Chapter 67: Level 10 New Quests

Lu Yang arrived at the main gate of the circus. A clown-like NPC approached him and said, "Sir, would you like to come in and watch our show?"

"Of course." Lu Yang walked into the circus grounds.

It was currently daytime, and various performances were taking place within the circus, such as tightrope walking, jumping through fiery hoops, and comedic stage plays.

Lu Yang walked past these areas and finally arrived at the Thunder Stomping performance zone.

Thunder Stomping, as the name suggested, took place inside a 900-square-meter arena. The performer stood in the center, while Thunder Lizards constantly charged out from the eight large gates surrounding the arena. The performer had to continually dodge the lizards, and touching one meant failure.

Lu Yang walked up to the spectator stands, where an NPC was currently performing in the arena, opening only four of the gates.

Four Thunder Lizards, each bulkier and larger than an elephant, burst out from the gates, adjusted their angles to the left and right respectively, and charged together toward the performer.

As they ran, it sounded like elephants galloping across the ground. When charging at the performer, they lowered their heads, revealing the sharp horns on their snouts.

The performer dodged left and right to evade the four Thunder Lizards. The lizards that missed their target did not turn around; instead, they ran straight into the opposite gates.

After dodging several waves of Thunder Lizards in succession, the number of open gates around the arena increased from four to six, and then to eight.

When Thunder Lizards continuously poured out from all eight gates, the difficulty multiplied manifold. Arriving in waves every three seconds, the lizards swept across the arena like a torrent, while the performer resembled a tiny boat, vulnerable to capsizing at any moment.

"How is it? Our show is quite impressive, isn't it?" A voice came from the side.

Lu Yang turned his head to look at the speaker. It was a middle-aged man wearing a magician's top hat and a black tailcoat, with a thin mustache on his upper lip.

This was the exact person Lu Yang was looking for—the hidden NPC who triggered this quest, Barns the Circus Director.

Lu Yang said, "It certainly looks quite difficult."

Barns said proudly, "This is what I consider the most manly game, young man. Interested in taking on the challenge?"

Lu Yang replied, "Of course."

"Oh, I love warriors like you! What level of difficulty would you like to challenge?" Barns asked.

A virtual screen appeared before Lu Yang, displaying options for 2 gates, 4 gates, 6 gates, 8 gates, and 16 gates.

Lu Yang said, "I'll challenge the 16 gates."

"Young man, that is hardly a wise choice. You must know that you only get one chance at this challenge. Once you fail, you cannot try again. Are you certain you want to select this option?" Barns asked.

System Prompt: You have encountered Director Barns in the circus. He has issued you a Warrior's Challenge. You accepted the challenge and chose the highest difficulty. Director Barns praises your courage and asks you to confirm once more whether you truly wish to select this difficulty.

Yes / No

Lu Yang said, "Yes, I choose the 16 gates."

Barns said, "Very well. Since you have made your choice, let me explain the rules. When all 16 gates open simultaneously, a wave of Thunder Lizards will rush out from them every 3 seconds. The game duration is 3 minutes. You cannot use any spells, nor can you be touched by a Thunder Lizard even once. The moment you are touched, the game ends."

"I understand," Lu Yang said.

In his past life, he had been far too familiar with these rules. When he first learned about this hidden quest, he had spent over a month studying strategy guides and footwork before daring to attempt the challenge.

Stepping into the center of the arena, Lu Yang looked around at the 16 open gates, calmed his mind, took a long breath, and said to Barns in the stands, "You may begin."

Barns shouted loudly, "Ladies and gentlemen, today we welcome a brave challenger who will directly challenge the highest level—the 16 gates! Let us give him a warm round of applause!"

Countless NPCs all around the arena applauded simultaneously, making Lu Yang feel as though he had traveled back in time to that period in his past life.

Back then, Lu Yang had staked everything on a single throw; this time, he was filled with absolute confidence.

"3"

"2"

"1"

"The match begins!" Barns shouted. All 16 gates inside the arena opened simultaneously, and the first wave of 16 Thunder Lizards roared as they charged out.

Lu Yang immediately shifted to dodge. Although the Thunder Lizards ran at high speeds, the first wave was not overly difficult to evade.

The true difficulty lay in the fact that the Thunder Lizards were massive; standing right in front of them made it completely impossible to predict the running trajectory of the second wave.

To guess this, a player had to rely entirely on exceptional hearing and precise footwork positioning.

Only by clearly hearing the footsteps of the Thunder Lizards behind, or by dodging the first wave of lizards in advance to clear a space for observation, could one hope to evade the subsequent waves of Thunder Lizards.

As it happened, during his years as a mercenary, Lu Yang had mastered both of these skills to perfection. For a mercenary fighting for his life in the rainforests under the cover of night, failing to even track the enemy's gunfire direction was no different from walking straight to his death.

Lu Yang effortlessly dodged thirty consecutive waves of Thunder Lizards, leaving the live audience going wild, leaping to their feet to cheer and applaud for him.

Although these audiences' cheers seemed like a form of affirmation for the player, they were actually a deliberate distraction programmed into the game. If a player allowed themselves to be distracted by the applause, they would inevitably lose focus during the game.

The 16 lizards charging forward simultaneously came from 16 different angles. Once a player lost concentration, it was almost guaranteed to end in death.

Lu Yang remained entirely undisturbed by external forces, his mind and spirit locked completely onto the Thunder Lizards before him. He continuously adjusted his positioning and dodged. After evading another 20 waves of Thunder Lizards, Lu Yang noticed that the spawn rate of the lizards had increased.

What used to be one wave every 3 seconds had now accelerated to one wave every 2 seconds. Consequently, the difficulty for Lu Yang to carve out a safe breathing room became even greater.

After maneuvering through 6 consecutive waves, he was pressed back into the bottom-right corner. Right behind him were four gates releasing Thunder Lizards, while ahead of him rushed six Thunder Lizards.

Behind those lizards, a chaotic tangle of footsteps could also be heard. Lu Yang did not panic; instead, he concentrated all his focus on his ears, relying purely on his sense of hearing to discern the movement direction of the footsteps behind him within the span of two seconds.

Lu Yang immediately dashed to the left. Having just narrowly dodged the first ground dragon, he executed a side-roll to the right, perfectly evading the second Thunder Lizard right behind him.

Still refusing to break his stride, Lu Yang popped back up to his feet and rapidly sprinted six consecutive steps to the left. The moment he reached that spot, four ground dragons suddenly burst out from behind, thundering across the exact area he had just vacated.