Ultimately, he would flee to the top floor.
Then, he would leap off.
Below was a pile of trash he had prepared over the past few days, filled with enough cushioning material.
If the black panther followed him down, it would be met with several gasoline traps Lin Ye had already prepared.
Creatures with a lot of fur are weak to fire. Even a mutated beast should be at least somewhat afraid of flames.
If all of this didn't go smoothly.
If the panther's intelligence surpassed his estimations and it didn't chase him into the building.
Lin Ye had also set up a final safety point for himself.
Two hundred meters from here, there was a sewer entrance.
The entrance was extremely hidden, and the passage inside was narrow, only allowing one person to pass through. There was also an excellent piece of cover outside.
The difference in their body sizes would allow Lin Ye to hide inside, while the panther couldn't squeeze in right away.
As long as he could escape there, he could disengage from combat and trigger [Healing out of combat].
For the entire hunting plan, Lin Ye had considered countless possibilities, trying his best to have a contingency for any accident.
But Lin Ye still dismissed the idea of making a move tonight.
'It's still not foolproof enough.'
He felt there was still room for optimization.
Unless he was more than 95% certain, Lin Ye didn't plan on acting rashly.
...
Two more days passed.
Lin Ye finished his training session with Chen Meng and returned home.
After dinner, he went back to his room and opened his personal status panel.
[Host: Lin Ye]
[Race: Goblin Minion]
[Level: LV6 (477/1400)]
[Life Value: 663/663]
[Energy Value: 139/139]
[Physical Strength Value: 302/302]
[BOSS Mechanics: Healing out of combat (White), Soul Furnace (Green)]
[Current Phase: P1, other phases locked]
[Strength: 31.1]
[Agility: 29.8]
[Stamina: 33.6]
[Spirit: 24.4]
[Free Attribute Points: 0]
[Skill Points: 0]
[Skills: Normal Attack (LV5), Thick Skin (LV4), Staff Arts (LV5)]
Compared to three weeks ago, almost all of Lin Ye's All Attributes had more than tripled.
His Stamina and Life Value, in particular, had increased even more thanks to the extra growth from [Thick Skin].
Closing the panel, Lin Ye put on his CR wristband and submerged his consciousness into the virtual network.
Peak of Martial Arts, activate!
Arriving at the increasingly familiar Battle Hall, Lin Ye didn't rush to matchmake and complete his daily "Grinding Teeth and Sucking Blood" quest.
Instead, he first opened his friends list.
This time, Lin Ye's eyes lit up.
He had logged on for the past few days but hadn't seen Lone Wolf online.
But today, he finally caught him.
Not only was he online, but he wasn't in a match.
Lin Ye sent him a message.
"Want to play a round?"
"Sure."
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. Without much conversation, Lin Ye directly hit start.
The scene switched. It was, once again, a familiar abandoned city map.
The countdown to the start of the battle rang in his ears.
This time, Lin Ye didn't wait passively like last time.
The moment the countdown ended, he moved!
Lowering his center of gravity, he stomped his foot on the ground and shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, initiating a charge!
His opponent, Lone Wolf, was clearly a bit surprised, but his reaction was extremely fast. His battle blade was unsheathed in a flash of light. It was the same traceless and strange blade technique, aiming straight for Lin Ye's opening.
Lin Ye's gaze was more focused than ever before.
The effect of his increased Spirit attribute made Lin Ye's reactions much stronger than they were a week ago.
In his eyes, Lone Wolf's movements seemed a fraction of a second slower than last time.
The blade's path, which he couldn't see before, was now something he could vaguely make out.
CLANG!
His longstaff, though starting later, arrived first, striking the spine of the other's blade with perfect precision. The immense force made Lone Wolf's arm go numb.
The tides of offense and defense seemed to have reversed in an instant.
However, Lone Wolf's combat experience was far beyond what Lin Ye could compare to.
Thwarted by the single blow, he didn't linger. He used the recoil to retreat rapidly, and at the same time, twisted his blade to carve a tricky arc, slashing toward the wrist of Lin Ye's staff-wielding hand.
Lin Ye could only change his move to block.
This time, Lin Ye was no longer completely powerless to fight back.
He was finally no longer being taken down within a couple of moves.
The fight between the two began to enter a stalemate.
Lin Ye chose to attack fiercely.
Lone Wolf, on the other hand, was playing defensively and counter-attacking.
He was like the most slippery loach, always able, in the nick of time, to use exquisite force-mitigation techniques and an uncanny Body Technique to evade Lin Ye's thunderous blows, delivering a precise and fatal strike the moment Lin Ye's strength waned.
Lin Ye's eyes narrowed slightly.
He could feel that Lone Wolf seemed to be intentionally letting him attack.
'Giving me the initiative.'
This mindset was like that of a superior enjoying the challenge from an inferior.
The battle lasted for a full five minutes.
Lin Ye's virtual body was already covered in blade marks of varying depths.
In the end, perhaps Lone Wolf got tired of defending. He seized an opportunity at a tiny opening and pierced Lin Ye's heart with a final strike.
His vision went black, and his consciousness returned to the matchmaking space.
'I lost again.'
But there wasn't the slightest bit of frustration in Lin Ye's heart. Instead, a surge of excitement, the kind one gets when a plan comes together, welled up inside him.
He no longer lost in a state of utter confusion!
He could clearly feel that the gap between him and his opponent was narrowing.
That strange power his opponent possessed, one that surpassed the power of Qi and Blood, was still difficult for him to handle, but he could now barely keep up with his opponent's rhythm.
'The path of overwhelming them with stats is the right one!'
...
「Meanwhile, at the other end of the city.」
A young man with an ordinary face took off his CR wristband and let out a long breath.
He was [Lone Wolf].
"Phew... What's with this guy?"
He rubbed his slightly numb wrist, his face full of confusion.
"His strength and damage resistance are a huge step up from last time, and his reaction speed is much faster too."
Lone Wolf's real name was Zhou Kai, a student at Dongjiang Experimental Middle School.
At any other school, Zhou Kai would definitely be considered a decent genius.
But at Dongjiang Experimental Middle School, he was at the absolute bottom of the barrel.
At school, he was usually scolded by teachers, and anyone could walk all over him.
Stress was accumulating, both physically and mentally.
He always felt like he had to vent or he'd explode.
But just a week ago, in a random match, he ran into a newbie named [Goblin Minion].
After an easy victory, Zhou Kai felt his pent-up frustration greatly relieved.
So, when Goblin Minion sent him a friend request, he accepted.
He had been ready for a flame war, prepared to defend his family's honor.
But he never expected that the guy just wanted to fight him again.
'What's the fun in stomping noobs?'
'Stomping noobs is a ton of fun!'
Zhou Kai agreed without a moment's hesitation.
But today's battle made Zhou Kai feel that something was off.
Although he still won in the end, the victory was nowhere near as easy as last time.
'Hm, maybe I'm overthinking it.'
'I got chewed out all day today, so I was already tired enough.'
'I just had an off day.'
Besides, Zhou Kai was also afraid that this "brain-massager" of his couldn't take the pressure and would delete him as a friend and run off.
So he had gone easy on him at the beginning.
Now it seemed this blockhead on the other side had no intention of giving up.
Look at him, he's even typing out a message to schedule another fight for another day!