Q-chan had just regained control of her body from the “Voice of the World” and immediately squeaked in fear, “Yiyi-wuwu—!” trying to dive straight into He Wuning’s arms. Unfortunately, at the same time the dungeon returned to normal, the Minotaur Butcher also began to move.
The moment the hostages escaped, it freed both hands. Its right hand, which had been gripping Xiao Zhi, suddenly reached behind its back and pulled out another gleaming bone cleaver. Its blood-red eyes locked onto He Wuning—the one who had just injured it. With a long, guttural moo, it raised both cleavers high and brought them crashing down toward him.
He Wuning didn’t even dodge—just stood behind the milk tea car door.
The Minotaur Butcher clearly lacked intelligence; instead of trying to go around the obstacle, it simply swung both shining cleavers again and again, pounding down like a butcher mincing meat.
Q-chan quickly darted around to the back of the car, not daring to make things worse for He Wuning. “Durability -1, -1, -1— it’s dropping too fast! I can’t keep up with the report!”
“So stupid.” He Wuning lifted his eyelids slightly, full of disdain. “Probably no shard drop.”
A crisp click sounded from Yi Luo’s gun as he chambered a round, aiming for the creature’s head. A burst of blood sprayed out with the shot, but the Minotaur Butcher, its aggro still locked onto He Wuning, didn’t even seem to feel pain—its attacks continued, mechanical and relentless.
He Wuning had enough leisure to glance back and ask, as casually as if he were asking what was for dinner, “What’s its type?”
He moved forward to keep attacking. The edge of his dagger scraped across the Minotaur’s hide, leaving only a shallow mark. He didn’t rush to press the attack—just tested its defenses, letting the small knife glide along its brown fur.
His movements were fast, measured, and careful—not greedy for damage, only managing the monster’s aggro so Yi Luo could attack freely.
Li Xiaoyi had already reached the injured young man’s side and was hurriedly using a healing item on him, almost missing that Yi Luo was talking to her.
But even when she realized, there wasn’t much she could do. She lowered her head in shame. “It—it hits really hard. It rushed us suddenly—Xiao Zhi got slashed once and his health bar dropped to zero. But it didn’t kill us right away—it tried to shove us into that, that meat grinder…”
She shuddered at the memory, clearly still terrified.
“Oh, a monster with a special kill mechanic.” Yi Luo nodded, chambered another bullet, and fired in one smooth, elegant motion. “What’s its weak point?”
His tone was calm, steady, carrying a quiet assurance that somehow soothed her trembling hands. She whispered, “I’m sorry—we didn’t even manage to hit it…”
He Wuning said, simply: “Hands.”
“Hm?” Yi Luo raised an eyebrow.
He Wuning dodged a cleaver that grazed his chin, kicked the Minotaur’s wrist hard, and drove his dagger into its palm—forcing it to drop the weapon.
He stepped on the cleaver embedded in the ground, eyes calm. “Two hands are stronger than one.”
Yi Luo’s eyes lit up with realization. “Oh—so it’s weaker when it’s holding a hostage?”
Li Xiaoyi flinched, her gaze trembling before she looked down. Then she bit her lip and said, “I can…”
The weakened Xiao Zhi grabbed her wrist. “No. You can’t.”
He struggled to sit up. “Let me go. I’ve already been a hostage once…”
“No! You’re hurt!” Tears welled in Li Xiaoyi’s eyes. “I—I can protect you too!”
He Wuning turned around and suddenly reached out, pressing his hand gently on Q-chan’s head. His tone, unusually soft, carried rare warmth. “Do me a favor.”
Q-chan: “Chirp?”
The next second, He Wuning swung his arm like a professional pitcher and threw Q-chan out with a fastball motion. Q-chan’s tragic “Damee—!” echoed through the slaughterhouse.
The Minotaur Butcher reflexively reached out with its left hand—and caught the incoming “ball.”
Li Xiaoyi: “…”
Xiao Zhi: “…”
Yi Luo looked at their tearful, hand-holding posture and snorted. “What are you two doing, a tragic farewell scene? It’s not that serious.”
Li Xiaoyi replied woodenly, “M-maybe not…”
Q-chan shouted at the top of her voice: “You’re jealous! You’re just bitter, single dog! With that attitude, you’ll never get a girlfriend!”
Yi Luo raised an eyebrow. “It was He Wuning who threw you—why are you yelling at me?”
“How could it be called throwing when my sweetie does it?” Q-chan replied righteously. “That was my sweetie’s expectation for me! Ahhh no no no, I’m breaking apart! My head’s gonna crack—uwaaah!”
“You two are abusing your system!”
“Will the monster attack trigger a penalty?” He Wuning dodged the attack and approached Q-chan. Cradled in the Minotaur Butcher’s hand, Q-chan shyly covered its face. “I knew it, sweetie—you really do care about me…”
He Wuning grabbed the dagger still embedded in the Minotaur’s wrist and said without a hint of guilt, “I just need my knife back.”
“Stay there a bit longer.”
He yanked the blade free and rolled aside to dodge another blow—completely ignoring the idea of rescuing a certain system while he was at it.
Q“……”
Q-chan: “……”
It was just being delusional.
The Minotaur roared in pain and fury, flinging Q-chan away. The poor system let out a wail before crashing into the wall with a thud, rolling limply across the floor.
Trembling, it raised its tiny stubby hands. “Sweetie… avenge… me—urk!”
Then it flopped face-down and didn’t move.
For a split second, He Wuning actually felt a pang of unease. Yi Luo snorted. “So dramatic. You’ve still got durability points left, don’t you?”
Q-chan lifted its head. “What’s your problem! Stop stealing my lines!”
The Minotaur Butcher took a step forward, reaching for its fallen cleaver—completely ignoring He Wuning, who still technically held its aggro.
He Wuning’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. He was the first to move, kicking up the butcher’s cleaver and tossing it toward Yi Luo by the milk tea car.
Yi Luo tilted his head to avoid the spinning blade as it embedded itself beside him, clicking his tongue. “Hey, throwing sharp objects around is dangerous!”
He Wuning jerked his chin toward the Minotaur that had instantly turned and was now barreling toward Yi Luo.
A monster without a “fragment” only followed programmed logic—and in this Minotaur’s code, retrieving its weapon took priority over attacking the player with top aggro.
Yi Luo hefted the cleaver with interest, waiting until the creature came right up to him before casually tossing the weapon back to He Wuning.
The Minotaur halted in front of him, breathing heavily. Yi Luo could even smell its beastly stench—if not for its mechanical precision, he might have thought these things were real.
He Wuning caught the cleaver, and the Minotaur immediately twisted its head toward him again, compelled to follow the rule despite its rage.
Having finished healing Xiao Zhi and helping him sit up, Li Xiaoyi stared blankly at the scene before her— The same terrifying Minotaur Butcher that had nearly chopped them to death moments ago was now running back and forth between He Wuning and Yi Luo like a hyperactive puppy chasing a frisbee.
He Wuning clearly wasn’t just toying with it. He glanced toward the back of the dungeon—the roaring meat grinder clearly had space behind it. He jerked his chin toward the two recovered players. “Get in the car.”
Li Xiaoyi hurried to pull Xiao Zhi up, terrified of slowing down the two pros.
He Wuning retreated while fighting, cleaver in hand. Q-chan, still lying “dead” on the floor, quietly rolled itself into the Minotaur’s path and shouted heroically, “Sweetie, go on without me! I’ll trip it for you!”
The Minotaur’s hoof came down without hesitation, stomping it flat.
He Wuning: “……”
He thought he’d just heard a very distinct splat.
With a soft sigh, he stopped retreating and charged forward instead. The gleaming cleaver slashed down hard on the Minotaur’s hoof. His gaze sharpened, murderous intent flashing in his eyes. “Lift your foot.”
This blade was far better than his level-1 dagger. The Minotaur bellowed and toppled backward from the pain. He Wuning seized the moment to scoop up the crushed Q-chan, toss it through the milk tea truck window, and sprinted forward a few steps before leaping up to grab the window frame himself—
—cleaver still in hand.
Inside the milk tea car, Li Xiaoyi was trembling. She risked a glance back—
The disarmed Minotaur Butcher was howling furiously, charging full speed after the speeding car.
She looked at the two unbothered “pros,” hesitating before speaking. “This is inside a dungeon. W-we’re not supposed to be able to… run away, right?”
Yi Luo laughed softly. “Who said anything about running?”
Li Xiaoyi felt that being with these two utterly fearless pros somehow gave her a bit of confidence too. She carefully asked, “So… what exactly are we doing right now?”
Yi Luo nodded seriously. “This is called a tactical relocation.”
Li Xiaoyi: “……”
Yi Luo seemed to find her array of facial expressions extremely entertaining. He chuckled softly and pointed at He Wuning, who was hanging off the outside of the truck door like he was enjoying the breeze. “To be honest, I have no idea either,” Yi Luo said. “But judging by how this guy always manages to look cool no matter the situation, I figured he wanted me to drive—so I did.”
He turned slightly toward the window. “Now, let’s have Comrade He Wuning explain his tactical intentions.”
He Wuning didn’t look back. The bloodstained meat grinder was sliding past behind him as the car sped forward, the wind whipping his coat. He pressed a hand against his black hair to keep it in place. “There’s definitely another one in there,” he said calmly. “Fighting them one by one takes too long. We’ll do both together.”
Li Xiaoyi hesitated. “Wait… are you saying you plan to fight the second dungeon boss and the final boss at the same time?”
He Wuning answered lazily, “Mm.”
Li Xiaoyi just stared, unsure whether she’d gone insane—or if these two already had.
The milk tea car sped onward, and the scenery around them suddenly changed. A faint smell of roasted meat filled the air. Given the dungeon’s “slaughterhouse” setting, Li Xiaoyi’s face went pale, and she nearly vomited.
Up ahead stood the massive final boss—a towering figure labeled “Minotaur Head Chef.” It slowly raised its head and suddenly spoke—
“Ingredients.”
“Where are my ingredients—why aren’t they here yet?!”
Its furious roar made the entire dungeon tremble.
“Ahhhh!” Li Xiaoyi and Xiao Zhi screamed, clutching each other in terror as they watched Yi Luo charge forward without slowing down—driving the caer straight into the Minotaur Head Chef.
The monster didn’t get knocked away, but it did falter for a split second.
Q-chan shouted frantically, “Waaah! Sweetie, watch out! He’s immune to knockback!”
He Wuning had already leapt from the car . The gleaming cleaver reflected the cold edge of his face as he raised his eyes. “The ingredients have arrived.”
With that, he drove the shining cleaver straight into the Minotaur Head Chef’s heart.
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The author has something to say:
Heads may roll, blood may flow, but the hairstyle must stay flawless. (Brother He adjusting his bangs.jpg)
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