Chapter 64: The Counterattack Begins

  After the six-person meeting, under the guidance of the meeting leader Undead Xiaoqiang's "only goal is to upgrade now", with Undead Xiaoqiang as the leader, Cha Cha, Jue Shi Da Shuai Ge, Nan Gong Xiao Yue, Nan Gong Xiao Xiao, and Yue Ying Ming Xin several people began their arduous upgrading journey.

  Nangong Xiaoyue was still feeling quite proud of her level 25, but after learning that Ding Strong had already reached level 26 and was about to rush to level 27, her expression at the time is still vivid in his memory...

  Whether it's a team or solo, everyone is working hard to reach level 28 before the activity starts. As for why it's set at level 28, the reason is simple: the elite dwarves that are brushed out during the activity have a minimum level of 28. If you're below this level, your output will be affected by the level reduction when fighting, which can greatly impact your score in this fast-paced activity.

  At this stage, each profession has its own most suitable leveling location. Ding ran to the Alchemist's place, took a look at the formulas he could learn, and saw that there were no formulas with huge market demand. So, Ding collected some materials, made some potions, threw them into the auction house, bought good potions, repaired his equipment, and returned to his leveling holy land - Sindras Forest.

  Due to the upgrade of his level, those Sindas thieves on the periphery could no longer satisfy his needs, and the stealthy movement that seemed invisible was clearly visible even from a distance.

  Ding Qiang dodged the lurking thieves along the way and plunged into the depths of the forest...

  Looking at the quiet forest, Ding Qiang pursed his lips and gripped the double-edged sword in his hand, slowly heading forward.

  He hadn't walked a few steps when he felt a slight pain in his back, and then his blood volume suddenly dropped to around 20%.

  "Damn it, I haven't come for a long time and my reaction has slowed down!" Cursing silently in his heart, Ding Qiang forced himself to take a step back and slash with his sword. At the same time, he took another step to the side, dodging the second strike from behind. With a 180-degree turn, he swung his sword in a powerful arc.

  Normally, the tread step can only turn 90° at most, but if there is no locking target and forced empty release, it can complete a 180-degree turn. Ding Qiang's move just now was precisely utilizing this point to complete the action.

  Pfft!

  A sword flashed above the attacker's head, and a three-digit number immediately floated out. Then he moved swiftly, his body suddenly dashing forward, and a white light flashed on the sword, another three-digit number appeared at the same time, and the attacker's figure also stopped in place.

  【Impact Sword】: Causes your attacks to inflict a stunning effect on the opponent, with longer impact distances resulting in longer stun durations.

  As it was connected to the tread step cut, the impact distance was not long, so the dizziness time was extremely short, only 1 second, but for Ding Qiang, this one second was enough.

  A sword light flashed in his hand, a trajectory of a single word shape flashed by in mid-air...

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

  Three damage numbers popped out of the assassin's head again.

  A total of five swords, with a combined damage of over 1,000, the ambusher was only around level 28 Sindas elite thief, and immediately turned into a white light and disappeared on the spot, leaving behind only a few coins and broken flying knives.

  "The elite thief is indeed more formidable than those guys outside..." Thinking back to the battle just now, Ding Qiang also couldn't help but feel a lingering fear. Fortunately, he reacted quickly, otherwise if he hadn't dodged the opponent's second sword in time, he might have already returned to the city by now.

  If it were someone else, they might have turned back immediately after knowing how dangerous this place was. But Ding Qiang came here precisely for the extremely high experience points that could be gained here, so after replenishing his status, he once again headed deeper into the forest...

  These days, Ding Qiang has been hiding in this piece of Sindas Forest. As the time he stayed here got longer and longer, the time he returned to the city to replenish supplies also got longer and longer. Later on, if he played well, he could even rely on the faint breathing sound behind him to take the lead and attack before the Sindas elite thieves, achieving injury-free leveling up.

  When the game company's game announcement came out, saying that there would be a major game update in an hour and the server would go down, six people's levels, except for the Exceptional Great Master, had already reached their expected goals and hit level 28.

  "You're holding us back, you're really holding us back!" In the barbecue shop, while waiting for the meat skewers to be served, Ding Qiang tapped on the table with his chopsticks and said to Lin Yi, who was sitting across from him. Li Yan, who was sitting next to Ding Qiang, found what he said amusing and couldn't help but giggle, covering her mouth with her hand.

  "Hey, it's not all my fault." Lin Yixu muttered sullenly: "Who knew you were so perverted and could actually level up in that kind of place..."

  "No way, I've been as low-key as possible!" Ding Qiang shrugged and said.

  “……”

  Time went back one day before, Ding Qiang was leveling up in Sindras Forest.

  Just defeated a small monster, he heard the sound of news...

  "Qiangzi, where are you leveling up? Grinding instances is too boring, I also want to find a place to solo train." Lin Yi said. After Ding Qiang obtained the dual-blade sword for battle, he spent 100 gold coins to unbind the Sindras longsword in his hand and mailed it to him. Since the standard equipment for paladins in instances was a one-handed sword with a shield, he had always wanted to find an opportunity to show off outside.

  "Your Paladin soloing is inefficient."

  "I'll just practice for a bit, these past few days I've been constantly running instances and I'm about to die of boredom. Besides, if you can solo, why can't I? At the very least, I have more health than you!" Lin Yi said with discontent.

  "Are you sure you're coming?"

  "Uh-huh."

  With that, after getting the coordinates of Sindas Forest, Lin Yi carried that large sword and ran over excitedly.

  But wishes are beautiful, reality is bony. Lin Yigang, carrying a large sword, walked to the edge of the forest and was directly attacked by a thief who suddenly appeared behind him with a swift ambush and a backstab, sending him back to town instantly.

  "My god, Qiangzi, I've been PKed, a thief killed me." Lin Yi was still standing at the resurrection point, not yet reacting.

  "PK has a legitimate counterattack prompt, idiot, that's a monster, it can sneak up on you, be careful."

  "Come on, why didn't you say so earlier? Got it, watch me."

  Excitedly, Lin Yi carried his large sword and headed towards Sindras Forest for the second time...

  This time when he came to the edge of the forest, he didn't rush in recklessly, but instead carefully observed.

  After these few days of leveling up, Lin Yi had already reached level 26 and could already see the stealthy thief from afar...

  Watching those thieves sneaking around in the forest, Lin Yi chuckled and immediately raised his great sword to charge forward.

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

  The big sword's attack was not weak, and after losing the advantage of stealth, Sindas thieves were not difficult to deal with, so in just a few moves, accompanied by a miserable cry, the target fell at Lin Yi's feet.

  "With a light and easy mood...". He was very pleased to step on the thief's corpse, Lin Yi deliberately took a close-up shot and sent it to Ding Qiang.

  “……”

  However, good times don't last long. After killing a few monsters, Lin Yi became somewhat arrogant and lost his vigilance. As a result, while approaching one thief, he unintentionally startled another thief, and then, without a doubt, whoosh...

  "My god, when did a thief appear behind me?" Lin Yi cursed angrily while standing at the respawn point.

  At this moment, he actually dropped twice, and the experience of a whole morning was wasted.

  "The monsters here may have low defense and HP, but their attack power is too high. If you really want to train alone, it's better to change places." Ding said persuasively.

  "No way, I'm not going to make it, grandma's... This time I'll be more careful." Lin Yi resentfully shouldered his great sword and headed towards the Sindras Forest for the third time.

  “……”

  As for the result...

  Just looking at the time when the game was suspended, Chacha, who was originally lower than him in level, had already reached level 28, while he still lacked half a level to reach 28...

  "What a brilliant life ruined in an instant!" Lin Yisheng raised the skewer of meat in his hand and took a vicious bite.

  ……

  The game will officially launch at 12:00 on the second day!

  When the crowd re-entered the game, they found that the login interface had changed into a dwarf covered in flames, holding a shield with seven big words - "The Counterattack of the Flame Dwarf".

  At the same time, on the game's official website, a special topic about Dwarf Counterattack also appeared, and a detailed description of the rules for this event was also included in the special topic.

  "Hey, sis, look at this rule, it's almost the same as what that undead Xiao Qiang said..." Nangong Xiaoxiao was still watching the special topic and hadn't entered the game yet, pointing at the screen and shouting loudly.

  "What's the point of 'almost' when I see they're exactly the same?" Just then, Yueying Mingxin walked out after finishing her bath, wiping her hair with a towel while walking out, wearing only a bathrobe that wrapped around her body. Her full breasts shook back and forth as she moved her arms, but fortunately, it was all girls in the house, so there was no need to worry about being ogled.

  "Alright, don't say any more." Nangong Xiaoyue said: "The activity will officially start at 1 o'clock, hurry up and get ready to go online."

  After responding, several girls also returned to their respective rooms and entered the game one after another.

  On the other hand, Ding Qiang and a few others entered the game at the first possible moment after it opened, and as they looked at the activity version update notice, he let out a long sigh of relief.

  "It's okay, it seems that the game version updates and whatnot should still be like before." Although he said he was reborn, in reality some details of this life were already different from his previous one. He feared these differences would affect the game content, and if so, it would have a huge impact on him.

  Soon, the six people reunited again.

  Everyone was grouped into teams, Ding Qiang took a look at the levels, except for himself at level 30 and Nangong Xiaoyue at level 29, everyone else was at level 28. Lin Yi wasn't quite at level 28 yet, but as a Holy Knight with low health to begin with, wearing plate armor, his current role was still that of a healer, so being a little under-leveled wouldn't affect the battle much.

  "How should we divide into groups?" Ding Qiang said: "In my opinion, let's have the three of us form one group and you three form another."

  "That won't do." Nangong Xiaoyue shook her head and said, "The three of us are all low-defense professions. If we encounter a sudden PK, we'll be at a disadvantage. You have to give me a heavy armor profession."

  "That extraordinary great general is for you, Moon Shadow Engraved in Heart is for us." said Ding Qiang.

  "That's also..." Before they could continue, Nangong Xiaoyue suddenly shook her head and said: "Wait, who will be our team leader?"

  "Captain?" Everyone looked at each other in surprise.

  "No one is going to do it, so I'll do it." Ding Qiang said. The captain is usually a heavy armor profession, and he is the highest level in this group, and his strength is also relatively strong, so it's natural for him to be the captain.

  "If you're going to be the captain, then you have to join our group."

  "Why?" Tea said discontentedly, she wanted to be in a group with Ding Qiang.

  "Because among the few of us, except for him, my level is the highest, and Rose's treatment is stronger than Jue Shi... Da Shuai Ge. Once there is a battle, the three of us combine to exert the greatest combat power." South Palace Xiao Yue endured the urge to vomit and finally said Lin Yi's name.

  ... Cha Cha was speechless.

  "Oh, that's fine too." Ding Qiang didn't mind either, and after handing over the team leader to Chacha, he immediately left the team and joined Nan Gong Xiaoyue's team.

  Just then, with a commotion on the big street outside, the system's red characters refreshed.

  "Dwarves counterattack, officially begins!"