48: Chapter 48 Listening to the Wind to Locate the Monster, Blindly Killing the Invisible One

The damp air gradually grew sticky, plastering onto their faces like paste.

Visibility on the second level of the dungeon was extremely low; grayish-white mist filled every inch of space, and the beam of a flashlight could only illuminate a distance of less than five meters ahead.

Zhang Wei gripped the strap of Lin Qi's backpack tightly, his voice trembling as he said, "Brother Qi, this fog isn't right. The System panel shows that the environment has a 'Blinding' effect, and my hit rate has been reduced by 50%."

"Stay close." Lin Qi didn't even look back, his footsteps remaining steady.

The ground beneath their feet was no longer hard stone, but soft mud covered in thick moss; there was no echo when they stepped on it.

It was too quiet all around.

Apart from the sound of their breathing and footsteps, not even the wind could be heard.

"Ah!" A scream rang out abruptly.

Wang Kai, the Ranger walking on the flank, lunged forward and fell, the leather armor on his back torn open with three deep gashes, blood flowing freely.

"What is that?!" Wang Kai writhed on the ground in pain. "I didn't even see the monster's name!"

"Over there!" Chen Huo, the Fire Mage, shouted in terror, the staff in his hand glowing with red light.

Boom! A fireball smashed into the mist on the left.

Aside from scorching a patch of moss, it hit nothing.

"Don't cast skills randomly!" Zhang Wei shouted. "You'll expose our position!"

"It's still here! I can feel it's still here!" Zhao Xiaoyu said with a crying tone, waving her staff around chaotically. "Where is the healer? Quickly, stop the bleeding for Wang Kai! I'm scared too!"

The entire team was in complete chaos.

This was the norm for ordinary players facing high-agility invisible monsters; once they lost visual contact, the data panel became useless.

Only Lin Qi stood motionless where he was.

He slowly closed his eyes.

Since his eyes couldn't see, he wouldn't use them.

"Everyone shut up." Lin Qi spoke, his voice not loud, yet it possessed a magical quality that calmed people down.

The others subconsciously held their breath.

Lin Qi's ears twitched slightly.

Although this was a holographic simulation dungeon, the sensations of pain, touch, and hearing were all constructed according to real-world physical rules.

As long as an object moves, it will inevitably stir up the wind.

Even the so-called [Stealth] skill could only deceive visual light; it could not eliminate air resistance.

In the three o'clock direction to the left, a slight, unnatural vortex appeared in the flow of the mist.

Very light, extremely light.

That was the disturbance caused by sharp claws slicing through the air.

It was coming.

The rusty iron sword in Lin Qi's hand thrust out without warning.

This strike had no wind-up; it was simply fast, so fast that it didn't even stir the air.

Puchi. The dull sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh rang out.

This was immediately followed by a short, shrill whine.

In the mist, a translucent figure was forced to materialize.

It was a lithe black panther with fluid muscle lines, now pinned precisely in mid-air by Lin Qi's longsword.

The tip of the sword had pierced through its throat and exited from the back of its neck.

Even until death, this Shadow Leopard hadn't even managed to extend its claws.

[Killed Shadow Leopard (LV.14), EXP +300]

"It… died just like that?" The flame in Chen Huo's hand flickered and went out.

"There are two more." Lin Qi didn't pull out his sword; instead, he released the hilt.

The airflow from both the front and back directions was torn apart simultaneously.

Two more Shadow Leopards; they were clearly trying to launch a pincer attack while taking advantage of the gap left by their companion's death.

Their speed was even faster than the one before.

Lin Qi didn't retreat.

He lowered his center of gravity, using his left leg as a pivot, and lashed out with his right leg as if it were equipped with springs.

Whoosh! The wind from his leg kicked up a visible wave of air.

Whirlwind Sweeping Leaf Kick.

This sweeping kick landed exactly in the path of the two Shadow Leopards' pounce.

Bang! Bang! Two dull thuds rang out almost simultaneously.

The two Shadow Leopards were like trains colliding with a high-speed locomotive, sent flying backward faster than they had come, slamming heavily against the rock wall.

Just as they tried to struggle to their feet, Lin Qi was already there.

He didn't give them a chance to turn invisible again.

Lin Qi threw both fists out simultaneously, like two heavy cannons firing at close range.

Crack. The sound of vertebrae snapping was crisp and clear.

The two Shadow Leopards slumped to the ground, lifeless.

From the moment Lin Qi closed his eyes until now, a total of less than five seconds had passed.

Three high-agility assassin monsters that would have wiped out an ordinary team had turned into corpses before their names had even fully appeared.

"This… this is a hack, right?" Wang Kai lay on the ground, forgetting even the pain of his wounds. "This game doesn't have an auto-aim feature."

"It's prediction." Zhang Wei said while spraying hemostatic spray on Wang Kai, looking at Lin Qi with eyes shining. "Brother Qi's ears are more useful than a radar."

Outside, in the live streaming channel across the entire network.

The bullet comment section, which had been somewhat noisy, fell into a brief vacuum.

Then, it exploded.

"Am I blind? How did that sword strike connect just now?"

"There was absolutely no line of sight! This is blind fighting!"

"What do you mean blind fighting? This is called listening to sound to identify position! This is true skill!"

Xue Ping of the Longya Academy admissions office stood up abruptly, even knocking over the teacup at his side.

He stared at the youth on the screen who was shaking the blood off his hands, his breathing rapid.

"It's not just hearing," Xue Ping whispered. "That is absolute control over one's body muscles, and the prediction of the enemy's attack intent."

"His neural reaction speed is at least three times faster than that of an ordinary person."

"This Lin Qi… is a natural-born warrior."

Xue Ping picked up a pen and heavily drew a circle in that notebook, marking three exclamation points next to it.

Meanwhile, in a dark basement.

Ying Wan watched the screen, and for the first time, a ripple appeared on that face which had been devoid of expression for years.

As a top-tier killer, he knew all too well the value of what he had just witnessed.

That was the embryo of [Mind's Eye].

A white-board high school student with no class had actually touched the threshold of a Realm that so many high-level assassins dreamed of.

"It seems ordinary monsters really can't kill you."

Ying Wan's fingers tapped lightly on the desktop.

The target of the mission was much trickier than expected.

Although the money given by the Li family was a lot, this job was becoming a bit too hot to handle.

However, this was a dungeon after all, with data rules that could not be defied.

Since he couldn't win with skill, he would crush him with stats.

Ying Wan took out a black parchment scroll from his bosom.

That scroll emitted a nauseating, ominous aura, and it was covered in twisted runes.

[Item: Berserk Curse]

[Effect: Forcibly causes the BOSS in the designated area to mutate, doubling all attributes and entering a berserk state of fighting to the death.]

"Lin Qi, you are very confident in your physical skills."

Ying Wan looked at that back silhouette on the screen as it led the team deeper into the dungeon, his mouth twitching slightly.

"Then let's see if your skills can still save your life when facing a completely out-of-control monster."