Chapter 698: Enjoy the Thrill, Then Back to Suffering (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

It can be said that every player who successfully defeated Genichiro Ashina or Lady Butterfly had made significant progress.

At the very least, being able to defeat them meant their fundamentals were absolutely solid.

Mikiri Counters for thrust attacks, deflects for unblockable moves that could only be dodged, and perfect deflections and dodge steps using Kusabimaru—these basic operations were well within the acceptable standard.

Zhang Yi's progress couldn't be called slow, nor fast.

Initially, after defeating Genichiro Ashina, Zhang Yi's confidence soared unprecedentedly. He felt, "I've already beaten such a formidable BOSS, won't the rest of them be as easy as cutting melons and vegetables?"

However, this illusion was quickly shattered. After defeating Genichiro Ashina, players had three different paths to choose from.

These included heading to Senpou Temple to retrieve the Mortal Blade, going to the Sunken Valley for the Fragrant Water Lily, or searching Mibu Village for a stone.

These three routes were completely open, allowing players to explore any one of them first.

But Zhang Yi was completely unaware of this. After finishing his conversations with Kuro and Emma, and after some effort locating Isshin Ashina to complete the 'rats' quest, he obtained the Gun Fort Key from the study.

Then, he began his aimless wandering.

This was mainly because, before, there had only been one very clear path:

Go to Ashina Castle and find Kuro.

But now, after his initial conversation with Kuro, he learned about needing to find some stone and about the curse of the Dragon's Heritage. Kuro wished to sever this curse of immortality and requested Wolf's help.

Additionally, after inspecting the incense burner, speaking with Kuro also revealed clues about a 'flower'.

This immediately left Zhang Yi unsure of where to explore first.

The Hirata Estate from three years ago hadn't been fully explored, and Zhang Yi had a general idea of Senpou Temple's exact location.

Because on his way there previously, he had seen an old woman sitting on a bridge, bowing towards the distance. According to his conversation with her, he knew that Senpou Temple was in the direction she was looking.

He truly felt a bit lost about where to go now.

After wandering around Ashina Castle for a bit, Zhang Yi also ran back to the main gate and killed the General of the Samurai he had previously avoided.

Aside from the annoying firearm wielders nearby,

He managed to defeat this General of the Samurai's two health bars with only one death.

“Indeed! Now that I've beaten Genichiro Ashina, I've become incredibly strong! Genichiro Ashina truly was my teacher!” Zhang Yi exclaimed, looking at the General of the Samurai he had cut down. A sense of the ‘loneliness of a master’ spontaneously arose within him.

But as he truly embarked on the journey to find clues for Fountainhead Palace, Zhang Yi quickly realized he had overthought things.

He didn't go to the Hirata Estate from three years ago, nor did he head towards Senpou Temple. Instead, he returned to the Ashina Water Storage District, the same path he had taken earlier.

Zhang Yi, brimming with confidence after defeating Genichiro Ashina, no longer chose to run past enemies whenever possible, unlike before. He now confronted them head-on.

But he soon experienced the malicious design of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and the eternal, supreme creed of Souls-like games:

Regular enemies are far more troublesome than BOSSes.

Zhang Yi found that the regular enemies in Sekiro were probably the most annoying among all Souls-like games.

The division of labor and coordination were simply too perfect.

Lightly armored melee soldiers, Taro Troop wielding large mallets and what looked like gas canisters, distant firearm wielders, and cheerleading squad members hiding in corners, banging gongs and drums.

Once aggroed, although the enemies in Sekiro had an aggro range, it was genuinely hard to pull them one by one. The common scenario was a group of small enemies ganging up on him.

“What the heck, are you guys running a World of Warcraft dungeon here? Tanks with damage output!” Zhang Yi was on the verge of a breakdown.

The regular enemies on the road made him suffer terribly.

However, one thing was different: unlike Dark Souls and Bloodborne, which often hid a small enemy in a treacherous corner, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice's malice was more overt, with fewer sneaky tricks.

At least, he died understanding why.

And compared to fighting regular enemies, fighting BOSSes felt entirely different.

Especially after the trial by Teacher Genichiro, Zhang Yi no longer fought using stealth assassinations and dodge steps as before.

Instead, he adopted a more comprehensive approach: Deflects and Mikiri Counters.

The sound of clashing steel was incredibly satisfying.

In front of the large building where he had previously found Kuro, Zhang Yi encountered one of the Seven Ashina Spears upon arriving there.

Unfamiliar with his moves, Zhang Yi died once during their first encounter, but the second time, he easily defeated him.

On one hand, this particular Seven Ashina Spears wasn't very tough; on the other, his experience fighting Genichiro Ashina had already given him complete mastery over the game's combat system.

Mikiri Countering thrusts, deflecting combos—even if he couldn't perfect deflect, he could still manage with regular parries and, thanks to the lack of a stamina bar, create distance to let his Posture Bar recover, though it would make the fight a bit slower.

He had mastered and understood all these basic operations.

Facing BOSSes again became much easier.

Returning to Wolf's birthplace, Zhang Yi dropped through a gap into the dungeon and saw a very familiar figure.

The Lone Shadow who had tormented him three years ago was now a different story. He died about three times, and by then, he had pretty much figured out the ninja's patterns.

The ‘military punches’ that had caused him so much trouble before had now become ‘free-win punches’.

After all, every punch was followed by a charged kick, which could be Mikiri Countered.

“So you're called Lone Shadow! The purple-clad ninja, right?”

After defeating its second health bar, Zhang Yi let out a villain-like laugh.

One word: Satisfying!

No one who had tormented him before would escape now!

However, this thought quickly changed.

Ever since defeating Genichiro Ashina, his skills had surpassed their previous level. Moreover, Sekiro, unlike Dark Souls and Bloodborne, didn't have RPG attributes.

But this was still a Souls-like game, and aside from the challenging BOSSes in the main storyline, how could it not have malicious areas?

Feeling refreshed, Zhang Yi explored deeper into the dungeon.

Passing through a pitch-black cave, Zhang Yi soon noticed something: at the deepest part of the valley floor in the dungeon.

There was a shrine-like monster, surrounded by many blue-purple orbs.

“BOSS? Prepare to die!”

Unlike before, when he would tuck his tail and run at the sight of a BOSS, this time Zhang Yi bravely charged forward.

He just wanted to fight BOSSes now!

Especially humanoid BOSSes!

After Genichiro Ashina's 'education', he had now abandoned his Prosthetic Arm tools and stealth assassination playstyle.

He had even sold all those miscellaneous items—various sugars and Divine Confetti—at the shop.

He was all about Deflects, all about head-on combat.

That was the only way to get truly satisfying!

“Shichimen Warrior? You look like a pushover. Let me teach you a lesson!”

Zhang Yi charged forward courageously.

Two rounds later.

[Terror]

Zhang Yi stared at the BUFF appearing above Wolf's head, completely bewildered.

“What the heck?! This thing stacks buffs? It scared my Wolf to death?!”

“And the damage is just too pathetic, isn’t it?!”

Zhang Yi was completely beside himself. He had charged in with such confidence.

But after two rounds, his Wolf was simply scared to death.

Unlike being utterly crushed by Genichiro Ashina before, he felt his death against this Shichimen Warrior was incredibly humiliating.

Scared to death? What kind of death is that?! And why was his damage so low?

Both the BOSS's Posture Bar and health bar were barely moving!

Revive and fight again; maybe he was playing it wrong?

(End of Chapter) <>