa..."
"It seems he's not an ordinary player either."
Yui showed a thoughtful expression.
BOSS Current HP: 5%
Tenya Current HP: 52%
"Roar!"
After reaching low HP, the BOSS entered a berserk state, releasing a shockwave that instantly immobilized surrounding units.
"Overlord Body!"
Tenya instantly removed the negative status effect. He delivered the final fatal blow to the low-HP BOSS.
Bang!
HP dropped to zero, and the hidden BOSS dissipated into smoke and dust.
What dropped onto the ground was a hidden rare item: Black Gold.
"Oh?"
"Such a large piece of Black Gold, my luck is pretty good."
"The materials for forging the second Zangetsu are finally complete."
Tenya happily put the Black Gold loot into his inventory.
"Tenya-kun, quickly drink a healing potion to replenish your HP."
Asuna looked at Tenya, who only had 21% HP left, and felt extremely nervous.
"No need to worry, my Divine Heal skill's cooldown is ready."
With a flash of holy light, Tenya's HP instantly recovered to 100%.
"Huh?"
Everyone was dumbfounded on the spot.
Having astonishing stats and counter-killing a boss by challenging a higher level was one thing.
But this healing skill... It not only restored a lot but also had a very short cooldown.
"I say, Tenya-kun, you wouldn't happen to be the boss behind this game company, would you?" Mito strongly complained.
"You're definitely using hacks!"
"No, in reality, I'm just an ordinary high school student." Tenya talked nonsense with a straight face.
"Tenya-kun possesses incredible power. I'm even more looking forward to meeting the real Tenya-kun in reality." Asuna smiled brightly.
"Me too!" Silica's eyes were full of longing.
"It's here, Papa, you all come in..."
After Yui entered a string of command symbols, she opened the hidden door on the wall.