“Right, Tongtong, it’s your time to shine!” Yoyo exclaimed, suddenly remembering her precious niece. The rest of the team followed suit, their gazes converging on the petite figure in their midst.
“Little Tong, show us your real skills!” Scarlet Rain urged.
“Almost forgot about that,” Dream Cradle added.
My deceptive appearance and the smooth progress so far had lulled them into treating me like a kid, momentarily forgetting my bold claim to lead the dungeon run.
Noticing Doran shift the team’s attention to me, I stuck out my tongue at her, fully aware of her intent to put me on the spot.
If I don’t show some real moves now, these guys will slap “mascot” and “cute” labels on me even harder. Then I’ll be stuck with endless cheek-pinching and head-patting combos.
The thought of that grim fate made me shake my head. “It’s simple. We just don’t use that method.”
“Oh? There’s another way?” Doran’s eyes lit up with interest.
The others’ gazes brimmed with curiosity too.
After all, the strategy for handling the clustered Flower Sprites and Treants had been standardized since the top Black Prison Forest guide spread on the forums. Most teams followed its advice to pull and kill monsters one by one.
Some believed the guide wasn’t comprehensive and tried their own methods, only to face brutal failures. With other successful strategies too demanding, the “spread-and-pull” approach became the default.
But what they didn’t know was that this strategy had a simpler extension built into the dungeon’s design.
“Brother Otaku Source, you’ve learned Slowing Curse, right?” I asked, confirming. Though most Affliction Warlocks picked up the skill, I wanted to be sure.
Caught off guard by the loli’s crisp “Brother” call, Otaku Source snapped back to reality, puffing out his chest to impress me and the girls. “Of course! I’ve got tons of skills—Pain Mark, Corrosive Ripple…”
“Okay, okay, I get it. Just follow my lead, Brother,” I cut him off, uninterested in a Warlock skill lecture, and turned to White Rabbit Candy. “Sister White Rabbit, see that Treant on the far left at 1 o’clock? Aim for the grass about eight yards in front of it.”
Doran frowned. “Isn’t that just like the standard method?” The guide’s approach relied on pulling monsters to spread their formation.
“Don’t be so impatient. You’ll see,” I replied with a wink.
“What about us, Tongtong?” Yoyo asked, noticing I’d only given instructions to Otaku Source and White Rabbit Candy, with no apparent plans for the rest.
“Stay put. If any monsters come close, take them out,” I said, not waiting for Yoyo or the team’s reactions before turning to White Rabbit Candy. “Sister, fire.”
“Huh?” Startled, White Rabbit Candy instinctively released her arrow.
She’d already aimed, and though the shot wasn’t perfectly precise, it landed within my designated target area.
Swoosh.
The arrow sank into the grass, catching the attention of the targeted Treant, along with a Flower Sprite and another Treant nearby.
As they lumbered toward the sound to investigate, two more arrows flew out, aimed in different directions—one into the western bushes, the other into an eastern low tree.
Swoosh, swoosh.
These arrows, farther from the monster group, didn’t draw their attention but redirected the investigating Flower Sprite and Treants. The Flower Sprite veered west, while the two Treants moved east, away from the main cluster.
“What the…?”
The team gasped, their eyes turning to the petite figure who’d fired the second and third arrows—me. The clever technique forced them to reassess the seemingly unremarkable loli.
Though equally shocked, Doran shook her head rationally. “It won’t work. We’ve tried this. The monsters only stray about 15 yards from their group, still within aggro-linking range. Pulling them out one by one is impossible.”
“Not necessarily,” I said, winking at her before calling out without looking back. “Brother Otaku Source, ready your Slowing Curse. Pick either of those two Treants.”
“Leave it to me—” Otaku Source started confidently, then froze. “Wait, won’t that pull the whole group?”
“When I count to zero. Five, four…”
“Hold on, you didn’t—”
“No time! Three, two, one.”
Unable to decide, Otaku Source threw caution to the wind and cast Slowing Curse on one of the Treants, which hadn’t found anything by the low tree and was turning back.
The team braced for combat, hearts racing.
Even the usually stoic Watermist froze before rushing to the front, raising her shield in a defensive stance, her hands trembling slightly. She’d never been this nervous in past dungeon runs.
They were about to face 13 Treants and four Flower Sprites—a horde no existing team, even elite guild squads, could withstand.
Especially not this makeshift group.
Amid their tension, a cheerful loli voice rang out, jarringly out of place. “Hehe, don’t be so nervous. Trust me, it’ll be fine.”
Trust you? Yeah, right.
The team grumbled inwardly, each preparing for the worst.
“I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die,” Mushui muttered, fumbling to cast an Elemental Shield on herself.
Nightwish, calm as ever, said, “Relax. Teacher wouldn’t do something without confidence.”
“You’re acting weird. What did she teach you to make you trust her so much?” Mushui teased, eyeing Nightwish’s newfound devotion. If not for her familiar face, Mushui might’ve mistaken her for a fangirl.
“I’m curious too. Nightwish never called me ‘Teacher’ outside,” Autumn Waters added, her gaze glinting with intrigue. I’m growing more interested in this little one.
“Forget that—shouldn’t we be watching the front?” Doran snapped, gripping her staff, teeth gritted. Part of her frustration was her own longing to pinch those adorable cheeks again, but she was determined to teach this kid a lesson after this.
But when she looked ahead, like the rest of the team, she froze in disbelief.
Author’s Note: It’s New Year’s Eve, so I’m aiming for at least four chapters today. Enjoy!