Chapter 260: Widespread Lamentation (Seventh Update, Please Subscribe)

Chapter 260: Widespread Lamentation (Seventh Update, Please Subscribe)

Though saying that, Zhang Yi was being extremely cautious at this moment.

After all, one Solitary Longsword Hero had already been carted once.

If they got carted two more times, the quest would fail.

So Zhang Yi and his team were playing extra carefully.

They basically kept their health around half, then immediately used healing items.

And during this phase, Zhang Yi finally experienced the burrowing attacks Old Song had mentioned earlier.

It was truly impossible to guard against!

The monster burst out from underground, hitting them as hard as a Dragon Charge.

But fortunately, this was a team. As long as one member was knocked down to half health, the other two teammates would immediately reposition and assist.

No getting greedy with attacks—immediately retracting their weapons and circling around to evade.

"I can finally see the light of victory ahead!" Having traversed the map back to Diablos' nest, Song Ren joined the battle.

This time, he had learned his lesson. He mostly avoided wide-area attacks like Diagonal Slash or Sweeping Slash, sticking instead to right-clicking to poke its behind.

The damage was low, but at least it wouldn’t accidentally hit teammates.

"Of course! We’re all professional Hunters after all!" Zhang Yi chuckled.

They joked and played around, but truthfully, Zhang Yi felt they were quite skilled.

And their coordination was excellent—sure, the Diablos was strong, but it was still just one monster!

It wasn’t like a boss from Dark Souls. As long as it couldn’t one-shot him, he’d just drink a potion and be good to go again.

Not enough blood potions?

No problem—just run back to the camp tent to restock!

"Yeah! Just a measly Diablos!" Wang Han was also laughing joyfully.

But the next moment, four large characters appeared in the center of their screens.

【Quest Failed】

"What?! Quest failed? We've only been carted once!" Zhang Yi stared at the sudden mission prompt, completely stunned.

"The time! Our time limit has expired!" Joey suddenly realized.

"What?! We’ve been scraping by for fifty minutes!?" Zhang Yi was shocked.

Everyone knew that in online multiplayer, monster health scaled up by a certain percentage—specifically, 2.6 times the original for a party of four.

But the thing was, during previous hunts, they’d never once run out of time.

They’d even had spare time to roast meat or catch rabbits.

Yet now, for the first time, they’d hit the time limit!

"Now that I think about it, maybe it’s not impossible?" Wang Han said to the disbelieving Zhang Yi.

"Indeed. We spent a lot of time just running around, had to watch out for friendly fire, and this Diablos is completely different from the previous Odogaron. That one was fierce, but every part was weak. But this Diablos has armored plating and a massive horn on its head—hitting those causes deflect, and its attacks are so strong, with constant Dragon Charges, that it wasted so much of our damage output time," Song Ren summarized.

"This Diablos really is tough!" Zhang Yi sighed with emotion.

In solo hunts, it was easy to get carted.

In multiplayer, getting carted was less likely.

After all, when health dropped, you could just run away while three teammates drew aggro, letting you heal up.

But the problem was the monster’s health scaling up. While there was no friendly fire, there was still flinch/stun.

Recklessly going all-in could easily lead to three carts, but playing too cautiously meant facing a time limit.

Difficult!

…………………

Actually, Song Ren's group was still relatively okay.

Despite all their bragging, their skills were above average.

But for the majority of ordinary players who reached this point, especially solo players, they were being utterly tormented by Diablos—so much so that their awareness was nearly gone!

Previously, when facing monsters they couldn’t solo, many players could simply team up.

And most of those monsters had large areas of vulnerable flesh that could be cut.

Their damage output also wasn’t nearly as exaggerated as Diablos'.

But now, facing Diablos was a completely different story.

Head, tail, and most areas were covered in hard armor—attacking caused deflect.

And the flanks were easily targeted by Diablos' attacks, so the only truly viable attack zone was the belly.

Many players had previously complained about teammate flinching, but hadn’t realized just how dangerous it could be.

But now, facing Diablos' Dragon Charge or the Rathalos' fireballs, a teammate’s malicious grin as they sent you into stun meant you were being pushed into a cart by two small cats.

Dual Blades users unleashing Demon Dance, wildly slashing teammates.

Light Bowgun users blowing up their allies’ crotches.

Heavy Bowgun users piercing through a partner’s defense.

Lance users charging forward, piercing enemies—and teammates alike.

Wyvern’s Fire launching allies skyward for a joyride.

Long Sword’s spinning slash sending all weak weapons to their knees.

These scenes became commonplace in team hunts.

Countless Hunters realized that after teaming up, the biggest threat they faced wasn’t from the enemy—

It was from their own teammates.

And even when team members were extremely cautious and rarely hit each other,

Their overly cautious playstyle, combined with the aggro mechanics in multiplayer mode,

Meant they simply couldn’t output any real damage.

Especially for charge-based weapons like Great Sword or Charge Blade.

Great Sword players’ Level 3 Charged Slash always ended up hitting the ground.

Charge Blade users’ Super Amped Element Discharge counted as damage whether it hit or not—so they just released it anyway.

Hammer users aiming for the head could only end up trimming its feet—landing a stun was luck, trimming was fate.

Stationary Bow users would just keep charging—die and restart.

Dream-chasing Horn players never supported—they only focused on damage.

Flashy Sword and Shield users just jumped around randomly.

In no time, the game’s community and forums erupted.

Players were shouting:

"What’s going on? This isn’t what we were promised!"

"The game was so easy at first—why is it so hard now?"

"This Diablos and Rathalos are way too tough to fight!"

"So all that earlier stuff—Gajalaka, Kulu-Ya-Ku—was just an illusion?"

At first, many players thought maybe they were doing it wrong.

Was there a special way to clear this? Had they not upgraded their gear enough? Was that why it felt so hard?

But after another round of Diablos’ charges and Rathalos’ barbecue sessions, they headed to the forums—

And realized: everyone else was in the same boat. All stuck on Diablos and Rathalos!

"Damn! So that’s it! I thought Chen Xu had turned good, but he was just waiting for us here?"

"No surprise—Warrior of Love lives up to his name. This 'love' is overflowing!"

"I’m floored! I thought this was a hack-and-slash game, but halfway through I realize—I’m the one being slashed!"

"Haha, wasn’t there a bro earlier saying he wanted the dragons stronger, that they were too weak? Satisfied now?"

"This slow-boil frog technique—I have to admit, I’m impressed!"

"RNM, give me my money back!"

"Friend, you’re overthinking. Just getting to Diablos—forget grinding other monsters or side gameplay, the main quest alone takes ten hours! No refunds possible. We can only endure the masochism now!"

"Forgive me—I thought solo hunting was hard, but now I realize: teaming up is the real nightmare!"

"Haha, exactly—team hunting is the nightmare. Earlier, fighting weak-damage monsters, we didn’t feel it. But against aggressive, high-damage monsters like Diablos, getting stunned by teammates is pure despair!"

In an instant, online players were wailing in despair.

After all, these weren’t the veterans from the previous life—those who had journeyed from the original Monster Hunter series.

These were all brand-new rookie Hunters.

Of course, there were also many veteran Firelinkers who had endured the brutal trials of Dark Souls.

Yet even they found themselves tormented to the point of numbness—because the boss mechanics in Monster Hunter: World were completely different from Dark Souls!

Where was the gradual progression? Where was the smooth difficulty curve? How did it suddenly spike to ninety degrees?

(End of Chapter) <>