Chapter 11: Hi, Missed Me... Why Are You Running?

Arriving at the eighth floor, Luo Lin saw a white dragon descending from the sky, feeling a myriad of emotions for a moment.

"Truly Benares..."

Back in the day, the playstyle of Ouroboros Realm was all the rage, but the eighth floor's Benares had become an insurmountable barrier for countless Ouroboros Realm players...

What? You're asking what Ouroboros Realm is?

Here, "Ouroboros" refers to Mobius's "Infinite" Signets.

Before Elysian Realm was revamped, the initial "Infinite" Signets' damage amplification was outrageous, allowing almost all characters to "easily" pass through medium difficulty levels. The key points lie in the synergy of several Signets below:

Core: "Infinite X": After activating the Doll's ultimate or Valkyrie's support skill, enter the "Assimilation of Thought" state for 3 seconds, during which time oneself is also considered a summoned entity.

Augment: "Death X": While in the "Assimilation of Thought" state, increase the damage of summoned entities, dolls, and support Valkyries by 35%/40%/45%/50% per second, reset upon exiting resonance.

Augment: "Unknown X": While in the "Assimilation of Thought" state, entering the "Assimilation of Thought" state again reduces the cooldown of the Doll's ultimate and support Valkyrie's skills by 4/5/6/7 seconds.

Augment: "Newborn X": While in the "Assimilation of Thought" state, entering the "Assimilation of Thought" state again does not reset the duration, but instead extends it by 5/6/7/8 seconds.

Normal: "Nesting C": Reduces the cooldown of the Doll's ultimate and support Valkyrie's skills by 20%/24%/28%/32%.

Normal: "Darkness T": Increases the energy recovery speed of the Doll by 75%/90%/105%/120%.

(Note: The numbers listed in slashes are the data after the Signet is enhanced.)

Overall, the strategy of "Infinite" relies on the terrifying damage amplification per second when entering the "Assimilation of Thought" state, continuously using the Doll's ultimate and support Valkyrie's skills (if your Valkyrie can summon entities, it's even simpler), infinitely extending the "Assimilation of Thought" state, and after one minute, easily dealing over one billion damage with a single move...

But the problem lies here. "Infinite" requires all three augment Signets to be filled, plus the necessary three normal Signets for activating the core, which means you need a total of seven, or even unlucky enough to need eight Signets to complete the cycle.

And for many characters, it's difficult to surpass the eighth floor's Benares before "Infinite" takes shape. Not to mention that Benares used to "fly away!" into the air at the slightest provocation, raising everyone's blood pressure along with it, making it impossible to hit and wasting time on the countdown...

You're asking about Kallen?

At worst, just forgo the double-layered additional rewards, and you can grind it out in the end... Well, of course, there's also the possibility of being one misstep away from being poked to death by Kallen's Judah...

"I haven't encountered the Mobius Signets before, I wonder if they're the Signets after the revision..."

As Luo Lin thought idly, she instinctively activated her "Flawless Dome" and executed a set of almost muscle memory-like output cycles.

Benares roared as it was struck, its health plummeting rapidly. The girl felt no surprise at this—all because she was playing on a low difficulty level; how could the monsters withstand it?

Sure enough, Benares soon began flapping its wings, taking off from the ground and leaving behind a huge tornado in the center of the battlefield, while it hovered high in the sky, overlooking Luo Lin.

"Come down!"

Luo Lin didn't indulge the opponent's intentions at all, raising her hand and unleashing a barrage of attacks towards the airborne Benares. After all, she had entered the Elysian Realm in the flesh; she wasn't restricted to fighting on a flat surface like when she was using the Glass Sword.

What difficulty could there be in targeting aerial units?

In the past maybe, but now...

None at all!

So the girl simply took out Benares in the air, hands on her hips, watching as the data fragments rained down like droplets, feeling relieved.

"You always fly around so much, and now I'll come and punish you personally. You're still flying? I'll just take you out directly in the air!"

To all the players who fell before Benares, I, Luo Lin, am here to avenge you!

Then it was the usual process of giving out Signets...

"Such a gorgeous flower shouldn't wither before it blooms. I will bestow upon you a brilliant blessing, and your soul will also radiate even more dazzling light!" A voice echoed from her module, and the Signet Selection screen appeared.

Luo Lin rubbed her chin. "Alright, let's take the next Signet..."

"What are you going to take?"

"Let's take 'Beauty,' for the overall damage boost...?"

Luo Lin froze in place. She trembled slightly as she turned her head and saw Elysia standing there in modern attire, a subtle smile on her face.

"Elysia...?"

Luo Lin stood there in a daze, somewhat incredulously murmuring, "Could this really be that Elysian Realm?"

"Hi, Luo Lin, missed me... Why are you running?"

"Is this another one of Tree and Sea's tricks? I'm outta here!"

Luo Lin bolted, having just crawled out of the three-day and three-night hell of Nagazora City, not wanting to fall into the pit of the "Elysian Realm" like Mei from the main storyline, especially with that unreliable system...

She might really end up dealing with the Herrscher of Corruption in the end!

"Hey, no running!"

Elysia pouted, the "Poetry of Love and Compassion" longbow manifested in her hands. She casually plucked the strings, and huge crystals descended from the sky, trapping Luo Lin inside in an instant, looking like some new variety of amber...

Luo Lin tapped the crystal, then tested its hardness with a condensed crystal arrowhead, leaving no trace of damage. She despairingly realized that her skill in manipulating crystals was worlds apart from Elysia's, with not even the chance to touch it.

"Luo Lin, my dear Luo Lin, every time I see you, you bring me new surprises~ Especially in your current appearance, hmm..."

Elysia, hands behind her back, hopped over to Luo Lin, smiling as she looked at the dejected girl inside the crystal dome, raising an eyebrow, "Oh dear, I never knew I could look so endearing? What a novel experience!"

"...Are you indirectly praising yourself?"

Luo Lin couldn't help but feel amused, sighing as she relaxed her body and met Elysia's gaze, "Alright, alright, I won't run. Can you let me out?"

"Then you better tell me properly how you ended up like this, and how you came into the Elysian Realm!"

"Okay, okay..."

Why does it feel like this sentence structure has appeared too many times in those doujins? Is it because there are so many plot points revolving around "Twins"?

Luo Lin watched as the crystal that trapped her shattered and disappeared, Elysia stepping forward in one stride and embracing her arms, as if afraid she would suddenly disappear.

The girl then saw the conditionally present Pardo behind Elysia, her brain overloaded by the overly bizarre scene before her, only able to maintain a blank expression.

Of course, there was also her ever-present companion, Can!

"Meow~"

"Wow, it's Can! What a chubby cat!"

"Meow!!!"

Hearing Can's somewhat excited meow, Luo Lin scratched her head, feeling a different texture than usual, especially smooth and silky—oh, I was still using the body of the "Miss Pink Elf"!

She nonchalantly opened the system space, took out a can of cat food, and shook it towards the brown-yellow kitty.

"Purr~"

Can came running in a flash, rubbing against her and Elysia's ankles, showing friendliness.

Sure enough, being able to grow so big after Pardo's ultimate, it must have some semblance of a certain orange cat's demeanor...