Chapter 250: BOSS Battle (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)

Zhang Yi didn’t go wandering around as a traveler of the New World.

Instead, he returned to the base to continue with the corresponding story quests.

Following the Fleet captain’s hint, Zhang Yi first headed to the Processing Workshop to have a conversation with the Leader of the Second Fleet.

Using collected materials, he strengthened his Great Sword.

"But how did the Leader of the Second Fleet become a Blacksmith?"

"Where are my Hunter companions? What about the Mohawk-haired guy from before? And why does my bun-haired teammate never come hunting with me? Haven't the corresponding story events triggered yet?"

Scratching his head, Zhang Yi looked at a newly received quest titled 'Coronated Dragon Commotion'.

So far, the only companion following him was his Palico, whom he'd named 123.

The Mohawk-haired Hunter who had casually introduced himself in the Ship's Cabin hadn't appeared at all.

And his so-called companion, the receptionist with no name—just referred to as 'Companion'—always stayed behind at the Canteen or camp while he went on missions. Could it be that she wasn’t actually his companion?

As usual, he ate a Felyne Canteen meal and set off. Glancing back at the bun-haired receptionist standing in the camp, Zhang Yi felt a strange sensation.

But he didn’t dwell on it.

After all, this was just the beginning of the game.

Maybe his teammates would only appear as the story progressed?

That must be it!

The more Zhang Yi thought about it, the more it made sense.

Just like in Dark Souls, didn’t you have to defeat one or two BOSSes before meeting Onion Knight or Solaire of Astora?

Monster Hunter: World must be the same—first let players get familiar with the game’s operations, then when a BOSS appears, his trusted Companions from the Hunter's Guild at Astera Settlement would finally step in to help.

Realizing this, Zhang Yi smiled and nodded to himself.

It had to be this way. No doubt about it!

After finishing the Felyne Canteen meal, he entered the entrance of the Ancient Forest, guided by the green Scoutflies.

Soon, Zhang Yi found the target of this quest.

Unlike the previous Jagras, the Coronated Dragon before him looked far fiercer.

The quest required him to Kill Confirmed three male and five female Coronated Dragons.

The males were noticeably larger, while the females were significantly smaller.

Instead of immediately targeting the largest one, Zhang Yi approached a few of the smaller Coronated Dragons.

After all, you pick the softest persimmon—best to test the strength of these dragons first.

They weren’t much different from the earlier Jagras and were easily defeated.

Looking at the corpses of the Coronated Dragons on the ground, Zhang Yi’s confidence soared. He turned his attention to the real objective of this mission.

"This armor seems to be the hardest part of the Coronated Dragon? I got Deflect!"

Along the way, he had killed several Herbivores for warm-up, and just now defeated a few small Coronated Dragons.

As a result, the sharpness of his Great Sword had dropped from green to yellow.

This strike happened to hit the Coronated Dragon’s armored section, triggering a Deflect.

His character entered a brief flinch/stun, and the weapon’s durability dropped significantly.

The next moment, the Coronated Dragon charged at Zhang Yi, knocking his character to the ground with a roll.

His health also dropped by a small amount.

Though attacked, seeing how little health was lost instantly filled Zhang Yi with confidence.

"Is that all? Is that all!?"

With damage this weak, what was there to fear?

Watching his character lose only a sliver of health, Zhang Yi controlled him to get back up, stand his ground, and Just Go For It against the Coronated Dragon.

Dodge? That wasn’t happening!

Unleash a charged Great Sword slash—anyone who runs is a coward!

After just a few swings, the Coronated Dragon collapsed beneath his blade.

Continuing with the Coronated Dragon quest, Zhang Yi found these creatures were indeed stronger than the earlier Jagras.

But only slightly. Still nowhere near a real challenge.

One charged attack, two slashes, and it was dead.

Soon, Zhang Yi eliminated several Coronated Dragons and completed the quest objective.

But unlike before, no prompt appeared to return to Astera Settlement.

Instead, the game transitioned into a cutscene.

The large Jagras that had attacked him earlier in the story suddenly leapt out from somewhere and swallowed the nearby Coronated Dragon whole.

‘Additional Quest: Hunt the Great Jagras’

After the cutscene ended, Zhang Yi received a new quest.

"Great Jagras!? So this is the BOSS fight!?" Zhang Yi felt excited.

After all, the earlier Small Jagras and Coronated Dragons had posed no real challenge.

Though very satisfying, he had hoped for a bit more difficulty.

"Too bad the demo version doesn’t support matchmaking. Otherwise, Team Up for a BOSS battle would’ve been really fun."

Zhang Yi sighed with regret.

Then, under the guidance of the Fleet squad leader, he began searching for the Great Jagras’ location.

Unlike typical games, this required gathering clues from the environment—such as footprints or traces left behind.

Once enough progress was made, the green Scoutflies would lead the Hunter to the monster.

This mechanic intrigued Zhang Yi—it gave a real sense of hunting without being overly tedious.

Following the green Scoutflies, after circling the Ancient Forest twice, Zhang Yi spotted the Great Jagras.

The beast was lying down, seemingly resting.

From appearance, it resembled a giant lizard.

Its stomach—or rather, the gastric pouch it had swallowed—was now bloated and round, like a toad puffing out its cheeks.

Overall, it looked rather disgusting.

"This must be the first BOSS in the game. Just wonder how strong its combat prowess really is!"

"But considering it got swallowed in one bite by Anjanath in the earlier cutscene, it’s probably just a weakling."

From a safe distance, Zhang Yi assessed the situation.

But only one way to find out.

With that thought, Zhang Yi prepared to advance.

But to his surprise, as his Hunter casually approached, the Great Jagras—which had been resting—suddenly stood up, letting out fierce roars and locking its gaze directly on Zhang Yi.

Normally, earlier monsters like the Coronated Dragon or Jagras would either charge at him on sight or simply ignore him unless provoked.

But this Great Jagras was different.

It didn’t attack immediately, nor did it ignore him. It was wary.

Intelligence!

That’s what Zhang Yi sensed.

"Is this Nebula Games’ so-called AI intelligence system? It actually feels like something special!"

Watching the monster’s behavior, Zhang Yi couldn’t help but marvel.

Compared to before, this hunt was the first time Zhang Yi felt the AI was truly different from the regular mobs.

Still, this was a BOSS—the first BOSS he’d face in the game.

With a sigh, Zhang Yi charged forward to Trial Run.

To test the waters—would the game’s difficulty be as gentle as he expected, or just a bit scalding?

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