Genius Chapter 79: Unable to Count Seconds

Chapter 79: Unable to Count Seconds

Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

The scene upon logging in was indeed chaotic, but the main issue stemmed from FireworksAndLanterns. After Su Mo logged off the previous night, some teammates remained online while others logged off to rest. The most active online player was FireworksAndLanterns. As soon as his freezing value recovered, he went out to explore and actually discovered a clue.

Winter Realm had frozen lakes to the east and west, but there were forests to the north and south. In these forests, some trees were covered with a thin layer of ice, while others were completely dead. The key discovery made by FireworksAndLanterns was among these dead trees. Some of the dead trees had no ice on them at all, not even a thin layer. This was quite unusual in the otherwise icy landscape of the realm.

So he called in Apple and Watermelon and chopped some of the dead trees to bring back to the cave. At first, they tried to light the fire but couldn’t get it to catch. They didn’t have many fire sources to use, and it turned out that only the most expensive [Ancient God Fire] could ignite the dead wood.

“Once the Ancient God Fire ignited the dead tree, it never went out and could burn anything, even Captain Bitter melon’s tent,” Apple explained. “After lighting it, we triggered the Winter Realm’s [Eternal Flame] mechanism. This mechanism seems to be beneficial to us. Next to the burning dead tree, we can gain the Eternal Flame status.”

Su Mo then noticed that the explanation of the Winter Realm’s special mechanism had become more detailed.

[Frozen: Players in the Winter Realm will continuously accumulate freezing value. When the freezing value reaches 100, they will be permanently frozen (permanently frozen: unable to revive, unable to move).]

 [Eternal Flame: The Winter Realm flame obtained from burning deadwood in the Winter Realm. When players are near the flame, they will gain the Eternal Flame status. Players in the Eternal Flame status will not accumulate freezing value, and permanently frozen players can thaw after being exposed to the flame for 10 minutes.]

This meant they needed to carry the flame with them during battles to avoid freezing.

“But this fire is a bit too intense,” Yellow Peach said, his face covered in soot. “I almost set myself on fire by accident.”

Su Mo was puzzled. “?”

Yellow Peach scratched his head. “I tied the flame to myself just now and nearly burned myself.”

Watermelon scolded, “And you had the nerve to try tying it to me.”

The fire was useful, but it was hard to handle.

Trying to transfer the flame to other items often resulted in them burning up. Carrying it risked catching fire, and the best option was to hold it, but holding it prevented them from casting skills.

“We don’t have to hold it,” Yu Zhen, who had logged in at some point, said as he placed a flame on the ice for a while. “Once ignited, the flame doesn’t go out. We can carry the firewood in, then ignite it directly inside.”

Su Mo tried it too and found that the flame wasn’t affected by the ice. In fact, the ice around it began to melt after a while. “Find more trees and chop them down.”

Soon, everyone gathered a lot of deadwood and chopped it into manageable pieces. Each person held two torches, and the remaining wood was bundled and tied to their backs.

Fully prepared, they were ready to venture inside and see what awaited them.

Su Mo had previously informed them about the boss’s skills, and this boss seemed to have a higher level of intelligence compared to previous bosses. It was impossible to determine the attack range, and it was likely that they were already within its attack range as soon as they left the sanctuary.

“This place is so eerie,” someone commented.

Using the torches, the group illuminated their path. Despite this, the road ahead still felt oppressive.

[You have left the sanctuary]

The System notification appeared, and everyone instantly became cautious. They moved slowly, with Bitter melon leading the way, while the others discussed their plan.

“Do we just throw the torches around?”

“Just light up the place. Leave a few at our feet.”

“Light the wood on our backs too. The more fire, the better. This place won’t actually catch fire.”

“The range of the undying effect is about 5 meters, right? That should be enough.”

ScarletFruit asked, “Oh right, brother, how did you discover the boss at that time? Did he attack you first?”

“I had gone deeper into the cave, and he ambushed me from behind. That’s how I discovered him,” Su Mo recalled carefully. “Oh, and he grabs people by the neck. Be careful about that.”

ScarletFruit shuddered, “No way? Is this boss also using horror tactics?”

ClearWind patted ScarletFruit’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, the little prince of horror movies is here to protect you.”

“Don’t just pat me like that!” ScarletFruit suddenly remembered the terrifying memories from the Desert Inn and instinctively moved closer to ClearWind.

Unconsciously, the others huddled together, making the center a bit crowded.

At that moment, ScarletFruit was suddenly patted, “Windy, stop patting me!”

ClearWind said in confusion, “I didn’t pat you!”

ScarletFruit froze, a chill running down his spine as he felt a hand seemingly grasping his neck. Before he could cry out for help, he was yanked forward by the others and fell to the ground. Only then did he see the figure standing where he had been.

“Oh my God!” ScarletFruit exclaimed.

Under the combined illumination of the torches and the Illumination Scroll, everyone finally saw the true form of the Winter Boss, Eternal Winter. He appeared as a frail-looking youth, but his eyes held an aloof arrogance that seemed to disdain everything.

“You’ve come?” Eternal Winter said slowly, his voice faint and light, like a whisper from a lost soul.

“What do you mean by ‘come’?” ClearWind couldn’t help but ask, “Do bosses greet people now?”

Su Mo’s expression changed as he scanned the surroundings, and he immediately shouted, “Run! Everyone, run inside!”

His teammates took off at his shout, with Yellow Peach and Watermelon working together to carry Bitter melon, rushing forward.

But Eternal Winter wouldn’t give them any chance. With a wave of his hand, a barrage of ice blades rained down. Su Mo urgently summoned a bear to shield them and, along with Yu Zhen, covered their teammates’ retreat. He had explored most of this cave and knew this area was just beyond the shelter. The surroundings here were narrower than deeper inside, and if they engaged the boss in battle here, the boss’s movement through the ice would cover shorter distances, significantly limiting their reaction time.

Although fighting at the shelter entrance would allow them to disengage easily, they couldn’t choose this option because disengaging would prevent them from understanding the boss’s mechanics, which would be even more dangerous.

“Damn, those ice blades!!”

“He looks so good, why does he hit so hard!!”

The group ran quickly, with Bitter melon being carried by several others in turns. By the time they reached the wider part of the cave, everyone except Bitter melon was out of breath.

“Stop, set the torches,” Su Mo ordered. “Bitter melon, take the aggro.”

All the torches were scattered and thrown around, instantly brightening up the wide cave.

Deep within the cave was a large ice cave, with a long path leading to a raised platform in the center, seemingly the lair of the boss, Eternal Winter. Apart from this, the ground in other areas was slightly concave, about one to two meters lower. Once fallen into these depressions, there was only the option of jumping up lightly. Based on the situation, these areas seemed to be frozen underground rivers.

The path was about 3 meters wide, and including the underground river, the total width would not exceed 10 meters.

The height above was even higher, far beyond the reach of the bear’s height, estimated at about ten meters.

“Damn, did the boss hollow out this mountain? It’s so huge inside!” ScarletFruit held up a torch with nowhere to place it. “Where do I put this thing? Just throw it on the road?”

ZenSlasher found a lamp stand. “There’s a lamp stand by the road. Stuff the torches into the lamp stands.”

Along the roadside were about seven or eight lamp stands. After stuffing them full with torches, everyone piled the remaining torches together to create a tall bonfire, ensuring that everyone remained in the Immortal state, unaffected by the accumulation of freezing points.

Once Watermelon stabilized the hate, Su Mo immediately dismissed the bear summon. “Healers in the middle, ranged at the rear, melee with Watermelon.”

Boss Eternal Winter was unlike regular bosses; it hovered half-floating, never touching the ground, and moved extremely fast. Even with Watermelon holding hate, it would occasionally make small displacements, posing a great challenge to assassins and physical swordsmen. Conversely, ranged professions found it comfortable to output damage from the rear positions. With the cleric’s healing and the array from the array master, they could fully unleash their damage.

However, just as everyone had settled into their positions and began to output damage, Eternal Winter suddenly darted into the ice layer, disappearing from sight. Su Mo quickly reacted, “Everyone, watch out for the ice layers in all directions. It could come out anytime.”

No sooner had Su Mo spoken than Eternal Winter descended from the high ice layer, targeting the Array master at the rear with a powerful attack. Yu Zhen swiftly retreated, avoiding Eternal Winter’s frontal assault. However, the attack released by Eternal Winter was an area-of-effect attack. Despite his quick evasion, Yu Zhen still took a hit that slashed away 30% of his health.

 “This move is quite frightening,” ScarletFruit quickly topped up the Array master’s health. While this move targeted the Array master, the subsequent area-of-effect attack still chipped away at the health of the rear troops. “It’s impossible to predict its direction. We don’t know where it will come from.”

Yellow Peach was healing the frontline melee teammates and clearly felt the pressure. “Its normal attacks are also formidable. Big Brother Watermelon’s health is dropping twice as fast as usual.”

Watermelon helplessly remarked, “I’m sorry. Its ice blade is just too fast. I won’t dodge anymore.”

Watermelon could be said to be the toughest warrior in Celestial Horizon at the moment. The increased damage he was taking indicated just how strong the boss’s attacks were.

“Assassins and physical swordsmen, dodge the normal attacks and relieve the pressure on the healers,” Su Mo observed the situation, commanding while dealing damage. “Watch for the boss’s ice entry action; it’s likely a mechanized skill.”

With 99% health left, Eternal Winter entered the ice again.

Everyone instantly became vigilant towards the ice surface above, but in the next second, the boss appeared right in front of them. Su Mo felt a sense of deja vu and his alertness surged. “Don’t look!”

Unfortunately, the warning came a bit too late. Some teammates didn’t react in time and stared directly at the boss, instantly turning into ice sculptures. This dumbfounded the others, who stared at the ice sculptures in disbelief.

ScarletFruit couldn’t find a way to cast healing spells. “Oh my god! How do I heal this?”

Su Mo locked onto his teammates and noticed they were now under the effect of “Severe Cold,” which accelerated the accumulation of freezing points and completely nullified the effect of being invincible.

“Can we dispel it?” Su Mo asked.

Yellow Peach replied, “We can’t dispel the effects of severe cold.”

Su Mo immediately said, “Watermelon and Apple are frozen. ZenSlasher and ClearWind, take the torches and try to thaw our teammates.”

The other two acted swiftly. Indeed, the severe cold that couldn’t be dispelled disappeared instantly upon contact with the fire seeds, gradually thawing the teammates under the burning torches.

Including the time to fetch the torches, complete thawing took 5 seconds.

So far, the boss had displayed two mechanism skills: one instantly killed after entering the ice and another froze the person after entering the ice. Instant kill was area damage, while freezing wasted time and was a wipeout trigger. They couldn’t afford not to save their teammates; not rescuing them would rapidly accumulate freezing points under severe cold, leading to permanent freezing.

At this moment, the boss’s health was at 98%, and everyone felt the forceful attacks from the boss.

Su Mo counted the seconds. The first ice entry occurred 10 seconds after aggro was initiated with the boss’s health at 99%. The second one had a 12-second interval. If it was 10 seconds for an instant kill and 12 seconds for freezing…

Just then, Bitter Melon warned, “Ice entry!”

The boss entered the ice, instantly putting everyone on edge.

Su Mo was momentarily stunned. No, this time it was 6 seconds. A new skill?

Yong Dong descended from above, targeting the main tank Bitter Melon directly and reducing his health to 5%. Yellow Peach was startled and hurriedly stabilized Bitter Melon’s health, with ScarletFruit also assisting in healing a few times.

“That scared me.”

“Bitter Melon almost couldn’t handle that wave.”

“Thank goodness for his thick health. If it were another main tank, they’d have been replaced right away.”

“Even Bitter Melon almost couldn’t hold out. If it targeted me, I would have been done for.”

“This boss is way too unpredictable!”

Su Mo paused slightly. This wasn’t right.

And just then, 7 seconds after the instant kill, Eternal Winter entered the ice again, making everyone’s hearts race.

ClearWind couldn’t understand this skill. “What’s coming this time?”

Apple said, “My speed boost is on, ready to run at any moment.”

Yellow Peach replied, “Array Master Dad, can you give your little brother a movement speed array?”

ScarletFruit silently prayed, “Don’t target me!! Please, protect the healers.”

However, the boss didn’t instantly kill anyone. Instead, he appeared behind everyone, raised his hand gently, and suddenly a large ice flower totem emerged from the ground. Immediately after, everyone was layered with three statuses: [Sluggish], [Immobilized], and [Healing Prohibited].

Sluggish prolonged the time players took to use skills, Immobilized prevented movement, and Healing Prohibited prevented receiving healing.

Su Mo immediately ordered, “Break Crowd Control!”

Everyone quickly broke out of crowd control, but then they realized Sluggish and Immobilized were lifted, while Healing Prohibited remained.

“Healing Prohibited isn’t lifted.”

“Crowd control can’t remove Healing Prohibited!”

Bitter Melon’s health was reduced to 50%, and everyone’s anxiety peaked.

In desperation, ScarletFruit rolled forward and summoned a beast directly.

A beautiful pear blossom tree landed in the midst of the group, suddenly spreading white flowers all over the ground. Immediately, the Healing Prohibited status on everyone was lifted.

ScarletFruit said, “Bro, use Dispel for Healing Prohibition!”

Yellow Peach immediately used a single-target Dispel on Bitter Melon, “It works!”

Su Mo organized the current information points: known skills include instant kill, freezing, and group debuffs.

There are two group debuffs that can be controlled and Healing Prohibition that needs Dispel… The cooldown for control should match, but Dispel for healing might not keep up.

The boss’s health was only at 97% now, weighing heavily on everyone’s minds. There was an indescribable tension, making them hesitant to fully unleash their attacks, afraid that the boss might appear next to them in the next second and kill them instantly.

Yu Zhen glanced at Su Mo and asked, “How many seconds?”

Su Mo shook his head, his voice filled with unprecedented caution, “… There’s no countdown.”

Eternal Winter’s skills didn’t follow the usual patterns; they were random and without a time limit. The mechanics were completely chaotic.

Unable to count down, everyone could only preemptively anticipate.

Author’s note: Eternal Winter: “Here I come?” 

Others: “Don’t come near us!!” 

Momo pondered: “Interesting.”