Kill one monster, stack one poison, and I alone will poison my way across the world!

The next morning.

Su Chen woke up on the big bed in the top-tier dormitory, glanced at the [Experience Points +80000] notification that automatically popped up on the panel, and stretched with satisfaction.

After quickly filling his stomach, he pushed open the door and walked out of the dormitory.

They walked all the way to the place they had agreed upon with Song Xin, the teleportation array plaza.

A number of people, mostly older students, had already gathered in the square early in the morning, forming teams to prepare for the dungeon run.

Su Chen spotted Song Xin from afar; her dark gray, tight-fitting leather armor stood out in the crowd.

Standing next to Song Xin was Lu Qingyan, the level 25 Holy Light Knight she had met yesterday.

Besides the two of them, there was also a man and a woman.

The man was dressed in a fitted battle armor that shimmered with dark gold light, and a longsword that exuded a ghostly blue magic hung at his waist.

Chen Feng

[Level: 24]

[Class: Spellsword]

The woman was dressed in a pure white priest's robe and held a staff inlaid with sacred crystals.

Lin Wei

[Level: 23]

[Occupation: Priest of Light]

……

All of them are hidden professions.

Those who can enter the Sky Dome Academy are indeed not mediocre.

Su Chen walked forward slowly.

"Boss Su, you've finally arrived!"

Song Xin immediately came forward and pointed to the person next to her, "Let me formally introduce you. This is our group leader, senior Lu Qingyan, whom you met yesterday."

Lu Qingyan smiled slightly at Su Chen: "Good morning, junior Su. I heard from Song Xin that you are a very promising newcomer."

"This is Chen Feng, our main DPS."

Song Xin pointed at the demon swordsman.

"This is Lin Wei, the main healer."

She then pointed to the pastor.

Su Chen nodded.

With two DPS characters, one main tank, one assassin, and one priest, it's a very balanced team composition.

Chen Feng looked Su Chen up and down, his gaze lingering on Su Chen's explosive staff for a moment.

His brows furrowed into a deep frown.

"Song Xin, is he the powerful outside help the school was talking about?"

Chen Feng's voice was loud, and people from several surrounding teams turned to look. "A freshman? And he's got some crappy, low-grade weapon?"

He turned to look at Lu Qingyan, his tone full of annoyance: "Sister Lu, are you kidding me? This is an Abyss dungeon! We had already arranged for my girlfriend Zhao Xiaoyue to join the group; she's a level 24 Ice Mage! You kicked her out at the last minute just to squeeze in this newbie who got in through connections?"

He grew angrier the more he spoke, and pointed his finger directly at Su Chen.

"Kid, I don't care what methods you used to take Xiaoyue's place, the Abyss isn't a place for a newbie like you who's never seen the world to get your credentials. Get back to your beginner dungeon and kill goblins!"

The atmosphere instantly froze.

Song Xin's face darkened, and she stepped forward to block Su Chen: "Chen Feng, watch your mouth. This person was directly assigned by the Academic Affairs Office. If you have any objections, go and complain to the school."

Su Chen was speechless for a moment.

It's been demystified!

There are idiots everywhere, as expected.

Having a higher education level doesn't mean you're no longer an idiot.

Su Chen looked at Chen Feng's finger that was about to poke his face, but instead of getting angry, he showed a very sincere smile.

"Don't get so worked up. I actually didn't want to come either, since the Abyss is so dangerous. How about this, you go and call your girlfriend over now. As long as Senior Lu agrees, I'll leave the group immediately."

He paused, then said quietly, "But you'd better hurry, the Abyss dungeon has a time limit for opening. If the raid fails because of waiting, then... are you going to take the blame?"

Chen Feng choked for a moment, his face turning pale and then red.

Does he dare to take the blame?

The strategy for conquering the Abyss dungeon is crucial to the safety of hundreds of thousands of people, so every second counts, and countless lives have been lost.

If the deadline is missed, school punishment is inevitable, and being held criminally liable is a foregone conclusion.

"Stop your fucking sarcastic remarks!"

Chen Feng gritted his teeth, placed his hand on the hilt of the sword, and the eerie blue light on the demonic sword suddenly flashed.

"Alright, Chen Feng."

Lu Qingyan spoke softly, took a step forward, and slammed a tower shield engraved with intricate runes heavily onto the ground.

"Thump!"

A muffled thud was heard, and the surrounding ground trembled slightly.

"The personnel list has been filed with the college's academic affairs office and cannot be changed."

Lu Qingyan looked at Chen Feng, "Now that we're in a team, let's follow the rules. The Abyss dungeon requires absolute teamwork, and I don't want to see infighting within the team before we even go in."

She turned to Su Chen and instructed him, "Junior Su, the Abyss dungeon is very dangerous. Once inside, try to stay close to me and Lin Wei. If we encounter any emergencies, I will activate my skills to draw aggro immediately. Please take care of yourself."

Su Chen nodded without saying anything.

"It's about time, let's go."

After Lu Qingyan finished speaking, she put away the tower shield and turned to walk towards the dock.

Chen Feng glared at Su Chen, snorted coldly, and followed him.

……

Sky Dome Academy is extremely far from Peak City, requiring a special magical shuttle to reach it.

Inside the shuttle's cabin, the low roar of the mechanical engine created a somewhat somber atmosphere.

Lu Qingyan opened a virtual map and projected it onto the metal table in the center.

"Before we arrive, let's all lay our cards on the table. The Abyss Dungeon is no joke; I need to know each of your maximum stats and survival strategies."

She pointed to a flashing red skull marker on the map.

"This time, the Peak City Abyss is codenamed 'Eye of the Poison Swamp.' According to the military's preliminary reconnaissance, it is full of highly poisonous monsters contaminated by the abyss's aura, with a high poison defense reduction effect and a continuous health loss mechanism."

"Chen Feng, as the main DPS, where are your damage output frequency and burst damage threshold?"

Chen Feng patted his chest armor and said proudly, "My [Shadow Slash] has extremely high damage. Combined with the armor penetration attribute of the Dark Gold weapon, it can deal more than 10,000 mixed damage within five seconds. As long as you can hold the monster, I guarantee I can clear the field like cutting vegetables."

"Lin Wei?"

"My [Divine Purification] can remove poison status effects from the entire group, and [Surge of Holy Light] can raise the main tank's health by 30% within two seconds."

Lin Wei said softly.

Lu Qingyan nodded and looked at Song Xin.

"I'll be in charge of scouting and avoiding traps. With [Shadow Stealth] and [Substitute Strawman], I'll be safe," Song Xin replied briefly.

Finally, everyone's eyes fell on Su Chen.

Chen Feng scoffed, crossing his arms and leaning against the bulkhead: "Sister Lu, what do you expect a freshman to do? Go in and help us collect gold coins?"

Su Chen leaned back in his chair, looking at the terrain of the poisonous swamp on the light screen.

Poison swamp?

Reduce defense?

That seems a bit disgusting.

"I?"

Su Chen raised his head and casually said, "I mainly deal DOT damage. I deal damage by applying negative status effects."

"DOT? Damage over time?"

Chen Feng burst out laughing as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Holy crap, are you kidding me? The elite monsters in the Abyss dungeon have at least 100,000 HP, you know that? Using DoTs? By the time you grind them down, our whole team will be reduced to ashes!"

He turned to Lu Qingyan: "Sister Lu, did you hear that? This kid's just here to gain experience! The Abyss dungeon needs to be cleared quickly, and he's just a damage dealer dealing sustained damage; he won't even scratch the surface!"

Lu Qingyan frowned slightly.

Classes that deal DoT damage are indeed at a significant disadvantage in the early game because the damage ticks too slowly, making it easy for the front line to succumb to the pressure.

"It's alright. Junior Su, just stay behind me and don't attract any monsters. I'll protect you if you encounter any danger."

Su Chen didn't reply, but just shrugged indifferently.

Protect me?

Who knows who will protect whom then!