Legend of the Pinnacle of Online Games

Chapter 143, Second Playthrough Completion
(5,000 words, the main characters' second playthrough of "Dawn", filling in plot holes, needs to be read in conjunction with Roy's memories in the previous chapter)
"Completion level is only C!?"

"Is the Shura-level [Dawn of Light] dungeon really that difficult?"

The completion score of the Heavenly Path Squad after clearing "Dawn" surprised many people.

Given the strength of the Heavenly Path Squad, their completion rate was indeed not high.

"Let's do it again!"

Lin Hanchuan addressed the crowd directly.

He was also dissatisfied with the completion rate of the dungeon.

Many questions remain unanswered; even the name of the totem on Roy's body is still unknown.

In the end, if Long Xiaoyue hadn't used [Silent Voice] to suppress Roy's madness, this first clear would have failed.

Long Xiaochen was the first to agree: "Okay, boss!"

Cao Renjie followed closely behind: "I'm fine!"

Long Xiaoyue recalled the emotional outpouring of Roy's parents before their deaths and nodded, saying, "I think we can try to get them to merge."

After unanimous agreement.

The Heavenly Path Squad tackles the Asura-level [Dawn] dungeon again.

With the experience gained from the previous "Dawn of the Day" dungeon, the second attempt was much easier.

"I'll go in and see what kind of teleportation token Roy used to transmit the sound from dozens of kilometers away to here." After entering the instance, Lin Hanchuan looked at the entire burning forest in front of him, said this, and then took the fire-avoiding bead and rushed in.

The scorching flames, as if encountering a natural enemy, retreated in all directions, forming an arched passage centered on Lin Hanchuan.

Ah ah ah ah ah! !

All I could hear were screams of terror and panic.

They followed the sound.

It's only about 20 meters.

Then I saw a transparent light screen unfolding in the sea of ​​fire, and the sound was coming from inside it.

The scene displayed on the screen was the settlement of the elves, which had been engulfed in flames. The elves and the giant tree people, with slightly confused eyes and extremely angry expressions, seemed to be attacking Roy's mother, who was standing more than two meters tall on the highest point of the house, from all directions, as if they were not afraid of death.

Meanwhile, in the corner of the screen, Roy is being chased by a giant tree-man boss. She is running wildly through the ruins towards Lin Hanchuan.

The panicked face was magnified rapidly in the image.

next moment.

Under Lin Hanchuan's gaze, Roy leaped into the air, her body seemingly breaking through a dimensional barrier, crossing the light screen, and arriving in front of Lin Hanchuan.

The giant tree boss relentlessly pursued Roy, jumping out of the screen as he followed.

The giant tree-man BOSS, which was still very short inside the light curtain that was two meters high and about one and a half meters wide, suddenly grew taller and taller, reaching eight meters in the wind, covering the sea of ​​fire in front of Lin Hanchuan.

The light screen behind him shattered and vanished amidst a roar emanating from within an image.

"Help..." Roy hadn't even cried out for help yet.

Lin Hanchuan picked up his staff and charged straight at them.

Before long, the giant tree-man BOSS became a corpse.

"How was that scene created?" Lin Hanchuan asked directly, his fire-avoiding bead enveloping Roy.

The prop that can transmit images synchronously and allow characters to travel through it is something Lin Hanchuan has never seen before.

“I don’t know either. This only happened after I used it,” Roy shook his head.

Because of the different times they met, Roy seemed much more sincere on his second viewing than on his first. He took out a colorful crystal from his hair and handed it to Lin Hanchuan.

Lin Hanchuan took it; the crystal was about the size of a palm, and some cracks had already appeared on it.

Lin Hanchuan took it in his hand, examined it, and then checked its information through the system.

[Dimensional Teleportation Crystal]

Quality: Special Item

After use, simply imagine any coordinate point in your mind where you will be transported, or the scene of your destination, and a portal will be instantly created. Duration: one minute.

Remaining uses: 1!
Note 1: During the formation of the portal, creatures at the teleportation endpoint can simultaneously see and hear everything happening at the teleportation origin through the portal.

Note 2: During the formation of the portal, a maximum of one hundred people can be teleported.

And this good thing?

Lin Hanchuan had never seen or heard of it before.

According to the description of the dimensional crystal.

There is truly no place he cannot go when he descends.

Lin Hanchuan held the dimensional teleportation crystal, looked at Roy, and wanted her to give it to him as a reward.

Roy looked at Lin Hanchuan. This was her treasure, and she wanted Lin Hanchuan to return it to her.

After a stalemate of more than ten seconds.

Lin Hanchuan couldn't help but ask, "How can I get this?"

“Let me see the sun rise tomorrow!” Roy replied.

The next moment, the system notification sounded in the minds of the Heavenly Dao Squad members.

"Ding! Congratulations, you have successfully accepted the protection target for this Shura-level [Dawn of Light] dungeon - the elf girl Roy."

"Triggering the story quest—[Protect Roy]!"

Protect Roy

Difficulty...

……

Reward 1: Completion of this event signifies clearing the Shura-level [Dawn] dungeon.

Reward 2: If you achieve an S-rank completion, you will receive a Dimensional Teleportation Crystal.

Failure penalty: None
Lin Hanchuan looked down at the dimensional teleportation crystal in his hand and realized that this was also one of the ways to trigger the main quest, and he also received an extra reward.

After returning the dimensional teleportation crystal to Roy, Lin Hanchuan recalled the scene from his first playthrough and said directly, "The place where the battle just took place was your elf gathering place, right?"

Roy nodded, looking sad.

"Would you like to go back and take a look?" Lin Hanchuan asked.

Roy shook his head, then nodded.

On the first viewing, Roy went insane at the end.

It's clear that she both fears and loves her parents.

"Then we'll take you back to have a look. Don't worry, we're very strong! No one can hurt you!" Lin Hanchuan said immediately afterward.

The sound fell.

Pat pat!
Rain began to fall from the sky above the sea of ​​fire.

After the heavy rain extinguished the forest fire, Roy saw three humans and one half-elf running in from outside.

When Roy first rewatched the game, he focused more on the half-elf.

"Hello, my name is Xingchen." Xingchen took the initiative to speak to Roy.

Roy was startled, then quickly crouched down and replied, "Hello, my name is Roy!"

Lin Hanchuan watched this scene with a smile, while also sending a message to Long Xiaochen to summon the water spirit to protect Xingchen.

Next, the entire Heavenly Path Team moved forward quickly.

Along the way, the entire Heavenly Path Squad, including Xingchen, took the initiative to talk to Roy, vying to increase her favorability and helping her relax.

On my first viewing, my main problem was that I was too suspicious of Roy, which prevented me from progressing through many plot points, and I could only guess at the answers to the questions.

Especially later, a sense of distrust towards Roy gradually formed within the team. The heavy atmosphere and everyone's suspicion completely sealed off Roy's already fragile heart.

After defeating the Giant Flower Monster BOSS and the Earth Elf BOSS, copy the chat content from the first run to trigger the side quest "Roy's Totem".

Lin Hanchuan asked directly, "Roy, was that a totem that just appeared on your neck?"

Roy looked flustered, but under Lin Hanchuan's gaze, he still nodded and said, "Yes!"

Lin Hanchuan smiled and continued to ask, "What's your name? I used to have one too, but I gave it to someone else."

Lin Hanchuan chose an open and honest approach, asking the question as if it were a joke.

“Puppet Flower!” Roy replied, while simultaneously pulling open the back of his shirt to reveal the faintly visible totem on his back.

Is it a totem for manipulation?
It sounds like a perfect match for the puppeteer, a unique profession in District 9.

No wonder Roy's parents could control so many monsters at the same time.

Lin Hanchuan calmed his mind for a moment, then smiled and commented, "This name is really beautiful. It must be a very powerful totem. Did you obtain it by chance, or was it given to you by someone else?"

Although Long Xiaochen and the others were looking at other places, their attention was focused on the conversation between Lin Hanchuan and Luo Yi.

To complete 【Roy's Totem】, there are two requirements: one is to know the name of the totem, and the other is to know the origin of the totem.

Soon, Roy's voice rang out, "It was given to me by my parents."

The system notification tone sounded immediately.

"Ding! Congratulations! You have successfully completed the side quest—[Roy's Totem], quest rating: SS!"

"Reward received: A four-star medium-quality gem - [Spirit Gem] - has been sent to your personal inventory. Please check it."

【Spiritual Gemstones】

Quality: 4-star (Medium). When equipped, excess mana will fill the gem, up to a maximum of 2000 mana. Once the gem is full of mana, it gains a special skill – Mana Burst – instantly restoring up to 2000 mana when the wearer's mana drops below 5%!
Required professions: Mage, Priest, Wizard, Musician, Druid, Priest, Divine Sorcerer, Arcane Mage...

Assembly requirements: None!

After quickly scanning the information about the [Spirit Gem] on the panel, Lin Hanchuan immediately thought of Long Xiaoyue.

Musicians are undoubtedly the most mana-intensive profession. As long as a piece of music is being played, mana is being consumed rapidly and continuously. Most of the time, their mana requirements are even more terrifying than those of a berserker archmage.

Long Xiaoyue often had to drink blue potions immediately after a song ended, but with the Spirit Gem, many of her troubles were solved.

Playing three or four shorter pieces in one go is no problem.

Even with longer pieces, I can manage without actively replenishing my mana.

However, at this point, they still needed to continue the conversation with Roy to trigger more crucial information, Lin Hanchuan continued.

"Your parents must treat you very well, right?"

Roy nodded, then shook his head and said, "They always like to force me to do things I don't want to do, like the totem. If possible, I'd like to give it to Sister Star!"

"Hmm?!" Lin Han regained his composure and asked, "So you've been looking at Xingchen all this time just to give her the totem?"

Roy nodded emphatically. "Yes, that's right! My mother said that half-elves are more suited to be totem owners than elves."

"But I'll have to wait a little longer, my totem isn't complete!"

"Okay!" With his worries resolved, Lin Hanchuan replied with a smile, "Then let us discuss it with your parents!"

Then quickly added a sentence.

"If they were still here!"

Continuing on to the elf gathering place, they gave the Spirit Gem to Long Xiaoyue along the way.

This time, the progress was much faster than the first time, almost at full speed. The hundreds of forest dwarves encountered in the third stage only made them stop for two or three minutes.

Continue onward.

We arrived at the gathering place of elves.

The open land was littered with carbonized corpses.

A voice suddenly sounded.

"Roy, you're back!"

Long Xiaoyue held Luo Yi tightly as his body trembled slightly, comforting him, "Don't be afraid, your sister is here!"

Xingchen came over at this moment, her small hand grasping Roy's hand tightly, and said, "Sister Roy, don't be afraid!"

Roy looked up at Long Xiaoyue, then down at the stars, and the panic in his heart inexplicably calmed down.

This time, Lin Hanchuan didn't question Roy with the hostility he had during the first viewing. Instead, he stood quietly in place, looking at the ruins a hundred meters away.

After a while, the sound continued.

"Roy, you've brought back some excellent experimental material!"

This time, Roy didn't dodge. She held Xingchen's hand tightly and said loudly, "Xingchen isn't an experimental subject; she's my sister! I want to give her the Puppet Flower Totem!"

"Roy, you've changed!" From the ruins Lin Hanchuan was gazing at, a female elf over two meters tall stood up. She slowly turned around, her emerald green eyes landing on Roy. "You actually want to give away the totem we painstakingly nurtured for you to a strange half-elf!"

"Do you know? In this dog-eat-dog world, you can only avoid becoming someone else's food by becoming stronger!"

Roy looked up at her, shook his head firmly, and said, "I don't want that! I just want your company."

Lin Hanchuan added from the side, "Seriously, even if you guys develop the totem to its fullest potential, you still can't beat me alone!"

"Human! You are too arrogant!" Roy's mother shouted angrily.

“It’s not arrogance, it’s confidence!” Lin Hanchuan looked up and stared directly at the other person. “If you don’t believe me, you can try!”

The flower on Roy's mother's belly quietly bloomed, revealing Roy's father's face, who coldly said, "Then you will die a terrible death!"

"Come on, come on, if you dare, kill me!" Lin Hanchuan said with a face full of disdain.

During the first viewing, Lin Hanchuan interrupted their idea of ​​merging with Roy.

They were afraid that they would kill Roy during the integration process.

But now it seems that this puppet flower totem was probably really prepared for Roy.

The mandatory development of symbiotic master totems requires a large amount of energy for low-level, low-rank creatures. In addition to consuming servant totem creatures, the creatures themselves also need to consume energy.

Roy's mother forced Roy's father to get involved because she encountered difficulties during the development phase and lacked the necessary foundation herself.

But now it seems we've encountered yet another bottleneck.

Ultimately, Roy's involvement was also a way of leaving this totem to her.

It doesn't matter if I guessed wrong, since I've already forced a first clear of the [Dawn] dungeon. If Roy dies in the end, it won't have any impact on Lin Hanchuan.

Lin Hanchuan's use of provocation was also a way to urge them to integrate as soon as possible and to shatter their delusions with his strength.

The law of the jungle applies to the survival of the fittest.

But the reason why so many creatures willingly become prey is essentially because they recognize the gap between themselves and the strong, a gap that cannot be bridged by hard work or a few lucky breaks.

Roy's parents were living in a fantasy of turning the fish into the butcher, and all Lin Hanchuan needed to do was shatter their fantasy.

In story-driven dungeons, aside from forcing players to clear them with their strength, most players will follow the storyline and gradually guide the outcome to the desired result.

"Roy, come here, let's merge and let the Puppet Flower advance to the third stage!!" Roy's mother walked out of the ruins and opened her arms to Roy.

Roy looked at his mother, then at his father, and finally at Lin Hanchuan.

Only she knew just how terrifying the man before her was.

She wasn't asking Lin Hanchuan's opinion on whether to return to her mother's arms.

She was begging Lin Hanchuan not to kill her parents.

Lin Hanchuan nodded and said, "I need your cooperation to help your parents let go of their obsession."

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you,"

On my first playthrough, it was proven that killing Roy's parents was a wrong way to finish the game.

Lin Hanchuan naturally wouldn't do it again.

Roy nodded gratefully and then walked towards his mother.

Under Lin Hanchuan's gaze.

The mother and daughter embraced each other tightly.

The next moment, thousands of long black lines surged out from behind Roy's mother, hanging upside down and enveloping Roy, while Roy's father's face rapidly dissipated.

One by one, the threads wrapped around Roy's body, like wrapping a mummy, turning him into a long, black cocoon with his head sticking out, unable to move.

Roy's mother kissed her, then lifted her right foot, and lines outlining black inscription patterns rapidly flowed into the ground. Her body, as if woven from yarn, visibly shrank as the lines continued to flow out.

Meanwhile, on Roy's side, lines emerging from the ground rapidly surged into Roy's mummy.

"Just as I expected!!" Lin Hanchuan sighed.

If a symbiotic master totem loses control of its servant totems, it means that its body can no longer bear the power brought by the totem's advancement.

In this situation, to avoid exploding and dying, most would choose to merge with other owners of the symbiotic totem, such as Roy's mother, who devoured her father.

A small percentage would choose to merge themselves into Roy's body, such as Roy's mother, who merged herself into Roy's body.

Roy's parents were truly willing to sacrifice themselves for Roy's sake.

"do not want!"

Roy seemed to realize something and quickly shouted.

"I do not want!"

Shouting could not stop this passive merging.

When Roy's mother completely turned into black lines and merged into Roy's body, countless lines that bound her tightly followed and surged in.

After Roy is completely freed.

Two flowers bloomed on Roy's shoulders.

The flower opens, revealing two human faces.

Each of the faces kissed Roy once before quickly withering away.

In the distance, a white light appeared on the horizon.

The sun rose quickly, its orange light shining on Roy's face.

Roy was confused and helpless.

She could feel her parents' presence rapidly dissipating from her body.

Roy looked at Lin Hanchuan, tears streaming down his face.

A system notification sounded in Lin Hanchuan's mind.

"Ding! Congratulations to the Heavenly Dao Squad for successfully completing the Asura-level main quest [Dawn] - [Protect Roy], quest completion rating: S-rank!"

"Ding! Congratulations to the Heavenly Dao Team for successfully completing the Asura-level [Dawn] challenge!"

"Ding! Please note that according to the reward distribution method before entering the dungeon, you will receive all the rewards for clearing this Shura-level [Dawn] dungeon!"

"Ding! Congratulations! You have obtained the following rewards for clearing the Shura [Dawn] dungeon: 5000 experience points, a six-star gem, and a dimensional teleportation crystal."

Following the system's notification, Lin Hanchuan looked at the Desperate Staff in his hand and sighed.

It's yet another new ending.

(End of this chapter)