At the moment, Jiang Bai had an attack stat of 674, with an additional 84 from attack strength, giving him a total of 758. The boss had 250 defense, so he could still deal full damage.
"-635"
"-60"
"-685"
"-60"
"-813"
"-60"
With a single combo, he dealt 2,313 damage to the boss!
It also healed Jiang Bai for over 400 HP.
The boss's HP instantly dropped below 50%.
"Congratulations! You've triggered a Lucky Strike. You've received a Lucky Gift Pack."
The system prompt was a pleasant surprise. Jiang Bai had seen plenty of people bragging in world chat about getting these lucky packs, and he'd been annoyed that he hadn't gotten one yet—until now.
That one burst alone catapulted Jiang Bai to first place on the damage leaderboard, leaving the second place player far behind.
His sudden, massive burst of damage also stunned every single player present!
"What the hell—why is his damage suddenly so high?!"
"Holy crap! It's EmptyDreamOfTheLonelyCity in action!"
"Damn, what a beast. No wonder he's a top-tier god—this guy just dealt over two thousand damage in a second, that's like having two thousand players in one!"
...
The chat channels exploded with discussion, and the sudden rise of "EmptyDreamOfTheLonelyCity" to the top of the leaderboard fired everyone up.
But not everyone was happy.
Inside the Yun City Guild's team, Yun City Emperor, who was always the center of attention, frowned deeply. He subtly signaled to XiaoYao QingFeng in the distance, and the two of them started a private conversation with grim faces.
Yun City Emperor: "This guy's damage is way too high. This isn't normal at all."
XiaoYao QingFeng: "Yeah, even higher than I estimated!"
Unlike Yun City Emperor's concern, XiaoYao QingFeng's eyes were filled with undisguised greed as he stared at Jiang Bai.
"What's there to be afraid of? The stronger his damage, the more it proves he's carrying a god-tier artifact. As long as we take it from him, it'll be ours, won't it?"
"Besides, no matter how strong he is, he's just one man. Can he withstand the firepower of two guilds?"
Yun City Emperor: "You make a good point..."
A cold glint flickered in Yun City Emperor's eyes.
Meanwhile, the boss, enraged by the pain, lifted its massive hammer and went berserk, smashing down several hundred players in just a few swings.
With no reason to hold back, Jiang Bai immediately used [Aimed Shot] followed by a [Multi-Shot], firing straight at the boss.
"-610"
"-60"
"-912"
"-60"
"Crit hit!" Jiang Bai grinned and fired another [Multi-Shot].
"-912"
"-60"
"Holy crap! Another crit!!!"
Even Jiang Bai was stunned by the back-to-back crits. Sure, an 11% crit rate wasn't low, but this was like something out of a dream.
"-406"
"-60"
This time, there was no crit. But then something unbelievable happened: above the boss's head, a purple damage number appeared, sending shockwaves through the tens of thousands of players present.
"-5000!"
"WHAAAAT THE FUUUUUUUUU—!!"
The moment that utterly impossible number appeared, the entire crowd froze in stunned silence. Nobody could even process what had just happened.
"Babe… come look at God himself…"
"Did I just hallucinate?"
"Is… is this divine intervention?"
Some players rubbed their eyes like mad, but that bright purple "-5000" was shockingly real.
"This is insane... Is EmptyDreamOfTheLonelyCity secretly a GM or something?!"
That number was far beyond the comprehension of any current player.
"It's the weapon! It has to be the weapon! We have to get our hands on it!" Yun City Emperor screamed, staring at the longbow in Jiang Bai's hands.
Watching from afar, XiaoYao QingFeng's grip on his sword tightened so hard his knuckles turned white. His eyes burned with greed and excitement.
"EmptyDreamOfTheLonelyCity, I swear I'm taking you down. This is heaven-sent, the perfect opportunity for me, XiaoYao QingFeng!"
Then, a system notification chimed in Jiang Bai's ears:
"Congratulations! You've triggered the skill [Sever]. The HP of [Slaughterer Gonzales] has dropped by 5000."
"Damn…"
Even Jiang Bai couldn't help but marvel. That 0.5% effect seemed tiny on paper, but when it landed, the impact was devastating.
His overwhelming damage instantly drew the boss's aggro. The orc warrior turned its massive frame and charged at Jiang Bai with its giant hammer.
Seeing this, Jiang Bai immediately stopped attacking and fled.
"No way I'm tanking that beast—just a couple of hits and I'm toast."
But just then, StarryShore, a tiny figure in front of the boss, suddenly dashed forward with [Charge], followed by [Taunt], successfully pulling the boss's aggro back.
"Bro! Just focus on dishing out damage. If the boss even looks at you again, call me trash!" StarryShore shouted to Jiang Bai.
"You got it, man!"
Jiang Bai gave him a thumbs-up and resumed attacking.
With Jiang Bai's insane damage output, the morale of the entire battlefield soared. The fight reached a new climax, and the boss's HP began to plummet at a visible rate.
On the damage leaderboard, Jiang Bai's numbers kept climbing at a terrifying pace.
While others were gaining single or double digits per hit, Jiang Bai's damage increases started at 500 and often leapt by 1000 at a time. The contrast was staggering.
The second-place player had just barely broken 2,000, while Jiang Bai's total had already reached 18,000—a truly terrifying gap.
"So this is what it means to be the best player in the game?"
"I feel like we're not even playing the same game…"
At this point, XiaoYao QingFeng and Yun City Emperor's core forces finally began entering the fight in waves, and the casualty numbers began rising rapidly.
But both leaders were still holding back.
When the boss's HP dropped to 34%, Jiang Bai received a second Lucky Gift Pack.
Before he had time to celebrate, a sudden server-wide announcement stunned every player:
"Congratulations to Newbie Settlement #101 for being the first in the entire server to push a boss below 30% HP! Special announcement issued. All players in Settlement #101 are rewarded with 1 Gold Coin and 1 Free Attribute Point! Additionally, all settlements currently within the top 30 and with a boss under 30% HP will now appear on the Progress Leaderboard."
As the announcement ended, a new rectangular frame appeared on the right side of every player's screen, next to the damage leaderboard.
For now, it only displayed Settlement #101 and the current HP of their boss.
"HOLY SHIIIII—!!!"
The entire server erupted.
"There's a reward for this too?!"
"Who's the god in Settlement 101? They're blazing fast!"
Back in Settlement #33856, where Jiang Bai was fighting, players were left stunned—then disappointed.
Clearly, this was a huge blow to all other settlements.
At that moment, StarryShore turned around and exploded in fury.
"XiaoYao and Yun City bastards—SCREW YOU AND YOUR WHOLE FAMILY!"