078 The Depressing Rogue Encampment

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According to the desires of the heart, there are three possible scenes: The first part of Comic Storm, Diablo version 1.10, and the novel Shattered Void.

"Damn!"

Yang Tang couldn't help but curse. All three choices were tough for him; whichever he entered, if he wasn't careful, he'd likely end up dead.

He knew that Storm and Shattered Void were both high-powered worlds. And truth be told, the first part of Storm wasn't as fierce as Shattered Void, because the latter featured the most formidable master in Huang's martial arts universe, the supreme grandmaster Ling Donglai.

"Only by understanding the true path of heaven can one rely on oneself, trapped within the Ten Absolute Passes. After nine years of secluded cultivation, a profound awakening unravels the final deathly knot, allowing one to depart in freedom. These words remain as a record. Ling Donglai."

By the end of Shattered Void, Ling Donglai had been deified. Faced with such a figure, Yang Tang was well aware that with his current feeble strength, he wouldn't survive even half a move, let alone anything else.

Moreover, aside from Ling Donglai, the master-level experts in Shattered Void appeared as numerous as blades of grass, and anyone slightly weaker who got involved would inevitably become cannon fodder.

As for the first part of Storm, the situation wasn't much better, but Yang Tang had to admit: whether it was Shattered Void or Storm, if he could learn just one or two moves from either dream realm, dealing with absurd grabs like the one from Lu Yin's colleague last time would be child's play.

But the real issue was: what if he died in the dream? What then?

"What happens if you die inside the dream?"

Yang Tang finally asked the question he'd always wanted to ask but hadn't dared.

After about five or six seconds of silence, Ming Wu responded: It depends on the situation, but the most likely outcome is that the dreamer cannot escape the dream; outsiders would believe the dreamer suddenly died in their sleep.

Unable to escape the dream.

Unable to escape.

Outsiders would believe.

The dreamer suddenly, suddenly, suddenly died!?

"Is even dreaming a life-or-death risk?" Yang Tang broke out in cold sweat.

But after calming down and thinking it through, he realized millions die in their sleep every year worldwide; one more or less wouldn't make a difference. Most crucially, with the college entrance exam just days away, even if he died in the dream, the media would probably just report: "Candidate succumbed to exam stress on the eve of the college entrance exam," or something like that.

The only thing Yang Tang could be relieved about was that, according to the pattern of entering a shocking crisis in the Fifth Dream, he wouldn't be thrown straight into a hopeless situation upon entering the scene; there would definitely be an adaptation period, short or long. So, strictly speaking, it didn't matter which of the three scenes he entered. Even in the relatively safe Diablo, if he was surrounded by Hell Bovines right away, he wouldn't survive either.

"No need to specify—random selection is fine."

Scene selected. Preparing to enter Diablo.

As this is the official Sixth Dream, entry requires 106 Reincarnation Points. Currently, there aren't enough merit credits, so 120 sin points will be automatically deducted.

Yang Tang: ""

Reincarnation Points generated. Scene entry permitted!

The Sixth Dream is opening.

Yang Tang awoke to find himself curled up on the ground, his back against the wheel of a wagon.

He got up, wandered around the wagon in a spiral, and finally confirmed his location: Rogue Encampment.

Meanwhile, Ming Wu activated: Skill search in progress. Dodge - Amazon, meets requirements. Resist - Paladin, meets requirements. Attack reflection - Necromancer, meets requirements. Since attack reflection is an advanced skill, prerequisite skill "Amplify Damage" must be learned first.

"Oh, so there are prerequisite skills? Does that mean the skills I've learned before—"

Skills learned previously by the dreamer have no prerequisites.

As for the learning levels of each skill, Yang Tang didn't ask. After all, in Xuanyuan Sword nn, Celestial Sound Purification required character level ten or above to learn, and Scar Strike wasn't obtainable until level fifty-something. Compared to that, Dodge at level six, Resist at level six, and Attack Reflection at level twelve weren't so bad.

Task: Due to the dreamer's heavy sins, he must build good relations with those who possess the corresponding skills to copy them: Kashya the Amazon, Warriv the Paladin, and Gheed the Necromancer!

Upon hearing the mission, Yang Tang was speechless. How come he didn't know those three had the corresponding class skills? But since Ming Wu said so, he had to follow the instructions.

"How do you build good relations with these three?"

He'd have to ask them.

Yang Tang was struck dumb, but luckily he was in the Rogue Encampment. Without any loss, he approached the nearest, Gheed, and asked, "Hey, buddy, if I want to become friends with you, what should I do?"

Gheed, the merchant, stared at Yang Tang for several seconds as if he were an idiot, then said, "Give me a hundred thousand gold coins, and you'll have my friendship."

Merchant style, indeed!

Yang Tang nearly cursed aloud but managed to hold back and turned to leave. Gheed called him back: "Hey, friend, I was just joking! Actually, as long as the cumulative amount you gamble on equipment with me exceeds a million, you'll definitely have my sincerest friendship!"

Yang Tang: ""

Turning away, Yang Tang then conversed with Warriv.

Warriv's requirement seemed simple: just travel east with him, and upon reaching Lut Gholein, he would reward you with his friendship.

So that's it—they want me to complete all the main quests of the Rogue Encampment! Yang Tang was left speechless again.

Left with no choice, Yang Tang sought out Kashya.

"That's not hard, my friend. Just help me complete a few minor tasks, and you'll earn my friendship."

"And your first task is?"

"The first is simple: go and eliminate a Fallen Shaman trapped in a nightmare."

"Eliminate a Fallen Shaman?" Yang Tang repeated quietly.

Kashya reminded him, "I think you'll need a bow or a crossbow."

"Ah, thanks for the tip!"

Yang Tang certainly wanted a weapon, but unfortunately, he was penniless. In other words, to eliminate the Fallen Shaman, he'd have to farm some minor monsters, gather gold coins, and get some equipment first. With that, he identified the direction and headed straight out of the Rogue Encampment.

Carefully passing through the area where monsters charge the encampment gate, Yang Tang found a relatively open spot and began observing the roaming range of nearby monsters. Spotting a lone Ghoul, he mentally recited, "Scar Strike!"

His vision blurred briefly, then cleared. Using the momentum from Scar Strike, he ran forward a few more steps, then looked back to find the Ghoul lying dead on the ground, lifeless, with not a single coin dropped.

Unconvinced, Yang Tang quickly found another lone target and used the same method, instantly killing the Ghoul again.

This time was better—two coins dropped. But at this point, Yang Tang discovered a huge problem: he had no inventory. So he picked up the coins and tried stuffing them into his pocket. After a while, he noticed the coins didn't disappear, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Damn, who would've thought that entering the game in Mode 062 for monster farming would have so many subtle issues?"

Grumbling, Yang Tang kept farming lone Ghouls: the third, the fourth...

Ding!

Ming Wu instantly prompted: Scar Strike skill upgrade progress: one percent!

Hm?

"Scar Strike accumulates proficiency? Aren't skills only upgraded by killing people? I haven't killed anyone since learning Scar Strike; how is it leveling up?"

Ming Wu: Ten monsters count as one person.

"Ten monsters? But I've only killed four Ghouls just now... Oh, right, previously I killed a few cats and dogs for experiments, plus that time I phased through a wall. Calculating it all, it seems ten monsters really do equal one person!"

"But what happens when Scar Strike upgrades? It's already pretty overpowered—could it get even stronger?"

The thought excited Yang Tang, just like when he first encountered MMOs years ago. He pondered, "A thousand monsters, eh?" That didn't seem like a lot. Why not farm until Scar Strike upgrades?

Thus, Yang Tang began farming relentlessly. After killing about a hundred monsters, he was losing patience—the drop rate was too low. Not a single item had appeared, not even blue or red potions.

Worse yet, the coins with a reasonable drop rate jangled in his pocket every time he searched for lone monsters, which often attracted monster mobs and led to getting swarmed instead of solo kills.

Whenever he was mobbed, Scar Strike's three-second duration felt far too long. Without any other usable skills, he could only cast Scar Strike twice at most: once to instantly kill a monster, the second time to kill another and escape the encirclement. Otherwise, if monsters latched onto him and Celestial Sound Purification couldn't heal him, there was only one outcome: death.

With no other choice, Yang Tang returned to the Rogue Encampment, intending to exchange coins for equipment or weapons. But thinking it over, if he switched to swords or bows, Scar Strike wouldn't accumulate proficiency anymore.

Luckily, there were still piercing weapons. But when Yang Tang tried to buy one, he stopped abruptly.

For one simple reason: In Diablo, all weapons except bows, crossbows, and javelins seemed to have durability issues. But for leveling up Scar Strike, his Lotus Tiger Ring was already sufficient and didn't seem affected by durability.

Hesitating, Yang Tang considered a more critical issue: "Should I buy a few small health potions for emergencies? Right, I could also buy a belt and store the potions there." As for mana potions, the advantage of Scar Strike not consuming mana now became clear.

With his plan decided, Yang Tang went to Akara and bought three small health potions, and as for the belt...

...