Chapter 11: Rhino Leader

Leaving the town and crossing several gently sloping sand dunes, Ye Hen's eyes fell upon numerous giant rocks of various shapes. Countless ravines crisscrossed the stones that stood tall in the desert, like brave warriors guarding this land.

System: You have discovered the Desert Stone Forest.

Ye Hen activated his stealth skill and cautiously approached the Desert Stone Forest. This was the spawning ground for the level 15 Desert Rhinos, and Ye Hen didn't dare to be careless.

Avoiding a few large Desert Rhinos, Ye Hen slowly moved deeper into the stone forest. Ten minutes later, he arrived at his destination, a gap between two massive rocks. The rocks were over ten meters tall, each about five to six meters thick, with a gap of roughly one meter between them—just enough space for a person to stretch out.

Once his stealth cooldown finished, Ye Hen smiled faintly, and his body suddenly disappeared into the air.

Several dozen meters away, a group of pure white Desert Rhinos rested on a sand flat. Among them, a rhino leader—nearly twice the size of its companions—was lazily dozing.

Whoosh!

An arrow pierced the air, striking the rhino leader directly. The rhino leader roared in fury and began searching for the audacious attacker.

Whoosh whoosh! Two more arrows struck the rhino leader's abdomen. The rhino leader finally spotted Ye Hen, who was about twenty meters away. It let out an enraged roar and charged toward him.

The rhino leader's hooves thundered across the sand as it swiftly dashed ahead, a white blur racing toward Ye Hen. The other Desert Rhinos, seeing their leader charge, followed suit. In an instant, dozens of rhinos were thundering forward like a roaring tide.

Thud thud thud! Sand and stones flew in every direction as Ye Hen turned and dashed toward the gap between the giant rocks.

The rhino leader's speed was astonishing, and it led the charge, quickly closing the distance to just a few meters behind Ye Hen.

Ye Hen sprinted desperately toward the gap, glancing over his shoulder at the charging rhino leader, silently calculating the distance in his mind.

The rhino leader's charge was relentless. In the blink of an eye, it was almost on Ye Hen's heels, its massive curved horns nearly grazing his back.

However, Ye Hen wasn't easy to catch. Just as the rhino leader was about to overtake him, Ye Hen's body suddenly darted into the narrow gap between the rocks. The rhino leader, unable to stop, smashed into the rocks, trying to break through.

With a loud crash, the rhino leader's head slammed into the gap. But its massive body couldn't squeeze through; its neck and body were simply too large. It was stuck, its huge head wedged into the gap. No matter how much it struggled, it couldn't free itself.

"Success!" Ye Hen turned and saw the rhino leader stuck, a brilliant smile spreading across his face. This gap was only big enough to trap this boss-level rhino. The ordinary Desert Rhinos could still charge through.

Although the game had a rule stating that monsters would automatically regenerate health if they couldn't reach the player due to terrain, like when players climbed trees or rocks, this situation was different. The rhino leader had trapped itself, and the system considered it a player-caused situation. In the past, this bug had been discovered and spread widely, though the game company never fixed it. After all, trapping the rhino leader wasn't easy.

Rhino Leader: Level 15 Boss Monster, HP 20,000.

Ye Hen took a few steps back, loaded two crossbow bolts onto his bullhorn crossbow, and aimed at the rhino leader's eyes.

Whoosh whoosh!

Two damage numbers of -5 and -4 floated above the rhino leader's head. The bullhorn crossbow did decent damage and could break through the rhino leader's defenses. Luckily, Ye Hen had bought this bronze-level crossbow; otherwise, even if he could deal forced 1 damage, he wouldn't be able to keep up with the boss's regeneration speed.

It took about five seconds to load and fire the crossbow bolts, dealing around 8 to 9 damage to the rhino leader. Meanwhile, the rhino leader's HP was regenerating by 1 point per second, meaning Ye Hen could only deal 1 point of damage per second on average.

The rhino leader roared angrily, but it could do nothing about the attacker right in front of it. It twisted its massive body, trying again and again to break free from the boulder. But the rock was too heavy, and even its immense strength couldn't budge it.

Ye Hen skillfully loaded another round of bolts and shot two more arrows into the rhino leader's face.

Although the damage was low, under Ye Hen's continuous attacks, the rhino leader's HP slowly began to drop.

Time passed, and after two hours, the rhino leader's health had fallen to 62%, while Ye Hen had used up a good chunk of his bolts—about 1.5 boxes, or over 1,500 crossbow bolts.

Ye Hen repeated the process like a robot: load, shoot, load, shoot. After a long period of this, his arms started to feel numb. Thankfully, it was just a game; if this were real life, his arms would have been broken from the repetitive motion.

Two more bolts shot out, and the rhino leader, sensing its impending doom, roared in desperation. It threw its head into the left rock with a violent force, causing a thunderous sound as the impact shook the uneven stone wall. The rock, weathered by wind and sand over the years, shattered at the corner, sending a cloud of fine dust into the air.

"This beast is strong. I need to speed up," Ye Hen muttered to himself as dust covered his body. He knew he had to act quickly. Who knew if the rhino leader might break through the rocks? Better to be cautious. After all, Ye Hen had learned to be more careful after being betrayed in his previous life by Blood Dance Studio.

Thus, the scene in the narrow gap between the two giant rocks unfolded—while the rhino leader endlessly rammed its head into the stone, Ye Hen continued his unyielding assault with his crossbow. The two were separated by no more than three meters, but that small gap was like an insurmountable chasm, keeping the rhino leader from ever crossing it.

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