Chapter 538: Everyone, Savor It Repeatedly!
Qiu Hengyang raised his shield and moved forward. After enduring two hits from the boss, he keenly found an opening and slashed his longsword at the boss's left leg!
"Right now!"
Qiu Hengyang knew that his longsword could take down minor monsters in two strikes—it was incredibly sharp!
The moment his longsword struck Gundyr, Gundyr's greatsword also hit him again.
With a bang, Qiu Hengyang could feel Gundyr's greatsword denting his armor, and he was sent flying like a broken sack once more, crashing to the ground. Nearly a third of his health bar evaporated in an instant.
When he looked at Gundyr's health bar, Qiu Hengyang was dumbfounded.
It had only dropped by a tiny sliver—basically negligible!
And the spot on Gundyr's armor where the sword had struck showed almost no visible damage...
"Damn it, what's the point of fighting this?"
Qiu Hengyang was instantly filled with despair. This boss fight felt like trying to tear apart a tank with bare hands. The enemy completely outclassed him in strength, armor, and health—charging in was just suicide!
"Yeah, this game must have a bug!"
Qiu Hengyang decided to exit the game pod. Clearly, this kind of battle was pointless. At the very least, he'd wait until Chen Mo fixed the bug before playing again, right?
...
The moment Qiu Hengyang exited the game pod, he noticed a large number of other players also climbing out of their pods.
Since the first batch of players had entered the pods at roughly the same time, everyone's progress was very similar—all stuck at Gundyr...
A few players hadn't come out yet, probably still fighting, but a huge group had all quit.
"Where's the store owner? What's going on? This game—three hits and I'm dead?"
"Yeah, I slashed the boss twice and it was like tickling him. Is the difficulty set wrong? Or is there some unknown error?"
"Is it related to the Pangu system?"
Many players emerging from the pods were completely baffled. How could this be?
They were told it was a hack-and-slash game, but after going in, they got utterly wrecked and couldn't find their bearings!
A few players even said they were discouraged by the minor monsters at the entrance. Those monsters looked pathetic, but when they attacked, the damage was brutal. If they accidentally aggroed two or three, they were instantly taken out!
When they talked to each other, they realized they were all in the same boat!
These players had died in all sorts of bizarre and varied ways. In short, every moving creature on the map could cause a player's death...
If there were a Player Protection Association, it would be issuing a strong condemnation of this game!
This group banded together to find Chen Mo, while the other players still in line were overjoyed and happily entered the game pods.
They didn't stop to think: why were these people coming out of the pods while supposedly having fun?
Maybe they hadn't learned the lesson from the story of "Wang Rong Not Taking the Roadside Plums"...
Soon, everyone found Chen Mo in the first-floor lobby.
"Store owner, come quick! Your game has a bug!"
"Yeah, the numerical difficulty seems completely broken! We can't even get past the first boss as a newbie!"
"And the minor monsters are all hyped up like they're on steroids—they can one-shot me!"
Facing the barrage of complaints, Chen Mo was very calm: "The game's difficulty is fine. The numbers are fine too."
Everyone was stunned. The hell they're fine!
"Damn it, store owner, these minor monsters can one-shot people, and you say it's fine? Isn't this supposed to be a hack-and-slash game?"
Chen Mo squinted: "Did I ever admit this was a hack-and-slash game?"
The aggressive crowd was taken aback, frozen in place for a moment.
But thinking back, Chen Mo really hadn't admitted it was a hack-and-slash game!
Earlier, when reporters and players had asked him repeatedly, Chen Mo had only said: "Experts can indeed achieve a hack-and-slash effect in this game, but newcomers will face some difficulty."
He had never actually said the game was easy...
But with everyone's preconceived notions, they had already assumed it was a hack-and-slash game and hadn't thought twice.
Now that they looked back, there was clearly a conspiracy here!
Chen Mo chuckled: "If you insist on calling it a hack-and-slash game, that's fine too. Monsters hacking players is still hacking—no problem."
Everyone was shocked. This was the first time they'd heard of a hack-and-slash game where the monsters hack the players!
And you can say that with a straight face? Never seen such a shameless person!
Chen Mo's righteous demeanor effectively cut off the aggressive questioning, but soon some players snapped out of their daze and fought back.
"Store owner, I don't mind you adding difficulty, but this is way too high! No one can get past the first boss, right?"
"Exactly! The stat gap is insane! This piece of junk kills you in three hits—there's no room for skill!"
Chen Mo smiled: "No room for skill? How many times can you roll with your starting stamina bar?"
Everyone exchanged glances. Clearly, they hadn't paid attention to that.
Old Qiu, being sensitive to numbers, said: "Probably six or seven times or more."
Chen Mo continued: "And how many attacks does Gundyr make in one combo?"
Again, everyone was clueless. Old Qiu said: "There's a pause, but at most three hits."
Chen Mo said: "There you go. See? Every time you roll to dodge his attacks, you can also sneak in a hit on his back. What does that mean? In theory, the boss can never touch you."
"You're blaming my game for being hard instead of looking at your own skills?"
Everyone was stunned. You make a damn good point!
Qiu Hengyang was also baffled: "So you're saying the normal way to play is for the player to never get hit by Gundyr even once?"
Chen Mo shook his head: "How could that be? I still gave players plenty of room for error. See, Gundyr needs at least four hits to kill you, and you have three health potions, which can tank another three or four hits. Add it all up, and rounding off, that's like a billion health, folks."
The players were shocked. The hell with rounding off!
With Gundyr's relentless aggression and that massive health bar, getting hit only four or five times before killing it?
That's practically an impossible task!
Chen Mo smiled and said: "Ah, players these days are all so impatient. Think back—where's your passion for gaming from the start? Remember the struggle in *Diablo* when you first defeated the Skeleton King after countless efforts? If not, think about *Flappy Bird*, or *Getting Over It*..."
"Whoa, store owner, is this your real intention? This game is just like *Getting Over It*—a trolling game, right?" One veteran player successfully saw through Chen Mo's bluster and hit the nail on the head.
"Ahem." Chen Mo coughed dryly. "Anyway, *Dark Souls* is a game you have to feel with your heart. Don't be impatient, everyone. It's like a fine cup of tea—you have to savor it repeatedly to appreciate its flavor."
"Alright, everyone, go on and savor it."
The players were stunned. The hell with a fine cup of tea!
The hell with savoring!
This is nothing but pure shock, okay?