Shadow Cat Demon

Outside the game, in a villa complex in H City, Kyushu.

"Damn it, that bastard actually dared to use me as a shield. Just let me see that kid again, and I'll..."

Beside the luxurious game pod, a chubby kid covered in fat cursed furiously.

Next to him sat a delicate-looking woman with a cold expression, appearing somewhat displeased.

Weren't these siblings the Yang Cheng siblings who were utterly defeated by Xiao Wen in the game earlier?

"Or what? You think you can beat him? His strength is far from what we saw. He's at least at Godfather's level. Besides, we were in the wrong from the start this time. Just consider it a lesson learned," Yang Lu said.

"A lesson? I'll be the one to teach him a lesson! After taking such a huge loss and being humiliated like this, I can't swallow this! I'm going to find Godfather right now!"

With that, Yang Cheng stormed out.

In Nightmare Forest, as Xiao Wen stepped into it, the surroundings changed. The trunks of the towering trees glowed with a black-green light, dense fog coiled around the damp branches, and the sounds of insects gnawing at each other could be heard from time to time.

"This place is a bit interesting."

Xiao Wen narrowed his eyes, shifted his body back, and took half a step backward.

The moment Xiao Wen stepped back, a black shadow flickered from a corner, brushing past Xiao Wen's body and disappearing.

"This cat demon is quite fast," Xiao Wen muttered.

[Shadow Cat Demon]

Level: 10

Attack Power: 200

Defense: 150

HP: 1000

Agility: 20

Temperament: Ferocious

Description: A cat demon that inhabits the outskirts of Nightmare Forest. Twisted by miasma, it has become extremely aggressive.

Rustle... rustle...

As soon as Xiao Wen finished speaking, several small crimson dots appeared in the dark forest. Small figures emerged from the black woods – they were cat demons with thick fur and scarlet eyes, their backs interwoven with black and dark green fur.

Gazes converged on Xiao Wen, and the sound of teeth grinding could be faintly heard in the air.

"They're here!"

Xiao Wen waved his hand, and his Duel Disk appeared. He drew a card!

[Centipede]: Level 1; Insect/Earth

ATK: 300; DEF: 350

Duel Effect: Can attack the player directly, bypassing enemy monsters.

Description: A small bug with special abilities. Although its attack power is weak, it can inflict unexpected damage.

"A Level 1 Centipede?"

Xiao Wen blinked, a little disgusted.

As expected, the Summoner class relies on luck, and the hidden Duelist class, a branch of Summoner, relies even more on luck!

Last time, when dealing with the Rhino Lord, his luck was incredible, and he directly drew the Blue-Eyes White Dragon to instantly kill the monster.

But now?

It was another one-star little monster with only 300 attack power.

"Oh well, I'll make do. Leveling up is important."

"Summon! Centipede!"

As he placed the card on his Duel Disk, a rustling sound reached Xiao Wen's ears. A dark shadow appeared on the ground in front of him.

The shadow slowly rose, transforming into a ferocious-looking Centipede.

"Ch... ch..."

The Centipede's massive mouthparts opened, coiling its body like a giant snake, staring at the Shadow Cat Demons ahead.

When the Centipede was summoned, its unique combat characteristics were also perceived by Xiao Wen, the Summoner.

"Armor Break? Ignores Defense? This talent is truly a bit overpowered. It seems there are few simple summoned monsters in Duel City."

"Centipede, attack!"

"Ch!"

Shifting its body, the Centipede charged out, rushing towards a Shadow Cat Demon. Its body swayed, and its tail whipped out, striking a Shadow Cat Demon and sending it flying, inflicting 300 damage.

"Not bad, at least I have a little guy to help share the load. It'll be much easier for me to deal with the rest of these little cat demons."

From the very beginning, Xiao Wen had no intention of relying on summoned monsters to deal with this group of Shadow Cat Demons.

"Meow!"

With a low growl, a Shadow Cat Demon lunged, its claws raised, flashing with cold light as it attacked Xiao Wen.

Xiao Wen stood firm, not moving. Just as the Shadow Cat Demon closed in, the corner of his mouth curled up.

He threw a punch, aiming at empty space.

Immediately after Xiao Wen threw his punch, the Shadow Cat Demon's body in mid-air shifted, and it actually charged directly towards Xiao Wen's fist.

HP -345.

Bright red numbers floated up from the Shadow Cat Demon. Seeing this, Xiao Wen threw two more punches in quick succession, smashing into the Shadow Cat Demon and ending its life.

Player EXP +1425.

Glancing at the significantly increased experience bar, a smile appeared on Xiao Wen's face.

As expected, high-level monsters gave the most experience.

He spread his arms, his two fisted arms moving like a machine gun, hammering, retracting, and striking precisely...

HP -345!

Critical Hit!

HP -840!

Damage numbers continuously rose from the heads of this group of Shadow Cat Demons.

Xiao Wen's movements were fluid and seamless, without any wasted motion. In a few minutes, over a dozen Shadow Cat Demon corpses lay around him.

The Centipede beside him was not to be outdone. Relying on its armor-piercing ability and superior defense, it dispatched a Shadow Cat Demon in just a few moves. Its monster-killing speed was not much slower than Xiao Wen's.

Player EXP +1425.

Player EXP +1425.

Player EXP +1425.

Ding! Congratulations to player Halfway Through the Mortal World for leveling up to Level 6.

Despite leveling up, Xiao Wen remained unfazed. He immediately allocated all five attribute points to Strength. Combined with the basic stat increase from leveling up, Xiao Wen was now even more lethal!

After his own level increased, Xiao Wen discovered something interesting.

Although he was a Summoner, the monsters he summoned did not share experience with him like other summons.

It was precisely because summons shared experience that in past games, most people considered the Summoner class to be useless in the early game, with extremely high difficulty for late-game development and far less potential for growth compared to other classes.

This was also why, among the Four Emperors and Kings, no one chose the Summoner class.

Until... Xiao Wen appeared.

"Well now, seems like a decent material dropped."

After clearing out the surrounding Shadow Cat Demons, Xiao Wen noticed his experience bar was already one-third full. He looked up and saw a sharp claw beneath the corpse of a Shadow Cat Demon, his eyes brightening.

[Shadow Cat Claw]

Category: Material

Quantity: 2

Description: Claws shed from the corpses of Shadow Cat Demons. They possess good armor-piercing capabilities and are excellent materials for crafting weapons, with a chance to add dark and poison attributes to the crafted weapon.

"Weapon crafting material, I'll keep it for now. Based on the game's announcements, players can enter towns to craft weapons themselves after level 15. These things should fetch a good price then."

Xiao Wen muttered, recalled the Centipede, and was about to move forward when he suddenly noticed a dark, hazy pillar of light shooting up into the sky in the distance.

Birds and beasts cried out as they fled the forest, a look of terror in every monster's eyes.