"Boom—!"
The Fireball exploded on the Mine Troll's forehead, failing to cause much damage, merely scorching a small patch of its rock-like skin.
"-35!"
For a Lord-class BOSS with 15,000 HP, this amount of damage wasn't even worth considering an itch. However, this highly insulting strike successfully and completely enraged the sleeping giant beast.
"Roar—!!"
The Troll let out a thunderous roar, the massive sound waves shaking the dust from the cave ceiling until it fell in showers. It swung its animal-bone club—large enough to smash an adult into meat paste—and took heavy strides, charging at Ye Yi like an out-of-control tank.
With every footfall, the ground trembled violently.
Facing this suffocating pressure rushing toward him, Ye Yi didn't panic in the slightest. His eyes, hidden behind his goggles, were as calm as if he were calculating a math problem.
He turned and ran.
This wasn't fleeing; it was tactical kiting.
In his memories from his previous life, although the Mine Troll's strength was ridiculously high, its turning speed was slow and its attack wind-up was long. The only difficulties were its massive area-of-effect 'Earth Stomp' and its terrifying health regeneration speed.
Ye Yi's figure darted through the karst cave filled with jagged rocks.
Ten minutes ago, before he had even awakened the BOSS, he had already committed the terrain of this battlefield to memory.
Where there were protruding stalactites to block movement, where the ground was slippery and easy to trip on, where there were gaps just wide enough for one person to pass through... all of it had been constructed into a precise 3D map in his mind.
This was the source of his confidence in daring to solo the raid.
The so-called'solo raid preparation' wasn't just about supplies; it was about absolute mastery over the environment.
"Here it comes."
Ye Yi abruptly stopped his pace at a sharp turn.
Due to its momentum, the Troll behind him couldn't brake in time, and its massive body crashed heavily into a thick stone pillar.
"Bang!"
Stone chips flew everywhere, and the pillar—which would have taken three men to encircle—actually developed cracks from the impact.
Taking advantage of the moment the Troll was staggered, Ye Yi didn't rush to attack. He pulled a pale green potion from his backpack—[Lesser Swiftness Potion].
This was a luxury item he had bought from the only alchemist in the Beginner Village, spending all the copper coins he had earned from selling wild dog pelts. The effect was: 15% increased movement speed for 30 seconds.
For ordinary players, this 15% speed was just for traveling a bit faster.
But for Ye Yi, this was the boundary between life and death.
"Gulp."
The potion went down, and Ye Yi felt his body become much lighter.
At this moment, the World Channel and various guild groups in the outside world were frantically discussing dungeon strategies.
[World Channel]:
"Looking for a group! Level 5 Warrior leading, need a healer to hunt the Wild Boar King!"
"Do any big shots know how to fight Level 3 elite monsters? They're too tanky, I can't deal any damage!"
"I heard the Angel Guild has already organized a 20-man elite team to pioneer that 'Mist Forest' place. They're so rich, everyone has a full set of White-tier gear!"
While everyone else was still having headaches over how to deal with small elites with a few hundred HP, Ye Yi was alone facing a prehistoric giant beast with 15,000 HP.
The Troll shook its dizzy head, a murderous light gleaming in its single eye. It raised its bone club and smashed it down fiercely toward the spot where Ye Yi had just been standing.
"Whoosh—"
The wind pressure even made Ye Yi's cheeks sting.
At the moment the potion took effect, he slid to the right, narrowly avoiding the strike. The bone club hit the ground, smashing out a half-meter deep crater.
"Now."
The heaven-swallowing demon sword in Ye Yi's hand moved.
He didn't get greedy with his strikes; he simply waited for the moment the Troll's old strength was spent and its new strength hadn't yet gathered, thrusting his sword like a viper's tongue.
The tip of the sword accurately struck the Troll's wrist joint.
"-42!"
The damage was still low, but Ye Yi didn't stop.
Using the recoil to leap backward, his left hand traced an arc in the air, and an ice spike formed out of thin air.
"Go!"
The ice spike wasn't shot at the Troll's body, but rather at a moss-covered rock where it was about to step.
The frost exploded, freezing the already slippery ground into a layer of thin ice.
The Troll had just pulled out its bone club and wanted to charge forward, but its massive foot stepped on the ice, instantly losing its balance.
"Boom!"
Its massive body collapsed like a falling mountain, even breaking one of its own claws in the process.
"-150!" (Fall Damage)
The damage from this fall was higher than three of Ye Yi's slashes combined.
A cold smile curled at the corner of Ye Yi's mouth.
This was the charm of a 'Full-Dive VRMMO.' Here, damage didn't just come from the stat panel, but also from the laws of physics.
He took the opportunity to close in, the heaven-swallowing demon sword turning into a black whirlwind as he slashed three times at the Troll's weakest point—its belly.
"-45!"
"-48!"
"-96!" (Critical Hit)
The 'Bloodlust' trait of the demon sword seemed to be activated; the blade grew slightly warm. Every attack siphoned a sliver of the Troll's life essence to nourish Ye Yi. Though it was faint, it kept his stamina bar in a healthy state.
However, the Troll was a Lord-class BOSS after all.
It let out a furious roar, and its body suddenly glowed with an earthy yellow light.
[System Notification: Mine Troll has used the skill 'Earth Stomp'!]
Ye Yi's heart skipped a beat.
This was an undodgeable AOE (Area of Effect) skill!
It couldn't be avoided; it had to be tanked.
"I'll have to gamble."
Ye Yi didn't retreat; instead, he charged toward the impending shockwave. At the moment the Troll's foot hit the ground, he slammed the heaven-swallowing demon sword into the floor, curling his body behind it while simultaneously activating the only defensive skill mages were born with—[Mana Shield].
This skill used Mana to negate damage at a 1:2 ratio.
"BOOM!!!"
The earthy yellow shockwave swept through the entire karst cave.
Ye Yi felt like a small boat in a storm; his Mana bar instantly emptied, and he was sent flying, crashing heavily against the rock wall.
"-120!" (HP reduction)
"Mana has reached zero."
His health bar instantly dropped by half.
Ye Yi coughed up a mouthful of blood (a game realism effect), but he smiled.
Because he was still alive.
As long as he was alive, he could deal damage.
He quickly pulled out a bottle of [Lesser Mana Spring Water]—a high-grade item three times more expensive than health potions that could instantly restore 100 Mana.
"Warm-up is over."
Ye Yi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at the Troll, which was climbing up from the ground with its health bar only down by 3%.
"The real dance starts now."