That night, everyone gathered at the instance entrance right on time as agreed.
Since it was a 15-player instance, apart from the seven who participated in the Century Cup, some other guild members, including Green Fanatic, were called in.
Although it wasn’t a regular instance run, as soon as they heard it was to test new Rune effects, everyone showed great enthusiasm.
Upon first meeting, What Pen Carries Fragrance immediately pulled Jiang Shi to the side, gestured towards the guild members, and lowered his voice cautiously, “Brother Milk, you can rest assured. Everyone called to run this instance today are all our guild’s old members. I guarantee no secrets will be leaked after it’s over!”
Jiang Shi didn’t expect What Pen Carries Fragrance to be surprisingly reliable at times, and felt slightly surprised, “Actually, leaking or not doesn’t matter…”
What Pen Carries Fragrance interrupted, “Don’t say that! The new Century Cup is about to start after the New Year. What if, at this time, other guilds seize the chance to get information? That wouldn’t be good.”
Jiang Shi turned to Han Yuze, “Are other guilds that free?”
Han Yuze nodded, “Indeed, some are.”
“Okay…” Jiang Shi gave What Pen Carries Fragrance a thumbs-up. “Your sense of crisis is top-notch, well done.”
What Pen Carries Fragrance hesitated, “…Why do I feel like your praise isn’t sincere at all?”
Jiang Shi didn’t respond. Instead, he turned and called everyone to enter the instance together.
The atmosphere in the instance that night was different from usual.
Because everyone was here for Jiang Shi’s so-called new Rune properties, they were highly expectant from the beginning when they started clearing mobs to progress through the storyline. However, their expectations were not met throughout the run.
Not until they reached the third boss did someone finally speak up.
Green Fanatic: “Master, weren’t we here to test the new Rune Stone? When are we going to use it?”
Jiang Shi: “Oh, it’s coming soon.”
Green Fanatic was puzzled, “Still waiting? Does it have some special activation mechanism that can only be used in a specific environment?”
“Not really any special requirements, today is mainly to test its functions, so we need to pick the most suitable time.” Jiang Shi replied while adeptly controlling the boss’s movements on the battlefield. When they pushed the third boss, he spoke again, “Wait for the next boss after it reaches the designated time.”
Finally, it’s coming!
The team waited eagerly, but when they finally reached it, none had time to check the dropped rewards as they all rushed to the fourth boss.
Only Jiang Shi remained, diligently performing the duties of a raid leader, impartially distributing the loot from the boss.
What Pen Carries Fragrance felt anxious, “Brother Milk, please hurry.”
“Ah, here I am.” Jiang Shi arrived late after distributing the equipment. Feeling the gaze of the crowd, he cleared his throat, “Stay here later, let me enter the battle alone.”
“I should not be mistaken, isn’t the P1 phase of Crimson Sorceress…?” What Pen Carries Fragrance seemed to doubt his hearing for a moment. “At least let us clear the small monsters before going in.”
The fourth boss in the instance was the Crimson Sorceress Gitie.
Although it was an old instance, everyone still remembered the days when they were chased by swarms of flapping moths when they first explored it.
The P1 phase of this boss was the only stage where 15 people felt insufficient, so Jiang Shi could understandWhat Pen Carries Fragrance’s surprise at this moment.
But as the saying goes, to test the new Rune effects, one must choose the most suitable place.
Jiang Shi replied firmly, “No need, I’ll handle the battle alone.”
He answered too calmly.
This calm certainty made everyone hesitate to say more.
Until they watched Jiang Shi’s figure gradually approach the huge platform where the Crimson Sorceress was located, Gentleman Fan approached Han Yuze, unable to hold back and asked, “Is the new Rune’s effect explosive group damage?”
Han Yuze’s mouth curved slightly, “No.”
Gentleman Fan had expected him to explain a bit more, but after those two words, there was silence.
This made him subconsciously glance at Han Yuze’s face a couple more times and vaguely sensed something not quite right under that expression.
[“Do you want to hear the sound of death—?”]
The sharp and eerie voice of the Crimson Sorceress cut through everyone’s thoughts.
As their gazes focused, they saw the previously empty platform suddenly engulfed in a bright red light. Simultaneously, swarms of red crystal butterflies burst out, gathering in a dense formation.
Even the official recommendation didn’t advise people with a fear of crowds to attempt this boss, and for good reason.
In this scene, Jiang Shi in the center of the platform seemed particularly small. However, his movements displayed no hint of panic.
As the swarms of red crystal butterflies swarmed, a field of runes in the same crimson hue emerged from under Jiang Shi’s feet, instantly shrouding him within.
Was he really about to confront a hundred enemies alone?
The sight flashed through everyone’s minds one after another.
However, nothing happened.
On the platform, enveloped by the Rune field, Jiang Shi was entirely swallowed by the red crystal butterflies within a second, showing no sign of resistance.
The team members: “…?”
Is that all?
What happened?
“Ah? What’s going on?” What Pen Carries Fragrance pointed to the scene and asked Han Yuze, “What’s the effect of this Rune? It doesn’t seem to be effective at all?”
Han Yuze raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure it’s not effective?”
“Indeed, there was no control or damage, but…” What Pen Carries Fragrance confirmed seriously once again. Suddenly, a spark of insight flashed in his mind, and he finally grasped something, “My goodness, an invincibility Rune? Brother Milk didn’t seem to lose any health throughout, right!?”
Han Yuze: “Something as heaven-defying as an invincibility Rune doesn’t exist.”
What Pen Carries Fragrance was stunned, “Then what is it?”
Han Yuze kindly reminded, “Wouldn’t you want to take a look at the team panel?”
All the attention was focused on Jiang Shi earlier, and no one else had paid attention to the team panel. At this point, hearing Han Yuze’s words, they subconsciously glanced at it and were completely dumbfounded.
Holy cow, isn’t this a safe zone?
Why are we losing so much health!?
Because of Han Yuze’s earlier peculiar request, Serious Young Man, being relatively observant, noticed it a bit earlier. He had been working hard to heal the team from the moment they started losing health, but now he had to reluctantly give up, “That’s it, I can’t heal anymore.”
The healing in the team had stopped. Amidst the confusion, everyone could only helplessly watch their health points gradually decreasing at a visible rate. After reaching the bottom, their vision interface turned completely dark.
One after another, everyone was defeated, and when all members were wiped out, Jiang Shi in the center of the butterflies also fell.
After a few seconds, they collectively revived at the spawn point. At this moment, their anticipation for the new Rune was gone, and they all fell into a silent and stunned state.
At this point, who couldn’t guess the specific effect of this Rune field?
After watching the play for so long, it turned out that the clown was themselves.
However, Jiang Shi seemed still interested in studying the Rune’s effect, “What do you think of this Rune? Not bad, right?”
“In what way is it not bad?” Scavenger asked, “Is it good that the teammates have infinite mana and sacrifice themselves?”
Thinking that she might still face life-threatening situations due to such a broken Rune in the future, she found it hard to laugh about it.
“Don’t say it like that. It’s quite useful in specific situations.” Jiang Shi lightly touched his chin, “From entering the battle to the team’s demise, it only lasted five or six minutes. Overall, the effect was okay.”
Serious Young Man, busy noting things down, chimed in, “Master, your damage transfer situation was at least 200% of the damage received by the affected targets. In such a case, if we consider the damage distributed among all teammates, a five-person team might end up getting their teammates killed faster.”
“Indeed, especially now with a 15-person team. Looks like when we go back, we’ll need to study it again to see if we can adjust the damage transfer ratio effect,” Jiang Shi pondered for a moment, “Or perhaps, we can consider it from another angle.”
He looked at Wuchuan Pants and smiled, “Brother Pants, would you consider increasing the maximum health value of our team’s equipment?”
Wuchuan Pants: “Get lost!”
Jiang Shi pointed at Serious Young Man, “Then at least improve the healing capacity of our only healer in the team. Look, just now, he couldn’t keep up with healing at all.”
Wuchuan Pants: “…Couldn’t keep up because you were standing still in the swarm of moths, taking explosion damage head-on, right!?”
Jiang Shi: “Can it be changed?”
Wuchuan Pants: “…Yes.”
“That’s good.” Jiang Shi clapped his hands contentedly at the others, “Thanks to all friends and family for helping out. Since you’re all here, let’s continue testing a bit more. Not too much, let’s say around ten more wipes should be enough.”
Everyone: “.”
How should I put it?
Having a friend like you, who leads us to death, is truly a blessing in disguise!
it’s kind like a self-sacrificing rune? it’d better if the user’s damage could be transferred to opponents as well