Genius Chapter 80: Who is the First?

Chapter 80: Who is the First?

Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

The boss’s health was at 95%, and it entered the ice phase again.

The mechanism skill couldn’t be defined by time. Apart from the boss entering the ice phase, they couldn’t predict when the boss would attack again. Even with the ice phase, their ability to judge became extremely difficult. So far, the boss had shown three mechanism skills: instant kill, freezing, and group debuffs. The most feared Winter Realm skill, “Drunken Dreams,” had yet to appear.

“Group debuff!”

Ice flower totems appeared under everyone’s feet again. At this moment, ScarletFruit’s group Dispel was still on cooldown. Su Mo made a quick decision, “Yellow Peach, dispel Bitter Melon’s Healing Prohibition. Others, focus on self-preservation skills for now.”

They endured the defensive skill through a wave, and ScarletFruit then dispelled the Healing Prohibition for the others.

There was no time limit, and the sequence of skills was also random. The only reaction time left for everyone was when the boss entered the ice phase… No, there must be something overlooked. Why did the boss enter the ice phase for every skill? Could it be that they needed to break this ice?

“Is this boss afraid of fire? Should we just burn him?” FireworksAndLanterns picked up a torch from the ground. “Why not give it a try?”

ScarletFruit said, “I think it’s possible.”

Su Mo didn’t stop them. The two immediately threw the torch at the Winter Eternal boss. Unexpectedly, the boss waved its hand, and a fierce cold wind blew the torch far away. Its gaze fell on FireworksAndLanterns, the culprit who threw the torch, and in an instant, it entered the ice phase again.

FireworksAndLanterns muttered, “Damn, it seems useless?”

Unable to hold back, Apple said, “The boss is so agile. Unless you tie the torch to the boss.”

At that moment, the boss descended from the sky and directly slashed half of FireworksAndLanterns’ health.

ScarletFruit was unfortunately affected, losing some health. “Is it coming for an instant kill this time!?”

“Is he holding a grudge?” FireworksAndLanterns hurriedly said, “Someone heal me quickly.”

ClearWind asked, “Didn’t we say before that the fire seeds here are useful against the ice? Why don’t we just set this place on fire?”

“Can’t set it on fire,” Su Mo glanced at the scattered torches on the ground. The fire seeds indeed could melt the ice here, but the process was very slow. Just now, the cold wind blown by the boss’s hand seemed harmless, but in fact, everywhere it passed was frozen… including the ice that had just melted into water, which solidified again in an instant.

Fire seeds could melt, but the boss could freeze.

The freezing speed was faster than the melting speed… Similarly, if they were permanently frozen, in such a situation, trying to use fire seeds to thaw teammates during the boss’s attacks would not be an easy task.

Others were completely bewildered; this boss was truly unpredictable.

Firstly, it was highly agile. Melee attacks had to rely on the control of the main tank, Bitter melon, and their own anticipation to accurately hit the boss with skills. Moreover, its chaotic skills; just when you expected an instant kill, it would freeze, and when you expected a freeze, it would inflict a group debuff… It was completely arbitrary in its skill usage, following its mood.

Everyone struggled to bring the boss down to 90%, and everyone’s health was far from secure, yet the boss continued casting its group debuff.

“Entering the ice phase,” Su Mo reminded them. “Everyone, stay alert.”

ScarletFruit quickly summoned a healing flower. “I hope it’s not another instant kill. I’m starting to have psychological shadows from its aerial attacks.”

“It’s okay when it comes from above. This place is high enough, so it takes time for it to descend from the highest ice,” Apple said. “These two seconds are enough for us to dodge the skill. I’m just worried it might freeze us. You never know when it’ll strike. I always close my eyes as soon as I see it appear, and that way, I can avoid two skills.”

Su Mo heard his teammates’ discussion and suddenly froze. Wait, did he overlook something… If that’s the case, then the remaining area should be… He suddenly lowered his head and caught sight of the gaze of the boss, Eternal Winter, in the ice. He saw it instantly split into three shadows, resembling Su Mo’s own shadow, firmly following him beneath his feet through the ice.

“The boss hasn’t appeared?”

“Damn, is he holding back his ultimate skill?”

“Everyone, look at your feet. Anyone with a shadow should leave the group.” Su Mo immediately ran away, and the shadow in the ice followed him. The shadow looked somewhat similar to Eternal Winter, and they couldn’t attack the shadow through the ice, only watch as it drained their health and mana in return.

“Fuck, what is this thing?”

“Following me and still draining life, and we can’t even hit him.”

Su Mo stopped abruptly as he noticed a new movement from the shadow within the ice. He saw it raise its hand, and its body slightly expanded.

“No! He immediately stepped back, but the shadow exploded within the ice, injuring him severely and dropping his health to 5%.

Unfortunately, Watermelon and ClearWind, who were also being led away by their shadows, weren’t as lucky. After running away from the group, they were drained of half their health, and then the shadows exploded, killing them instantly.

“Focus healing on saving them,” Su Mo explained. “The boss’s fourth skill summons shadow minions under the ice, which drains life and mana and eventually explodes. You can dodge the explosion by watching its hand movements.”

“My god, this boss’s skills change too much!”

“This is too difficult. It’s all about prediction, isn’t it? If we predict wrong, we’re done for.”

“Even if we predict everything, it’s hard to maintain such high concentration all the time!”

The tension among all the members of the team was at its peak. After being frozen, they had to rely on their awareness to make decisions. The commander could only remind them a couple of times at most, but sometimes, time couldn’t keep up with the changes. Despite the help of the fire seeds, everyone had accumulated a lot of frozen value during the process of repositioning.

Su Mo was also collecting information on the boss’s skill mechanisms. From the current situation, it appeared that the boss had only four freezing skills.

1. Slayed, evaded potential harm to avoid death.
2. Frozen, saw the boss’s eyes instantly freeze, thawing required 5 seconds; reliably closed eyes to dodge.
3. Group debuff, required teammates to exchange dispels and controls; healers exchanged cleanses.
4. Blood-sucking minions, continuously draining teammates’ health and mana, finally self-destructed, affecting the surroundings; those affected needed to lead the minions away from the group, then return after detonation. 

Organizing seemed simple, with corresponding methods. The issue lay in the coordination between command and teammates. Su Mo frowned slightly, looking at Eternal Winter ahead. Moreover, he observed a crucial point; from the current perspective, that point seemed to be the key to breaking the skill mechanism.

***

Exploration within the group was bustling; after a night, the teams progressing from the Realm of Autumn to the Realm of Winter increased. There were now three teams just within the exploration group; the latest team to enter claimed they ranked 6th, meaning five teams had entered before them. In the voice channel of the exploration group at this moment, some players began to complain. ChatMasterWu said, “The Autumn Realm really tests your luck. According to the forums, there’s a group that directly encountered the boss and swiftly resolved it.”

“Our group spent quite a long time stuck in the Autumn Realm. Initially, we didn’t realize the key was stuck in the West Wing for a long time,” a cold voice echoed in the channel. It turned out to be Hai Tang, Vice Guild Master of the Abyss faction’s All-Heaven Alliance guild. “We were the first to arrive in the Autumn Realm. By the time we moved to the Winter Realm, we were already ranked fourth.”

“The second should be our group, and the third should be Midnight Bell,” CloudTraveller added. “The first is Momo’s group, the one with people from the Fruit Platter.”

“Weren’t they just forming the group yesterday? They caught up with our progress in just one day?”

“It’s not just catching up with the progress. Didn’t you see FireworksAndLanterns posting pictures in the group yesterday? They were still swimming on vacation in the Summer Realm,” ChatMasterWu said, getting annoyed. “They had absolutely no sense of urgency, still chatting in the group, and suddenly climbed to the first position.”

“Oh, and what’s even more infuriating is that they were already in the Winter Realm past ten o’clock last night. Their group leader even logged off to sleep.”

Mentioning their schedules really got them worked up.

Someone joked on the voice channel, “They gave you so much time, but we still couldn’t catch up.”

“Their clearance method is unconventional. Momo’s overall strategy is outstanding. Normally, we have to wipe several times to master the mechanics. His team usually clears it in one go. During the fight, Momo can pinpoint the key mechanics and quickly adapt his teammates,” CloudTraveller explained. “I chatted briefly with Apple yesterday. While we were still experimenting, their team had already cleared it the second time.”

At this moment, the voice channel belonging to BrokenOracle lit up green. “Summoner is a difficult profession to play well. There aren’t many good players. He’s the only one in Celestial Horizon who’s both a commander and a summoner.”

Indeed, most of the famous commanders in Celestial Horizon are remote players.

In melee, the field of view is limited, focusing mainly on teammates for healing.

Remote players have a broader field of view, able to observe changes in boss posture or skill casting immediately, and in quest dungeons, they can observe finer details. Although summoners are mid to long-range professionals, they require multitasking to operate effectively. Sometimes their field of view can become confusing, but Momo is the only summoner player who can handle both command and output well.

Momo’s teams are quite remarkable. Even when you think the team composition he leads is unconventional, he always manages to achieve unexpected results. At Desert Inn, they directly formed a boss-focused team, using a full magic lineup for guild ranking. This time was even more extreme; while other teams tried to assemble a more comprehensive set of professions, they simply repeated summoners and assassins. They had no secondary tanks or dual physical swordsmen, let alone double healers, opting instead for an unexpectedly unconventional lineup.

CloudTraveller chuckled, “BrokenOracle, you guys don’t seem nervous?”

“Not at all,” BrokenOracle replied. “The fact that Apple and them aren’t in the raid means they’re still progressing. As for the Winter Realm, after the initial rescue mission, it’s all about exploring mechanics. At their pace, they should be pushing towards the boss now. I’m only concerned whether the faction buff will ultimately fall to our Abyss. The ones who should be nervous are Eclipse.”

“During our break, we had a few members whose frost levels were quite high,” CloudTraveller admitted with a smile. “The mechanics in Winter aren’t that simple; Eternal Winter’s intelligence level is stronger than the previous ones. According to the plot in ‘Boundless Sky Seal,’ the Four Spirits of the Departed Souls indeed make Eternal Winter the strongest among the Winter Gods.”

However, it must be said that their current main competitor for the first clear is indeed Momo’s team.

***

Discussions on forums and within exploration groups continued unabated, as challenges within the Winter Realm persisted.

By the time they reached over 50%, their focus had briefly waned. When the boss entered its ice phase, their attention was no longer as concentrated, resulting directly in two members being frozen. “Sorry, I reacted too slowly,” BitterMelon said.

“No worries, I’ll remind you all next time,” Su Mo instructed, directing others to help teammates thaw while focusing attention on the boss. When it entered the ice phase again, he promptly warned, “Watch out, it might be an instant kill or a debuff.”

“Instant kill, dodge!”

Everyone hesitated for a moment, then witnessed the boss plummet from the sky directly towards Momo.

Momo swiftly dodged the attack. “Keep pushing on the damage, continue the assault.”

ScarletFruit asked, “Bro, how did you guess right?”

“Wait a moment, pay attention. Watch out for ‘Revel in Life and Death’; it’s likely coming soon,” Su Mo reminded abruptly. Instantly, everyone sharpened their focus on observing the boss. They saw the boss’s health drop from 52% to 50%, then it suddenly ceased its attacks.

Eternal Winter halted its assault, chanting incantations they couldn’t understand. Suddenly, the ice in the entire cave illuminated. The dimly lit ice cave became brighter, revealing every detail on the ice clearly. They noticed a large ice pillar had appeared on a wide ice platform behind them.

Eternal Winter delicately touched the ice pillar, and immediately, the entire space became significantly colder. Everyone’s frost levels surged by 10 points.

“Wow, why is it suddenly so cold?!”

“Is there something wrong with that pillar next to the boss?”

Su Mo looked up and noticed above the icy cave, it wasn’t just ice formations.

The details within the ice became even clearer, resembling intricate patterns converging on the central ice pillar… It was a colossal celestial tree, a withered tree trapped within the ice layers.

“Remote attackers, keep pushing the health down below 49%!” Su Mo realized the issue and made a decision instantly. However, it was too late. Eternal Winter raised its hand, and a chilling wind blew through, freezing Watermelon permanently, whose frost level had accumulated to 80.

“Everyone disengage,” Su Mo immediately commanded. “Get out of combat now. Healers, run first. The rest, take Watermelon and BitterMelon with you.”

The commander’s order to flee for their lives left everyone with no room for error.

But they had to take too many people with them, including the heaviest BitterMelon and the frozen-solid Watermelon.

ClearWind exclaimed, “How are we supposed to carry them?!”

BitterMelon said, “Forget about me, just go!”

Su Mo quickly assessed the situation, and with a sweep of his wand, he knocked down the frozen Watermelon. The ice block crashed to the ground, leaving the frozen Watermelon speechless. Su Mo kicked him a distance away, “There’s a downhill path here. BitterMelon, onto the ice block. Array master, enhance movement speed. Magical swordsman and physical swordsman, use skills to push forward!”

Yu Zhen quickly took out the Sky Soaring Rope and securely tied it around the ice block, skillfully making a knot. “Summon Black Tortoise,” he called out.

As the bear appeared, landing on the ground, Su Mo controlled it to stand in front of everyone. Hearing Yu Zhen’s plan, Su Mo immediately summoned another Black Tortoise and tethered it to ZenSlasher. “Assassins, go! Activate your skills.”

Apple and ClearWind unleashed powerful skills near the ice block. The resulting explosive wind combined with the array master’s movement array propelled the ice block raft carrying BitterMelon and the frozen Watermelon forward. The array master held onto the Sky Soaring Rope, crouching low to grip the Black Tortoise, utilizing the unpredictable force of the summoned beast to drag the ice block along.

The damage reduction rope of Black Tortoise was tethered to ZenSlasher, currently the fastest mover. With three pulls, they managed to take away the most difficult to carry BitterMelon and Watermelon.

Watermelon: “!!!!!!”

BitterMelon patted the seat under him on the ice block, “Sorry about this, bro.”

ScarletFruit, still sprinting hard, saw ZenSlasher catching up and then witnessed Black Tortoise dragging an ice block with someone behind it. In a flash, they caught up.

“Holy cow!” ScarletFruit ran even faster. “How does this work?!”

Not only that, but FireworksAndLanterns’ Black Tortoise also pulled ClearWind, while on its back, it carried both him and Apple. The group began a frantic escape.

Su Mo saw the bear’s health nearing zero, so he ran and jumped onto the Black Tortoise ahead. Yu Zhen, standing on the Black Tortoise, grabbed his wrist to help him balance. “FireworksAndLanterns, the bear!”

The massive bear descended, taking the place of Momo’s bear as a shield for the teammates.

By the time everyone disengaged, their frost levels were nearing 90, almost wiping out the entire group right there. They sat on the ground, still trembling, using the sparks they had left to thaw out completely, utterly baffled by what the Winter Boss was up to.

“That move at 50% was ‘Revel in Life and Death,’ rapidly pushing our frost levels to the limit and then leaving us in a frozen state under Eternal Winter’s control,” Su Mo explained to everyone. “It’s not difficult to counter, but our accumulated frost levels were too high. If we had left that situation unattended, it would have wiped us out.”

In the earlier stages, high frost levels meant being frozen solid like Watermelon at the slightest touch of ‘Revel in Life and Death.’

But with lower accumulated frost levels, they could have pushed through and conquered below 50%.

“In that scene, there was a withered tree within the ice layer. If there’s a connection between autumn and summer, then there should be one between winter and spring,” Su Mo explained. “Remember the perpetual cycle in the Spring Realm? ‘Revel in Life and Death’ just now was similar; we had to bring its health down during its appearance, or its skill would continue, freezing us all.”

“Do you know how to deal with it?” Yu Zhen asked.

“I do,” Su Mo smiled faintly. “Once you understand the mechanics, this boss isn’t difficult.”

Others: “???”

Are you really sure it’s not difficult?

Watermelon thawed completely from the ice block, feeling disheartened upon hearing these words. Who was just used as a mount and dragged around? That memory was something he never wanted to recall again in his life. Dungeons were inherently against him.

“Is that so?” Apple patted Watermelon. “Brother, you suffered, but leaving you in that place was tough too. After disengaging, it might have been pitch dark.”

Watermelon was speechless.

“Can we not bring it up again?” ScarletFruit asked. “Bro, was that just a guess when you took down that one so quickly?”

“No, it wasn’t. The boss’s ice skill has a direction.”

Su Mo explained to them, “When the boss drops from above, it’s an instant kill; appearing from behind is a debuff; from underfoot is a self-exploding minion; and if it appears directly in front of us, it freezes.”

“???” FireworksAndLanterns exclaimed, “It’s actually like this?”

“Not only that, its ice entrance also has a direction. If it enters ice from above, it will appear above or behind for instant kills and debuffs,” Su Mo continued. “Conversely, if it enters ice from below, it will freeze and self-explode minions in front and below.”

The group listened to Su Mo’s explanation and were dumbfounded.

“It actually has directions?! And in that chaotic scene, Momo could still notice from which direction the boss was entering ice. At that speed, was he observing everything?”

“After the lack of a countdown confused us, understanding the mechanics, this boss is actually quite simple,” Su Mo said, using a stick to mark out an area on the ground. “Once it enters ice from above, our focus needs to be on instant kills. If it enters ice from below, everyone just needs to watch their feet.”

“Then, when ‘Revel in Life and Death’ appears, we just need to quickly lower its health, understand?”

Everyone: “!!!”

“Got it!”

Reorganization didn’t take much time. Once frost levels were manageable, Momo, the commander, set out again. As soon as they entered the boss’s attack range, they returned to their original positions and placed the prepared sparks around them.

“This time, I was prepared. It didn’t startle me when it hit me,” ScarletFruit said.

“Watch for the ice freeze, above,” Su Mo’s voice came through the voice channel. As soon as everyone heard ‘above,’ they focused their gaze upward. The boss emerged from the ice layer, and everyone quickly adjusted their positions to avoid the attack completely.

“Damn, amazing! It really was from above!”

The health continued to drop, and the commander’s voice resurfaced, “Below, watch your feet.”

“Those with shadows, go out.”

Immediately, three people from the crowd went out, successfully luring and detonating the self-exploding minions before returning.

“Is it really like this???”

“Wow, I can understand now. This makes it so much easier to fight!”

“All of a sudden, four skills seem like just two.”

“It moves so fast, yet it’s able to see directions clearly. I used to think it attacked from all sides every time.”

“Actually, once you’re skilled enough, as long as you can catch the direction it enters from, it’s much easier to evade!”

“Commander’s a newbie!!!!”

Appearing from above, the highly lethal skill required intense attention, while debuffs from behind were guaranteed hits, so teammates focused solely on attacks from above. When the boss entered ice from below, everyone watched their feet, ready to spot shadows immediately, avoiding eye contact with the boss directly in front.

Suddenly, the voice channel was dominated by the calm and clear commands of the commander. Almost instantly after he mentioned critical directions, everyone responded promptly. With significantly reduced errors and a more coordinated attack, despite the boss’s thick health, its HP dropped rapidly.

Su Mo watched as the boss’s health neared 50% under the concerted efforts of his teammates. His gaze abruptly lifted upwards as the ice layer gradually illuminated.

“Revel in Life and Death, prepare full force.”

***

Players who experienced the seven-star quest dungeon were almost tearing their hair out. Although the skill mechanics weren’t numerous, each boss had at most five or six mechanics, which were challenging to coordinate and operate, particularly for less experienced players. After some strategies for the earlier stages leaked out, things did get easier, but there was another wave of players stuck in the Summer and Autumn realms. For instance, some were tossed too far by the water after boarding the boat in the Summer realm, while others in the Autumn realm got lost right at the entrance and were eventually chased and killed by small monsters…

Forum discussions increased, and everyone’s attention focused on the top-tier guilds.

Some players had friends in these top-tier guilds but couldn’t spectate; they could only judge their progress based on the dungeon statuses posted by these top players.

“[The fastest should be the Hai Tang guild, right?]” 

“[CloudTraveller isn’t slow either, they reached the Winter realm at 3 AM.]” 

“They are really dedicated.”

“How many guilds are in the Winter realm now? Seems like just five or six according to the forums.”

 “Midnight Bell, CloudTraveller, Hai Tang, livestreamer guild… anyone else?”

The forum was buzzing with activity, with new threads popping up discussing which top guild would be the first to clear the dungeon and where the faction buff would ultimately land. As discussions multiplied and factions debated, the noise level rose during the pinpointing of guilds. Naturally, members of each faction hoped their own would emerge victorious since the winning guild’s faction would receive the buff. However, when it came down to vocalizing these sentiments, players began to subtly criticize rival factions.

“Midnight Bell is so strong this time, Eclipse is definitely taking it.”

“Hai Tang and BrokenOracle are also impressive. Heard they were the first to enter the Autumn realm. But having dual commanders might not be reliable?” 

“Our Eclipse faction, ReturnToSimplicity’s leader hasn’t even started [sigh]”

“ReturnToSimplicity’s leader seems to be AFK again…”

…

“Speaking of ReturnToSimplicity’s leader, I remember Momo. I’m still following their CP thread. How come no one’s mentioning Momo?”

[Have you all forgotten about Archdemon Momo’s guild? He leads the Fruit Gang!] 

“Damn, they’re in too? I heard the Fruit Gang only started raiding yesterday morning. They caught up in just one day?”

“It’s unbelievable. How strong is he really?!”

“My friend was lucky enough to be led by him in Desert Inn before. He said Momo is incredibly strong.” 

“No way… He’s in the Winter Realm?”

“In the Winter Realm. I have a friend from ScarletFruit, the merchant. They were already in Winter Realm last night, it seems like the first ones there…”

Approaching eleven o’clock, discussions peaked as both sides engaged in posting threads to undermine each other with poison. Just as everyone was still discussing, suddenly someone posted a thread in the forum.

—[OMG! Did anyone see this game!? Departed Soul Realm’s first clearance announcement!!!]