Please Touch Me, Master

The creature was still.

It stood at about five meters tall, with a slick gray-colored body that seemed to glisten with moisture. The surface of its skin was like a snake, or a worm. It had a very long body, far larger than its height.

Eight limbs extended from its monstrously huge torso, their crooked forms giving off the resemblance of a lizard. Its tail rose tall, coiling into itself like a chameleon's. However, it had a stinger at its end, giving it a more scorpion-like appearance.

As for its face… It resembled an iguana, but it had a crown at the top of its head like that of a cock (male chicken). Its two round eyes were huge, and it had several markings that resembled tattoos plastered all over his face, which extended to his upper torso. These markings were pitch black, offering a sharp contrast with the rest of its more ashen body.

Rank 2 Abomination!

Bi Chen had encountered this creature before, and even managed to mete out a few injuries to it, but they were very minimal. The more severe wounds on the Abomination were incurred from its battle with Imelda's slaves. 

Back then, they had used all sorts of items and spammed all the methods they had at their disposal, severely weakening the creature. Imelda's hope was to capture the Abomination and present its core to her father, so she spared no expense in the battle.

It was a shame that it escaped, but while it had managed to recover from some of its injuries, a lot of them still caused it trouble. This Rank 2 Abomination, despite its immense size and frightening appearance, was actually weakened.

Perhaps due to survival instinct or sheer coincidence, it managed to hide its wounds underneath its eight limbs, curling up its body in a way that didn't expose the many stab marks and infected scabs all over it.

Burn marks, piercing scars, among other things, ruined the body of this slithering creature.

However, it was still a Rank 2 Abomination.

'And I have to beat it…' Bi Chen said to himself in determination, finally walking through the entrance of the Rank 2 Abomination's hideout. 

He had a fearless smile plastered on his face as resolution kept flashing in his eyes.

Even when the Rank 2 creature noticed his presence and glared in his direction, he didn't slow down or fumble in his steps. There was no hesitation in his movements, nor did anxiety cling to his advance.

No fear… he had no fear at all.

As someone who had already died three times in this world, he was no longer afraid of it.

He was not scared of losing or dying. He had nothing to lose, but so much to gain.

"There's a popular saying on Earth…" He muttered aloud, eyes fixed on the beast. "When you're at rock bottom, there's nowhere left to go but up!"

BOOOOM!

The Rank 2 Abomination charged at him immediately, its colossal body creating a deafening noise in the expanse. Despite its mass, the monster was terrifyingly quick, reaching Bi Chen's location in a matter of seconds.

'So fast!' Bi Chen quickly moved his body and ducked, causing the Abomination to slam into the wall that stood right behind him at that point.

The area trembled, and even Bi Chen could feel the earth he rolled on shake from the impact.

Despite this powerful impact, the Rank 2 Abomination was unfazed and undeterred. It easily recovered from its sudden crash, returning its glare to its prey. In its eyes, even though Bi Chen was a Zombie, he was still Level 10 and had the means to evade as well as fight.

That made him a threat!

Abominations didn't have intelligence and were nothing more than wild beasts.

However, they still had their instincts.

Bi Chen had fought with this thing before, and it recognized him. Since he had survived their last encounter somehow, its guard was up even more. It wanted to end the fight as quickly as possible, so it could go back to resting. It was still recovering from its injuries, after all.

As such, it quickly changed strategy and sent its tail out.

Bi Chen's eyes widened once he saw this, quickly evading the stinger's precise launch. 

BAM!

The pointy end of the Abomination's tail struck the ground, causing it to shatter from the pressure. That wasn't the only change, however.

The hardened ground seemed to melt, turning liquid and bubbling like hot tar. Its color also changed from pitch black to dark purple, revealing the true power of the Rank 2 Abomination's stinger.

'Poison…!' Bi Chen frowned mildly. 'Even if I miraculously survive being struck by its blow, that poison will kill me for sure.'

But was Bi Chen worried? 

No!

In fact, he had already seen this stinger's effects before, which was why he knew to avoid it as quickly as possible. However, there was a reason he no longer smiled as confidently as he did at the start of the fight.

'Its pattern changed!' 

Usually, Abominations had a fixed pattern. In the game, the Abominations had responses to a Player's actions, and by studying their immutable habits, a Player could develop strategies to counter the Abomination.

In this world, Bi Chen had experienced something similar with the Rank 1 Abominations.

They all had the same patterns, which made killing them much easier once he was used to it and was also getting stronger. When he faced this Rank 2 Abomination the first time, his goal was to observe its movements so he could develop counters for them.

To think it had changed its pattern!

'But I also expected this. It's why I decided to probe it first before launching my plan.' Bi Chen sighed, his smile slowly returning. 

It was better to be safe than sorry.

Just because he wasn't afraid to die, that didn't mean he was reckless or stupid.

Bi Chen was always thinking about what would benefit him the most, as well as what could harm him the most. This Rank 2 Abomination was uncharted territory, so he couldn't take any chances on that front.

'When an Abomination has been injured to an extent, it triggers a change of attack pattern and a different fight style to compensate for its injuries. That must be what is happening right now…'

As an astute gamer, Bi Chen understood these intricacies.

He was prepared.

WHOOSH!

The Rank 2 Abomination kept launching its stinger at Bi Chen, but he managed to expertly dodge them all—albeit barely. His experience as a gamer, coupled with his past experience dealing with the troublesome tail of the Abomination, as well as his incredible observational skills, helped him a great deal in this endeavor.

His eyes were consistently fixed on the Abomination's tail, watching it furl and unfurl, and then lunge at its target. This gave Bi Chen a way to calculate its trajectory, letting him dodge the strikes without a margin of error.

And since he didn't feel any exhaustion as a Zombie, he wasn't worn out by this very intensive activity. 

He continued for hours without rest, also observing the other patterns that the Rank 2 Abomination displayed in that period. Once he was sure that the patterns had repeated themselves thrice already, and was certain that they were fixed—without any room for innovation—he finally allowed himself to make a sigh.

"It's time for my counterattack."