C3 The Disgusting Butcher!!

"Even if it's a silver item, it's just a stick for fighting dogs. Its offensive capabilities are inherently limited!"

Zhang Feihang had a point, but Ye Tianhan was adamant that there must be a valid reason for it to qualify as a silver item, so there was no need for excessive concern.

Still, he felt the need to reassure Zhang Feihang.

"Besides, you've got me, right? Together, we'll definitely make it through."

Zhang Feihang scratched his head in agreement.

"Fine! But if we run into trouble, you better duck behind me!"

The pair pushed through a door ahead of them and entered another room.

Inside, a player had already arrived before them. Hearing noise from behind the door, he spun around, alert.

Ye Tianhan noticed the man's reddened eyes and heavy bags—it was clear he hadn't slept in days.

Before Ye Tianhan could speak, the man gestured for silence, signaling both him and Zhang Feihang to keep quiet.

He then cautiously peered around the doorframe, surveying the room's interior. Ye Tianhan and Zhang Feihang followed suit—

A massive, bloated creature stood before a stone altar, rhythmically hacking away with a hand larger than a chopping board.

Splashes of blood caught in the moonlight streaming through the window hinted at a human form being dismembered.

Indeed, the creature scraped the chopped flesh onto the floor before yanking a limp body from beneath the altar and slamming it onto the stone with the ease of handling a half-dead fish.

The creature resumed its work, methodically breaking down the body on the slab.

Each strike of the cleaver resonated powerfully, sending tremors through the room with every chop.

The man in front seemed to be at his limit, or perhaps the system was urging him onward.

Whatever the case, he began to move—first with caution, then with growing boldness as the butcher remained still.

Boldness isn't inherently bad, but in this case, it was his downfall as his foot found a warped, dried plank.

Creeeak—

The butcher paused his grisly work and turned around—allowing Ye Tianhan and his companion to see his face clearly.

His eyes were obscured by folds of flesh, leaving only the slightest slits visible.

His mouth, grotesquely sewn shut with wire, was a mass of scabs with flies buzzing perilously close.

Perhaps due to his sealed lips, his nostrils were unnaturally large, as if they could inhale a person whole.

The flesh on his face was twisted and protruding like external tumors, inducing a sense of revulsion.

The proportions of his head to his body were nearly 1:1, creating a disturbingly disproportionate figure.

The apron he wore had turned a dark black—the kind that comes from blood drying to a crisp.

An eerie, guttural roar escaped the butcher's throat as he slowly extended a massive hand toward someone.

Before Ye Tianhan could even react, the butcher had hoisted the man by his feet and slammed his head against the stone platform.

The man went still. With a casual toss, the butcher flung him into the heap of corpses beneath the platform and resumed his macabre task.

Thud—thud—

The chilling sound of bone being cleaved echoed through the room once more.

Zhang Feihang gulped nervously.

"What now?"

The system announced, "Mission: Defeat the Butcher."

They were suddenly assigned a mission, but... could this really be serious? They had just seen what happened to that other man. Could the system be mistaken?

Ye Tianhan brandished his dog-beating stick with resolve.

"Let's do this!"

Zhang Feihang's eyes bulged in disbelief.

"You're serious?"

"Dead serious."

"With just that stick?"

"With just this stick."

Zhang Feihang was momentarily dumbfounded by Ye Tianhan's earnestness.

Was Ye Tianhan just messing with him?

Before he could respond, Ye Tianhan was already dragging him into the fray.

"Roar—"

Ye Tianhan made no effort to conceal their approach, drawing a low roar from the butcher.

Zhang Feihang followed, his legs shaking.

The butcher had expected this new victim to be as compliant as the last, but to his surprise, Ye Tianhan struck him hard on the back of the hand with the stick.

"Aoowww!"

It was clear that it was straining to escape the iron wire binding its mouth, but after fruitless attempts, it could only emit a pained howl through its nostrils.

This time, it wised up. It turned and grabbed an axe, angrily snorting two plumes of steam from its nose before bringing the axe down with a powerful smash—

Ye Tianhan's reflexes were sharp. He met the axe with both hands, pushing hard, and just managed to deflect it.

Damn it!

Ye Tianhan hadn't anticipated that the game would throw a boss at them right from the start.

It looked like the weapon he had wasn't going to cut it against the boss. He'd probably need to follow the storyline, find a weapon within the map capable of defeating the boss.

He glanced around. No exit in sight.

He had acted too hastily, without properly surveying his surroundings. Now, all he could see were the blood-stained stone slabs and scattered bones everywhere.

An exit? As if there was one. And even if there were, it wouldn't be easy to reach.

Zhang Feihang might stand a chance, but Ye Tianhan's agility was nonexistent. Not to mention, he hadn't even found the exit. Escaping was nearly out of the question.

- Whoosh! -

Another axe swung their way. Ye Tianhan, following its trajectory, swung his Dogfighting Rod with all his strength.

- Clang! -

The axe was sent flying!

"Nice one!"

Zhang Feihang exclaimed in admiration.

"Let's not get sidetracked. We need to find the exit, or this thing will wear us down to death."

Ye Tianhan had been confident, but the butcher's hide was so tough that a single blow would at best cause pain. To kill it, he'd need hundreds of hits, and that's if the creature would even stand still for him.

The butcher, furious, started hopping around, causing the entire room to tremble as if in the grip of an earthquake.

As it turned to grab the hunting rifle on the wall, Zhang Feihang drew his pistol and shot at the butcher's back.

But the butcher's skin was like iron; the damage from green-tier weapons was utterly ineffective against a boss of this caliber.

The butcher exhaled two plumes of white breath from its nostrils, chambered a round in the hunting rifle, and took aim at them.

Clang!

In the nick of time, Zhang Feihang remembered his shield. The butcher's bullet ricocheted, narrowly missing him.

That incident sparked an idea in Ye Tianhan.

"I've got a plan."

A gleam of hope flashed in Zhang Feihang's eyes.

"What's the plan?"

Despite the butcher's massive size and cumbersome movements, it was clear from the rebounding bullet—it wouldn't dodge incoming harm!

The butcher might deal heavy damage and have exceptionally thick skin, making ordinary weapons useless against it, but in-game items were a different story.

Exactly!

Ye Tianhan had set his sights on the very gun the butcher held.