Messenger of Catastrophe

Chapter 170: The Inherently Evil Little Brat

《The Messenger》 had a unique trait—or rather, a design choice—in that between levels 10~39, nearly all Tokens and class traits gained served to enhance the player’s personal power. There were almost no skills that weakened enemies, and even those that buffed allies were extremely rare.

This was simply a design made to help new players ease into the game. After all, using “buffs” or “debuffs” demanded a certain level of familiarity, which was a barrier for newbies. It was far easier to let them focus solely on their own rotation while running dungeons, without needing to pay attention to “Vulnerability” or “Group Buffs.”

But once reaching the Foundation stage, things couldn’t be so casual anymore. Most of the game’s core mechanics piled on during this phase—including various support and debuff mechanics.

A 15%~50% reduction in hit rate... even someone like Yan Qing, a complete MMO layman, found this kind of skill rather underwhelming. Sure, the max debuff could reduce accuracy by 50%, but when did players ever fight monsters far below their level? Most enemies they faced were of equal or higher level, so if it had a 20% effect, that was already decent.

And that was just accuracy. It had no effect whatsoever against a BOSS’s wide-area attacks, and the deadliest aspect of high-difficulty Secret Realms was that the BOSS had screen-wiping abilities that could annihilate the whole team. These needed to be mitigated through damage-reduction, not accuracy debuffs. Reducing accuracy could only ease the healer’s pressure in healing the tank (the player holding the BOSS’s aggro).

Yan Qing never expected that this seemingly common debuff skill—reduced accuracy—could have such a terrifying effect in reality. Even someone like Medicine Master Wen, a young adult, and the Three Guardians who had ruled over Shu Mountain for years turned pale with fright.

However... weren’t these guys being a bit too dramatic? Tampering with cognition, twisting perception, disturbing motor control—it all sounded like some fantastical ability out of certain kinds of stories. And yet... the culprit was just reduced hit rate? A little disappointing, honestly...

But thinking deeper, this effect—so easily implemented in games—really did sound bizarre in real life.

After all, a hit was a hit, a miss was a miss. What did it even mean to “reduce hit rate by 50%”?

Feeling like you could hit, yet missing anyway—it boiled down to misjudging range, misseeing things, or applying force wrong. Yan Qing knew this well from playing badminton. Every time he thought he could smash, he’d end up whiffing.Back then, his only exercise was running to the cafeteria, so mistakes were natural. But the Three Guardians were Third-Stage Messengers—robust in Vital Energy and Blood, highly skilled, mentally composed. Making them miss half their attacks was like forcibly turning them into a badminton-playing Yan Qing who failed every shot.

And it wasn’t just once or twice. It was like that the entire time—every judgment off, every vision misled, every motion skewed. Who wouldn’t panic?

「You guys didn’t land a single hit? Or at most one out of four?」Bunny Heroine crossed her arms, puzzled.「That doesn’t sound right. Maybe you just weren’t trying hard enough?」

「You little—」Blood Minister gritted his teeth, ready to curse.

Boreuo stopped him and nodded.「What Bunny Donor said is true. While it was extremely uncomfortable inside, with long-term training, our accuracy could improve. But...」

The scarred, fierce monk revealed a bitter smile.「This humble monk does not fear pain, hardship, or injury. But facing such bizarre Foundation methods... it’s truly difficult to muster the courage to adapt.」

So that was it.

Compared to game characters who had permanent, optimal stats, real Messengers were far more susceptible to negative effects.

Like when they’d encountered ‘Hundred-Poison Hand’ Ye Kai and ‘Little Poison Hand’ Chen Afu—their poison effects were pretty mild. Aside from HP loss, there were no other debuffs. Yet even Medicine Master Wen was affected, only gritting through it with effort. Ordinary Messengers might not even perform at half their strength under such pain.

To a game character, reduced accuracy was like moving with weights on—heavily affected, but their animations still ran flawlessly. But to a real Messenger, the moment the weight hit, they were pinned to the ground. They’d never experienced anything like it. Even standing up required training—let alone fighting.

And “weights” was the kind version. Based on their description, reducing hit rate by 50% felt like being possessed. Who wouldn’t be terrified?

「What about archery?」Bunny Heroine asked.「Since they don’t leave the Central Courtyard, didn’t you try shooting from outside?」

「Of course we did,」Blood Minister replied grumpily.「You think Foundation methods are so easy to break? Even shooting from outside, the arrows get deflected—like by wind. To hit, you’d need a bow with targeting authority.」

Huh? You guys don’t have archery Tokens?

You’re using regular bows!?

Even after spending all this time in this world, Yan Qing still found it hard to get used to how poor they occasionally seemed—though he himself wasn’t exactly wealthy either.

「But Uncle, didn’t you say you occasionally land a hit? Then you could just slowly grind them down, right?」Bunny Heroine said.「Or are you just too lazy to try?」

「They’re not as exaggerated as the Skull Tower mobs, but most demons have some healing ability,」Boreuo explained.「Unless Blood Minister went without sleep for days to finish one off, the moment he rests, they’ll recover most of their injuries.」

「Ah!」Bunny Heroine clapped in realization.「So it’s because Uncle isn’t good enough.」

「I already said—even we couldn’t handle it. You think these two long-haired, shallow-sighted girls could do any better?」Blood Minister scoffed.「In the end, we can only adapt to this place slowly. Their presence doesn’t change much.」

「That’s not true. Five is faster than three. Don’t forget, there’s still an elite demon here,」Beiyou pointed at the red-robed demon.「I, for one, don’t want us to realize too late that even three people together can’t take it down. And we haven’t seen anything like a lotus platform here... you really think Si Wuxie would let us pass this easily?」

Beiyou’s logic sounded odd. Using Foundation methods, and it was still considered easy? But compared to the foyer that had blocked people for nearly a century, this Central Courtyard really was easy—as long as one could adapt.

Blood Minister snorted but didn’t argue further.

Right then, a proud yet childlike voice echoed across the Central Courtyard:

「Why bother with all this? This lady can kill them all by herself.」

With that, Bunny Heroine dashed into the circular formation. Yan Qing immediately saw a debuff appear above her health bar: 「Chaos-Warding Mind Maze: Accuracy -50%」. At the same time, the demons turned their gazes toward her.

Old bastard Si Wuxie had set up this formation pretty well—it matched the demons’ aggro range perfectly.

The nearest white-robed demon lunged at her. Bunny Heroine dodged and triggered Thunderstorm Time, activating the Shining trait of the Seven-Star Sword, and the direct-strike effect of the Hands of Hundredfold Refinement. In a blink, she thrust thirteen times—six missed, but seven landed, each leaving a starry sword wound on the demon.

Yan Qing didn’t plan to land the killing blow right away. As Thunderstorm Time ended, she retreated to the safe zone. Ten seconds later, the Shining marks exploded—riddling the white-robed demon with wounds. Not a drop of blood emerged, only wriggling maggots and foul-smelling pus oozing from the gashes. Its health plummeted nearly halfway.

But that alone was enough. Bunny Heroine turned, expecting shocked stares—only to find Medicine Master Wen’s back and the uncertain gazes of the Three Guardians.

Looked like she had overperformed.

Yan Qing’s mind quickly grasped the subtle shift: now that Bunny Heroine could deal effective damage to the demons of the Forest of Corpses, the balance between her group and the Three Guardians was shattered.

The Three Guardians were the strongest and most powerful of Shu Mountain. Previously, Medicine Master Wen and Bunny Heroine were weaker auxiliaries, receiving support-level rewards. The strong got more, the weak got less—everyone accepted that.

But now, Bunny Heroine could clear the Central Courtyard alone. The Guardians’ help was no longer needed—so how would the spoils be divided?

If they just handed the loot over, they’d feel bitter. But if they demanded Bunny Heroine share, assuming she’d also hold a grudge... then the already-fragile alliance would be strained further.

Yan Qing wasn’t unfamiliar with this. Jiang Ten had faced the same. When you lacked power but showed that you could take most of the rewards—that alone made you a source of conflict.

So, what would the Demon Path do? Yan Qing touched the hilt of the Bingzi Pepper Forest blade, ready to assist Bunny Heroine at a moment’s notice.

「Truly impressive,」Beiyou suddenly smiled.「Should I say it’s a product of your family lineage? Lady Star-Rain, you seemed to adapt instantly to Si Wuxie’s bizarre formation.」

Boreuo and Blood Minister hesitated at that.

Indeed—how could Bunny Heroine resist the green-glow formation without prior training?

Unless her elders were Foundation Messengers, or her family possessed Foundation-level methods. Either way, chasing her off would be the worst move. If she left today, she might return tomorrow with reinforcements.

Demon-Path Messengers feared no retaliation—but unfortunately, this was the critical stage in conquering Si Wuxie’s legacy. No time for complications.

「Is it just this humble monk’s illusion?」Boreuo said.「Or... did the red-robed demon actually grow larger?」

Everyone turned to look—and sure enough, the red-robed demon had grown. If it had only been an inch taller than the white-robed ones before, now it was a full head taller.

Yan Qing saw it more clearly from the screen: both its Health and Karmic Force bars had grown—elongated out of nowhere!

Originally it had only 68% Karmic Force left, but now, with the bar stretched to 105%, it had jumped to 73%!

「I’ve heard of this mechanic. Injured or dead lesser demons enhance elite demons,」Medicine Master Wen calmly stated.「But whether that’s native to the Forest of Corpses or caused by the red-robed demon’s golden-light injury, I can’t say.」

The mechanic mirrored that of the Skull Tower—if you didn’t resolve it quickly, it would endlessly spawn mobs. Here, if the elite red-robed demon wasn’t dealt with early, it could evolve into a foe rivaling a Demon Lord.

「Looks like the same as the Skull Tower. We have to take out the red-robed demon first, even while under siege by the white-robed ones,」Bunny Heroine turned to the Three Guardians.「Uncles, rejoice. You’re useful again. I won’t have to kill you for being deadweight~」

「How does a little brat this inherently evil even survive this long...」Blood Minister’s lips twitched, face twisted as if he’d just eaten dung—but the tension in his hands behind his back slowly loosened.