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[Ding! Dungeon Key has been activated. Please join the Dungeon Party before entering the portal. Only players who joined your party can enter the portal and it will close once you enter. Good luck!]

A black portal with a timer opened right above Liu Ye's lap. It was small enough to fit inside the pod but big enough to cover all of it. One wrong move and Liu Ye would be sucked inside. 

[Dungeon Portal]

[Time Remaining: 00:04:55]

Having spare time, Liu Ye finally opened the Rankings to check the time he needed to beat. It has almost been an hour since the servers opened and just as he thought, tens of teams already secured their win. Liu Ye couldn't help but squint his eyes when he saw the top times. 

[Bandit Leader Dungeon] 

[1. Black Widow's Party - 00:15:35 - 20 Players] 

[2. Blood Devil's Party - 00:15:42 - 20 Players] 

[3. White Knight Lancelot's Party - 00:16:01 - 20 Players] 

All top 3 parties were only separated by a 30 seconds margin, making the Ranking extremely competitive. One mistake in the run could cause the team to lose the necessary time to set a record. 

[5. Queen of Chess' Party - 00:16:32 - 20 Players]

At the very least, Xu Yue managed to enter the top 5 but he knew she wouldn't be satisfied with such a result. 

'It would be a shame if someone took over the first spot with just one player…' Liu Ye thought with an evil plan in mind. He wanted to speed run the Dungeon and take over the first place but he knew it would be hard. His only advantage was the Ice Serpent that could make a huge difference. 

He set his target to below 12 minutes and finally reached out to the portal, letting it suck him inside. 

[Ding! You have entered the Bandit Leader Dungeon. Kill the Bandit Leader to clear the dungeon! You will receive a reward based on your performance. Good luck!] 

[Time: 00:00:01] 

Same location, same beginning. Liu Ye's body reappeared in front of the passage he left not too long ago but this time, the Masked Bandit defending it behaved differently.

"What are you doing here?!" Masked Bandit cried out angrily and launched an attack without hesitation. His fists punched twice, sending two Fire Jabs at Liu Ye's face before he swung with his leg that made an arch of flames. 

The combo seemed like a good opening but Liu Ye only sidestepped to dodge them while creating a Large Water Whip. 

-3

-3

It sucked more Mana with each second but it was much thicker and longer, giving him an opportunity to counter-attack right away. 

Ah!

The Masked Bandit cried out as he focused on destroying the water whip but his fireball wasn't enough to break it. 

-30

A single slap knocked him back and Liu Ye was already on the move, closing the distance to finish the bandit with a series of punches. 

-25

-25

-25

[Ding! You killed the Masked Bandit. You received 200 Experience and 5 silver.] 

'So only brute force is the answer,' Liu Ye thought as he rushed towards the passage without wasting time.

He didn't have a quest that would change the bandit's behavior and they finally behaved like a normal mob with classic aggression. A trick with the Water Stone wouldn't work anymore. 

Just as Liu Ye thought, the pattern of the bandit spawns didn't change as well, making it even easier. He drank a Medium Potion and simply stormed through them without stopping. 

[Ding! Congratulations! You reached Level 11!]

Four Masked Bandits later Liu Ye finally leveled up but he didn't stop, gulping another potion while running to save time. 

That was speedrun!

"Enemy!" Masked Bandits cried outright when they saw him but that was the last word they spoke. 

Anyone who later watched this run would consider Liu Ye as a maniac. All he did was run head-on at the bandits and knocked them down without caring about his body. He tried to dodge or block as much as he could, but even when he got struck, he simply drank a Health Potion to recover his HP.

Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to beat big parties of 20 members. 

[Time: 00:02:23] 

"Damn…" Liu Ye cursed realizing he already took over 2 minutes to finish 6 Masked Bandits. The difference in power between a solo player and a 20-men party was just too huge. 

Seeing four Masked Bandits protecting the cave entrance in the distance, Liu Ye extended his hand and tapped on his forearm. 

It was time to go all out. 

[Ding! You equipped the Victorious Set. Your movement speed will lower by 10%.]

The new armor felt much heavier but it didn't cripple him entirely. With his additional points in Dexterity, he only degraded a little while receiving more benefits. 

[HP: 220/220]

[Physical Defense: 50]

[Elemental Defense: 50]

The set doubled his basic 110 HP into 220 but that wasn't what Liu Ye was excited about. He finally had Elemental Defense that decreased the damage taken from Elemental Abilities. 

"Not bad," Liu Ye praised as he launched an assault while sneakily adding another point into his Intelligence. "Remember me?!" 

The only way to test the armor was to battle head-on and limit test its properties. The Masked Bandits were there to gladly help him by spamming their abilities without any questions. 

Liu Ye dodged enemy Water Whip, ducked against a thrown boulder only to welcome the familiar flames directly as if he was jumping into the pool. 

-20

[Ding! Fire Stream applied burn. You will lose 7 HP every second for the next three seconds.] 

The usual 30 damage from the Fire Stream dropped to 20 and the tick of burn also lowered. What made him even more ecstatic was the lack of pain from the burning as the armor stopped it all. 

"Perfect!" Liu Ye called out happily as he extinguished the flames with water before counter-attacking. 

Ugh!

All four Masked Bandits grunted out of breath as their bodies slammed against the mountain wall. If Small Water Whips were not enough to push someone back, the Large Water Whip had enough power to do so. 

Instead of withdrawing, Liu Ye held them pinned and skipped to their side to bash them with water punches. They tried to struggle themselves free but the only Waterbender capable of fighting back was already dead after becoming his first target. 

Another 800 Experience and 20 silver in the bank. The farming speed he has reached was impressive but that was still not enough to compete against full parties. 

[Time: 00:05:45] 

'There is no time for them all…'

He still had 40 Masked Bandits to kill in addition to the Master Leader. If he were to follow his current speed, he would already lose his top spot before he could even face the Boss. 

Only one idea came to his mind that would allow him to save time but it was extremely risky. Liu Ye drank both potions and entered the cave while calculating his chances of success. 

The Dungeon wasn't a Red Zone so he wouldn't drop his items even if he died. The only con was being forced to join others in clearing the Dungeon once he failed but he could sacrifice himself for that. 

"Just 100 seconds… It shouldn't be that long…" Liu Ye muttered under his breath as he equipped his only weapon. Ice Serpent almost froze his palm but he ignored it as the Bandit Leader entered his view. 

Either he sinks or swims!

Liu Ye sneaked inside the cavern unnoticed and walked silently to a familiar boulder. He had the best view of everything but the Bandit Leader was too far away from him. If he wanted to reach the boss, he would have to deal with the mobs that block his way. 

'Unless they can't see me,' Liu Ye thought while eyeing the torches on the walls. He smiled and created enough Ice Projectiles for them all. 

"Enemy!"

Masked Bandits announced as soon as Liu Ye ran in the open but he ignored, shooting at the torches like a machine gun. One by one the sources of light disappeared, turning the cavern into a scene from nightmares. 

"Damn! Light up the torches! I can't see shit!" The Bandit Leader scolded loudly while lighting a fireball on top of his palm. 

Bandit Leader exposed his exact position which was his last mistake. 

Ah!

A scream left his lungs when Liu Ye sneaked up from behind and stabbed his Ice Serpent into Bandit Leader's neck.

-5

-50

-5

-50

His Mana ticked every second together with 1% of Bandit Leader's HP but what surprised him was the lack of resistance from his side. He only struggled to pull Liu Ye's hand away from his lips but his strength was only weakening. His whole face was ice-cold while the blood inside his body froze. 

Liu Ye only needed a few seconds before the Bandit Leader couldn't even move, his body freezing to death from inside. 

OP!

The main thing he had to worry about were the Masked Bandits searching for its leader. The torches were slowly being picked up and the dark cavern would soon light up again. 

'Come on, die faster...'