Apocalypse: Everyone Levels Up, I Return to the Time Before the Server Opened

Chapter 25: Ye Qiu’s Goal — the BOSS!

Novice Village…

At the respawn point stood a massive altar. The altar was engraved with incomprehensible runes. At its core was a humanoid crystal, glowing faintly.

At that moment, flashes of white light flickered.

One by one, figures appeared. They were players resurrecting after death and mmong them was Zhao Hanyan.

She had just revived and was still in a dazed state.

“I… I actually got killed?!” she muttered, her eye twitching, her face flushed with anger.

She, the eldest daughter of the Zhao family, was actually slain in a game!

And it wasn’t even by a monster, it was by an NPC!

For the first time ever!

After taking a deep breath to calm herself, she regained her usual composure.

Her lips curled slightly as she muttered, “This grudge must be settled! When has this lady ever suffered such a loss?!”

At that moment…

Ding!

[Your friend ‘Empire Overlord’ has sent a voice message request. Accept?]

“Brother?” She accepted the call.

‘Empire Overlord’ was none other than her older brother, Zhao Mingyuan, the future head of the Zhao family.

Empire Overlord (Voice Message): “Someone recorded a video of Tiger Mountain. I watched it. Check your inventory now and see if you lost anything.”

The moment the call connected, that was the first thing she heard.

Zhao Hanyan was briefly stunned but quickly snapped back to reality.

She immediately opened her inventory.

A moment later…

“Ah!!!” a sharp scream escaped her lips.

It took a while before she, voice trembling and gritted teeth, responded through voice chat, “Brother, I lost the Secret Realm Map!”

In the game, when a player was killed, there’s a chance of dropping an item from their inventory.

Unfortunately, she had dropped one and it was incredibly valuable.

Empire Overlord (Voice Message): “What?!”

Almost crying, Zhao Hanyan explained, “I dug up a treasure chest while mining. Inside, I found that map. I even spent 1,000 gold coins to buy a High-Level Appraisal Scroll, and it confirmed that it was a ‘Secret Realm Map.’ When used, it teleports the player to an independent space, which could contain monsters or treasures… I was saving it to bring to the big city and gift it to you for your birthday as a surprise… but now…”

The Novice Village was an isolated area, but the big city was a massive open-world region.

Soon, all 7 to 8 billion players worldwide would be able to interact in real time.

Empire Overlord (Voice Message): “I appreciate the thought, but if you lost it, you lost it. From now on, stay away from the Ning siblings. Don’t provoke them.”

Zhao Hanyan was dumbfounded.

She had just lost such a precious item, something she had planned to gift him!

And not only did he not console her, but he also told her to avoid trouble?!

As if she was some troublemaker constantly picking fights?!

Taking a deep breath, she coldly replied, “Got it. One of the Nings is your future wife, huh?”

Then, she hung up the call.

“Hmph! She’s not even married in yet, and he’s already siding with her. If she actually marries in, won’t I have even less status?!

“Ugh! So frustrating!”

She stomped her foot in anger.

Despite her alluring, mature appearance, she was actually a year younger than Ning Qingyue.

She was only 17 this year.

—

In-Game — Nightfall…

At the peak of Tiger Mountain, Ye Qiu had already sent the siblings and other players down the mountain.

He also asked them to guard the mountain pass.

As for himself, he retrieved some items from his inventory.

[Special Items: Gas Canisters, Firecrackers, Fuel, Lighter…]

All of these were things he had brought in from the real world, especially the two gas canisters.

Muttering to himself, Ye Qiu said, “If I remember correctly, the Black Iron that Zhang Tie lost is inside one of the Green-Eyed Tiger monsters on this mountain. Killing it should drop the item.”

With that in mind, he carried the two gas canisters and buried them deep in the central pit.

He then spread firecrackers over them, doused them in fuel, and connected a fuse.

Finally, he covered it all with dirt, leading the fuse to an exposed area.

He didn’t light it immediately.

Instead, he went to lure the monsters.

Roar! Roar!

One by one, Green-Eyed Tiger monsters emerged from their dens, chasing after him relentlessly.

One, two, three…

In no time, at least 20 tigers were on his tail!

Luckily, his Coward’s Cloak granted him a +100 Agility boost.

Thanks to that, he could effortlessly maintain a lead while strategically retreating.

He didn’t know how long he had been running, when suddenly…

ROAR!!!

A deafening, unparalleled roar echoed through the air!

The ground trembled.

Even the air rippled from the sheer force!

Heavenly Eye!

[Rare Boss – Deep Mountain Tiger Demon]

[Level: 15]

[HP: 12,000]

[Skills: Tiger’s Roar Shakes the Forest, Poisonous Miasma Ground]

[Preference: Meat]

“It finally appeared!” Ye Qiu held his breath, suppressing his nerves.

At last, he reached the end of the fuse.

He struck the lighter!

Sizzle…

The fuse crackled, releasing a faint gunpowder scent.

At the same time…

ROAR!

The Deep Mountain Tiger Demon used Tiger’s Roar Shakes the Forest!

All lower-level creatures were instantly stunned by the terrifying sound.

However, Ye Qiu was an exception. His body stiffened momentarily but quickly returned to normal.

If one looked closely, they would notice something in his ears.

Earplugs!

He had prepared them in advance.

And before the Rare Boss could use its second skill Poisonous Miasma Ground, he had already donned a Gas Mask purchased from the in-game shop!

Everything was in place.

His goal was to slay this Rare Boss!

Could he succeed?

To be honest, he wasn’t sure himself.

In his past life, no player had ever been able to kill the Deep Mountain Tiger Demon at this stage of the game.

It wasn’t until players reached Level 50 that they came back and crushed it through sheer power!

So, past-life strategies were useless now.

After all, back then, players had only beaten it through brute force.

But now, Ye Qiu was only Level 8, while the Deep Mountain Tiger Demon was Level 15.

And not just any monster, it was a Rare Boss!

Its strength was leagues above normal bosses of the same level.

However, in this lifetime, Ye Qiu had a game-breaking advantage — the ability to bring real-world items into the game!

Because of that, everything was about to change!

ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!

The Level 10 Green-Eyed Tigers howled furiously, eager to tear Ye Qiu apart.

It was their first time encountering a human who could run so well!

Meanwhile, the Rare Boss finally used its second skill, Poisonous Miasma Ground!

WHOOSH!

A massive purple cloud spread out.

All plants it touched instantly withered and died. Even trees turned yellow and decayed into dust!

Meanwhile, Ye Qiu…

Ding!

[You are affected by Poisonous Miasma.]

A system notification popped up.

Above his head, damage numbers appeared: -3, -5, -2…

“It works!”

His gas mask was proving effective!

Normally, a Level 15 Rare Boss’s attack would deal hundreds of damage per tick!

And it would be continuous!

But now, the damage was negligible!

Finally, the fuse reached its end!

And Ye Qiu had successfully lured all the tigers, including the Rare Boss, into the deep pit!