Chapter 102: The Fishmen Unite

“You have been affected by an unknown toxin; your health will continue to decrease.”
“Health loss rate: 20 points per second. If exposure exceeds four seconds, you will enter a stunned state...”

Two lines of red system alerts flashed across the screen. Lu Kuan glanced at them briefly before quickly withdrawing his finger as if electrocuted.

Great! Twenty points per second—and that was just from sticking in a single finger...

Instinctively, Lu Kuan stepped back from the red mist, now fully convinced that the fog was indeed poisonous.

However, the white mist was no safer. The unique cries of the fishmen came in waves. After the first group was driven off, the guards behind seemed to grow cautious, no longer revealing themselves easily.

But once the old blind man ran into the red mist, the clamorous noise of fishmen around grew louder and closer, as if they were slowly tightening their encirclement.

“Trying to trap me?”

Lu Kuan sneered coldly and quickly opened his skill panel, allocating the skill points he had earned from his previous upgrade to “Listening,” raising it to level three.

Gripping his hunting bow, Lu Kuan closed his eyes and stood still, carefully listening to the sounds within the mist. After a moment, he suddenly raised his hand and released an arrow.

“Aagh...!”

A pitiful scream echoed from the fog as a noisy little fishman was struck squarely by the feathered arrow.

Lu Kuan didn’t pause; he swiftly nocked arrow after arrow, and soon the fog was filled with agonized screams. The fishmen lying in ambush were swiftly taken down by his elusive shots.

Realizing something was amiss, the fishmen stopped hiding and charged out, spears raised.

Lu Kuan shot several arrows quickly, taking out the first few attackers, then sheathed his hunting bow with a metallic clatter and drew his twin swords.

“Ding! Dang!”

“Pshh!”

Lu Kuan’s swordplay was swift and deadly, his blades flashing like lightning as he moved fluidly among the monsters. His momentum was not at all inferior to that of warriors or monks specializing in close combat.

After all, in his previous life, Lu Kuan had ten game characters, eight of whom were above level seventy. When it came to melee skills, he was second to none.

But now, playing as a ranger, his strength lay in archery: a single feathered arrow could blow a fishman’s head apart. Switching to melee, it took two sword strikes to fell one—provided he hit a vital point—and it consumed far more stamina.

There was no choice; the fishmen were too numerous. All ranger advanced classes only gain magic and area-of-effect skills after level fifteen, so facing swarms of enemies was indeed challenging.

Fortunately, the fishmen were low-level, none exceeding level eight.

Still, where was that old blind man? Wasn’t he just here to gather some fish mint?

“Swish!”

Lu Kuan slashed a fishman’s arm off with his sword, blood spraying across his face, making his expression even more ferocious as murderous intent surged: “Die!”

At this moment, the effect of the blue one-handed sword, Blood Roar, came into play. With a sharpness value of 25, even a small fishman died upon contact.

Lu Kuan darted through the fog, maximizing his agility to avoid the fishmen’s attacks. But as time wore on, he began to feel drained.

Melee was not a ranger’s strength—low damage and higher stamina cost than shooting arrows. After five minutes, his arms grew sore and he panted heavily.

“Ugh!”

Seizing a moment when Lu Kuan was distracted, a fishman shot a blowpipe dart from behind. The tiny arrowhead whizzed through the air and embedded itself in Lu Kuan’s left shoulder, causing him to grunt softly.

“Ulalala!”

The fishmen cheered and surged forward, but Lu Kuan stood his ground, slashing with Blood Throat, killing two more fishmen and forcing them to retreat in fear.

Panting, Lu Kuan glanced back toward the red mist; still no sign of movement. His stamina and health were both running low.

Yet the fishmen kept coming, seemingly endless.

Had those who undertook this quest in his previous life failed here? Or had they never even reached this far?

“If it really comes down to it, I’ll have to give up. All my purple gear is unbound—losing any of it would be unbearable...”

Lu Kuan thought helplessly and began searching for the exact direction he had come from. If the old blind man didn’t emerge soon, he would have to break through.

Just then, the fishman warriors suddenly looked around nervously and then collectively retreated. Within seconds, the tightly packed horde disappeared without a trace.

Lu Kuan was momentarily stunned, a bad premonition rising in his chest.

Sure enough, moments after the fishmen dispersed, he felt a faint tremor beneath his feet, as if some massive creature was charging rapidly from the lakeshore toward him!

Lu Kuan’s expression grew serious. He sheathed his swords and pulled out his hunting bow, instinctively checking his status.

“Current Health: 74%
Stamina: 40%
Energy: 100%

Character Status: Normal”

“Surely they wouldn’t throw a boss at me for a mission like this?”

Lu Kuan smiled wryly at himself. But seeing a high-level monster approach sparked a renewed determination to continue the challenge; the thought of retreating faded.

Had his courage diminished after reincarnation?

In his past life, encountering such a quest, he would have fought to the death to complete it—these storyline quests were rare and had to be seized with all one’s might.

His gaze hardened as he straightened up amid the drifting white mist. He pulled out a roasted soft-shell crab and a bottle of basic strength potion left over from the last Black Desert battle, consuming both.

“System Notice: You have gained the buff ‘Taste Stimulation,’ Accuracy +1%.”
“You have gained the buff ‘Basic Strength,’ Strength +1.”

At the same time, Lu Kuan grabbed another basic stamina potion, holding it between his teeth to use at a critical moment.

Prepared for anything, he listened as the sounds of running drew closer within the thick fog.

He rested his right hand on the bowstring, leaning against a tree trunk, focused and ready.

“Thud! Thud!”

Heavy footsteps slowed, stopping just outside his line of sight. The mist parted slightly, revealing a tall, shadowy figure standing upright, its dark green eyes fixed intently on him.

In the next instant, the shadow crouched slightly, then lunged forward with tremendous force!

“Whoosh!”

“Buzz~!”

As it leapt out, the figure hurled a massive two-meter-long battle axe with all its might, the terrifying whoosh of air rushing toward Lu Kuan!

Lu Kuan moved without hesitation, firing a cluster of bone-shattering arrows. Simultaneously, he executed a perfect somersault to the side and sprang to his feet, releasing a normal shot immediately after.

“Crack!”

“Ding! Ding!”

The battle axe sliced through the air, cleaving the tree trunk Lu Kuan had been leaning against in half. His two arrows were precise but both struck the shield on the enemy’s left arm, producing two sharp metallic clangs.