Chapter 88: Warrior Panel
Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Addis
The central platform stood with 15 people, representing various factions and professions. This lineup was unexpected by everyone.
Moreover, the guild emblems were also mixed, indicating that they didn’t come as fixed teams.
BitterMelon cheerfully stepped forward to greet them, “What a coincidence! Watermelon and I were duo queuing to mix things up, didn’t expect to run into you guys.”
Watermelon looked on helplessly at the lineup, “This isn’t just running into each other… this lineup has pushed us straight into S-class. I was hoping duo queueing would lower the difficulty.”
FireworksAndLanterns exclaimed, “Huh? Isn’t it S?!”
Watermelon exclaimed, “Shut up!!! Why did I run into you guys? I just wanted to peacefully participate in the event!”
Upon communication, besides Su Mo’s group of five, the others were a full team of five, two duos, and a trio. The team of five belonged to CloudTraveller, including the array master [Global’s kawaii], healer [HealsFor25000], and the brothers Apple and FireworksAndLanterns. The duo consisted of BitterMelon and Watermelon, while the trio was a group of acquaintances.
ClearWind’s livestream channel instantly exploded. What kind of legendary lineup was this!?
The first warrior, CloudTraveller; the first healer, HealsFor25000; the first summoner, FireworksAndLanterns; and the former top magical swordsman, Apple…
[Wow, isn’t this lineup a guaranteed success?]
[Hey, look at this rank, S ??? The next livestreamer team is full of experts and they’re only at A.]
[S ???, It would take at least two S-class teams to accumulate this level of difficulty.]
[I wish I could swap into a random team. What kind of luck is this? Ran into two expert teams.]
“Hey, do you know that healer?” Su Mo was originally trying to recognize people, but suddenly noticed a burning gaze. He looked over and found it was [HealsFor25000], the healer from CloudTraveller’s team. Unable to help himself, he asked Yu Zhen beside him, “It seems like he’s been watching us.”
“He’s a friend of mine,” Yu Zhen replied. He had just closed the exploration group, which was now very lively. The news of Yu Zhen colliding with CloudTraveller’s team had already spread among other players in the group. Upon learning they were facing S-class difficulty, everyone was watching them with eager anticipation.
Friends don’t need introductions. CloudTraveller came over with kawaii and 25000 to say hello.
“Damn, HealsFor25000, his healing output surpasses mine three times over,” ScarletFruit whispered.
Su Mo looked at him. “You know him?”
“Of course, these are potential bosses. CloudTraveller needs no introduction. HealsFor25000 is currently the top healer in the Celestial Horizon overall rankings. His healing capacity is enormous, the dream healer in the hearts of countless players. But dreams are just dreams; despite countless players confessing their admiration early on, he’s a stoic guy focused solely on his medical duties, supposedly bound to ReturnToSimplicity.” ScarletFruit looked enlightened. “I’ve seen their fanfiction threads; they used to be really popular.”
Su Mo turned his head to look at Yu Zhen. “Brother Zhen’s bonded healer?”
Yu Zhen replied nonchalantly, “Former bonded healer. Now he raids with CloudTraveller, a regular member of their fixed raid team.”
“Brother Wanderer, you really know a lot,” ScarletFruit added. “And there’s Global’s kawaii, a leading array master. She’s CloudTraveller’s official array master, different from Brother Wanderer. She’s more inclined towards the half-receiving flow of array masters.”
CloudTraveller approached with his group to greet them. Su Mo nodded in acknowledgment and got to know them briefly, roughly remembering their specialties.
The remaining team consisted of three players: a male Daoist priest [Elder Daoist Who Doesn’t Understand Love], a male healer [My Heart is Cold], and a female marksman [Little Treasure from the Cold Family]. The marksman and the healer were a couple, and the Daoist priest was a friend of the healer. Their ratings were all A.
After the four teams confirmed each other, the 10 minutes passed quickly.
Suddenly, the central platform shrunk abruptly, reshuffling the teams and combining Watermelon’s team with the random team.
At this moment, the distinctive voice of the mainframe appeared above the platform —
[Welcome everyone to “Journey through Wind and Rain”. I am the host and official referee of this event. Now, I will announce the game rules for this session. In accordance with player feedback requests, “Journey through Wind and Rain” has been specifically optimized in terms of [profession balance], [player engagement], [mechanism popularization], [experience], [team coordination], and [workload reduction]. We will strictly adhere to the following 5 rules:
- “Journey through Wind and Rain” will open only one level each day, starting at 7 PM (Capital Planet time). All players start from the same point. Players who have completed a level must wait until the next day to participate in the next level. Players who have not completed a level can accumulate completed levels. The first team to successfully form for Level 1 will be the default first match team. Unless players choose to disband or leave the team, the team will not be reformed. Please, discuss the game schedule among yourselves.
- The game emphasizes teamwork. All players must clear the level for it to count as completed. If one teammate dies or fails to complete their tasks, the entire team fails.
- The game mechanics are rated ★★★★★ for complexity. Difficulty will be adjusted based on the average skill level of the players, with the highest difficulty being S. This event does not impose penalties such as level drops, attribute reductions, or loss of coins. However, teams of players who fail will face random penalties within the event scenario.
- To ensure a consistent professional experience from the same starting point, each game session will provide everyone with a completely new experience.
As soon as these four rules were explained, the scene in front of Su Mo immediately changed, and they found themselves in a forest.
The towering trees loomed overhead, shrouded by dark clouds that obscured the sky. As they ventured deeper, it became increasingly difficult to discern directions. However, the most crucial change was evident on his own HUD—his panel was no longer that of a summoner, but rather an assassin panel (WhatAHugeWatermelon).
“What the heck is this!? An assassin panel?” Su Mo exclaimed.
“I got the array master’s…”
“And this one is a magical swordsman!!”
Su Mo quickly opened the team roster. The IDs remained unchanged, matching the voices, but the Sect icons appended to the IDs had been altered.
He finally understood what the fourth rule meant: the so-called “profession balance” by the mainframe was scrambling their professions among the 15 people. None of them retained their original profession panels; instead, they all received their teammates’ panels.
“[Journey through Wind and Rain · Crossing Mountains and Hills (Level 1)]: Welcome players to the first level, Crossing Mountains and Hills. Within the designated time, everyone must successfully cross Wind and Rain Mountain to pass this level. Any individual falling behind will result in failure for the entire team. Please note, players’ stamina will be reduced, so be mindful of stamina consumption. Successfully completing the challenge will earn [Completion Reward (S)], while failure will subject the entire team to penalties (game pain sensation tripled, lasting 12 hours, unable to dispel).”
[Due to detecting the S-level difficulty of this event, the clearance time has been adjusted to 30 minutes.]
[You now have 10 minutes to prepare, familiarize yourself with skills, and find your teammates. Countdown will begin in 10 minutes.]
“I’m at the starting point, but this board here, why does it look so much like the countdown board at our school’s fitness field?”
“Wait… Crossing Mountains and Hills, why does this thing look so familiar?”
“My bad memories are coming back.”
“What do you mean?”
ZenSlasher slowly uttered, “University physical fitness test, cross-country test, familiar?”
In the era of the Star Alliance, with technological advancements, the physical fitness of Star Alliance citizens has improved. However, every student in the Star Alliance inevitably undergoes University physical fitness testing, which includes a cross-country test combining various sports events such as high jump, long jump, and swimming into a comprehensive assessment. Students are placed in designated scenarios to test their completion times.
All the players suddenly realized that what the mainframe referred to as a Yang Realm event was essentially integrating the University physical fitness test’s cross-country component into the game.
“I graduated from University years ago, why do I still have to go through the fitness test?”
“Reducing stamina points, is the mainframe a devil?!”
“I just went through a fitness test during the day… Why do I have to go through it again while playing games?”
Reduced stamina points are one challenge, but the biggest challenge lies in coordinating with the profession panels.
In Celestial Horizon, the fitness test is naturally not just a standalone test. During the 30-minute passage, there are likely other obstacles… Su Mo glanced at the height of the forest and immediately said, “Anyone have a summoner? Summon the bear.”
“I’ll do it, I have the summoner panel,” Apple responded promptly.
A bear appeared in the mountains, and players scattered in different locations immediately found the landmark and gathered together.
When they arrived, Su Mo finally understood how chaotic the current profession situation was. Among their original profession panels, they had 2 warriors, 2 summoners, 2 assassins, 2 array masters, and 2 healers. The remaining were a cleric, physical swordsman, magical swordsman, Doaist priest, and marksman.
Celestial Horizon had a total of 11 professions, but here they only had 10 types of panels. The people were still the same, but now they had to use their teammates’ panels to complete the challenge.
“We don’t have much time. Let’s first clarify the specific requirements. The professions are too chaotic to manage efficiently. Currently, we need to identify who has the main tank and healer panels. We’ll refer to each other by the names of the profession panels from now on.” CloudTraveller immediately stabilized everyone’s morale, “This journey won’t be a simple cross-country race. There are obstacles waiting for us.”
“I have CloudTraveller’s panel, so I’ll be the main tank,” Su Mo asserted.
“Who has the healer panel?” Yu Zhen asked.
The healer panel was in the hands of ClearWindIsHere, WhatAHugeWatermelon, and Global’s kawaii.
CloudTraveller said, “The main tank and healers know their roles. The rest will depend on DPS. Pay attention to your panels and don’t use skills randomly to avoid delaying other teammates.”
Others responded affirmatively.
Watermelon had never experienced such slow movement speed before, “Help… does anyone consider my feelings? Why do I have to use Bitter Melon’s panel?!”
Bitter Melon felt a bit awkward walking, “The cleric panel isn’t bad for walking. Come on, Watermelon, I’ll walk slowly with you.”
[livestreamer is playing the healer role now!]
[This is called a real-world event?]
[Isn’t it? University student cross-country physical tests, very real-world!]
[Mixing up professions… incredible. So profession balance means experiencing other Sects?]
[Main Brain: Have fun playing, consider switching professions.]
[30 minutes… I’ve seen other teams go as long as 60 minutes. Is S-class this insane?]
Su Mo looked up at the Vicinity’s situation and glanced at the mini-map. The mini-map showed only one path, but Su Mo felt that this path was definitely not simple.
“Let’s split into two teams. The main group of 11, and a smaller team of 4 with faster movement speed to explore and find shortcuts. The main group walks normally, and array masters take turns to accelerate the slower-moving teammates. Those with ZenSlasher’s panel, Momo’s panel, and marksman’s panel come with me.”
ZenSlasher’s panel: Daoist Priest Who Doesn’t Understand Love.
Momo’s panel: ScarletFruit.
marksman’s panel: HealsFor25000.
CloudTraveller looked at Su Mo, “Momo, aren’t you commanding?”
Su Mo paused briefly at the question, “You lead the main group. We’ll take charge of scouting for you.”
Assassins are highly functional and fast-moving, making this panel more useful for him.
[Countdown: 5… 4… 3… 2… 1!]
The countdown voice from the mainframe ended, and a 30-minute countdown appeared amidst the dark clouds overhead. Su Mo immediately led the team into action, heading towards the mountain path ahead. Just over fifty meters out, they encountered the first obstacle on the cross-country route—a horde of small monsters.
Su Mo decisively approached to pull a small monster, but as soon as he touched the first one, it alerted all the monsters on the path, and they swarmed towards them.
“It has a marker above it. The aggro range of this thing is actually 1000 meters??”
“My goodness, they’re chain monsters.”
“If we can’t even handle these mobs, how are we going to pass this level!?”
“Fall back, don’t get too close.”
Momo opened the team’s voice chat. His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried considerable authority. ScarletFruit was already accustomed to it, while HealsFor25000 and Old Daoist were taken aback upon hearing it for the first time, instinctively moving back.
Su Mo charged straight ahead. The small monsters attacked him swiftly, their strikes slowing him down. His health quickly dropped to half. At that moment, he stealthily disappeared into the ground, creating distance and effectively hiding himself. The monsters that had been alerted by him returned to their original positions. His actions were smooth and fluid, taking advantage of his invisibility to scout ahead. He returned about 30 seconds later.
Old Daoist, “Brother, you’re so reckless. You almost scared me to death.”
ScarletFruit looked stunned, “Bro, so you know how to play assassin?”
“Not really, I usually watch ZenSlasher play.”
Su Mo observed the road ahead. They were already on a narrow path winding around the mountain in the forest. According to the map, taking this path would bypass the current mountain they faced. He stared at the terrain on the map for a few seconds, memorizing the topography. “The small monsters have a long leash range. Assassins can stealth out of combat, but conventional methods won’t work.”
Assassins pulling monsters??? What an unconventional way to pull mobs!
Old Daoist was a bit anxious, “So, are the two of us assassins supposed to pull mobs?”
“The road is too long. Assassins can’t hold out until the end.”
HealsFor25000, coming from a healer background, was keenly aware of his teammates’ conditions. He said, “Momo, I just observed your health dropping rapidly. These monsters are a mix of spellcasters and humanoid creatures with high attack frequency, likely focusing on defense. However, assassins have the weakest defense among all professions in Celestial Horizon. Stealth can disengage combat, but it can’t cover such a long distance.”
Su Mo agreed, “You’re right. With two assassins and no healer to support, you guys take turns pulling mobs, maxing out at 60 meters. Since the normal pulling distance is so far, let’s designate someone to pull the mobs and have them die outside the attack range of the small monsters. Then the healer can revive them.”
Daoist Priest, “Who can pull mobs from such a distance? Don’t we need a healer to support us?”
ScarletFruit added, “Can we take turns pulling then? We have three resurrection skills, so we can rotate between three people.”
HealsFor25000 interjected, “You have to consider aggro management and defense. What if you accidentally draw aggro with your skills? It could get messy.”
“This is the first obstacle, a chain of linked mobs on a narrow path. They have high HP, high attack, focus on defense, and can aggro up to about 100 meters away. Estimated kill time could be over 15 minutes. We prioritize speed, so brute forcing or rotating deaths won’t work. The fewer deaths, the better for us.”
Su Mo smiled faintly, “Don’t we have it? The beefiest warrior in all of Celestial Horizon.”
HealsFor25000 was stunned, “He’s moving too slowly, wasting our time. If the array master activates a speed boost array, it could trigger combat and result in more deaths.”
Su Mo replied, “What if I can make him the fastest-moving tank?”
At that moment, the main group also arrived at the location of the chain of mobs. Seeing the endless path ahead, everyone looked towards the small team of four ahead, apparently waiting for their decision.
CloudTraveller asked, “What’s going on?”
Su Mo turned around at the question, “Perfect timing. We’ve just worked out a plan.”
He reached out and gestured to Watermelon, “Watermelon, it’s your turn. You’ll be pulling the mobs on this path.”
Watermelon, at the rear of the group, was dumbfounded, “What do you mean? I’m not an assassin anymore! How can I pull mobs?”
Suddenly, from the casual team in the group, the player Little Treasure of the Cold Family exclaimed, “Huh? Aren’t you on the warrior panel? Isn’t it normal for warriors to pull mobs?”
Watermelon was left speechless.
It seemed like that was the logic.
Watermelon played so well with Momo he forgot how they usually played the game.