Chapter 23 Vortex

Chapter 23 Vortex

With two additional storage boxes, the inventory was instantly cleared of a large portion of items.

After organizing her belongings, Ren Yu accessed the cooking skill interface to craft items.

"Lanzhou Noodles (Fine): 2 flour, 1 beef, 1 mineral water"

"Fried Rice with Egg (Fine): 1 rice, 2 eggs, 1 meat"

Due to the lack of flour, only one serving of Lanzhou Noodles could be made.

Three servings of Fried Rice with Egg could be crafted.

Li Jiao sold her six eggs, and she had 6 units of rice from the construction site.

The meat required for the Fried Rice with Egg was not specified because any type of meat would do. When preparing it, if there were more than two types of meat in the inventory, a selection prompt would appear. Ren Yu chose wild boar meat.

Both items took 3 minutes to craft.

The pots needed for cooking were already available, so there was no need to unlock any new items this time.

Ren Yu completed the crafting process, and due to the double effect, her inventory now contained two bowls of Lanzhou Noodles and six servings of Fried Rice with Egg.

She then grilled several crucian carp and carp.

Afterward, she sat down to rest and recover her stamina, taking the opportunity to open the panel to allocate her upgrade reward points.

"Add 1 point to Agility."

Influenced by the recent boss battle, she noticed that the boss's attack speed during its enraged state was very fast. Although the environment at the time made dodging difficult, Ren Yu still felt the pressure of needing more speed, so she decided to continue enhancing her agility.

The remaining 3 points were added to Strength.

Reaching level 8, with all equipment bonuses, her health exceeded 900.

Although being hit by the boss hurt a lot, it wasn't life-threatening.

Of course, whether the bosses in the vortex would deal more damage was yet unknown.

But it was a reassuring number nonetheless.

Just as she was about to close the panel, a chat message from the team channel caught her eye.

The previous team hadn't disbanded, but Lu Lu had left on her own.

"[Team] Starry Sky: I'm seeking everyone's opinion. A well-equipped healer who is willing to take on the vortex for a fee of 50 copper coins. If successful, they get to choose two drops first; if not, the 50 copper coins are still paid. What do you think?"

"[Team] Soft and Easy to Push Over: Hell no, that's too much! Let's just not form a team."

"[Team] Free Swimmer: No way!"

"[Team] Not a Beast: Let's do it ourselves."

"[Team] Gentle Smile: What kind of logic is this? Is he bringing a guide to clear the dungeon? Or does he not gain experience from the vortex? He can go cool off somewhere else!"

Xia Jinghuai sent another message.

"[Team] Starry Sky: I'll keep advertising to see if I can find someone with average skills. The main issue is that there are level 5 monsters inside with 500 HP, and they hit hard. One healer might not be enough. If we can't find anyone, we'll give it a try. @Free Swimmer Captain, pull in a fighter, [Suiyin], a level 5 fighter with good equipment."

Ren Yu operated the interface, and [Suiyin] joined the team.

Everyone welcomed [Suiyin] in the team channel, and Ren Yu received a message that Li Jiao and the others couldn't buy materials like wheat and rice.

If they couldn't buy them, so be it. Everyone's food supplies were running low, and these materials were in short supply.

It was time to set out.

Ren Yu stood up, opened the door, and her gaze suddenly paused as she looked diagonally across.

"There's a new resident!"

She hadn't noticed it when she returned earlier, but now she saw a sign at the door of the house across the way: Home of Liuliheng!

Creak!

A door opened nearby, and Xia Jinghuai said, "Let's go!"

"Okay!"

On the way, Xia Jinghuai occasionally checked the panel, but even after reaching the safe zone, they hadn't found a second healer.

Meeting up with the others, Ren Yu saw the fighter 'Suiyin'.

They greeted each other and prepared to set out.

Xia Jinghuai suggested tackling the vortex within the city, which was not far from the safe zone and was also a no-combat area, avoiding unnecessary trouble.

Suiyin: "It's best to eat buffs before entering the vortex. Does anyone not have any? Should we check the trading hall to see if we can buy some?"

Zhai Gangyong pointed at Ren Yu: "The marksman has them. She has a full set of buffs."

Ren Yu: "Not quite. I only have buffs for physical attack, magic attack, health, and mana. There aren't many of the latter two. I have only two health buffs and six mana buffs."

Suiyin was surprised: "And you call that incomplete?"

He had bought his own recovery items and didn't need to ask the captain for any.

By the time they reached the vortex entrance, many players were selling recovery items at high prices, and healers were calling out for teams.

With the Vortex appearing, the circle of healers has already established its own set of rules. Should we add more?" Xia Jinghuai looked around at everyone. "I’ve advertised everywhere, but no other healer has added me except for those who want to be paid."

Suiyin cast a vote against it: "Splitting the experience and still having to pay us extra, if we clear the level, we might have to give them two more drops, and they must be the first choice. These healers really have big faces. I oppose it."

Zhai Gangyong weakly said, "I’m different."

"You’re not included," Suiyin replied.

Li Jiao’s stance remained unchanged, still opposing: "Forget it, each profession has its own development path, let's respect that. But our preparation doesn’t mean acceptance; I don’t want them to take advantage of us."

After saying this, she patted Zhai Gangyong on the shoulder and smiled, "But I’m very hypocritical, Ruan Ruan, after the Vortex, you can also come and earn money."

Zhai Gangyong: ... For some reason, he just didn’t dare to speak.

Ren Yu smiled, "Then let’s keep the team as is, no more additions. Let’s eat the items and then enter the Vortex."

Li Jiao: "One for health, one for mana."

Xingkong: "Give me the health one."

Ren Yu quoted a reasonable price, and both agreed, completing the transaction separately.

Suiyin opened his bag and took out a piece of mung bean cake and a piece of red date cake.

"Mung Bean Cake (Common): Consuming increases physical attack by 5 points, restores 1 point of mana and 1 point of health per minute, lasts for 10 minutes."

"Red Date Cake (Common): Consuming temporarily increases health by 10 points, restores 1 point of health and 1 point of fatigue per minute, lasts for 20 minutes."

Just as he took a bite of the red date cake, he saw the Poisoner take out a plate of fried rice and start eating it frantically.

"Fried rice?" Suiyin was surprised, and then heard a slurping sound from the side, catching a familiar scent. He turned his head sharply, his voice rising, "Beef noodles?"

"Where did you get beef noodles?"

Several nearby players rushed over: "Are there any more beef noodles? How much? Give me one."

Ren Yu shrugged, "Sorry, I’m missing ingredients, no more in stock."

He then took out a grilled fish.

They had eaten grilled fish before fighting the boss, and now with only about ten minutes left, worried it wouldn’t last through the entire Vortex, he decided to eat another one.

Although the time didn’t accumulate, those ten minutes would be wasted.

The smell was very tempting, and many players, drawn by Ren Yu’s offer, directly sent him trade requests, their desire to buy very strong.

Ren Yu closed each request one by one, "I only brought enough for myself, no extras, sorry everyone."

The players then disappointedly dispersed.

"Miss, I’ve sent a friend request, please accept it," someone reminded as they were leaving.

Once the crowd cleared, Suiyin came closer and whispered, "Captain, do you have any extra food that boosts physical attack? Can you spare me one?"

What a treasure of a captain, he thought, maybe he could still buy something from the captain.

"Only common quality grilled fish, lasts for 20 minutes."

Ren Yu quoted a price, which Suiyin accepted, and they quickly completed the transaction.

Suiyin finished the red date cake in two bites, put away the mung bean cake, and started eating the grilled fish. A piece of fish entered his mouth, and his eyes welled up with excitement: "Delicious, sniff, so delicious!"

The other teammates calmly finished their items.

After eating, Captain Ren Yu stood in front of the Vortex.

As soon as he approached, a prompt appeared in the void, visible to all team members.

"The Vortex is extremely dangerous, it is recommended to enter with multiple people."

"A capable exploration squad has been detected, do you wish to enter the Vortex? Yes/No"

Ren Yu: "Let’s go!"

The team members echoed, "Let’s go!"

Jiang Xujie even joked, "Wherever there’s trouble, click there!"

Ren Yu pressed 'Yes,' and the team members collectively blinked, finding themselves standing in a cave with rugged rocks, dimly lit and exuding an eerie atmosphere.

"Whoa, it’s actually a bit scary," Zhai Gangyong rubbed his arms and shivered.

Suiyin glanced at him in surprise, "You’re the biggest, and you’re scared?"

"I just look intimidating, but I’m actually very timid," Zhai Gangyong said, moving closer to Jiang Xujie and putting on a playful tone, "Beastie, it’s too scary here, quickly summon your baby to protect me."

Ren Yu didn’t shiver when the scene changed, but he couldn’t help shuddering now, rolling his eyes speechlessly.

Li Jiao, being close to the two, kicked Zhai Gangyong, but the game showed her attack was ineffective.

"Shh!" Xia Jinghuai signaled for silence, and everyone quieted down.

In the silence, the sounds became clearer.

Rustle, rustle...

On the uneven ground ahead, two green eyes appeared first, followed by a strange creature.

A rat’s body with a frog’s head.

The upper body was covered in bumps, oozing sticky fluid, looking quite disgusting.

"Ribbit!"

A frog croak made Ren Yu and the others feel a slight shock in their eardrums, extremely uncomfortable.

Everyone instantly locked on and saw the information of the small monster.

"Mutated Rat Toad, Level 5, HP 500, Skills: 'Charge,' 'Bite'"

"Attack!"

Ren Yu locked on and fired a shot with a bang.

The number -168 appeared above the Mutated Rat Toad's head, normal damage, no critical hit.

Her skill's secondary enhancement increased her damage, plus the attribute points from leveling up, pushing her total damage over 150, and finally, with the item bonus, she delivered a shocking blow.

"Such high attack!" Suiyin was shocked, forgetting to attack, and stared at Ren Yu, "Damn, how can your damage be so high?"

"Not just high attack, but also fast attack speed." Xia Jinghuai launched a 'Slash' before connecting it with a 'Wind Slash,' adding a laugh.

Clearly, his skill activation was slightly faster than Ren Yu's, yet the first attack still landed before his.

Others' skills also arrived.

Suiyin, regaining his senses, unleashed 'Diamond Fist.'

'Poison Kiss' and 'Soul Split' followed, delivering a brutal beating, and the first small monster was killed.

The swordsman and the martial artist both lost some health, and Zhai Gangyong ran back and forth to heal them.

Ren Yu looked at the loot.

25 experience, automatically divided by the system.

10 copper coins, 2 toad venom, 1 grass shirt.

"Grass shirt!"

Ren Yu and Xia Jinghuai exchanged glances, seeing surprise in each other's eyes.

"This is the first time I've seen a grass shirt," Ren Yu said.

"Me too!"

Both had a bad feeling; would grass shirts only drop in dungeons?

Fortunately, the required quantity wasn't high.

"What's it used for?" Li Jiao asked.

Ren Yu: "Material for repairing houses."

She looked at everyone, "Boss drops will be distributed based on damage output. How do you want to handle the loot from small monsters?"

Suiyin: "Each person picks what they need?"

Jiang Xujie: "The types and quantities aren't evenly distributed."

Li Jiao suggested: "Each person takes all the drops from a small monster in turn. We'll decide the order with rock-paper-scissors. Whoever's turn it is gets the loot, and the items dropped depend on luck. If there aren't enough small monsters for a full round, those who lose out shouldn't complain."

Xingkong: "Sounds good!"

"I agree," Zhai Gangyong said.

Suiyin: "Alright!"

Jiang Xujie also raised his hand, indicating agreement.

"Since no one objects, let's quickly decide the loot order. I hear rustling..." Ren Yu said.

Everyone quickly sorted themselves.

In the end: Jiang Xujie first, Xingkong second, Suiyin third, Ren Yu fourth, Li Jiao fifth, Zhai Gangyong last.

Jiang Xujie stepped forward to collect the loot, and the second small monster croaked and lunged over.

"Captain, I'll pull the monster with the swordsman, you focus on finishing it off. Let's use the small monsters to practice our teamwork to avoid confusion during the boss fight," Suiyin said.

"No need to strictly follow the conventional MMORPG tactics," Xingkong laughed, "Hate will definitely get mixed up, but I can handle it. Just focus on dealing damage. However, the healer's healing operations need more coordination. Besides aiming accurately, he needs to ensure his own safety and avoid being hit by the small monsters' skills."

Zhai Gangyong: "Got it, I'll pay attention and try my best!"

Skills were cast, and Suiyin soon understood what Xingkong meant about hate getting mixed up.

This time, Ren Yu dealt a critical hit, a number over two hundred exploded above the small monster's head, and Suiyin: ... shattered!

He couldn't hold the aggro, not at all.

The small monster fell, aside from the experience, the rest of the loot: 10 copper coins, 2 toad venom, 2 wood.

It was Xia Jinghuai's turn to pick up the loot, and he shook his head with a smile.

Though it was material for repairing houses, he wanted a grass shirt more.

Continuing the fight, the loot included: 5 copper coins, 2 cotton cloth, 1 grass shirt, 2 cotton thread.

The number of copper coins decreased, but an additional item type appeared.

Everyone trudged forward on the uneven and somewhat slippery ground. Suddenly, a small monster appeared from a blind spot on one side of the wall, lunging at Ren Yu, who was closest to it.

"Watch out!"

Ren Yu rolled to avoid it and quickly fired back.

Jiang Xujie, not far from Ren Yu, panicked for a moment and missed his skill.

The nearest to the monster was Suiyin, who leaped into the air and delivered a powerful kick, smashing the mutated rat-toad to the ground. The others rushed in, their various skills enveloping the monster, reducing its health bar to zero.

In addition to the fixed experience, they dropped 8 copper coins, 2 grass shirts, and 1 toad venom.

This time, it was Ren Yu's turn to loot. She happily gathered the items into her inventory and checked the grass shirts.

Finally, she had obtained a grass shirt; she only needed eight more.

They continued advancing.

Two small monsters appeared ahead. Xia Jinghuai suggested, "We can try this: I'll use an area attack first, then Suiyin and I will each pull one. Captain, remember to spread your damage evenly, and everyone else can act freely."

"Healer, keep an eye on our health. We might encounter more monsters at once, so it's time to test your reflexes."

"Got it!" Zhai Gangyong sometimes put on airs, but he was dead serious now.

Xia Jinghuai stepped forward and used 'Gale Slash,' drawing the aggro of both monsters. Suiyin charged at one and delivered a heavy punch.

The other monster attacked Xia Jinghuai, who dodged but didn't completely avoid it, losing over seventy points of health instantly.

Zhai Gangyong quickly cast a healing spell, circling around to find a good position and casting another heal to restore some of Suiyin's health, who hadn't managed to dodge the attack.

Ren Yu shot at the monsters in sequence, while Li Jiao and Jiang Xujie each chose one to assist. Moments later, the monsters fell.

The drops were similar, but Xia Jinghuai took another hit, losing over ninety points of health this time.

They rested on the spot, waiting for Zhai Gangyong to fully heal everyone before preparing to advance again.

Li Jiao spoke up, "Next time, let me pull the monsters. I'll use 'Toxic Mist' to debuff them, and then we can engage."

"Alright!"

Three small monsters charged at them.

Fortunately, 'Toxic Mist' was also an area attack. A wave of toxic mist slowed the monsters, and Xia Jinghuai followed with a 'Gale Slash,' causing all three to lose health.

He engaged one, Ren Yu targeted another, and Suiyin took the third, using 'Iron Fist' followed by 'Phantom Kick,' dealing severe damage.

Jiang Xujie finished off the remaining monster.

When the negative status ended, one of the monsters bit Suiyin hard. Zhai Gangyong promptly cast a healing spell, instantly restoring his health.

"Nice timing," Suiyin praised. Flattered, Zhai Gangyong struck a flamboyant pose, ready to show off, when a gunshot grazed his ear, causing him pain and his heart to race. Instinctively, he cast a healing spell on himself and jumped to the side to look back.

No one had noticed a small monster hiding behind a rock. The earlier commotion hadn't attracted it, but it suddenly attacked as they were about to catch their breath after the fight.

Fortunately, Ren Yu reacted quickly, shooting the monster and causing it to veer slightly, resulting in only a minor graze that cost Zhai Gangyong over thirty points of health, which he immediately healed.

"Stay focused," Li Jiao said as she applied poison, adding.

After the battle, Zhai Gangyong was still a bit shaken, his face pale, nodding repeatedly.

"Let's continue, watch the blind spots and the rocks," Ren Yu reminded.

They advanced cautiously, more alert than before.

After fighting and resting intermittently, they finally saw a large, red-named BOSS half an hour later.

A giant toad.

Ren Yu: "Rest here for two minutes. Those who need to recover health or mana, do so. We'll start in two minutes."

Zhai Gangyong healed everyone to full and sat down to recover his mana.

Suiyin: "My 'Phantom Kick' has a chance to deal a critical hit against bosses, dealing several hundred points of damage and doubling the damage dealt within three seconds. So if it triggers, everyone should go all out."

"Got it!"

Everyone agreed.

Xia Jinghuai: "Whether or not the critical hit triggers, after you attack, I'll cast 'Ice Seal.' Everyone keep attacking, and when the effect ends, the poison master applies debuffs. Then I'll cast 'Ice Seal' again, and you'll apply debuffs. Let's try alternating control."

Ren Yu was surprised. How many mage skills did he have?

The others were also amazed.

Suiyin asked directly, "So many temporary mage skills?"

From the sound of it, they were all ice-based mage skills. Had he raided an ice mage's nest?

"Not exactly. I have two main classes, Blade Master and Ice Mage," Xia Jinghuai explained. "It was an accidental operation, a bug, but it worked."

The game seemed impressed by his bold move, rewarding him with a house and a title.

"Awesome!" Jiang Xujie couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

The others also expressed their admiration.

Xia Jinghuai humbly replied, "It's not necessarily a good thing."

Seeing he wasn't avoiding the topic, Ren Yu confirmed, "So you have two main classes and a life skill?"

"Yes!"

Indeed impressive!

Ren Yu thought she was quite unconventional, but it turned out her neighbor was even more unique.

Feeling sufficiently rested, Ren Yu stood up: "Prepare for battle!"