6: Chapter 6 A Bountiful Harvest

Deep within Elwynn Forest.

"Old Zhao, where exactly is this great place you mentioned? We've been walking for half an hour now!"

"Don't rush, we're almost there, almost there."

After a while, the two stopped in front of a cave.

"We've arrived, this is it."

Ahead was a pitch-black, deep cave entrance.

The entrance was over five meters in diameter, covered in moss along the edges, and looked thick with darkness when peering inside.

"Just this?" Jiang He frowned, feeling like he'd been scammed, "A crappy cave?"

"A crappy cave?"

It turned out that Zhao Yun had passed by here yesterday and seen a monster crawl inside with his own eyes.

It had a human body and a dog's head, and was at least three meters tall.

Just the sound of those few steps was like an earthquake.

That posture, it was definitely a big BOSS.

Jiang He's eyes lit up, and the frustration from just a moment ago vanished.

A Gnoll BOSS?

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go in."

"Don't rush." Zhao Yun held Jiang He back: "My brother, that's a BOSS, not a little chick. I'm the tank, I'll scout the path first. If things really go south, you run first and don't worry about me, you hear me?"

"Fine, fine, fine." Jiang He dismissed him verbally, but felt a warmth in his heart; this silly brother of his.

The two stepped into the cave entrance, with Zhao Yun walking in front, holding his wooden shield tightly against his chest.

Jiang He followed closely behind, dagger in hand.

The passage wasn't too long; after going dozens of meters deep, a wide, open space appeared ahead.

It was a huge, crude nest made of dried grass.

A giant beast with a human body and a dog's head, looking ferocious, was lying on its back, fast asleep.

[Gnoll Leader] Level: 6 HP: 5000 Defense: 500 Strength: 300

Five thousand HP?

Jiang He's pupils constricted; it was a genuine, high-level BOSS.

Zhao Yun's legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

"D-Da He..." Zhao Yun's teeth chattered: "S-should we retreat? This thing, three thousand HP?"

He wanted to pull Jiang He and run, but found that the space behind him was empty.

He saw Jiang He had silently crept up to the Gnoll's side.

He aimed his dagger at the neck and struck with one blow.

Critical hit triggered -400

"Holy crap, that's awesome."

Zhao Yun was stunned. Four hundred damage in one hit?

Is this something a human can do?

Based on past gaming experience, a BOSS of this level would require at least a 10-person team of the same level to have a chance at taking it down.

Yet my brother is soloing it?

The Gnoll felt the pain and swiped its claws.

Jiang He was hit, HP -200, then jumped backward, casting a few Healing Spells on himself, bringing his HP back to 80%.

He had intended to engage in melee combat, as the damage would be higher.

But this guy wiped out 200 of his HP in one hit, so it was better to kite it from a distance.

"Old Zhao, Taunt it."

Taunt is a skill exclusive to Knights. It can draw the monster's aggro.

This would buy Game ID enough time.

Zhao Yun's class had naturally high defense. Combined with Jiang He switching back and forth using the Blood Speech Technique—attacking for a while, then healing for a while.

Zhao Yun actually managed to tank the monster's attacks.

Seeing the Gnoll's HP bottoming out.

[Ding, would you like to top up 40 yuan to evolve the monster's form?]

Are you kidding me? Monster forms can evolve too?

[Top-up successful]

[Lord of the Forest · Hogger (LV10)]

Zhao Yun, who was busy resisting the monster's attacks, was nearly scared to death.

The Gnoll's body suddenly swelled to twice its size. Its fur turned pitch black and shiny, standing on end like steel needles.

Two pairs of black wings sprouted from its back, looking terrifying.

"Damn, isn't this cheating? It even transforms?" Zhao Yun shouted.

The next second, Jiang He pulled him away, just in time to dodge Hogger's attack.

Jiang He seized the opportunity, exerted force with his feet, and leaped onto Hogger's back.

His arm did not hesitate in the slightest.

Critical damage -800 -400

Paralysis effect triggered.

Jiang He was overjoyed and hurriedly stabbed Hogger's neck several times.

[Congratulations to player Game ID's team for the first kill of Lord of the Forest · Hogger. Rewards: 1000 copper coins * 2, Holy Shield * 1]

The large text scrolled across the screen, playing three times in a row. The chat channel instantly exploded:

[Player 9527]: "Holy sh*t? A level 10 BOSS? Am I seeing things?"

[I Am Not A Little White]: "Level 10? And it's a first kill? GM, come out! Someone is hacking here."

[Magic God Noob]: "Impossible, absolutely impossible. How can there be players capable of killing a level 10 BOSS right now?"

[Grumpy Brother]: "Who cares how they killed it? River God is awesome. I'm convinced. From today on, River God is my big brother."

Inside the cave, dust filled the air. Jiang He jumped down from Hogger; that was extremely thrilling.

Fortunately, this game's controls were consistent with real-life physical movements. Otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to jump onto the monster's back for the attack.

Looking at Zhao Yun, who was stunned in place, Jiang He laughed: "Don't just stand there like a fool? Didn't you see the loot dropped?"

"Oh, oh, coming."

Zhao Yun still hadn't fully recovered; how did the monster die?

The ground was covered in equipment. Zhao Yun didn't dare to pick it up and let Jiang He do it. After all, he had a cheat; what if he triggered a top-tier item?

[Ding... Would you like to top up 8 yuan to improve its quality?] "Top up!"

[Ding... Would you like to top up 3 yuan to improve its quality?] "Top up!"

[Ding... Would you like to top up 20 yuan to improve its quality?] A series of notification sounds rang out, and Jiang He replied uniformly: "Top up, top up everything for me."

When the last notification sound disappeared, the cave floor was clean. Jiang He couldn't wait to open his backpack to check the loot.

Most of the upgraded equipment were decent items with solid stats, not bad at all.

His eyes caught the first kill reward, and his heart skipped a beat.

[Tier 6 · Holy Shield] Class: Knight Level: 5 Physical Defense: +500 Magic Defense: +500 HP: +800

These stats... are these supposed to appear on equipment in the Novice Village?

"Da He? What's wrong? Did you get good loot?"

Jiang He directly shared the Holy Shield's stats to the team channel.

Thump, Zhao Yun knelt right there on the spot.

"H-Holy Shield? And it's Tier 6, for crying out loud?"

"My god, this must be worth a fortune, right?"

"Worth your head. We aren't selling this; it's for you to use."

"What? For me to use? No way, sell it for money. How long has this game been open? Equipment has a limited shelf life. Later on, this kind of equipment will be everywhere. Isn't it better to sell it now and exchange it for real money?"

Jiang He explained. In that battle just now, he had felt a crisis.

Facing the monster, without Zhao Yun buying him time to cast his skills, there would have been no chance of winning.

If he wanted to go further and earn more money, killing stronger BOSSes, his own strength alone was useless. Teammates were equally important.

Zhao Yun understood what he meant and, despite the heartache, put on the equipment.

In that battle just now, both of them had just reached level 5. He touched the Holy Shield and felt that he was now terrifyingly strong.

Jiang He continued checking his backpack. The last item, a scroll emitting golden light, caught his attention.

[Imperial Secret Decree] Type: Special Quest Scroll Level Requirement: None Requirement: Must reach the main city, Chang'an, and find a specific NPC to activate.

Chang'an City, one of the four major cities. One needs to reach level 20 to leave the Novice Village and head to the main city. The road is still long, so he would put it aside for now.

Jiang He edited a message and sent it to the chat channel: [Game ID]: Tier 3 Iron Sword, Tier 2 Red Fang Sword, Tier 2 Iron Wall Shield, Tier 2 Lingfeng Staff..., those who know the value, DM me with your price. Serious buyers only, no broke people.

As soon as the message was sent, thousands of private messages flooded in.

But most were messages asking to be carried or asking for handouts. There were also some who offered prices, but they were too low, only a few hundred bucks.

[Ronin]: "I'll take them all, 30,000."

Holy crap? 30,000? This guy is truly inhumanly rich.

Jiang He was ecstatic. Although he had some grudges with the other party, business is business, and grudges could be set aside for now.

Just as he was about to reply to the message, another friend contact sent a message.

[Luo Yao]: "100,000. I want all the equipment."