How Level Zero Devil Destroys Player Experience

It stands to reason that the system doesn't need to set up checkpoints in that place to prevent players from entering. If there is, there must be some purpose behind it. So following this line of thought, there are only two routes to enter the back garden. If the former is denied, it is natural that the system wants players to enter by passing through the castle.

Why must we go through the latter? Obviously there is something important inside the castle that deserves attention.

This thing cannot be hidden too deeply, after all, it is only a part of the knockout level, and it cannot be too obvious on the surface, because after all, it is just a small easter egg.

Then the answer is obvious - the bones holding the painting tightly under the sculpture.

Now that I think about it, the person in the painting looks very similar to the woman in front of me. There must be an important connection here, and the Carl mentioned by the other person is obviously the skeleton.

This ghost should not only be a monster, but also a key character that can be connected to the plot.

Thinking of this, I made up my mind and tried to talk to the ghost in front of me.

“Mrs. Marissa, I might know where Mr. Karl is.”

The ghost didn't react to the first half of the sentence, but when he heard the second half, he suddenly raised his head, and his originally blank eyes suddenly seemed to have focus.

"Where is Carl...?"

Sure enough, there is a plot here, and my eyes lit up.

Although I am still a little confused about the purpose of the designer designing this plot.

But no matter what, it has aroused my curiosity. Even if nothing comes out in the end it's just some wasted time, which I can make up for in other levels.

"Mrs. Marissa, please follow me."

I immediately turned around and led the way, and Marissa's ghost followed me without any hesitation.

What he didn't expect was that after taking Marissa away from the grave, the back garden suddenly seemed to have changed. The sky became even darker and gloomier, the trees and flowers were swaying wildly, and a large number of skeleton soldiers and ghosts kept emerging here as if they had received some kind of instructions.

Fortunately, he switched to the dark magic profession in time, using group attack magic to blast a path forward among the monsters, and by the way, asked Ahri to cast a shield for Marissa to avoid any accidents.

It is commendable that the latter did not run around like the follower characters in some games, but followed closely behind her the whole time. Even when those skeletons and ghosts obviously wanted to kill her, she did not show any fear. Perhaps in Marissa's heart, there was nothing else worth caring about except Carl.

I did not fail in my mission. After clearing out the monsters, I successfully returned to the castle with Marissa.

Just when I thought everything was over and made my way to the hall, an accident happened again. As soon as I passed through the door and stepped onto the hall floor, a ferocious ghost figure suddenly descended from above and glared at Marissa behind me.

This ghost was also a woman with outstanding appearance when she was alive, but at this moment, her beautiful face was completely destroyed by the harshness, and she made a sharp sound.

"Why, why don't you give up? There is no place for you here anymore!"

However, Marissa ignored the screams of the ghost in front of her. As if sensing something, her pupils looked far away at the skeleton holding the painting under the sculpture in the distance, muttering to herself.

"Karl, I'm here, Karl..."

"Get out of my way, Carl is mine, he will always be mine!"

When the ghost saw Marissa approaching slowly, his face was completely filled with a ferocious look, and he finally revealed the name and blood volume above his head.

Heloise's Ghost [Elite]: Level 125, HP: 110000/110000

Although I don't know what kind of love story there is between these three people, I know that if I don't take action, all this time I have been working in vain.

"I'm sorry, I think it's you who should leave here."

I raised the staff and pointed it at Heloise who was rushing towards me.

The final outcome is self-evident. With the powerful equipment and relics, everything happens in a flash.

It is said that most of the spells of the Dark Word Mage are derived from ancient codes, and can even enslave souls.

Although this is just a rumor, after seeing the painful expression on Heloise's face when she was knocked to the ground, I think there might be some truth to it.

"Why, why is it that Carl only has you in his heart? Even if you died, he still didn't accept my love..."

“Maybe it’s because Mrs. Marissa also only has Mr. Karl in her heart.”

I walked up to the other person and said with emotion.

Heloise was startled, and turned to look at Marissa, who had ignored her from beginning to end and walked straight towards Karl's body. Suddenly, she closed her eyes as if relieved, "...Maybe you are right."

On the other side, Marissa finally walked to Carl's body and reached out to touch the latter's head.

"Karl, we will never be separated..."

As the words fell, Marissa's soul turned into a wisp of smoke and merged into the picture frame. At the same time, Carl's body dissipated like dust. The picture frame in his hand fell, but next to Marissa, who was smiling at the picture, there was a tall and handsome man.

And in the side corner, Heloise was making tea and looking at the two of them with envy.

For the three of them, this may be the best ending.

"So the Easter egg is this plot?"

I picked up the Soul Key that Marissa dropped, thought for a moment, then picked up the picture frame that fell on the ground and wiped off the dust.

But at this moment, the system prompt suddenly sounded.

System: You have obtained the [Seal of Mercy].

I was stunned for a moment, then looked at the status bar and found that there was indeed an extra layer of mark on it.

【Seal of Mercy】: ???

After just taking a look at the effect, I suddenly didn't know what to say. I sighed and treated it as watching a plot. I put aside the messy thoughts and used the Soul Key in my hand.

No matter what, it is important to pass the level.

Chapter 121 Lava Monitor Lizard

How long have you been here?

Looking at the portal to the next level in front of me, I suddenly felt a little dazed. Perhaps it was because the long battle made me a little distracted and my thoughts drifted away temporarily, and I thought of this question inexplicably.

Moving forward, I unknowingly passed through sixteen levels in a row, gradually conquering the increasingly powerful monsters and increasingly difficult goals that blocked my way, and finally stood in front of the seventeenth level.

This means that only two more battles are needed to reach the final victory.

“As a result, I still don’t understand what this is for.”

I glanced at the status bar, which showed that in addition to the [Seal of Mercy], there were four other identical marks.

These were obtained by myself through the Easter eggs in some previous levels. It was quite difficult and took a lot of time, but I still don’t know what the specific effects are.

Shaking my head and putting other thoughts behind me, I stepped into the portal in front of me.

Accompanied by the white light falling.

The scene in front of me has changed. If the previous scenes were of different styles but remained at the preliminary stage, then this level already looks like the final battle stage.

The charred and rugged rocks form continuous mountain ranges. In the distance, you can see erupting volcanoes. Boiling magma is distributed on both sides, emitting bursts of scorching steam. Broken rocks rise and fall in the magma, like the jagged skeleton of a giant that was burned in a sea of ​​fire.

The bright flames illuminated the entire sky red, making people feel as if they were in the hell described in the epic.

He was currently standing on a spacious flat land that stretched far into the distance. At the end of the land stood a majestic tower like a scepter sent down from the gods.

If my guess is correct, that should be the scene of the next level.

However, the tall tower cannot be easily reached by simply going straight along the road ahead, because there is a giant beast like a fire lizard lurking like a hill below the tower.

The latter seemed not to have noticed the arrival of the challenger and was sleeping soundly on the ground. His ferocious head, which was as tall as two people, was lying on the ground. From time to time, he snorted loudly, bringing up a burning breath. It was more like boiling magma than saliva flowing out of his huge mouth full of sharp teeth.

I took a look at the goal of completing the level, and this time it was particularly simple, unlike the previous levels.

Objective: Defeat the Lava Monitor and enter the Tower.

Although it is very clear, the difficulty here is not as simple as it is described in just two sentences in the hint.

Just because of the words that appeared above the other person’s head.

Infernal Lava Lizard [Boss]: Level 140, HP: 480000/480000

Sure enough, the seventeenth level is not so easy to pass, as there is a boss-level boss at the beginning.

I couldn't help but twitch my lips.

It seems that due to the solo trial, the attributes of this boss have been lowered. Otherwise, an ordinary level 140 boss would not have so little health. However, this is still a boss after all. Under normal circumstances, it takes at least players of the same level with good equipment to deal with it.

Even if he had killed a special boss before, it was by using tricks. Now he could only face the boss head-on, and the difference in difficulty between the two was huge.

It is estimated that many players will choose to give up directly when they reach this step, because they have reached the fifteenth level and even if they change the scene, the situation will probably be almost the same. The test of the ancient civilization ruins and the difficulty of passing the previous levels have already been proven. There must be very few players who can get here, and it is very likely that they will enter the final 2,000 qualifying places.

However, giving up is not his style. After all, he has so many powerful equipment, relics and Ahri. Even if Ahri can only play a supporting role at most, it is still a great help.

"It's time to go, Ahri."

"Hmm~"

Ahri responded to me in a sweet voice, and at the same time several conspicuous halos appeared under my feet.

I smiled slightly and cast four different powerful BUFFs on myself. The next moment, I suddenly raised the Immortal Staff in my hand and aimed it at the distance. Dark elements merged from the surroundings and gradually condensed into shape at the tip of the staff.

Five seconds passed in a flash, and the black beam of light rushed towards the lava monitor lizard like a death ray.

boom--

The black light bombarded the lava monitor's head, causing violent fluctuations and a noticeable damage.

-6896

As expected, the attributes have been weakened, otherwise the damage would not be so much higher. This is obviously good news, which means that I have more confidence in killing the latter.

The lava monitor lizard, which was suddenly attacked, howled in pain and suddenly climbed up from the ground. Its pair of red pupils that seemed to be burning with flames opened at the same time, flashing with angry and violent light.

However, before it could notice the attacker who disturbed its sweet dream, another black shadow like the god of death, under the effect of the time loop, swept in following the Dark Shadow, piercing through its head and causing damage, and the next moment, it swung down the sickle in its hand.

-4153

-4599

Just after waking up from a deep sleep, its health suddenly dropped by about 3%. It was a good start for the other side, but a huge shame for the lava monitor. It soon discovered the petite figure waving a staff in the distance. The gray robe was particularly conspicuous in the red lava.

The huge head shook and let out an angry roar. At the same time, a bloody mouth suddenly opened and spewed out a fireball like a meteor towards the opponent.

There are many protruding pillars and stone walls above this platform made of charred rock, which now becomes a good shelter.

I had chosen a suitable position long before the attack. Facing the fireball with a strong smell of burning heat, I calmly cast Dark Word of Pain and Dark Word of Curse in succession. Only when the fireball was almost hitting me did I put away my staff and hide behind the stone wall next to me.

The price of such greed was that even with the cover, the fireball would still hit the stone wall and some sparks would inevitably splash onto his body, showing a damage number of one thousand, which was already one twelfth of his health.

It seems that even if the attributes of a BOSS have been weakened, its attack should not be underestimated, even if one has powerful equipment, attribute blessings from relics, and the effects of various titles and achievements. After all, under normal circumstances, this is a task that can only be undertaken by several front-line members of the team together.

However, this scar was quickly healed by the healing aura that Ahri cast almost immediately after the damage appeared.

But the damage from his two spells actually reduced the lava lizard's health.

-2897

-2945

As soon as they met, the Lava Monitor had only 95% of its health left. If we continued to fight at this speed, it wouldn't take too much time to drain all of this big guy's health.

However, as a leader, it is impossible for him to have only such attack methods, otherwise he could rely on his own strength to win alone without the need for a team. Seeing that the attack was ineffective, the lava giant lizard roared angrily, and the hot breath of fire came out of its nostrils. It stretched out its limbs and launched a charging posture. Its body as big as a hill rumbled like an armored tank.

Chapter 122 Countermeasure

The lava monitor's momentum is as strong as a rainbow.

However, at a distance of nearly a hundred yards, even a warrior's charge would take at least four or five seconds, not to mention the huge size of the lava monitor. Even if the obstacles along the uneven stone road were crushed, it would inevitably slow down the latter's charge speed.

Allowing me to release the remaining tricks.

Dark mire technique.

Large amounts of black mud flowed out from the rocks and quickly covered a large area of ​​the ground in front like a swamp. The lava monitor lizard stepped on it with its thick limbs, and its speed slowed down again.

If the previous one was like a rolling chariot, then at this moment the latter was like a clumsy rhino moving forward in the mud, and every step it took brought out the splashing mud.

This is the power of temple magic, and this kind of moving large target can be hit even without aiming.

boom--

The shadow spear broke away from the tip of the staff and hit the lava lizard in an instant. The passing shadow contained powerful destructive power like black lightning, piercing deeply into the huge beast's pupils, causing blood to splatter in the corners of the latter's eyes.

The lava monitor roared angrily in pain, and the red scales on its body lit up, evolving into dozens of flaming blades that flew towards me.

It turns out that it’s not that easy to deal with.

I dare not be careless. An offensive bunker of this size cannot provide much protection, and must be intercepted halfway. With a thought, as the staff was raised and lowered, a barrier emitting thick black fog quickly rose up in front of me.

If you look closely at this barrier, you can see that it is composed of dozens of black shadows of undead soldiers in armor, forming a tight defense like an army formation.

The flaming blades attacked, but disappeared instantly as if they were immersed in thick fog. The few that were able to penetrate the barrier had lost their original power and were easily dodged by me. At the same time, I counterattacked with the cooled Dark Shadow.