Assassin at Range: The Sniper’s Lethal Power

After NightStalker applied his buffs, he took his place at the front of the group, holding his sword and shield. As a Lightbringer Knight, he not only had the ability to buff his teammates but could also serve as the main tank if needed.

The group consisted of five members: two Assassins, a Mage, and a Mechanical Engineer—all of whom were relatively fragile. So, naturally, NightStalker stepped up to take the lead.

Manalady waved her staff and volunteered, "I can control two small mobs the entire time."

DarkStriker gripped his dagger. "Leave two mobs to me."

GemmaS shrugged. "My damage is heavily reduced, so I'll just stay back and do some crowd control."

The roles were clearly divided, and everyone was ready for the first wave of mobs.

Tristan, however, calmly waved them off. "Let me handle it."

With that, he turned his attention to the approaching monsters.

[Goblin Engineer]

Level: 15 Health: 55,000 Attack: 2,000 Defense: 1,500 Skills: Explosive Powder, Goblin Grenade, Remote-Controlled Suicide Robot

…

As expected from a Nightmare Difficulty dungeon, even the regular mobs were tough. Any one of them would be considered a BOSS for ordinary players in the outside world. But for Tristan, they were barely worth a glance.

He didn't even use Stealth, casually throwing a Shadow Dagger.

-110,693! (Weak Spot Attack)

The Shadow Dagger then bounced, instantly killing the other four Goblin Engineers.

The speed was so fast that the Toxic Blood Plague didn't even have a chance to take effect. Even though the monsters were only thirty meters away, and there were no added benefits from a Breaking Stealth Strike, Tristan still hit for over 110,000 damage.

GemmaS blinked, wiping her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. She looked at Tristan as though he were some kind of monster.

She considered herself a decent damage dealer and could pull off thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of damage. If it weren't for the special mechanics of this dungeon, with high damage reduction, she would still be confident in clearing the King-level difficulty.

But after seeing Tristan's output, she was once again humbled.

She vaguely remembered the last time she felt this way was when they fought the Tide Giant. Back then, she had hoped to compete with Tristan for the BOSS kill, but... well, that didn't turn out too well.

DarkStriker, standing nearby with his dagger in hand, had a bit of a lost look on his face.

110,000 damage? Is this really what players can pull off at this stage?

"No wonder Blackshade can solo a Dark Gold-grade BOSS," DarkStriker thought, impressed by the output. "With damage like that, no BOSS can stand up to him."

NightStalker, at the front of the group, sighed dramatically. "You're making me feel invisible here."

His class was balanced, capable of both offense and defense, with many control abilities. He was eager to show off his skills, but before the monsters even got close, Tristan wiped them all out in a flash.

It was absurd.

No wonder they didn't bring a healer for this run—there was no need for one.

The mobs didn't even get the chance to approach. How would anyone take damage?

"I guess the real challenge will come with the BOSS," NightStalker thought to himself.

Manalady also felt a bit disappointed.

Her damage wasn't particularly high, but her control abilities were strong. As a newcomer, she hadn't had a chance to work with Blackshade before and had hoped to show the leader that she and her brother weren't just riding on connections.

But before she even had a chance to make a move, the mobs were all gone.

In a one-hit kill situation, who even needed control?

Yet Manalady didn't give up.

If the mobs couldn't survive Tristan's output, surely the BOSS would be a different story.

Although she couldn't fully control the BOSS, she was confident she could at least keep it occupied.

"I'll make sure to perform well in the BOSS fight," she thought determinedly.

Tristan, of course, had no idea that his casual kill had almost crushed the spirits of his teammates. To him, wiping out mobs was just normal.

Would anyone ever fail to kill a few small mobs? No way.

If GemmaS and the others knew what he was thinking, they would probably leave the guild on the spot.

Could you please stop judging us normal people by your non-human standards?

The first wave of mobs was quickly wiped out, and the team moved forward.

Soon, they encountered more mobs.

Without any surprise, they all fell in one hit after taking a Shadow Dagger.

Even if there were too many monsters, and the Shadow Dagger's bounce wasn't enough, Tristan had Rain of Corruption ready—fifteen strikes later, the area was cleared.

The others couldn't help but feel like they weren't there to raid—they were just going on a casual stroll.

This one-sided destruction continued, and before long, the team reached the first BOSS.

It was a massive mechanical creature, standing about five meters tall. Its left arm was a claw, and its right arm was a circular saw.

Tristan was intrigued.

There were ores everywhere in the Rich Mining Zone. Wasn't this supposed to be a logging machine instead of a mining one?

[Goblin Lumberjack Mech (Gold Grade)]

Level: 20 Health: 1,200,000 / 1,200,000 Attack: 6,800 Defense: 5,500 Skills: Iron Claw Bind, Flesh Rending, Heavy Machine Gun, Steam Impact Description: Goblin technology—stunning to the eye.

…

Tristan's spirits lifted.

The first BOSS was already Gold Grade, so the final BOSS would likely be Dark Gold Grade!

GemmaS was stunned. "I didn't expect the first BOSS to be Gold Grade. Should we head back and pick the King-level difficulty instead?"

Previously, the Nightmare Difficulty BOSS at the Crimson Tomb in the newbie village had been Silver Grade, so GemmaS thought the Rich Mining Zone would be similar.

But she was wrong. This BOSS was Gold Grade.

The gap between Silver and Gold Grade was massive.

1.2 million HP and high attack and defense. Stay updated with My Virtual Library Empire

If they really fought this, their small team might not be able to withstand it.

Without a healer in the team, it would be tough for NightStalker to tank the entire fight on his own.

But NightStalker was calm, even a bit excited.

A BOSS this powerful was exactly the kind of challenge he needed to prove his strength.

DarkStriker and Manalady felt the same way.

The harder the BOSS, the more room they had to show off their skills.

Manalady volunteered, "NightStalker, you tank the first wave of damage and then pull back. I'll control the BOSS, DarkStriker, you look for an opening to deal damage."

DarkStriker weighed his dagger in his hand and nodded. "No problem."

He was skilled in high-speed movement and had great reflexes. As long as he was careful, the BOSS shouldn't be able to hit him.

GemmaS spoke up. "I got a Blueprint before that lets me make a taunting robot with forced taunting and two damage reductions. I can take over tanking for NightStalker."

Her damage was reduced, but her crowd control abilities were still intact. Plus, this dungeon run was her request, so she couldn't sit out.

The group continued discussing tactics with great enthusiasm.

Tristan, though, felt a bit awkward interrupting them.

But after a moment of thought, he spoke up. "Hey, before you guys take action, let me give it a try."

GemmaS and the others had a bad feeling about this.

Could it be…?

Under their watchful eyes, Tristan activated Shadow Stealth, calculated the distance, and moved to his target location. He then raised his hand and threw a Shadow Dagger.

-1,352,227! (Weak Spot Attack)

The Goblin Lumberjack Mech's health bar was instantly emptied, and it fell apart.

At a distance of 100 meters, his Sniper God talent at level 2 boosted his damage by 2,000%, resulting in twenty times the damage.

With additional buffs like Breaking Stealth Strike, Tristan unleashed a whopping 1.35 million damage.

The BOSS only had 1.2 million health, and it couldn't withstand that level of damage.

It was cleanly and efficiently killed.

The entire scene went silent.