9: Chapter 9 The Empress Shrank

"Ding—"

The moment the longsword pierced the Shadow Nest's core, a crisp shattering sound rang through the entire interior of the armor.

A crack appeared on the surface of the purple-black crystal.

The Shadow Lord let out an unprecedented roar, and its entire body began to tremble violently.

Outside, Poxiao saw the BOSS's HP suddenly drop by 5%.

"It's working! The Guild Leader's attack is working!"

"Keep going! Come on, Guild Leader!"

Shen Ruoxi did not hesitate; she pulled out the longsword and stabbed the Shadow Core again.

"Ding—"

Another crack.

The Shadow Lord's HP plummeted by another 5%.

The teammates outside were dealing damage frantically, coordinating with Shen Ruoxi's internal attacks. The Shadow Lord's HP dropped rapidly from 20%—15%, 10%, 8%...

When the HP dropped to 10%, the Shadow Lord entered a berserk state.

Its body erupted with purple-black light, and its speed and attack power instantly doubled. The tank, Iron Wall, was swatted away by a single strike, and the priest Xingluo's healing simply couldn't keep up.

"Wipeout crisis!"

"Hold on! The Guild Leader is still inside!"

Shen Ruoxi also felt the effects of the berserk state. The shadow energy inside the armor became violent, stabbing into her body like countless needles. Her HP was dropping rapidly.

But she did not retreat.

There was only 8% HP left. If she stabbed it two or three more times, the Shadow Core would be completely shattered.

Shen Ruoxi gritted her teeth and raised her longsword—

Just then, she heard a "Meow."

Shen Ruoxi froze.

Meow?

In the depths of this shadow-filled hidden dungeon, inside the BOSS's armor, she heard a cat meow?

She looked down—

In the gap of the armor, a furry orange head poked in.

An orange cat.

A chubby orange cat, having snuck into the dungeon from who knows where, was currently staring with round, wide eyes, curiously examining the shrunken Shen Ruoxi.

Shen Ruoxi and the orange cat stared at each other for three seconds.

Then, the orange cat's pupils constricted sharply.

In the orange cat's perspective, the little thing in platinum armor before it was the exact same size as a mouse. And it was moving.

A mouse!

The orange cat's hunting instinct was instantly activated.

"Meow—!"

The orange cat shrieked and pounced at Shen Ruoxi.

Shen Ruoxi: "???"

She dodged the pounce with a sidestep, but her longsword almost slipped from her hand.

"What is the meaning of this?! Why is there a cat in the dungeon?!"

The orange cat missed, becoming even more excited. It arched its back, its fur puffed up, making a "purring" threatening sound, and then pounced again.

While dodging the cat, Shen Ruoxi shouted: "Who brought a cat in here?!"

Poxiao outside was also confused: "Cat? What cat?"

"There's an orange cat inside the armor! It's chasing me!"

"..."

The whole group was silent for two seconds.

Then—

"Pfft, hahahahaha!"

The thief "Yingwu" was the first to burst into laughter.

"The Guild Leader is being chased by a cat, hahahaha! The Iceberg Empress is being chased by an orange cat!"

"What are you laughing at! Keep attacking the BOSS!" Poxiao yelled, but the corners of his own mouth were twitching.

Shen Ruoxi's situation was extremely embarrassing right now.

She had shrunk to the size of a mouse and crawled into the BOSS's armor, which was supposed to be a cool, extreme maneuver. As a result, an orange cat appeared out of nowhere and was chasing her like a mouse.

What was even more ridiculous was that this orange cat's speed was actually faster than hers!

The shrunken Shen Ruoxi's agility was greatly reduced, and since the orange cat was a natural hunting expert, she couldn't outrun it after shrinking.

"Meow—!"

The orange cat pounced again, slapping its paw onto Shen Ruoxi's platinum armor.

Although the damage wasn't high, the insult was extreme.

The dignified Iceberg Empress, third on the server's combat power ranking, had been slapped by an orange cat.

Shen Ruoxi was trembling with anger.

But she didn't have time to be angry—the Shadow Lord still had 6% HP, and she had to destroy the Shadow Core before the shrinking effect wore off.

Thus, an unprecedented scene appeared.

Shen Ruoxi attacked the Shadow Core while dodging the orange cat's pursuit.

The orange cat pounced from the left, she dodged to the right, and stabbed the Shadow Core with a sword.

The orange cat pounced from the right, she dodged to the left, and stabbed the Shadow Core again with a backhand strike.

"Ding— Ding—"

The cracks on the Shadow Core grew more numerous, and the purple-black light began to flicker unsteadily.

Shadow Lord's HP: 4%, 3%, 2%...

"Final blow!" Shen Ruoxi shouted, concentrating all her strength, aiming at the largest crack on the Shadow Core, and thrust with all her might—

"Crack—!"

The Shadow Core shattered.

Countless purple-black fragments splattered everywhere, the Shadow Lord let out a final roar, and its massive body collapsed with a boom.

[Congratulations to player "Xiguang"'s team for defeating the hidden BOSS "Shadow Lord"!]

[Congratulations to player "Xiguang"'s team for completing the hidden achievement "Shadow Conqueror"!]

[This is the first time the hidden BOSS "Shadow Lord" has been defeated on the server! Extra rewards: Shadow Nest Permanent Pass x 1, Shadow Treasure Chest x 5!]

The system announcement popped up directly on the world channel—

[World Announcement: Congratulations to player "Xiguang" for leading the team to defeat the hidden BOSS "Shadow Lord" for the first time! Obtained the hidden achievement "Shadow Conqueror"!]

The world channel instantly boiled over—

"Holy crap! Xiguang defeated the hidden BOSS?!"

"Shadow Lord? The one that wasn't beaten after three attempts?"

"How did they beat it? Any secrets?"

But immediately after, a second system announcement popped up—

[World Announcement: After defeating the hidden BOSS, player "Xiguang" was carried out of the dungeon by an orange cat.]

The whole world was quiet for a second.

Then—

"Hahahaha hahahaha!!!"

"Carried out by a cat?! Xiguang was carried out by a cat?!"

"The Iceberg Empress was carried out of the dungeon by an orange cat! What the hell is this?!"

"Is this game bugged? Why is there a cat in the dungeon?"

"It's not a bug, it's the side effect of the shrinking cookie! Being chased by a cat after shrinking! The stuff from Ergous Stall really has side effects!"

"So Xiguang was chased like a mouse by a cat after shrinking? Hahaha, I can't take it!"

"The server's top Empress, third in combat power, was rubbed on the ground by an orange cat!"

The scene returned to inside the dungeon.

The moment the Shadow Lord fell, the armor shattered, and Shen Ruoxi was ejected. She returned to her normal size, but before she could stand steady, that orange cat pounced—

It bit her platinum cape.

Then it dragged her and ran outside.

"Let go of me!" Shen Ruoxi roared.

But the orange cat wouldn't let go. It bit the cape and dragged Shen Ruoxi toward the dungeon exit. Shen Ruoxi's platinum armor scraped a string of sparks on the ground; the scene was extremely spectacular.

The teammates were laughing so hard they couldn't fight.

Yingwu fell to the ground laughing: "Hahahaha! The Guild Leader is being dragged away by a cat!"

Iron Wall held up his shield, laughing so hard the shield was shaking: "I... I can't save her... I'm laughing so hard I have no strength..."

Xingluo was laughing while healing: "Guild Leader, hold on! I'll come save you soon! Hahahaha—sorry, I really can't help it!"

Poxiao was the only one still fighting normally, but the corners of his mouth were twitching wildly too.

Finally, the orange cat bit Shen Ruoxi's platinum cape, ran wildly all the way, and rushed out of the dungeon entrance.

Shen Ruoxi was dragged out of the Shadow Nest and thrown onto the ground of the Novice Village.

The orange cat let go of the cape, meowed, and walked away with elegant steps.

Leaving Shen Ruoxi lying on the ground alone, her platinum armor covered in drag marks, her hair in a mess, and her expression—

If looks could kill, that orange cat would have died ten thousand times already.

Players wandering around the Novice Village all saw this scene—

The server's number one guild leader, Iceberg Empress Shen Ruoxi, was carried out of a hidden dungeon by an orange cat and thrown onto the square of the Novice Village.

Silence for three seconds.

Then the entire Novice Village erupted into roaring laughter.

"Hahahaha!"

"Take a screenshot! Take a screenshot! This scene is too precious!"

"The Iceberg Empress was carried out by a cat! I'm going to post this on the forum!"

"Xiguang: I have never been this embarrassed in my life."

Shen Ruoxi climbed up from the ground, patted the dust off her armor, and stood up expressionlessly.

Her face was very red.

Although expressions in the game could be controlled, for some reason, her cheeks were uncontrollably blushing at this moment.

Embarrassing.

Too embarrassing.

Since she, Shen Ruoxi, started playing games, she had never been this embarrassed.

She took a deep breath, opened her friend list, found "Ergous Stall", and sent a message—

"The shrinking cookie you sold me, the side effect is being chased by a cat?"

Chen Ergou replied instantly: "Ah... that... yes..."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You... when you asked me, I wanted to say it, but your look was too scary, I didn't dare to say it..."

Shen Ruoxi stared at the text on the screen, her fingers typing and deleting on the keyboard, typing and deleting.

Finally, she only typed four words—

"You just wait."

Seeing these four words, Chen Ergou almost dropped his phone.

He replied with a "?", but Shen Ruoxi had already logged off.

Chen Ergou sat on the hay pile in the Novice Village, looking at Shen Ruoxi's gray avatar, feeling a chill in his heart.

It's over.

The Iceberg Empress is coming to settle the score with him.

As a small stall vendor in the Novice Village, how could he fight against the leader of the server's number one guild?

Run?

Where could he run? Where could he go in this game?

Chen Ergou held his head, wanting to cry without tears.

He suddenly felt a bit of regret—he should have honestly told her about the side effect.

But thinking about it again, would she have bought it if he told her?

No.

Then wouldn't he still not have made money?

So, in the end, it was the fault of being poor.

Chen Ergou sighed and decided not to think about this for now.

Anyway, Shen Ruoxi had already logged off, so he'd deal with it when she logged on next time. Maybe she was magnanimous and wouldn't hold it against him?

He comforted himself for a while, then opened the system panel to take a look.

[myriad worlds stall system Lv.2]

[Turnover: 40 Gold Coins]

[Items Sold: regret potion x 5, substitute scarecrow x 1, shrinking cookie x 3]

[Items Pending Unlock: rebound wristguard (requires turnover to reach 50 gold coins)]

rebound wristguard?

He needed 10 more gold coins to unlock new items.

Chen Ergou looked at the name "rebound wristguard" and his eyes lit up.

Rebound... does it mean rebounding damage?

If it could rebound damage, wouldn't that be invincible?

He suddenly felt that perhaps facing Shen Ruoxi's anger, he wasn't completely without the power to fight back.

But soon he dismissed this thought.

Hard against the Iceberg Empress? He thought his life was too long.

It was better to make money first. Earn enough 50 gold coins, unlock the rebound wristguard, and he could save his life if he encountered danger in the future.

As for Shen Ruoxi...

One step at a time.