“Hahaha, did you see that? Evil Santa just needed one hit with that special attack to obliterate us!” Xing Li laughed at how hilariously it was when Yue Han got smacked by the Boss.
“Well…it is a DPS (Damage per Second) test to see if the cultivators can stop him before he charges up his attacks. That’s why it could kill everyone around him.” Bu Dong mumbled to himself while the rest were merely laughing and talking about how much fun they had. Bu Dong guessed that was their way of having fun, just doing what they can against the Evil Santa Boss since there were points to be earned.
While it was not much, the points were already sufficient to redeem small item prizes like a chi regeneration potion. That was how Jin enticed all cultivators of varying skills to earn something from the Evil Santa Instance.
Jin had been informed that not many people really liked the high difficulty placed in his latest dungeons. To many people, it was off putting that they needed a high level of skills to clear it, and the rewards they got were minuscule.
In most cases, this meant that people just tried it once or twice for the experience but stopped afterwards as to not waste more money being unable to get anything from it. Thus, Jin had decided to tweak it a little and was now trying out a new business model to give some leeway for his new dungeon instances.
It might still be challenging, but at the very least, new cultivators could gain the experience and rewards for defeating the first form of Evil Santa, allowing them to have some sense of achievement. More seasoned cultivators should be able to defeat the second form while the most coordinated of all cultivators were the only ones who stood a real chance to beat the third and final form of Evil Santa.
Still, Jin was learning how much of an impact the new dungeon model could make on the cultivators, so that was why he decided to label it as special. The three days limit was to gather feedback from the cultivators both in terms of dungeon play and the comments they had about it.
Eventually, the dungeon supplier had to remember that he was still catering for the masses and not a niche group of people. (yet?)
——————-
“Bu Dong~!” Katerine called out the name of the lone cultivator sitting at the bar counter to recuperate. The rest of the current group had decided to enter the redemption store to see what was offered while he stayed in the shop instance to check out his group’s performance chart review.
The Ape cultivator was shocked to see that the former overseas exchange student came back to China so soon after having left.
“Hahaha! We’re just here to stay for the holidays. I managed to convince my parents that it was so great here, and a perfect way to escape the extreme cold that we experience back home. At least it’s slightly warmer here because I just can’t stand the terribly cold weather.” Katerine said as her group exchanged greetings with him as well.
“These are all my friends. After experiencing the dungeon supplier store here, I’ve tried out a dozen other dungeon suppliers, but none could compare to the exhilarating feeling I got while fighting those Savants with you guys! So we just had to come during our stay. This Tree Mall is just marvellous. It was worth it to return back just for this.” Katerine was now full on rambling like a fangirl, and Bu Dong smiled a little even though the praises belonged to Boss Jin.
“That’s great. Don’t let me stop you from kicking Santa’s butt, I will be cheering for you guys!” Bu Dong promised cheerful manner to encourage her yet Katerine surprisingly shook her head.
“We are not doing it without you.” The Fire Shaman rebutted, and Bu Dong was confused by the way she said it. “Last time I was here, you were the one to always come up with the plans. We might not have beaten the Savants, but in the other dungeons you brought me along, your plans always helped us triumph. So, if you don’t mind, I would like you to lead my friends and me for this Evil Santa Instance.” Katerine asked him politely as she further introduced her friends to Bu Dong.
“These are Nia, Jasmin and Shanice.” The three girls with German origins had varying white skin tone though Bu Dong seemed to differentiate them by their hair colour instead. (Since to him…their facial features nearly looked the same.)
Nia had brown, slightly curled hair while Jasmin possessed a set of big beautiful blue eyes and golden straight hair. Shanice was the only one with orangish red hair, making it her the beauty among the three of them.
But the most prominent feature for all of them was that they could speak Chinese. (At least coherent basic sentences.) Katerine told Bu Dong that they had all taken the Chinese language as an extra curriculum module.
“But compared to Katerine, our grades and grasp of Chinese were not as good as hers,” Shanice replied, and Bu Dong was rather impressed by the way she speaks.
“Your intonation and the fluidity of the sentence is not bad! Do not berate yourself…so only four of you? I guess we have to find three more people to the Evil Santa Boss Instance.” Bu Dong wondered who to ask, but Katerine’s group shook their head in unison.
“We just want to play by ourselves with you leading us. I don’t think we really stand a chance of becoming the first group to beat the third form, but we want to at least reach the second form. And to defeat Evil Santa at that point is our goal.” Katerine replied and Bu Dong could not see why they were so adamant in choosing him.
“I get what you mean, but I honestly don’t think that I am as great of a leader as you give me credit for. You guys can play for fun.” Bu Dong did not wish to be disappointed again another round of just for fun kind of gameplay. To him, dungeoneering should be taken seriously.
“Didn’t you hear what our Chief…. *Cough* Katerine say that we want to beat just the second form. That is why she wanted your help. If not, we would not be waiting here for you.” Nia exclaimed and Bu Dong was in a dilemma. Should he stay with his current group or try out with the new group who was willing to succeed despite their inexperience and the size of their party.
“Come on, it’s not like we are always here. We can tell you about our abilities, and it should be easy to remember.” Katerine suggested as she went up the top level of the shop instance to grab a table for discussion.
“Why did you say that?” Bu Dong asked as he followed the group upwards.
“Because, we are all Fire Shamans.” Katerine smiled when she turned her head back as she grinned at Bu Dong.
