Genius Chapter 101: Block the Door 

Chapter 101: Block the Door 

Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

“What do you mean ‘let’s die once more’?” After ScarletFruit revived with ten seconds of protection, he looked around at the vigilant guards and mobs, feeling truly lucky for the first time.

ZenSlasher, still in stealth, didn’t dare to approach, afraid of being caught in the mobs’ attacks. He could only advise, “Fruit, there’s an open space on the left you can run to.”

“Thank you,” ScarletFruit said tearfully. “I’m thinking about how to sacrifice myself in full health.”

The rest of the team burst into laughter. Who knew this minor good luck would also grant a revive on the spot?

“If only we could have this instant revival when fighting a boss.”

“The healer has an instant revive, isn’t that a stroke of good luck?”

“Can the mainframe give healers an instant revive in the next update?”

“Haha, but not like ScarletFruit’s revive, that’s too funny!! Who would die and then come back to life?”

“Wait a minute… What if ScarletFruit exhausts all our luck with this revive, and we get a major disaster later?”

“Shut up! Don’t jinx it!!”

ScarletFruit became the center of everyone’s laughter. Amidst the team’s amusement, he struggled to survive, managing to maintain his health at 25% after more than forty seconds of circling around, before decisively stopping to face his death.

The mobs’ skills continued to ensnare him one after another, steadily draining ScarletFruit’s remaining health.

At this moment, the familiar golden System reminder popped up again:

“Wow! Another auspicious event!”

“Is having high luck this good? Getting these auspicious events so frequently?”

“Is it that BitterMelon and Watermelon have too low luck points?”

[[Journey Through Wind and Rain · Mechanical Iron Prison] player ScarletFruit14 died, triggering the event [Medium Auspicious], gaining the status [All players’ base health increases by 5%, duration 30 minutes].”

This time, it wasn’t an instant revive but a team-wide enhancement that could benefit everyone.

Su Mo remarked, “Well died.”

ScarletFruit lay on the floor, watching the guards bagging him up, his expression complex. “It’s what I should do for the team.”

After death, players were dragged to the blood pool by the guards. ZenSlasher followed ScarletFruit, marking the locations along the way. Su Mo observed that the final few positions stopped at the intersection of the east and north on the map, an unmarked landmark.

“The location isn’t far. The guards have dispersed. Healers can come over to revive,” ZenSlasher confirmed safety and issued the command.

The blood pool was literally a place hidden quite well. Behind a mechanism in a certain cell, upon opening it, there was a pool full of red liquid where Watermelon, BitterMelon, and the freshly arrived ScarletFruit lay. HealsFor25000 and UnchainedWanderer set off to rescue them. It took them 20 minutes to rescue the players and return.

By then, two hours had passed in the dungeon, and it was exactly 9:10 PM.

Twelve people gathered and re-entered the northern map.

In the map of the Mechanical Iron Prison, if you come again after experiencing the second level, the mechanism will not be the difficulty; the difficulty lies in single-player challenges. Once gathered, the difficulty decreases. Originally, Su Mo and the others only needed to leave from the exit after everyone gathered to successfully complete the mission. Now they not only need to gather their teammates, but also find and defeat the boss [Death Patroller].

The corridors in the Mechanical Iron Prison were filled with a chilling atmosphere. Cold winds blew from unknown directions, and the dim environment made it impossible to see the surroundings clearly. With items malfunctioning, they could only rely on skill effects and groping to move forward.

“Have you guys felt how eerie this path is?” Little Treasure from Cold Family said, “I always feel like something has been following us since we entered.”

ClearWind: “Wow, this feels like the classic opening of a horror movie.”

Su Mo glanced at the location on the mini-map. There were only blue dots representing teammates, and no visible targets to attack. “Pay attention to the boxes around us. Apple, listen for any sounds. If you hear us making noise, immediately alert us.”

Apple replied, “Got it, but it’s really quiet here… eerily quiet.”

ClearWind agreed, “Yeah, quiet to the point of being unsettling.”

At that moment, as the team continued forward and reached a fork in the road where ZenSlasher had recently scouted, suddenly a bright red message appeared before them.

“[The Death Patroller has returned on patrol.]”

As this message popped up, the areas on both sides suddenly lit up with a cyan-blue flame, resembling ghostly fires ignited on candlesticks. The sounds of demon’s gnashing teeth, the dragging of chains… various eerie noises suddenly filled everyone’s headphones.

Apple exclaimed urgently, “Damn, I think I hear footsteps, and they’re dragging something!”

ScarletFruit couldn’t help adding, “We heard it too.”

[[Journey Through Wind and Rain: Mechanical Iron Prison]] The Iron Prison’s master, Lord Death Patroller [Necromancer], has returned to the Iron Prison. The prison’s defenses have increased by 10%. 20 more [guards] have been added, and the Necromancer’s sleeping chamber has opened.

Su Mo paused briefly, and upon opening the map, he noticed that the sheepskin map in his hand had changed.

The previously relatively simple northern map suddenly became filled with traps, and a bright red landmark appeared in the middle blank area — [Necromancer’s Sleeping Chamber].

However, the most crucial point was not here. The key was the exit they were looking for, directly above the sleeping chamber. This Iron Prison had only one entrance and one exit. Coming in from the north entrance led straight to the hall, and beyond the hall was the Necromancer’s sleeping chamber.

Moreover, the paths available for walking became very limited. If they wanted to leave from here, they would inevitably pass through the entrance of the Necromancer’s sleeping chamber and then through the hall to exit this place.

“Go to the sleeping chamber,” Su Mo immediately made the decision.

The others were dumbfounded. CloudTraveller furrowed his brows slightly, “Why go to the sleeping chamber?”

“Apple, their positions can’t be in corridors or passages. When ZenSlasher was scouting some of the cells, she didn’t find any large containers that could store players,” Su Mo opened the parchment, “Look carefully at the positions of these traps on the map. There are clearly more traps than before, and they’re all traps we’ve encountered in other areas. Places with traps can’t hide people.”

Su Mo continued, “When I went to rescue ZenSlasher earlier, I overheard the guards talking. They mentioned sending prisoners to that person for enjoyment.”

CloudTraveller instantly understood, “They’re sacrifices.”

“Yes, whether the Necromancer is in the dormitory or not, we have to go over and assess the situation,” Su Mo glanced at the completion time, his expression growing serious, “If we’re too late, we might lose our teammates.”

Apple was speechless. ClearWind was speechless.

“The sound is getting closer,” Kawaii listened attentively and immediately reported back, “The noise on our side is getting louder. There’s something in our vicinity.”

The other teammates quickly realized—they had been staying in the boss’s lair all this time, explaining why they hadn’t been found elsewhere.

There was no time to waste; they had to hurry over.

“Stick to the left wall, avoid touching any extra bricks. FireworksAndLanterns, summon your creatures to scout ahead,” Su Mo guided from the front, “Healers in the middle, Watermelon at the rear, everyone else move forward.”

Leading the way, Su Mo had memorized the details of the traps on the map. He used his summoned creatures to probe ahead while coordinating closely with FireworksAndLanterns to advance swiftly. The group hugged the walls, and by the latter half, they were practically following Momo’s footsteps on the blue-tiled floor.

“Three left, four right.”

“Reverse that, right four, left three.”

Everyone dared not be careless, following the commands or footsteps ahead as they continued through the corridors. Just as they were about to reach the chamber, a towering monster suddenly appeared before them.

It was a skeleton monster.

Standing tall at three meters, it wore luxurious robes and floated half above the ground. In its hand was a long chain, and around it spun peculiar cyan-colored floating lanterns. Its eye sockets emitted crimson flames as it peered down at Su Mo and the others on the ground.

“I think I heard your voices, unless I’m mistaken,” Apple said cautiously.

ScarletFruit swallowed nervously and took a few steps back. “Brothers, we’ve run into the big boss.”

Apple, “?”

Monster Name: [Death Patroller · Lord Necromancer]

In the moment the skeleton monster raised its hand, Su Mo shouted, “Spread out! Into the chamber!”

The long chain swung down, creating a gust of wind that knocked the players forward. The boss didn’t stop its assault. At that moment, CloudTraveller decisively rushed forward, grabbing Lord Necromancer’s aggression onto himself. HealsFor25000 locked onto the main tank, while the speed arrays from the two array masters instantly activated.

“Run!” CloudTraveller turned the boss away, taking 50% of its health in damage in an instant.

“25000, double buffs up!” someone exclaimed. “Man, this boss hits hard!”

The others dared not waste time. Racing alongside their teammates, they squeezed under the feet of the floating monster and burst into Lord Necromancer’s chamber. As they entered, their eyes were instantly stunned by the scene inside the chamber.

It was less of a chamber and more akin to a purgatory from hell.

The walls of the square chamber were adorned with various torture instruments, thick chains crisscrossing in a complex pattern in the air. Hanging among them were one after another cyan-gray floating lamps. The sight seemed to elevate their vision by ten meters. In the center, a massive blood pool sunken into the ground bubbled with boiling blood.

This was a spacious and immense death chamber.

“Up there, is that Apple inside the third lamp on the left!?” FireworksAndLanterns noticed the figure in the cyan lamp above, and below the lamp hung a weapon that belonged uniquely to Apple. “I recognize that sword, it’s Apple’s!”

Su Mo glanced over and also saw the weapon. “They’re inside the lamps.”

Apple responded, “I hear your voices, but it’s still dark where I am. I can’t see where you are.”

The figure in the cyan lamp was clearly visible, hanging motionless on the chain inside. It seemed wedged tightly inside, positioned high up, making it impossible to see the exact situation without going up.

Seeing this setup, Su Mo immediately made a decision. “Block the door, don’t let the boss in.”

CloudTraveller, who was originally preparing to pull the boss’s attention, immediately changed direction and forcefully blocked the doorway.

Su Mo confirmed the position. “CloudTraveller, can you hold on?”

“I can manage,” CloudTraveller guarded the entrance of the chamber. “Hurry and rescue the others.”

Without delay, the healers and warriors stayed at the door to block the boss. The faster members immediately jumped onto the chains. However, as soon as they climbed up, the entire chain suddenly shook violently. In response, the boss outside extended its chain, crashing into the area and splashing blood water everywhere. Players hit by the blood water were immediately afflicted with a debuff that caused continuous bleeding.

“[Resentful Bloodwater]: Contact with blood water causes bleeding, losing 2% health per second for 7 seconds.”

“ScarletFruit, fall back to heal. The rest, keep blocking the door,” Su Mo jumped down from the chain, his gaze fixed on the situation above. “ZenSlasher and Watermelon, go rescue the others. The rest, stay here and focus on the boss. Let’s try using skills.”

The boss had only lost 2% of its health. The skills hitting CloudTraveller had already switched to three different single-target variations, each inflicting very high damage. Despite CloudTraveller’s initially thick health pool, he was now experiencing significant health loss. Fortunately, the team had secondary tanking support from Watermelon, so they didn’t need to worry about aggro management for now.

In addition to single-target attacks targeting the highest aggro player, the boss had also used two area-of-effect skills. Its weapon was the chain in its hand, which inflicted significant damage upon impact. However, the advantage was that the boss’s chain attacks weren’t overly fast, allowing them enough time to react. Furthermore, the layout of the chamber… with bloodwater causing debuffs, the lamps on the chains likely shouldn’t be underestimated, and there were also scattered runes on the ground.

Six-star boss, the difficulty was akin to approaching the Four Seasons Gods, not easy at all.

“This thing is trying to get in!” exclaimed HealsFor25000.

CloudTraveller immediately changed direction and took a few steps forward. “It’s not solely focused on aggro; when it uses skills, it wants to enter the sleeping chamber.”

Su Mo hesitated briefly. “There might be an ultimate skill inside the sleeping chamber. Block it off. FireworksAndLanterns, summon the bear.”

“Here it comes!” responded FireworksAndLanterns.

Two bears instantly landed on the ground, one on each side, blocking the entrance to the dormitory. Together with two warriors, they managed to forcefully keep the skeleton monster outside the dormitory.

“It’s really stuck, impressive!” remarked ScarletFruit.

The skeleton monster’s chains continued to probe inside, causing the entire sleeping chamber to shake, and blood spilled out. HealsFor25000 focused on healing the main tank and the bears up front. ScarletFruit stayed in the rear, watching the group’s health, with everyone except the assassin putting out maximum damage.

Escaping from combat in this place was extremely difficult. It might require navigating through the complex mechanisms outside, and even leaving could trigger the guards patrolling outside. They were in a dilemma, forced to engage in battle under such circumstances.

At this moment, the boss unleashed another skill, Group Fear. The fear effect only targeted the main tank and two healers within a limited area, without affecting other ranged professions.

Su Mo said, “Fruit, handle the dispel.”

ScarletFruit’s dispel skill landed on the teammates in front. “It worked.”

The boss’s health dropped to 95%. At this point, aside from the single-target damage the main tank was enduring, its mechanic skills only included the AoE chain attack and area fear. Su Mo became even more certain of his thoughts: a normal six-star boss would typically have 3-4 mechanic skills by the time it reached 95%, but now there were none… This could only mean that its mechanic skills were likely closely tied to the eerie environment inside.

“Ranged DPS, maintain maximum distance and attack. ScarletFruit, fall back and heal. Healers, prioritize healing CloudTraveller and the bears,” Su Mo said calmly. “Block it, don’t let it in! It can’t use its skills if it’s blocked.”

Old Daoist didn’t understand, “Can it still play like this!?”

Watermelon said, “This boss is something else; it needs to go home and think twice before using its skills again.”

FireworksAndLanterns exclaimed, “My bear has never been so powerful! But why are there still chains coming through this door!!”

Little Treasure from the Cold Family asked, “If we keep blocking it at the door, will it only be able to use these few skills forever?”

“Yes, have you all seen the scene inside?” Su Mo succinctly stated, “The main brain wouldn’t randomly create so many strange things as decorations. There’s likely a direct relationship between the scene and how the boss responds, or perhaps items in the chamber are also part of the boss’s mechanics. Therefore, the best strategy is not to let it into the chamber.”

Of course, initially it was just his speculation, a bit like the small games he used to play, so he instinctively had his teammates block the door.

“Awesome!”

“It’s much more comfortable without so many mechanical skills!”

Su Mo didn’t think so. He said, “It’s not certain that we can keep it out, but during this time, we’d better rescue everyone and adjust to the best possible condition.”

CloudTraveller bore the brunt of the main damage, his gaze fixed on the boss. He was closest to the boss and the first to follow the command to block the entrance. He knew that timing was crucial in blocking this monster. If he had hesitated a moment longer, the monster would have already entered the chamber.

Momo’s response speed was too fast. He even chose the optimal method in uncertain situations.

ZenSlasher and Watermelon split up and climbed upwards. ZenSlasher reached the exterior of Apple’s lamp first, stabilizing herself on the swaying chain and swiftly using her knife to break open the lamp surface. What appeared solid to Apple’s eyes was as fragile as paper from the outside, easily pierced by ZenSlasher’s blade.

Apple squinted at the glaring light, “Whoa, you guys are having quite the adventure out there!”

ZenSlasher replied, “You go down and help, I’ll continue rescuing.”

Just then, the chain in the skeleton monster’s hand suddenly erupted with tremendous force, knocking back the two summoned bears. The chain swept in, and a murmuring voice abruptly sounded,

“You ignorant ants, ScarletFruit14, do you think you can challenge me?”

Su Mo warned, “Targeted skill! Fruit, get out of the crowd!”

ScarletFruit was dumbfounded upon hearing this, scrambling hastily out of the crowd, shouting, “Big bro, is there some kind of misunderstanding?! I didn’t provoke you at all! I’m just a weak healer!!”

“Help me!!!”

Apple had just emerged from the lamp but quickly ducked back, muttering, “Fuck, this is too intense!”

A buzzing vibration filled the air. Su Mo turned around and saw the torture tools hanging on the wall come to life. Blades filled the sky, freezing everyone’s gaze, then they all converged on ScarletFruit, instantly killing him.

“This is too brutal.”

“That targeted skill, instant death.”

“No wonder it’s called the Death Patroller, it’s merciless.”

A shining death reminder appeared in front of everyone.

[[Journey Through Wind and Rain: Mechanical Iron Prison]] Player ScarletFruit14 died, triggering the event [Little Lucky], gaining status [Revive in Place].

Others: “???”

ScarletFruit instantly stood up again, “Oh, wow!?”

Author’s note:

Boss: Foolish ants, ScarletFruit14, do you also dare to challenge me?

ScarletFruit (Adamantine Body): “Come at me!!”