my slow journey to infinity

Chapter 20: God rewards those who work hard!
The day after the strategy meeting, the intersection leading to the maze area.

Thousands of players gathered around to watch the strategy team gather and set off - after all, the strategy meeting was not kept secret, and word of mouth quickly spread throughout this small town.

Wang Shui and Shino were wearing hooded cloaks and mingled with the accompanying crowd.

"You say you won't participate, but in the end you still have to follow?"

Shino expressed doubts, but did not object. After all, their target was also the maze area, and they also purchased supplies yesterday.

"The BOSS strategy is not that simple... We haven't seen the environment in the maze. Today, there is a strategy team to clear the way. Of course we have to take a ride. They rush all the way up, and they will definitely clear out a safe area with few monsters along the way. We just take the opportunity to follow Go up to the top and have a look.”

Wang Shui explained a few words, and then sent a message to Kirito:
[Why are there so few people coming to guide today?Have you gathered 8 full squads? 】

After receiving the message, Kirito, who was at the back of the team avoiding the gaze of passers-by, first looked for Wang Shui. There was a friend's location on the map but it was not detailed. When he couldn't find the person, he had to send a text message to reply:

[There are already more than expected, a full 52 people, making up the 48 people in the expedition team, and there are additional scattered substitutes. 】

The substitutes will be you and Asuna... Wang Shui didn't point out Kirito's predicament, he just kept quiet and followed the way.

This was an expedition that should have been launched long ago. Whether it was due to fear or a desire for stability, it came too late. Other players who lacked courage could only watch the strategy team launch this feat.

The hundreds of players who accompanied them followed them until they reached the outskirts of the maze area, then gradually separated from the team and entered the nearby leveling field. By the time the team went deep into the middle of the maze area, only a dozen or so players were left.

The map of the first 19 floors belonging to the first floor of the maze of "Aincrad" has long been discovered, so the strategy team is ready to drive straight in using the shortest path. In order to avoid ambiguity, the following uses [1-20] to express the first floor of the maze floor 20. The location of the layer.

The strategy team had already far surpassed the difficulty of this maze in terms of equipment and level. They cleared the map very quickly. In less than an hour, everyone reached floors [1-20] together.

"There will be no more map information. We will spread out and explore. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, we will return to the original route and return to the current location to share the map information. If a team discovers the BOSS room, immediately notify the nearby teams with a voice, and at the same time, in the joint group In the team interface, the team leader sends the BOSS icon as a signal. Do you understand?"

The initiator of the strategy, the blue-haired knight Diabel, calmly issued instructions, and the entire strategy team was nervous and excited.

Wang Shui did not continue to follow. He and Shino were standing at the entrance of the [1-20] floor watching the expedition team leave.Kirito probably discovered him in the end, but Kirito didn't ask why Aoi didn't join.

The two hitchhiking people returned directly to the [1-19] floor, which was their destination.

Inside the maze of the first layer of the world, there is a huge space built with ancient stone bricks, like a castle or temple that has been abandoned for many years. Most of the battle venues are relatively empty, but there are not only complex rooms, dead-end corridors, but also height differences between the buildings. Terrain trap.

Now [Transfer Crystal] is not only expensive, but also very difficult to buy. It is still difficult to figure out if you fall into the trap.

Starting from the maze area, including its periphery, the types of monsters have all become old faces called [Ruin Kobold XX].

There are many nouns after racial prefixes, such as assault soldiers, guards, knights, guards, etc. Different suffixes represent different weapon types.

The monsters here start at level five, and the highest can reach level eight. However, the attributes of players who have just reached level eight will be much weaker than monsters of the same level. Players still need a lot of exercise to gain a foothold here.

Not only attributes, but also skill proficiency levels, weapon attack power, equipment defense power, and something that cannot be presented in data - the player's combat level. Only by overall improvement can the process of spawning monsters become safer.

Wang Shui and Sinon are both at level eight. Even Sinon, who uses a dagger, has a strength value of 30, which is not her main attribute.

At this time, the maze had been silent for a long time. Not far away, the first kobold holding a scimitar appeared in their field of vision. Sinon didn't say anything and rushed forward as a vanguard.

The wrist was flipped flexibly, and the dagger he was holding had the momentum of a fierce beast biting it down. The blade carried a green light along the monster's neck and cut out of the chest, and the red mesh wound special effect was extended along with the blade.

【-228! 】,【Armor Breaking】

The name of the sword skill is [Armor Penetration]. While causing agility-corrected damage, it will also give the monster the effect of [Armor Penetration (1)]. Level 10 Armor Penetration reduces the monster's overall defense ability by [-]%.

And the critical hit damage of over 200 points is not low. At present, when players' level and equipment upgrades are slowing down, the expansion of damage values ​​has also slowed down.

Just like Aqua Regia, he is still using the unstrengthened [Sword of Tenacity], so his basic attack damage is not much higher than when he was in the forest area. High attributes mainly bring about physical strengthening, such as strength judgment, Attack speed, movement speed, etc., of course, the bonus to sword skill damage is another matter.

For the improvement of damage, it is mainly weapons, weapon levels, enhancement levels and rarity, which will bring about huge intuitive improvements.

This is why the strategy team is anxious to enter a higher-level world and has been stuck on the first level. Sooner or later, their advantage will be equaled by the second and third tiers.

After Sinon fired his sword skill, the scimitar kobold was not interrupted, nor was it in a defensive posture. Instead, it immediately counterattacked.

Monsters are like this, the stiffness caused by minor injuries is basically negligible, and they will not give up attacking because of pain, which is very counter-intuitive.

Sinon, who had long been accustomed to the behavior of monsters, had already begun to move her feet after the attack. She stepped forward and walked towards the side of the kobold. While looking for an opportunity for a normal attack with the short sword in her hand, she struck the kobold with an elbow and slashed the right hand of the scimitar. The arm is blocked by the elbow, destroying its force-generating structure.

Therefore, the kobold did not strike down, but Sinon, who had already folded his arms, used his right arm to pop out instantly, and the two combos [Bite] with the radiance of sword skills nailed the kobold's side that was not protected by bones under the right rib. .

Before it was over, Sinon's movement did not stop. She had already moved behind the kobold like a dragon. The fingers of her right hand trailing behind moved slightly, and the dagger was switched to a reverse grip with a longer attack range.

What follows is a wanton slashing, mixed with the sword skills [Blade Dance] and [Crossblade] corresponding to the reverse-grip posture, and a series of continuous injuries.

The main function of a weapon like a dagger is not only to add various negative states, but the most powerful one is the high-speed burst after the armor-piercing effect.

The high attack speed coupled with extremely low sword skills brings terrifying burst damage.

Wang Shui, who was on guard with a sword in one hand and an iron bullet in the other, looked at the kobolds and the panting Sinon who fell to the ground within ten seconds, and said helplessly:
"It seems that the special training is very effective."

Shino nodded calmly, but her eyes were full of excitement and confidence.

"We can attack two monsters at the same time. Let's improve efficiency. By the way, use less sword skills to save energy. Physical strength can be recovered quickly after a break after the battle. Mental exhaustion is too dangerous. Slow down the damage, appreciate the details in the battle, and think more. Judgmental.”

Shino didn't feel that Wang Shui was nagging, but just complained:

"I should have chosen a longer weapon. Close combat is too...I really don't understand why the smell is done so carefully."

"I feel the same. I have experienced even more hellish scenes, but I heard that there are scent ointments sold above the second floor, which can keep the air around the body fresh for a long time. In addition, I feel that the dagger is very suitable for you. Your combat thinking is biased toward offense. , likes to win by taking risks, and the long sword with relatively high skills requires a long time for you to adapt. "

"It would be nice if there were guns in this world..." Shino said calmly, returning the dagger to the scabbard on her waist with her right hand, pointing her finger at Aqua regia like a gun, and making a shooting gesture while matching it cutely Make a "bang~" sound effect.

"Mental illness doesn't seem to have been brought into this world." Shino briefly shared her recent findings, then turned around to look for monsters.

A gun... Wang Shui pondered for a while. It's not difficult to shape a shape, but is a gun like this really better than a sword?Will the world recognize the damage value of firearms?

Doubtful, but aqua regia doesn’t have time for it yet.

Even if he doesn't participate in the frontline strategy, Wang Shui's life has become extremely fulfilling. Of course, he still has to farm monsters honestly for now.

With Sinon as the main force of damage, Wang Shui had room to draw. He even took off his weapons and began to fight monsters with his bare hands. While practicing his recent experience of studying fists and kicks, he endured the angry fists thrown by Sinon from time to time.

Of course, he is not just a freeloader. Shui Wang can hold down three kobolds with his high battle health recovery (jewelry).

Sinon can output with confidence. She has always maintained the intermediate ability [Stealth Stance] under the [Concealment] skill tree. When reducing the hatred value, the accumulation of hatred value will also be reduced.

The two of them, well, should be considered one and a half people. In short, their monster spawning efficiency is extremely high. They actually cleared out a blank area in the corner of the [1-19] layer where there are few players. The monster spawning speed can no longer keep up with their clearing. Speed ​​up.

After grinding for five or six hours at a stretch, the two of them went to the small room outside the entrance [1-20] to rest.

Eating a burger modified with aqua regia and drinking a large glass of lemon herbal tea, Shino felt that her mental fatigue from the whole morning was immediately dispelled.

"The most unscientific thing in the game is probably our physical strength." Wang Shui couldn't help but sigh while eating, "You can obviously feel tired, but if you concentrate and strengthen your will, your muscles can always maintain their best condition, even It may be exhausting in reality, but here you can recover with just a short rest.”

"But it's hard to recover mentally. The more you use sword skills and the longer you fight, the more obvious your fatigue and sleepiness will become." Shino interjected.

"Yes, there is no magic value in this world, and there is no digitized physical value. The resources consumed in battle are the same invisible spirit."

Wang Shui's casual words caused the two of them to think. Their eyes met. There was no communication but they understood what the other wanted to say:
[How to exercise your spirit? 】

"I don't remember the content related to the closed beta test guide. The limited official information does not mention the resource of spirit. Instead, it is the NPC...the sword skill instructor or the description of the sword skill itself. In addition to laying out the corresponding In terms of posture, they have always emphasized concentration and concentration.”

"They are all subtle reminders. You should pay more attention in the future. Of course, this is your job." Shino said, raising her chin slightly with an expression of arrogance and contempt, "If you can't even fight, the intelligence work I’ll leave it to you.”

Wang Shui could only smile awkwardly and muttered, "How can studying martial arts be called paddling?", followed by difficult-to-understand words such as "God rewards hard work" and "Putting what you have learned into practice".

Anyway, seeing Wang Shui's embarrassment, Shino was very happy.

The rest time was not too long. After eating, they leaned against the wall and closed their eyes for half an hour. The two of them got up again and started to work on killing monsters. At this time, Wang Shui inexplicably remembered his previous life as a coder, and thought of the hand that was so easy to lay down. Back-breaking office chair.

The atmosphere and situation were not tense, but the two of them did not let their spirits relax during the process of killing monsters.

Wang Shui has very high requirements for himself and Shino. Wrong footwork, wrong distance, missed attack opportunities, no room to counterattack, etc. will immediately attract his attention.

Corrections followed immediately, and Wang Shui would speak out his corrections and remain tense.

This kind of fighting is quite useful for two fighting novices with high physical fitness.

Wang Shui himself is quite complex. When fighting monsters, he will switch to different boxing and footwork in almost one or two moves.And what Shino learned, or what Wang Shui equipped with a weapon like the dagger in this game, was [Baguazhang].

Wang Shui didn't find much information about the original version of [Youshen Bagua Lian Zhang]. In this situation, there was no guidance from professional teachers, so Shino could only practice footwork and boxing under Wang Shui's rough education.

The main footwork is the mud step, the buckle step, and the Bagua step for walking in circles.

As for the boxing frame, which is the changing part of Zhuang Gong, there is very little information on this aspect. There is only what kind of state each part of the body must achieve, such as slumping the waist, holding the chest, levating the anus and wrapping the arms.

With Shino's body and understanding, she has just reached the second stage of establishing her frame, living her frame, and changing her frame.

As for the internal Qi cultivation and breathing skills of Neijiaquan, let alone mention it. There are only four words in the information: "Unity of internal and external".

It lacks a lot of things, not even the moves to use the palms to exert force. The footwork alone is already very valuable. The footwork combined with the short sword has an amazing killing effect.

In fact, [Wing Chun] is also very suitable for short combat. After all, people have the technique of double swords, but Wang Shui has not learned it, or even if he has learned it, Wing Chun is not suitable for the game world.

Wing Chun emphasizes attacking with a short sword in the middle, but the monster here not only won't stop attacking when injured, but also doesn't even feel obvious pain.

Even with [Baguazhang], Wang Shui also asked Shino not to stick to the target, but to maintain the space to retreat in large strides, and to use a large number of attacks to slowly kill the monster, instead of relying on a few heavy blows.

Making a fuss about the limited essence, this is why Aqua Regia spends so much effort on learning, modifying and researching.

Fortunately, the game character has high physical fitness and can try boxing regardless of physical damage, so Wang Shui's progress is not slow.

During the monster hunting and training, the two of them could clearly feel that their bodies were becoming more and more flexible and their attacks were becoming more and more rhythmic. Under this wonderful experience, boring work became interesting and time flew by.

There was no sunlight in the maze, and the lighting relied entirely on high torches and glowing fake glass windows. The two of them played so enthusiastically that they didn't even care about the time, until a cheerful noise came from the entrance to the [1-20] floor.

The strategy team retreated, and they were leaving the maze while laughing loudly. Wang Shui contacted Kirito directly.

Facing Shino's questioning gaze, Wang Shui gave Kirito's reply just now:

"We found the BOSS room. It looks the same as in the closed beta. The strategy team needs to go back and rehearse for coordination. The strategy will be officially launched tomorrow."

"What should we do?" Shino went straight to the point.

Wang Shui thought for a while and said:

"Let's go, we won't spend the night here. We'll go back and ask about the situation and see how they cooperate. We'll watch around tomorrow and help if necessary. I've had enough of the first floor."

Tonight, the maze area is particularly quiet.

(End of this chapter)