I Became the Blacksmith NPC

"Why are you running?! Fight me!" After several rounds, Sunny Sky watched Night's Gentle Chill sprinting for dear life and couldn't help feeling exasperated. It was Night's Gentle Chill who had personally explained how to fight this boss — yet the moment the battle started, the guy seemed to have completely forgotten everything and was only focused on surviving.

Like hell I can beat you! Night's Gentle Chill felt deeply wronged. He had tried to fight back earlier, only to be instantly killed by Sunny Sky's smooth combo — he hadn't even managed to land a single touch. What he couldn't understand was how Sunny Sky could be so unlucky: every single time the parasite targets were selected, this person was among them, and the moment Sunny Sky got parasitized, they'd grab their spear and come charging straight at him. After it happened so many times, he was starting to wonder if Sunny Sky had some personal grudge against him and was using the boss fight to settle scores.

The others weren't being chased by Sunny Sky, but they weren't faring much better. Everyone was roughly at the same skill level, and with fifteen against fifteen, there was simply no way to decide a winner in a short time. What made it even more chaotic was that parasitized teammates were also healing other parasitized players — the whole scene had descended into utter pandemonium.

Meanwhile, Big Dumb Duck's side was progressing far more slowly. At this moment, they were still tangled up with the Blood-Light Moths — but unlike before, Big Dumb Duck's movements were noticeably sharper and more fluid. He could be seen dodging several moths' charges in quick succession while simultaneously slashing at them with his sword. After repeating this several times, with a furious roar, Big Dumb Duck cut down the last Blood-Light Moth!

"That was awesome, boss!" No. 1 exclaimed with genuine admiration. Over the past stretch of time, Big Dumb Duck had suddenly become extremely serious, and his improvement had been remarkable — from dying the moment he entered at the start, to lasting two or three rounds, and finally managing to kill all nine surrounding moths entirely on his own!

Big Dumb Duck didn't respond. He took a deep breath. A few hours ago, if he had been willing to let someone substitute for him, the team would have cleared the second stage long ago. But he just couldn't accept that. They were all ordinary players — why could everyone else dodge when he couldn't? Some things might come down to talent, but at least as far as those nine moths were concerned, Big Dumb Duck felt it hadn't come close to requiring any special talent.

He casually tossed the equipment into his bag. "Get ready for the next boss." Big Dumb Duck felt terrifyingly powerful at that moment.

The words had barely left his mouth when the familiar trembling sensation returned. The six rooms from this round rose upward again, the six corridors were simultaneously dismantled, and six new rooms appeared around them once more.

"Everyone stay alert — these six rooms probably have something tricky going on."

Big Dumb Duck had developed a bit of a psychological shadow around these six rooms, and he had no idea what would appear this time. Then the Toxic Crawler emerged, and they attempted a test run.

"Okay, from what I can see so far, this boss seems manageable. Let me share my thoughts."

Everyone had witnessed Big Dumb Duck's performance in the last stage, and since he was the team's sponsor — even if he wasn't the most skilled — his attitude spoke for itself. So the team members were happy to hear what he had to say. No. 1, however, felt a little uneasy — it seemed like his role as commander was about to be phased out.

"Looking at the last round, the six surrounding rooms had small crawlers placed in them — whoever designed this dungeon intended for some of us to get parasitized. If the last round was about individual skill, then I think this round is testing our focus-fire speed. So going forward, if you get parasitized, shout it out loud so your teammates know immediately..."

Big Dumb Duck stood at the front and spoke at length, while all twenty-nine members nodded along.

"Alright, let's aim to clear this boss within five attempts." With everything said, Big Dumb Duck clapped his hands and urged the team to get moving.

"Our boss is like a completely different person," No. 1 quietly private-messaged No. 7.

No. 7 chuckled. "That's a good thing — look at how differently everyone's treating him now."

They launched into battle swiftly and successfully pushed the Toxic Crawler's HP down to sixty percent.

"Everyone pay attention — if you get parasitized, call out your ID." The next second, a swarm of crawlers shot out across the room!

"No. 1!"

"No. 5!"

Since the entire team consisted of people Big Dumb Duck had brought in from the start, their IDs followed a uniform numbering system, which made it easy to tell each other apart.

"Numbers in ascending order — focus fire one by one. Watch the HP — stop at nineteen percent. Healers, pay attention: the moment the parasite is removed, top them up immediately." Big Dumb Duck kept it short and to the point, while simultaneously raising his longsword to block No. 1's attack.

"Not bad, boss — you're being chased by me and still have time to talk," No. 1 said with a grin.

Big Dumb Duck gave a cool smile and immediately countered with a sword slash. The parasitized No. 1 didn't dodge — he raised his hand and thrust back with his own blade! Both landed hits on each other simultaneously. Unfortunately, No. 1 had gone full-Strength-invested Warrior, and Big Dumb Duck came out badly on the losing end of that exchange...

"After we clear this dungeon, let's find some time to spar. Teach me how to fight."

"Sure — if you want to learn, I'll teach you everything I know~" No. 1 finished speaking and turned to see seven teammates already charging at him. His expression immediately changed. "Control your damage output — I've only got 300 HP, don't kill me!"

One hour later, the Toxic Crawler fell.

"Alright, everyone worked hard — let's take a five-minute break, then move on to the next boss..." Big Dumb Duck shouted, and the other team members responded with excitement. Of all the bosses they'd fought since entering the dungeon, this one had been the most satisfying!

But the next second, a system notification chimed.

"Congratulations to the team led by player [Big Dumb Duck] for successfully clearing the 30-player dungeon: Void Space!..."

"It's already cleared?!" Big Dumb Duck was stunned, and the rest of the team froze as well. They had been fighting tooth and nail the whole way through, and the final boss turned out to be the easiest one? And more importantly...

"Where's the Guild Establishment Permit?!" Big Dumb Duck rummaged through the treasure chest — the Transit Stone was indeed inside, but the most critical item was nowhere to be found!

"Boss, could it be over there..." No. 1 tugged at Big Dumb Duck, who had practically buried himself headfirst in the chest searching for the Guild Establishment Permit.

Big Dumb Duck looked up from the chest. He saw that the hexagonal platform had extended another path, leading to a brightly lit room at the far end — and inside the room, there appeared to be a figure standing.

"That's quite the ceremonial touch — a whole separate room just to hand over a permit."

The group jogged over to the entrance of the room.

As they drew closer, Big Dumb Duck quickly signaled everyone to stop.

"Hold on — something's off. That person up ahead... looks like a BOSS."

Another BOSS? A humanoid BOSS?!

After playing the game for several days, this was the first time any of the team members had encountered a humanoid monster.

"Void Lord?" He couldn't see its attributes, but Big Dumb Duck could at least make out the name. He called it out softly, and the figure seemed to hear his voice — slowly turning around.

Black armor from head to toe, a pitch-black mask, and a staff nearly four meters long held in its hands.

"That thing doesn't look easy to deal with..." No. 1 swallowed hard and glanced around the room. Compared to the previous six rooms, this boss chamber was absurdly large.

"You think?" Big Dumb Duck kept his eyes fixed on it and estimated from a distance — this boss was at least three meters tall. Standing before it, his own near-two-meter frame would look like a little chick. And that staff — even used as a club, it could probably knock out a good number of people.

"The dungeon is already cleared, so this boss is clearly an optional challenge. If I'm not mistaken... the Guild Establishment Permit is on it."

"Then let's fight."

Big Dumb Duck raised his sword and walked straight in without another word. What else had they come to this dungeon for, if not the permit?

And at that moment, in the real world, the official Hunt Heaven forum had already exploded.

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