[!!!! Warning!!! The link to the past is detected.]
[Hidden condition for special lab upgrade met.]
[Start of a special upgrade in process… Forced teleporting out in progress. 10… 4… 2… 0]
Zap!
Before Forsyx could make sense of anything, he smelled that same rancid stench again.
He was back in front of the garbage land inside Blackwater Village.
Ding! Ding!
Even outside, these notifications just didn't want to stop.
[Special Template Lab upgrade in process.
Upgrade time: 72 hours.
Note: You cannot enter the lab until the special upgrade is complete.
]
Ding!
[The timing of the awakening cycle is detected.
Extra reward: Special Template Change Ticket–1.
]
Finally, with the last extra reward message, things calmed down.
Forsyx just grabbed his nose and started walking away from that smell. As he reached the almost-empty market, he began going through the notifications one by one.
He just rubbed his nose, not believing the special lab upgrade.
What even was this special upgrade? Fck, he had this class for two years in his past life, and in all that time, he never saw anything like that.
Also, what was that first "linked to the past" message? He messed up his hair in confusion.
The least shocking of all this was that Special Template Change Ticket.
Now this one he was familiar with—it was a common reward given when a lab upgrade overlapped with the awakening cycle.
Basically, he would be able to switch his template without going back into the lab, one time only. Barely enough to ensure his survival.
This special reward was not a big deal, but it messed up a lot of stuff for him. Especially his ability to react normally after the awakening cycle.
After all, once he changed the Pipler Bird form, he'd have to wait for the lab upgrade to finish.
But never in his dreams had he imagined there were things in the game that could trigger a special lab upgrade. And what even were those upgrades?
He took a deep breath to calm himself and looked toward the forest.
That Hibiki Snake was so big, he could see it from here.
Though after staring at it for a while, it didn't look all that threatening, not when it wasn't using its signature poison spit skill.
It looked like not being able to use that skill was a weakness of this snake.
A kind of massive weakness.
But after what he saw, he understood why this snake wasn't normal at all.
Still, he couldn't understand why no one from Radiant was going after the snake.
He looked to the right end—there was another, smaller commotion going on there.
Those stone snakes were also not normal at all. They were likely the guardians of that crimson egg.
He was sure of it. The moment he placed the crimson egg inside his inventory, it was like both of them had gone berserk.
He shook his head and stopped, thinking about them.
Forsyx took out his bronze knife and started juggling it.
He had already gotten more than expected. It was better to focus on gaining some popularity now.
He calmly started to stretch. After placing that egg inside the lab, he wasn't worried about anything anymore. He just wanted to enjoy some brutal fighting.
Those stone snakes might give better rewards, but they weren't as exciting as boss fights.
He rubbed clean the Bear badge to make sure others would see it clearly, then threw the knife high in the air.
The next second, he switched to the dumb white bird and flew toward the knife while screaming.
COOOOOOOO!
He easily caught the knife and flew toward the central battle.
The battlefield of massacre.
The battle of bosses and the battle that led to his fame.
Cooooo!
With one more scream, Bird-Forsyx rushed toward the battle that would make him famous.
…
Forsyx sat on a branch, staring at the mess in front of him.
There wasn't just the Hibiki Snake. Hundreds of wild dogs, wolves, and foxes were charging at the players.
They tied down most of the player base. Forget about normal players doing any damage to the Hibiki Snake.
There were barely fifty players who were anywhere near the snake, and even then, they were doing insignificant damage to the giant.
The only one who managed to land any serious hit was the other boss monster, Red Fox herself.
Even though she was much smaller, as a boss monster, she still reached up to 5 meters in height.
It was a battle between these behemoths while most players dealt with side mobs.
Forsyx didn't rush. He just kept his eyes on the Hibiki Snake's health. It was just a few points above the 75% mark.
He was waiting for the boss monsters to enter their normal mode.
The biggest reason these boss monsters were tricky to kill was their size. This wasn't their true form—just an enhanced battle form.
After all, if it were really this big, it wouldn't come out for such a small piece of meat. And the combined fauna of the entire beginner forest wouldn't be able to feed these giants.
Even the nest he explored was much smaller compared to this behemoth.
From the nest's size, he guessed its actual form should be about 10 to 15 meters. Still massive, but not this massive.
If not for the elite boss, then it would be an all-out grind: players vs. the Hibiki Snake.
The direct confrontation depended on whether the players could drop their health below 75%. Though he was sure that among the ten that gathered in the butcher shop, at least half must have super-powerful class skills.
After all, not all classes started with utility skills like his. Many powerful classes offered extreme damage-dealing capabilities to the players.
He glanced around in his bird form and saw there were many like him waiting for the first phase to end.
At the start of the game, they were just as helpless as him—no high-damage skills. Otherwise, this first form would be nothing but a big practice target.
Surprisingly, he even saw Lucami—and Kos—with a few players around him, likely his team, just on the other side of the monster.
He didn't get time to think further. The Hibiki lashed out at the Red Fox and sent her crashing into nearby trees.
But as it was going down, it howled in a strange tone.
The next moment, he saw all the canines switch their target and rush toward the giant Hibiki.
He clenched his knife. The proper battle was about to begin.