Genius Chapter 74: Autumn Deep Night Team

Chapter 74: Autumn Deep Night Team

Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

The summoner was targeted, and the array master went to rescue, but the boss went underwater.

“Keep low to reduce damage. Yellow Peach, focus on healing melee. ScarletFruit, watch everyone else’s health,” Su Mo locked onto the merman swimming incessantly underwater. The surface of the water swayed more intensely. At this moment, he saw the merman rapidly charging towards Yu Zhen. “Brother, watch out!”

Yu Zhen immediately deployed a defensive array while rescuing FireworksAndLanterns, but the mermaid swiftly collided with the defensive array, forcing him to layer another one. “Its attack power has increased.”

The merman’s underwater attacks were already powerful, and after reaching 50% health, it received a new enhancement. However, their attack and defense capabilities had decreased due to the ban on two pieces of equipment, clearly signaling a new round of strengthening.

Bitter melon said, “Its aggro is all over the place.”

Su Mo immediately checked the hate list. Currently, the unit with the highest aggro was still Bitter melon mixed with Milk, but after diving underwater, the merman targeted UnchainedWanderer. This was clearly not off-tank behavior but the boss actively messing with aggro, randomly targeting people underwater.

“Get ashore, don’t stay in the water,” Su Mo decisively ordered.

Yu Zhen pushed FireworksAndLanterns aside directly. As the mermaid shattered the defensive array, he led the summoner to another location. “Let’s go!”

Su Mo reminded everyone else, “Keep up the DPS, don’t stop.”

ScarletFruit replied, “Can’t heal Brother Wanderer, too far away.”

The mermaid continued to target UnchainedWanderer. FireworksAndLanterns quickly got ashore without being chased. They summoned Black Tortoise as a foothold. UnchainedWanderer managed to evade the monster for a while but eventually dropped to 20% health.

Just as FireworksAndLanterns successfully escaped danger, Yu Zhen decisively activated a skill.

Su Mo’s caution was about to be voiced when suddenly, a figure appeared before him. The person happened to be standing at the edge of Black Tortoise. Reacting swiftly, Su Mo grabbed Yu Zhen’s hand and pulled him up, causing the two to collide.

ScarletFruit was stunned by the scene. “Holy cow, Brother Wanderer, you scared me.”

“It’s a skill to connect with a thread. I went over first,” Yu Zhen said, placing his hand on Su Mo’s lower back before jumping onto FireworksAndLanterns’ Black Tortoise.

Su Mo regained his composure. He had almost forgotten that in the same scene, they could also use the skill “Fate Thread Connecting a Thousand Miles”. Yu Zhen must have known this all along, allowing him to confidently continue pulling aggro.

At this moment, the team continued their assault.

However, Su Mo hesitated as he looked at the boss’s 49% health. “…No, it hasn’t surfaced.”

They had already exceeded the usual time frame for the mermaid’s posture change, which meant they might face a new challenge: the next phase at 49% health where they would have to battle the mermaid underwater.

Su Mo focused and looked down, checking the time. “Watermelon, go straight into the water.”

“Ranged stay on shore and attack, while others dive underwater,” he commanded.

“Really going underwater?” Watermelon asked.

ClearWind followed closely behind Watermelon, jumping down. “Exciting, we’re going underwater to fight.”

As an assassin profession, he had noticed the mermaid’s formidable attacks while fighting in the pavilion. Now, underwater, the damage inflicted on them would surely double.

“What about the aggro chaos?” ZenSlasher asked.

Su Mo glanced at the aggro list and saw the mermaid immediately heading towards Watermelon below, reinforcing his speculation, “No, it’s targeting based on aggro. It goes after whoever has the highest aggro underwater.”

That’s why earlier, when it was just UnchainedWanderer and FireworksAndLanterns, it prioritized following the array master and didn’t chase after the summoner. Watermelon has the highest aggro, so he needs to go underwater to stabilize the aggro for the entire team.

“Magical swordsman and array master, head to the pavilion,” Su Mo said. “Use the mountain vines to tie them up, don’t let them get pushed away by the boss’s skills.”

Yu Zhen immediately understood Su Mo’s intention. He promptly went ashore and used the spare mountain vines prepared earlier to tie them around the pavilion pillars. He then threw the other end of the vines into the water, ensuring that those underwater maintained a distance from the pavilion. This prevented them from being pushed away by water or skills, thus keeping them within the protective range of healing.

Apple also understood and acted immediately.

“After tying them up, both healers go up to the pavilion. The magical swordsman and summoner go to the ice block, adjusting their positions flexibly according to distance, and Black Tortoise could stand,” Su Mo added. “Once melee is targeted, if the vines break or are pulled, they should be rescued and immediately go to the pavilion for replenishment before returning underwater. Summoner’s Black Tortoise prioritizes tethering the melee with lower health to buy time for healing.”

The rearrangement cost them a few minutes, but they quickly adapted to the new positions. The pavilion’s position became vacant, and the summoner’s Black Tortoise, being an unknown factor, could easily lose control when the summoner was targeted. With all melee fighters tied up by mountain vines around the pavilion, the distance remained unchanged. This allowed the healers to stand safely inside the pavilion, providing the safest position for both healers.

Entering the water would slow down the use of skills. The best position was to release skills closest to the boss.

Meanwhile, the array master and magical swordsman stood on the ice blocks, with Black Tortoise as their secondary choice of position. This allowed for flexibility in their movement range, bringing their ranged attacks closer.

“Pay attention. Array master, magical swordsman, and physical swordsman’s defensive skills should not overlap. Prioritize the sequence of casting with defensive arrays and magical sword formations,” Su Mo instructed ClearWind, “Leave the physical sword formation for the phantom.”

“Same goes for healers. Use protective spells during the phantom, and cleric, use your enhancements when ready,” Su Mo continued.

“We need to push its health down as quickly as possible, otherwise it will become increasingly difficult later on.”

Another six minutes passed, and the boss’s health dropped to 45%.

Another piece of their equipment was disabled, leaving them with only three remaining.

“Armor disabled, defense decreased. Heal, keep an eye on everyone’s health,” Watermelon said.

“No problem,” replied ClearWind.

At the 24-minute mark, the boss’s health was at 28%.

Their output speed once again decreased.

Su Mo decisively transferred his connection from ZenSlasher to Watermelon. With the equipment disabled, Watermelon’s defense noticeably changed. During this phase, the array master’s damage-boosting arrays stacked increasingly, providing at least two layers of damage increase and two layers of defense on most attackers. The melee fighters underwater had even up to three layers.

By the 30-minute mark, the boss’s health dropped to 15%.

The fifth piece of equipment was disabled, and the pressure on the healers suddenly intensified.

Su Mo said, “We have 15% left. We need to finish within 12 minutes. Healers, keep an eye on the burst damage. If unable to heal, prioritize sacrificing the DPS with lower burst damage, except for the warrior and ranged.”

Watermelon below immediately shivered.

Why does this have to happen again!!! Floating on the water’s surface after death, possibly even suffering from the boss’s lash and friendly fire. Being a dead fish is one thing, but it’s really embarrassing!! If we fail this time, even if others don’t say it, I’ll definitely become the focal point of command in the next round.

In the remaining 12 minutes, as teammates’ defenses lowered, the boss’s skills appeared particularly fierce. Time ticked away second by second, under intense pressure, the rate of health decrease did not significantly slow down. Everyone remained highly focused, knowing exactly what to do at each moment, with flawless use of their skills.

Not a single array from the array master faltered, both summoners maintaining a constant presence of seven summoned creatures each, the magical swordsman’s sword techniques continuously dazzling. Melee fighters surfaced for breath after attacks, then dove back in to continue the assault, while the cleric’s healing lights never ceased…

By the time reached 40 minutes and 15 seconds, the lake’s merman boss’s health was successfully reduced to zero.

[Congratulations to the team led by Momo for successfully clearing the Summer Realm, overcoming all obstacles. All participating members receive: [Level 80 Equipment Chest] x1, [Level 80 Equipment Refinement Material – Lotus Heart] x1, [Permanent Attribute Points +50]] [New Special Reminder: The team’s current progress ranking is (2). Priority clearance will earn rich first-clear rewards. Keep it up!] [You have entered the third level of the Mystic Realm of Departed Souls (Autumn Realm – Midnight)]

When Su Mo opened his eyes, he found himself deep in an ancient forest, surrounded by withered and desolate yellow trees. The late autumn wind made him shiver involuntarily. He looked up and saw faint lights flickering in the distance amidst the trees.

“Damn, where are we?”

“Why does this autumn scenery look so eerie?”

“What’s going on? Wasn’t the sun shining just fine?”

“What sun? I see a big moon overhead!”

“Everyone check in.” Su Mo realized something was wrong. “Who’s in daylight and who’s in nighttime?”

In the voice channel, everyone reported their locations. Su Mo then realized they had been scattered into two different scenes with different times.

Daytime: Apple, FireworksAndLanterns, ZenSlasher, UnchainedWanderer, ScarletFruit14.

Midnight: Milk mixed with Bitter melon, ClearWindIsHere, WhatAHugeWatermelon, Momo, Peach Sauce.

After listening to everyone’s reports, Su Mo fell silent. “There might be branching quests or dual bosses. Everyone, be cautious.”

Yu Zhen added, “Let’s regroup first. Everyone head south. There seems to be a mansion over there. Let’s check it out.”

Su Mo instructed, “For those in the midnight environment, head towards the light.”

After the team responded, Su Mo didn’t immediately use the Illumination Scroll but moved towards the illuminated area after getting familiar with the darkness.

As he walked, he organized his thoughts about the dungeon challenge. Like the Desert Inn from previous experiences, there was usually an underlying storyline. This Mystic Realm of Departed Souls should have one too, but currently, there were no obvious plot lines emerging. It seemed like each place was an independent scene, such as the Son of Spring in the first stage and the Lakeheart Mermaid in the second stage, which didn’t appear to have specific connections.

Su Mo couldn’t help but recall before entering the challenge, he had reviewed the relevant clues about the Heaven’s Gate Seal.

If we infer from the rewards, the initial Tianqi Seal opened the Demon Seal, causing the sealed demons to appear on the Celestial Horizon continent, and introduced the faction system to change player gameplay. Heaven’s Gate Seal seemed more like a boost to this gameplay change, making the gameplay system more robust.

In CloudTraveller’s various mainline tasks, there were actually hints about the seasons. The tasks he performed were to understand the history of the Celestial Horizon continent, leading to the emergence of the five major Sects, just before the spiritual power competition. Before that, the Celestial Horizon continent was actually a chaotic Global occupied by demons. However, from the current situation, it seems that apart from the four seasons, there are no other clues that can be connected to the Heaven’s Gate Seal…

Or could it be that the scene they are in is actually the period before the establishment of various systems on the Celestial Horizon continent, when demons were rampant?

“Help!!”

At this moment, a cry suddenly came from the voice channel—it was ClearWindIsHere’s voice.

Su Mo snapped out of his thoughts, “What’s going on?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly caught the faint rustling sounds coming from the environment outside the voice channel, as if something was approaching… No, there should be many things approaching.

Su Mo instinctively summoned Zephyr Hawk and LunarFeline. Immediately, he threw an Illumination Scroll ahead, illuminating countless creatures that resembled a mix of humans and trees, standing roughly knee-high in front of him.

As soon as these creatures saw the light from the Illumination Scroll, their red eyes opened wide. The dense red pupils appeared in front of Su Mo, causing him to involuntarily step back several paces. He watched the eerie and terrifying scene unfold before him as he found himself surrounded.

Su Mo turned and ran, and the creatures immediately gave chase. In his peripheral vision, he glimpsed their health bars and brief introductions—

Tree Spirits (Demons).

The Tree Spirits moved quickly, fortunately susceptible to control effects. Su Mo used Zephyr Hawk and LunarFeline to create distance while testing their abilities. These creatures were susceptible to control, had moderate health, defense, and attack, classified as intermediate-level monsters.

Fighting them individually wasn’t difficult, but there were just too many—so many that they couldn’t be counted with the naked eye.

As he fought, more Tree Spirits continued to gather around him. It was unsustainable.

“The team in the nighttime scene immediately head towards the light source. If you encounter monsters along the way, don’t engage or startle them. We’ll regroup as soon as possible.” Su Mo decisively abandoned the attack, using summoned creatures to clear a path and swiftly headed towards their original destination.

The direction through the mountain forest was chaotic, but the light source seemed to be a fixed point, guiding lost souls in the mountains. Su Mo wasn’t far from the light source, and when he arrived at Vicinity, he suddenly saw a long, orange-yellow arc on the ground. The arc seemed to extend in two directions, with palm-sized runes faintly visible on its surface.

Runes?

Su Mo decisively pressed forward. The tree spirits rushing behind him crashed loudly against an invisible barrier, creating more pronounced runes. These runes extended upwards, seemingly meant to obscure the presence of these monsters, almost as if protecting something.

He continued walking until he came upon a mansion nestled in the forest.

Two red lanterns hung at the entrance of the mansion. Inside the gate, a building was lit by candlelight, which appeared to be the source of the light they had seen.

“Are you guys alright?”

“Damn, did the nighttime team get wiped out?”

“Anyone there? Respond to confirm you’re safe!!”

Su Mo finally had a moment to attend to them, “Did you guys see a large mansion during the day?”

“Thank goodness! Bro, you’re still alive. We haven’t completely regrouped here. I can’t find the mansion’s location. This forest is too vast; we can’t find our way at all,” ScarletFruit asked, “Has Brother Wanderer reached the place? Give us a landmark; the map isn’t working.”

“I’ve marked the way along the route. If you can’t find me, I’ll come to you in a bit,” Yu Zhen replied, “I just arrived at the Vicinity of the mansion. Our scenes should be the same.”

The nighttime scene here was more dangerous, and from the red lanterns, Su Mo had a strange feeling and asked, “Is it safe inside?”

The autumn leaves rustled, and during the daytime, the mansion looked ordinary. The two lanterns at the entrance weren’t lit yet, gently swaying in the autumn breeze, giving off a simple vibe. Yu Zhen hesitated slightly, “It should be safe. I’ll go in and take a look. Be careful on your end.”

FireworksAndLanterns was very envious, “It looks like fun over there. I want to go to your side too! How did they decide who goes where? I want to be in the nighttime scene.”

“Child, isn’t it good to be alive? Why are you always thinking about suffering?” ScarletFruit emphasized seriously, “And it seems like their situation isn’t fun at all. I feel like they’re about to wipe.”

The daytime group progressed smoothly, while the nighttime group was still in a thrilling escape.

Watermelon said, “These monsters are disgusting. I stealthily ran away and am heading to the rendezvous point now.”

ClearWind spoke breathlessly, “I’m still trying to escape. I can’t fight them, and I can’t outrun them! Big brother, help me!”

Except for Su Mo, everyone else was still fleeing from the tree demons’ encirclement.

At this rate, they might really face the danger of wiping out. Su Mo said, “ClearWind, throw an Illumination Scroll into the sky. Yellow Peach, report your position.”

Yellow Peach was their only healer, and keeping him safe was a top priority.

Apple suddenly realized, “Wait… Isn’t Watermelon also over there?”

“I’m with Watermelon,” Su Mo began to say.

At that moment, another faint voice came through the voice channel from the nighttime group’s healer, Yellow Peach. He was standing next to Watermelon, watching him forge ahead amidst the encircling demons and looking towards a distant light. With difficulty, Yellow Peach said, “We might not make it to the end…”

Watermelon replied, “Don’t be pessimistic, young man.”

Huang Tao corrected himself, “Okay, we’ll be there soon.”

The others were speechless.