Chapter 33

Rodi's response seemed too "practical," so "practical" that Sally found it hard to accept. She stared at Rodi in a daze, muttering, "But you said why you saved me... You said it was for—"

"For this country— I know many people would take it as a joke, but I am serious." Rodi shrugged, looking at the seemingly dispirited little girl. He felt he might have been a bit too cold-hearted, so he thought for a moment and said, "If you have the confidence to make Francis disappear, I might consider helping you more often."

It sounded like a joke, but Rodi's casual words stopped Sally's speech. However, her eyes narrowed slightly. Ordinary people might think he was just blowing hot air, but after witnessing everything Rodi had done, Sally realized there was some depth to his words.

"Are you serious? Are you willing to swear?" Sally raised her hand slightly, asking in a serious and soft voice.

Rodi looked into Sally's bright and wise eyes, suddenly realizing this girl was far smarter than he had imagined. The gesture of raising her hand was significant—similar to the "pinky promise" in the modern world. In this primitive and backward society, the principle of "contract" was sometimes stricter than in modern times.

Once a vow was made, both parties had to abide by it, which was often more useful than signing any contract or regulation. Needless to say, Sally wanted to tie him to the same chariot as herself.

"If you're serious, I'll be serious." With a plan in mind, Rodi extended his hand, making a vow. Seeing that he actually agreed, Sally's gloomy expression vanished, and the corners of her mouth curled up. She felt she had finally gained some upper hand in the conversation with Rodi, giving her a sense of accomplishment.

Rodi found her appearance somewhat amusing, but after extinguishing the campfire, his mind returned to the battle against the boss. He pondered for a moment and then handed the little girl a long dagger he carried, saying casually, "You might need it in the upcoming battle. Take it."

The battle against the Scorpion King "Screlix" was not simple, especially given that Rodi was only level 3 and Sally had almost no combat ability. However, for an experienced "Ranger" player, soloing various bosses was always a challenge they were eager to take on.

Similar low-level dungeons had various "flawless" videos circulating online, many of which Rodi himself had created and practiced. In short, he was confident he could defeat this boss with just a dozen arrows and dual daggers.

The forest's visibility was extremely low after nightfall. Rodi walked confidently ahead, seemingly unconcerned about the possibility of fierce beasts attacking at any moment. He knew this area was the boss zone, and no other creatures would appear nearby.

However, in Sally's eyes, this composure made Rodi even more mysterious. She kept imagining the past of this "seven-year adventurer," her expression unconsciously showing admiration. Before this, she never thought she would meet such a strange person, and her curiosity almost filled her mind. But the person in front of her was like a block of wood, not saying a word throughout the journey, which made her somewhat frustrated.

After walking for two kilometers, Rodi began setting traps in a forest filled with thick, giant trees. He dug seven large pits of varying sizes on the originally flat ground. Sally wanted to help, and Rodi did not stop her, pointing here and there to guide her in digging the pits, which left her panting with exhaustion. In the darkness, Sally finally couldn't resist her inner doubts and wiped the sweat from her forehead, asking, "Why do I have the feeling that you've faced these beasts many times?"

Rodi, who was humming a strange song, looked up and shrugged, "Your intuition isn't wrong. I've been an adventurer for seven years."

This statement now served as a perfect shield, deflecting Sally's various questions. He pulled hard, lifting the heavy stones trapped by vines over the dug pits. Thanks to the thick trees and resilient vines, the stones, weighing hundreds of pounds, hung ten meters high, looking precarious but surprisingly stable.

"Is the thing we're about to face very scary?"

Sally squatted beside him, unable to resist asking.

"A cavalry detachment from Condon might be able to handle it, but any number of scouts from Finks Village would die."

Rodi wasn't exaggerating about the Scorpion King "Screlix." Level 10 might not be considered high for humans, but with the "boss template," its strength tripled, which was not unusual. More terrifying was its massive size and the defensive power of its hard shell. For players who were generally around level 5, hitting its shell barely caused any damage.

"Are we really going to face such a monster?"

For Sally, Rodi, who had killed ten orc wolf riders single-handedly and dozens of "extremely dangerous" creatures in one night, was already incredibly powerful in her mind. She had almost an obsessive confidence in him.

This was unlike the usually objective and calm Sally, but she didn't notice it at the moment.

"More specifically, I will face this monster," Rodi swung his curved dagger, cutting down a thick tree trunk, sharpening it into a heavy and sharp spear, and with great effort, hung it above the forest using vines. "Many small scorpions will appear. When I can't take care of you, use that dagger to kill anything that approaches you."

"Small scorpions? Can't I just step on them?"

"No, because these scorpions are about as long as your calf," Rodi gestured, "Stepping on their heads will get you stung by their tails. Four stings might be enough to kill you, so remember to run around the trees."

"Run around the trees? Can't I climb them?"

"They climb faster than you."

Rodi took out the fresh fish he had caught the previous day, threw it into the deep pit, and demonstrated for Sally by circling a few trees. "Their weakness is their slow movement. Once you start circling, they can't keep up with you, so this will buy you time until I finish the fight. If... if you get stung, don't stop. Close your eyes and run along the tree trunks, or you'll be attacked due to hallucinations."

Sally listened in a daze. She felt that even experienced hunters wouldn't know these things, and if someone else told her this, she would think it was nonsense. But seeing Rodi's serious and solemn expression, she tightened her grip on the dagger and nodded.

"Alright, that's all I need to say. Remember, don't scream no matter what you see, or my efforts will be in vain. Understand?"

"Uh-huh."

Rodi was about to turn around but noticed the girl in front of him seemed to have something to say. He stopped, raised his eyebrows, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing—nothing."

Maybe she was just too nervous.

Rodi couldn't understand what she was thinking. His mind was full of strategies to deal with the boss, so he shrugged and turned to walk into the darkness.

But he didn't hear Sally's complaint behind him—

"Can't even say an extra word? What a... fool."

Rodi didn't realize he had done another "doomed to be alone" foolish thing. At this moment, his mind was fully focused on recalling the location of the Scorpion King "Screlix's" lair. After finding the exact spot in the darkness, Rodi checked his status—

Health: 150/150

Level: 3

Experience: 1468/1500

He needed 32 more points to level up. Rodi frowned, knowing there was no other way. He had already killed most of the creatures that could provide experience, and he couldn't deal with the venomous mosquitoes and bees that appeared during the day. Now he could only rely on himself.

He was confident he could defeat the boss. Unlike fighting orcs, which was full of variables, this was one of the few battles in the game that could be practiced repeatedly.

In front of him was a dark cave, with a diameter exceeding five meters. Rodi stepped forward, fitted an arrow made from a wooden stick, and shot it into the cave. Knowing this arrow wouldn't hit the target, he naturally wanted to save his limited arrows.

This was the standard "lure" step before a dungeon. Rodi was familiar with it. But before he could turn and retreat, he suddenly smelled a pungent odor. This anomaly made Rodi frown, as he had never encountered such a situation before.

Instinctively sensing something was wrong, but the arrow had already been shot into the dark cave...

"Boom!"

The sudden impact indicated that the Scorpion King in the cave had been provoked. It was too late to do anything now. The ground trembled, raising a cloud of dust. Rodi immediately turned and retreated, heading toward the traps he had set up a hundred meters away.

"Hisss—"

The Scorpion King's hiss echoed as it emerged from the cave, first declaring its territory in anger, then began to search for the enemy who had disturbed it. When it saw Rodi's rapidly retreating back, it didn't immediately chase after him but suddenly raised its giant claws and slammed them into the ground!

"Bang!"

A miraculous and terrifying scene unfolded. The ground where the claws struck suddenly cracked, the fissures rapidly expanding toward Rodi's direction. Hearing the strange cracking sound from afar, Rodi instinctively sensed something was wrong, and his running motion abruptly stopped. He quickly dodged to the right...

A shockwave erupted from the ground, hitting the tree trunk beside Rodi!

"Boom!"

A tree that three people could barely encircle exploded in the middle, splinters flying everywhere, almost knocking Rodi over.

"Damn... What the hell is this!?"

Rodi, running for his life, was drenched in cold sweat, his confidence from a moment ago completely gone. He had discovered a very serious problem. The creature in front of him was not the Scorpion King Screlix he remembered!

The Screlix in his memory didn't use magic skills and didn't have such a ferocious appearance. The Scorpion King he remembered was at most four meters long, but the one chasing him now was at least six meters long!

The claws and tail were at least two sizes larger than Screlix's.

Could it be that the Scorpion King Screlix hadn't "taken office" two years before the game's launch?

This realization made Rodi's body cold, but his legs ran faster than ever. There was no turning back now, as he had already determined that the creature behind him was likely a level 12 or even a level 15 boss.

Rodi was about to run out of the danger zone—then he realized... in this story-based dungeon, once the boss battle started, there was no way to escape!

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