The minotaur butcher, still clutching a cleaver, charged recklessly after the milk tea car—straight into the final boss’s territory.
Q-chan clung to the window, imagination running wild, holding its cheeks with both hands in delight. “They’ve probably never met before, right? This is their first meeting! How romantic~ Two bosses who were never meant to see each other, finally united by fate—”
Li Xiaoyi: “…”
As expected, even the system of a top player was something else.
The next moment, following its pre-set logic, the minotaur butcher yanked the cleaver out of the final boss’s chest. The “Minotaur Head Chef’s” HP bar instantly dropped a huge chunk.
Q-chan: “…”
Yi Luo gave Q-chan a meaningful look. “What were you just saying?”
Q-chan braced itself. “Y-you don’t understand! This is what they call a tragic romance born from love and hate!”
Yi Luo let out a short, mocking laugh, slammed on the gas pedal, and drove straight at the two bosses. As he turned, he asked Li Xiaoyi, “Can you drive?”
He didn’t bother asking Xiao Zhi.
Sure, the guy’s HP had been patched up a bit, but anyone who’d just come back from the brink of death would still be suffering from heart palpitations, dizziness, fear, and phantom pain. Pulling off something stylish with 2 HP left, like He Wuning, was definitely not normal human behavior.
Yi Luo loaded a round, fired a clean shot through the gap, hitting the Head Chef squarely.
Li Xiaoyi lowered her head in embarrassment. “I—I can’t drive.”
“Oh well,” Yi Luo said casually, still aiming without looking back. “Then you’ll just have to learn right now.”
Li Xiaoyi froze, wondering if she’d misheard.
“W-what?”
“Wait a second!”
Yi Luo didn’t wait. He swung the door open, leaped out, dodged a sweeping attack, and settled into his perfect shooting range—leaving Q-chan sitting on the driver’s seat. “Q, put her in assist mode!”
Q-chan raised its little hands helplessly. “I can’t reach the steering wheel, so it’s all on you!”
Li Xiaoyi had no choice but to crawl into the driver’s seat, trembling as she fumbled for the seatbelt, her hands shaking uncontrollably. She looked to Q-chan for help. “H-how do I even start this thing?!”
Q-chan pointed. “That’s the gas pedal. Step on it.”
Li Xiaoyi blinked. “And then?”
“That’s it.” Q-chan clung to the roof, waving its stubby little arms heroically. “Just floor it! Don’t stop! Run them over!”
Li Xiaoyi gripped the wheel, almost in tears. “But—but what if I hit our own people?!”
Q-chan looked at her sympathetically, realizing she’d been scared silly. “Dummy, the dungeon’s been updated—friendly fire’s off now! You can’t hurt them!”
Then Q-chan started egging her on, full of zeal. “Think about your boyfriend—he almost died in that thing’s hands!”
Xiao Zhi weakly corrected, “Fiancé…”
“Fine, fiancé!” Q-chan switched instantly. “Your fiancé almost died in its hands! This is your moment! The milk tea car’s still got 53 durability left! 17 on the front bumper, 20 on the rear! You can ram them so many times!”
“Don’t chicken out! Keep that pedal down! Charge! Let it taste your fury!”
Li Xiaoyi took two deep breaths—her body still trembling—and then, steeling herself, slammed her foot down on the accelerator, shouting at the top of her lungs: “Aaaahhh!”
The milk tea car shot forward in a straight line. He Wuning silently watched as the car—like a ghost car—phased right through him and barreled toward the final boss. Her furious scream echoed behind him: “You filthy beast! I’ll fight you to the death! Touch my man again and I’ll kill your whole family!”
What a powerful curse.
What a moving display of love.
He Wuning’s face remained completely expressionless.
Li Xiaoyi’s driving was utterly chaotic, like someone playing go-karts for the first time—but somehow, through sheer luck or rage, her hit rate was surprisingly high. Between the wild swerving and reckless ramming, she managed to give both minotaurs a very bad time.
He Wuning rubbed his nose, using the wild milk tea car as cover to continue his attacks. He planned to repeat his earlier tactic: take the cleaver from the minotaur butcher and let the two bosses fight each other.
Yi Luo understood his plan. He slowly adjusted his angle, keeping up continuous output while watching attacks coming from He Wuning’s blind spots. They didn’t exchange a word, yet their coordination was remarkably seamless.
He Wuning’s dagger struck the butcher’s cleaver. The minotaur butcher’s other hand immediately swung to strike, while the minotaur head chef raised its spoon to attack from behind.
A bullet “clang” hit the chef’s hand holding the spoon. Li Xiaoyi cried out as she collided into the scene, giving He Wuning the chance to evade. It was as if he had anticipated Yi Luo controlling the chef’s attacks, allowing him to boldly target the already injured right hand of the minotaur butcher. Once again, he wrested the bloodied cleaver from its hands.
—This time smeared with the head chef’s blood.
With the weapon back in his hands, He Wuning examined it, searching for the most effective point to strike.
Yi Luo reminded him, “Heart.”
He Wuning paused, but instinctively followed the advice, driving the dagger straight into the minotaur head chef’s heart.
Almost immediately, the minotaur butcher, very close by, grabbed the cleaver. Ignoring the chef’s resistance, it pulled the weapon from the chef’s chest.
He Wuning raised an eyebrow as he saw the butcher’s health bar drop significantly.
“Got it right,” Yi Luo said with a laugh.
He had guessed after seeing the first strike’s effectiveness. Perhaps it wasn’t the butcher’s cleaver that dealt such high damage—it was the heart, the true weak point of the minotaur head chef.
He Wuning tested the same move on the butcher’s heart, but the damage was no different from striking elsewhere. So even within the same species, weak points vary.
Thinking back to when they fought the wild minotaur boss, there hadn’t been an obvious weakness either.
Even without identifying the butcher’s weak point, after these rounds of attacks, it was already battered, its HP nearly depleted.
For the final strike, He Wuning hit its chest. Before he could retreat, the butcher suddenly tossed its cleaver aside and, half-kneeling, stretched out its massive palm, trapping him. Then it lowered its head—its deathblow was a close-range headbutt!
At the same time, the head chef seized the opportunity to attack, raising its spoon high.
While not as deadly as the cleaver, He Wuning knew that one hit from that spoon would likely kill a normal player.
“Ahhh!” Li Xiaoyi frantically twisted the steering wheel. The more critical the moment, the more panicked she became, her voice breaking with fear. “Left? Or right?!”
Q-chan shouted, “Right, right! Why can’t you tell left from right?!”
The minotaur butcher slammed its head down in a suicidal strike. In the cloud of dust, two loud “thuds” rang out. Li Xiaoyi shrank back, seemingly hearing bones cracking.
As the dust cleared, Yi Luo held his silver minotaur shield over He Wuning’s head. The impact made his arm tingle, but the damage was negligible. He smiled and looked down at He Wuning. “The tech department hypothesizes that special equipment dropped by monsters of the same species grants special damage or defense bonuses against that species,” Yi Luo explained.
“Seems reasonable,” He Wuning thought.
Li Xiaoyi stared, dumbfounded. Yi Luo shielded He Wuning as the minotaur butcher’s skull collided with the shield, while the head chef’s spoon smashed into the butcher’s head.
The once unassuming spoon revealed its power, leaving Li Xiaoyi pale at the thought of it hitting a human.
Yi Luo looked down. “Can you get out?”
He Wuning jumped free from the trap and nodded.
Yi Luo gave a slight nod, lowered the shield, and He Wuning leaped, using the shield’s momentum to slam into the head chef. One hand drove the skinning knife in forcefully. The chef’s HP instantly dropped below the last safe threshold. It suddenly flung its arms wide and roared, “Dinner’s ready!”
“Dinner’s read—ugh!”
Knowing minotaurs have deathblows, He Wuning was ready. The moment it moved, he swung the bloodied cleaver, slicing into its throat.
The head chef’s final line went unsaid. Its unwilling eyes stared as it collapsed under the combined attack of the milk tea car, dagger, and shield.
He Wuning landed calmly and glanced at Yi Luo.
Yi Luo smiled, meeting his gaze.
He Wuning squinted and suddenly jabbed Yi Luo in the stomach. Caught off guard, Yi Luo choked and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
“Ah!” Li Xiaoyi, seeing Yi Luo injured, was terrified. She hurriedly opened the car door to help, but as soon as she pushed it, her legs buckled and she collapsed to the ground. The world spun around her, her stomach churning violently.
She knelt on the ground and performed a New Year bow to the two of them, then pressed against the floor: “Ugh—ugh, I’m gonna—ugh—”
Q-chan kindly stayed by her side for a moment, nodding and giving them a solemn expression: “She says she’s carsick.”
Yi Luo chuckled, “And just now you were so brave?”
Q-chan blinked: “Maybe she just hadn’t realized it yet.”
Yi Luo wanted to tease her some more, but He Wuning had already shoved the healing gauze into his mouth. Yi Luo instinctively bit down, staring wordlessly at him: “…Wait, who shoved this gauze in my mouth?”
He Wuning raised an eyebrow: “You didn’t have any other injuries.”
Yi Luo covered his chest: “My heart is injured.”
“And my dignity too.”
“I was trying to look cool just now, and I almost swallowed that mouthful of blood… if you hadn’t suddenly touched me—”
He Wuning tilted his chin at him: “Your choice first.”
Yi Luo blinked, looked at the gauze in his hand, then at He Wuning’s expressionless face, and drew in a sharp breath: “I get it.”
“You care about me!”
He Wuning suddenly turned and tossed a silver pendant from the ground toward Yi Luo, his face sour: “So… take it or not?”
“I’ll take it.” Yi Luo flicked the pendant in his hand. “Since you specifically gave it to me, then…”
He looked at the pendant for a moment, then unexpectedly handed it back to He Wuning: “I want this one.”
He bound the pendant, then returned it to He Wuning: “Here, for you.”
He Wuning looked at him like an idiot: “Why?”
“Special item.” Yi Luo tossed the item directly to him. “You’ll know when you see it. Wear it.”
He Wuning glanced at it—
Companion’s Gift: A gift containing a companion’s thoughts. If carried carefully and cherished, it may bring unexpected blessings at some point.
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The author has something to say:
Minotaur Head Chef: My heart is racing for He Wuning, I can’t handle it.
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