novelraw Chapter 56: The Dancer’s Shell
Chapter 56: The Dancer’s Shell
Lin Xun carefully pondered his next move. His goal now was to find a way to stop the dancer from escaping—and ideally, provoke it into attacking him instead.
[Your sudden arrival causes all the “audience members” in the stands to turn and look at you.]
[Reckless Apostle, what will you do?]
The same familiar three options popped up again.
Run away, attack the audience, or attack the dancer.
When Lin Xun saw the second option, a spark of inspiration struck.
Of course! Why hadn’t he thought of it earlier?
What was the dancer performing for if not the audience?
If he blasted all its precious spectators into dust, maybe the dancer would lose it and come after him in a rage.
With that in mind, Lin Xun decisively selected the second option![You raise your staff-spear toward the stands and begin chanting an incantation…]
[A flash of red light…]
[You have defeated a Corrupted Blood Sun Cultist. Experience slightly increased.]
[You have defeated a Corrupted Blood Sun Cultist. Experience slightly increased.]
[You have defeated…]
—
One blast of his ‘laser cannon’ wiped out over a dozen audience members in an instant.
[The dancer on the stage lets out a piercing scream, crimson eyes blazing with fury.]
[The Corrupted Theater Dancer leaps onto the stands and charges straight toward you…]
Lin Xun’s eyes sharpened—this was it.
He opened the panel and clicked on Corrupt Sunlight.
[You raise your staff-spear and chant an incantation…]
[As the dancer charges at you, it suddenly breaks into nimble steps and vanishes mid-movement.]
[A flash of red light…]
[You failed to hit your target.]
“Damn it! That’s cheating!”
Lin Xun clenched his fists in rage, wishing he could tie the dancer up and blast it with a hundred laser rounds.
[A dangerous aura closes in on you…]
[A sharp edge of a jointed limb slices across your throat.]
[You are dead!]
Lin Xun set down his phone and lit a cigarette.
“Hahhh…”
He let out a long exhale of smoke.
It was already 9:30 at night. The girl in white had long retreated to the bedroom to watch her shows. The living room was quiet—just him, alone.
“Interesting. Really interesting.”
He took a deep breath, his eyes burning with fury.
As a veteran gamer, he’d played plenty of high-difficulty masochistic titles.
Did this cursed game think a little setback would make him quit? Keep dreaming!
[The feeble wandering soul is reborn at the chapel of Lord Fox’s Castle…]
Still thirty minutes until his soul strength would recover.
Lin Xun puffed on his cigarette, trying to suppress his frustration while brainstorming how to defeat the dancer.
Anyone else might’ve just popped the Boiling Subspecies Dragon Blood Essence and gone down with the dancer in a blaze.
But Lin Xun wasn’t about to let it end that way.
Now that he’d figured out how to lure the dancer into attacking, all that was left was to find a way to counter its invisibility.
Otherwise, no matter what shell he used—Paladin of Discipline or Engineer—it’d still be useless if he couldn’t hit the target.
He reopened his inventory and carefully browsed each item one by one.
After a while, Lin Xun suddenly slapped his thigh, his eyes lighting up with excitement.
“I’ve got it!”
“Dancer, prepare to eat sh*t!”
As soon as his soul strength recovered, Lin Xun wasted no time in reshaping the Yellow-Robed Bishop shell.
From the chapel, he marched straight back to the ancient theater.
[Moonlight pours down, and the open-air stage at the center of the theater glows like daylight. The dancer in ornate costume spins elegantly, each graceful movement trailing a crimson afterimage.]
[Around the stage, dozens of Corrupted Blood Sun Cultists gather in the stands, watching the performance.]
Before the options could even appear, Lin Xun cast Corrupt Sunlight at the crowd.
[You raise your staff-spear and chant an incantation…]
[A flash of red light…]
One blast of Corrupt Sunlight annihilated the entire audience.
[The dancer on stage shrieked in rage, crimson eyes blazing.]
[The Corrupted Theater Dancer charged straight toward you…]
Lin Xun opened his inventory, waiting for the next game text to appear.
[A dangerous aura closes in on you…]
This was the moment!
He used the item.
[Putrid Dungstone Composite (Throwable Item): A composite formed from countless Foul Dungstones, refining the essence and discarding the waste to create this rare item. When thrown to the ground, it splashes numerous Putrid Dungstones around you, sticking to enemies.]
[You throw the Putrid Dungstone Composite at the ground.]
[A rain of foul stones splatters in every direction. The approaching invisible figure is struck and becomes coated in filth.]
[The transparent form becomes fully visible—the Corrupted Theater Dancer reels in horror and turns to flee.]
[Do you wish to attack?]
Lin Xun grinned coldly and clicked Yes without hesitation!
[You raise your staff-spear and chant an incantation…]
[A flash of red light…]
[You have defeated the Corrupted Theater Dancer. Experience increased significantly.]
[You obtained 3,230 Spirit Essence.]
[You obtained Crimson Eyeball ×2 (Junk).]
[You obtained Bloodstained Linen Clothes (Junk).]
[You obtained Slave Cell Key (Key).]
With his vengeance complete, Lin Xun felt totally refreshed—like gulping down a bottle of ice-cold soda in the sweltering heat of midsummer.
He checked the game text.
Good—he got all 3,230 Spirit Essence back, just as expected.
Huh? Even the Crimson Eyeballs and Bloodstained Linen Clothes dropped too?
Weren’t trade items supposed to be undroppable?
Lin Xun frowned. Then the realization struck—this dancer hadn’t even been a real merchant, much less an NPC.
After some thought, he guessed that the monster must’ve killed the original merchant inside the Exchange.
The eyeballs and clothes were probably leftovers from the merchant. The dancer had then disguised itself to swindle players.
That made sense—but it was still a shame. If the real merchant had been killed, any valuable items like the herbs or the Lucky Gold Coin were probably lost forever.
The dancer had also dropped a key. Lin Xun opened its item description.
[Slave Cell Key (Key): A key to a slave cell. This key can open the corresponding cell door.]
This was likely tied to a future event or reward.
Lin Xun stored the key carefully and continued playing.
[You examine the dancer’s shell…]
[Corrupted Theater Dancer Shell: For reasons unknown, this assassin grandmaster became obsessed with performing song and dance, craving the applause and praise of an audience. After being deeply corrupted, both their dance and assassination skills saw massive enhancement. Killed by a blast of searing energy. Compatibility: 91 (+35%)]
[Do you wish to possess this shell?]