The tavern was as lively as ever, with the crystal screen in the hall still playing the recorded program of the attack on the Demon Maze, showing a group of silver players chasing two big bosses around the map.
Those two big bosses looked way better than Azazel’s design. One was a fallen angel so handso it made female players’ eyes light up, and the other was a charming mature lady that male players couldn’t take their eyes off.
It’s just... they looked a bit embarrassed as they ran away from the players’ pursuit.
Moreover, they were fighting and joking as they ran.
A group of players sat around the crystal screen, eating big sweet lons from the Elf Forest while watching the magical projection on the screen with great interest.
Occasionally, they would burst into laughter.
Optimist glanced at the crystal screen and quickly lost interest.
Although these two new bosses were quite interesting, he was already sick of fighting them these past few days.
He was curious why the developers would design what was supposed to be two very impressive-looking bosses to act like codians.
Unlike Old A’s impressive lines, these two were delivering funny dialogues smoothly, with lots of witty lines from Bluestar, self-deprecating themselves to the point of being unbearable to watch.
As if they had enmity with the developers.
Maybe he fought too much and developed an illusion.
Optimist shook his head.
Sitting in the corner of the tavern, he called to the elf NPC waiter:
"Nana, bring a cup of flower tea."
"Sure, Mr. Optimist,"
the elf waiter replied with a smile.
Optimist’s appearance quickly drew the attention of other players.
Seeing that familiar ID and his familiar shabby gear, the players’ eyes lit up:
"Whoa! Isn’t that Optimist the pro?!?"
"Where’s your Little Christine? Has she learned to transform yet? I wanna see the Golden Dragon loli..."
"Optimist, have you guys figured out the strategy for the Demon Maze yet?"
"Tell us! Tell us! How do you beat the Fallen Angel stage and the Pain Queen stage?"
"Yeah, yeah! It feels so hard when our team plays solo! Sotis only one boss is triggered, and that’s easier, just beat it to death. But sotis both are triggered at the sa ti, and you have to defeat both to clear the stage..."
"When both bosses are triggered, how does that escape chanism work? And how do you activate the internal strife and jokes after that..."
"The horned boss looks easier to deal with, just destroy the palace decorations to anger him, and once he’s mad, his IQ drops to zero, and you can just kite him around like walking a dog..."
"Exactly, exactly!"
Seeing the players flocking over, Optimist cleared his throat:
"Ahem, don’t rush, don’t rush, we did figure out the new boss chanics in the Demon Maze."
"But, uh... I’m a bit thirsty, a bit tired, and also a bit hungry."
Listening to Optimist, the players got busy, and soon, all sorts of food were placed in front of Optimist.
Satisfied, he picked up a cup of flower tea to moisten his throat, then bit into a juicy piece of roast at and said:
"Actually, it’s not that hard."
"With those two new bosses, when they appear simultaneously, you need to split your forces, and as long as you bring both their health down to about 50% at the sa ti, the escape chanism will trigger."
"And once they run into each other while escaping, the internal strife chanism is sure to trigger... then it’s much easier to fight."
"Once you’ve dealt with the double boss once, the next ti a single boss will be triggered."
"There’s also a pattern; when two bosses appear, whoever is defeated first, the next single boss refresh will be them, and it can last several tis."
"I suggest focusing fire on the Fallen Angel first; that guy seems easier to take down. Although he has more moves than the Pain Queen and looks more impressive, he’s actually weaker overall."
"After a few single boss fights, the double boss will trigger again."
"As for the witty lines... honestly, there are only about a few dozen of them repeated over and over, so running through it a few tis will let you hear them all. Most of them praise Old A or are self-deprecating."
"..."
Optimist proudly introduced the strategy his team had devised to the players.
This was initially their strategy task, and would be freely posted on the official website.
Listening to his explanation, many players hurriedly took out their notebooks or simply brought up the system’s notepad to take notes.
This was firsthand information from a pro; it would definitely be useful when running instances!
Just as the tavern was bustling with excitent, the door to a room on the second floor was gently pushed open, and a figure in six-god gear walked down.
Seeing the ID of the newcor, the players’ eyes lit up again:
"Whoa! Isn’t that Cyber the pro!"
"Cyber, long ti no see! That post you wrote was amazing!"
"Yeah, yeah, it was such a tearjerker..."
"Indeed, very moving. I wasn’t planning to take on the storyline mission originally, and I ended up doing it."
"Enough about that; Cyber! How does ten tis thought acceleration feel?"
"Where’s that Frost Elf loli following you?"
"Speaking of which, the new opening animation is so thrilling... I couldn’t even tell it was a player."
"Psh... don’t talk about the opening animation, give back the feelings I just brewed up..."
"Haha, Cyber bro, can you perform that thing again?"
Hearing the players’ discussion, Optimist curiously looked over and saw a black-haired, black-eyed Hunter player.
This was Cyber, the recent trigger of a personal epic mission.
He seed to have just woken up and looked sowhat bewildered.
This nap of his probably wasn’t short.
Optimist rembered that a few days ago, when the other party ca to Chosen City to hand in a mission, he looked exhausted.
After handing in the mission, he ca to their tavern and fell asleep instantly.
Most likely... he hadn’t logged off and went to rest offline.
Now it seed he was well-rested.
Thinking about it, it made sense; he had been in the instance for over two months—three days in real ti.
To be honest, Optimist quite admired him.
And Cyber paused for a mont, seemingly realizing where he was.
Then, Optimist noticed his face turn red almost instantly.
Um...
It seed like the players were discussing the opening animation.
Speaking of the opening animation, the return of the Frost Elves has to be ntioned.
After they returned, the "Elf Kingdom" login CG changed to tell the story of their return.
Demigod Aurora and Cyber were the protagonists.
The plot wasn’t long, but it explained the causes and effects clearly, and with the music, it was quite touching.
Cyber’s performance was also comndable, very invested.
It just felt... a bit overdramatic.
Especially the part about eting the Goddess.
If it were an NPC, it would’ve been fine, not out of place, and would even get people fired up.
But once you know it’s a player, well... it feels a bit off.
That feeling is like casting an actor known for playing rogue villains suddenly as a noble hero...
Faced with the players’ encirclent, Cyber’s expression beca increasingly embarrassed:
"Don’t bring up the opening animation, seriously, don’t, it’s such black history!"
Cyber covered his face.
Then, almost as if fleeing, he bolted to the counter, looking a bit sheepish.
Behind him, the players’ teasing laughter echoed.
The tavern was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
Standing at the bar, Cyber pulled out a water pouch from his chest.
"Fill this with Elf Flower Tea, the best you’ve got."
Optimist heard him say.
In that instant, he noticed the embarrassnt on Cyber’s face fade, replaced by a hint of lancholy.
The elf waiter quickly filled the pouch for Cyber, who weighed it, and carefully tucked it back into his chest.
Then, he pushed open the tavern door, disappearing from the view of the other players.
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