Lord-class BOSS!

Xiao Wen glanced at the time, stretched lazily, and logged out of the game.

Looking up at the hazy sky outside the window, Xiao Wen rose from the Gaming Pod and immediately caught a faint burnt aroma in his nose.

He left his room and saw Xiao Ya busy in the kitchen making breakfast, warming his heart.

"Sis, what are we having this morning? It smells amazing!"

He leaned in and took a deep sniff.

Just then, Xiao Ya finished preparing breakfast. She came out carrying a plate in each hand, and a smile appeared on her face when she saw Xiao Wen.

"Little bro, why didn't you sleep in today? How did your gaming go last night? Your big sis is already level five, and I've even found someone strong to rely on. Want your sister to carry you? Let me tell you, your sister's mage is seriously awesome."

Xiao Ya carried the plates over and set them on the table.

Seeing the fried eggs and sandwiches on the plates, Xiao Wen's appetite was instantly whetted. He grabbed a sandwich, stuffed it into his mouth, and wolfed it down in just a few bites. Then he picked up the milk beside him and drained it in one gulp.

"N... no need... burp... Sis, your cooking is still amazing! Good food with games—nothing in this world tastes better, hehe!"

Xiao Wen grinned, then pulled out the bank card he had prepared from his pocket and pushed it toward Xiao Ya.

"Sis, this card is yours. The password is your birthday. From now on, your little brother will support you."

After saying that, Xiao Wen wiped his mouth with a napkin and turned back toward his room.

Xiao Ya stared at him in astonishment, her expression full of confusion. Watching his retreating back as he entered his room, she only came back to her senses after a long while. Looking down at the mess on the table, her heart felt warm.

"This brat... after all these years, he still hasn't changed that awful temper." Lowering her head to look at the bank card before her, Xiao Ya was a little dazed. "Brat, you want to support me? Fine, then let me see just how much secret money this brat has saved over the years."

Xiao Ya put the bank card into her pocket, finished the food on her plate, and carried the dishes into the kitchen. After cleaning up, she prepared to leave for work.

Before leaving, she had intended to let Xiao Wen know, but when she opened his door, she discovered that the brat had already plunged headfirst back into the Gaming Pod. She shook her head with a smile and turned to leave.

After eating and drinking his fill, Xiao Wen returned to the game feeling full of energy.

He glanced at his empty inventory. Every piece of equipment inside had been sold, leaving nothing behind.

It was not that he did not want to keep any. Rather, when he had tried to equip them, he suddenly discovered that his Duelist class could not equip ordinary gear.

He could not even equip ordinary armor, pants, boots, and the like.

After thinking it over carefully, Xiao Wen attributed it all to the special nature of the Duelist hidden class.

Perhaps the only equipment this class could wear was the seven Millennium Artifacts.

As he thought this, his gaze fell upon the Millennium Puzzle on his chest.

Although he possessed this artifact, aside from the fifty attribute points it had granted during initial stat allocation, all of its other effects were question marks and remained unknown.

"Whatever. I'll take it one step at a time. The most important thing now is leveling up. I need to leave Novice Village as soon as possible. Those guys are probably thinking the same thing, right?"

Xiao Wen muttered to himself, glanced at the crowded players around him, and strode forward. He passed through the crowd, left Novice Village, and headed out into the wilderness.

Just as yesterday, the area around Novice Village remained packed with people. The closer one got to Novice Village, the more players there were. In contrast, few players could be found farther away, where the monsters were higher level.

Xiao Wen moved quickly, and before long, he had passed countless players and arrived at the Ironback Rhinos' habitat.

The dead Ironback Rhinos had respawned. They buried themselves amid lush aquatic grass, looking thoroughly content.

"Should I keep farming experience here?"

Xiao Wen muttered, when he suddenly heard low growls in the distance.

The many Ironback Rhinos that had been lying low abruptly stood up. Their pitch-black eyes instantly turned blood-red, and they snorted heavily as they charged in a certain direction with ponderous steps.

"I didn't expect there to be players in Novice Village No. 96508 who could kill monsters above their level. Interesting."

Interest appeared on Xiao Wen's face. He followed behind the Ironback Rhinos and headed in that direction.

Several hundred meters away lay an open alluvial basin, where large numbers of Ironback Rhinos lived scattered across the broad terrain.

Now, these Ironback Rhinos roared, bellowed, and thundered forward, merging into a long black line as they charged into the distance.

At the end of the basin stood two steep mountains, with a long, narrow gorge between them. A huge mass of Ironback Rhinos had gathered at the entrance to the gorge.

"Sis, these dumb cows are charging in! Shoot them already! I can't hold out for long!" a shout rang out.

Five meters inside the gorge entrance stood a chubby little fat boy in black iron armor. He wore a pair of gauntlets on his hands and blocked the passageway.

Before him was an Ironback Rhino that had forcibly squeezed its way through the narrow path.

Its eyes were blood-red. Its steel-like hide scraped against the rock walls, sending loose gravel raining down as it charged at the little fat boy.

The little fat boy thrust out both hands, faint black light glowing across his palms. He pressed both hands directly against the Ironback Rhino's horn and, with the aid of the surrounding rock walls, forcibly stopped its attack.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The instant the little fat boy stopped the Ironback Rhino's charge, three flashes of cold light whistled out from behind him, striking the Ironback Rhino's head one after another.

-

2!

-

2!

-

5! (Critical Hit)

Three consecutive damage values rose above the Ironback Rhino's head.

Seeing the damage appear, the little fat boy narrowed his eyes, delight appearing on his face. "Sis, keep shooting! It's dealing damage! It's dealing damage!"

"I know, stop yapping! Hurry up and drink your health potions. If you can't hold it back, both of us will die! Don't forget, we put all six months of our allowance into this. If your green gear gets dropped, I'll skin all the fat off you!"

A crisp female voice rang out. More than fifteen meters behind the little fat boy, a female archer stood atop a protruding pointed rock with a bow in hand. She drew and fired in one fluid motion, arrows flying one after another to strike the Ironback Rhino, inflicting damage and steadily reducing its health.

By the time Xiao Wen arrived, three Ironback Rhino corpses already lay before the brother and sister.

"A Fist Master and an archer? This pairing does seem familiar." A thoughtful expression appeared on Xiao Wen's face.

He had seen such a combination once before. They had been two highly promising players who had created a combination of the Strongest Spear and the strongest shield.

The Fist Master put all of his attribute points into physique, constantly strengthening his defense while sacrificing attack to forge the strongest shield. The archer, meanwhile, put all of her attribute points into strength and speed to forge the Strongest Spear.

The tank drew aggro, attracting the enemy's attacks and attention, while the archer attacked from afar and harvested their lives.

Such a combination had once been famous throughout the game, even creating the Strongest Spear Contradiction playstyle. They had been praised as players who were not King-class, yet rivaled King-class players.

Separated, neither of them could withstand even a single exchange against a King-class player. Yet together, even King-class players found them extremely troublesome, suffering more defeats than victories.

"Still, compared to those two back then, this pair is much more inexperienced."

Even so, they were more than capable of dealing with these Ironback Rhinos, which possessed only beastly instincts and no intelligence.

Ironback Rhinos charged over one after another in fury, squeezing into the gorge in a line. The little fat boy blocked them one by one, while the female archer behind him kept firing arrows to finish them off.

One Ironback Rhino after another fell. Occasionally, coins and equipment dropped, all of which the little fat boy quickly scooped into his inventory.

Suddenly, two beams of light rose from the pair as they leveled up.

"Sis, I'm level six!"

The little fat boy's face was full of delight. Without hesitation, he added all five attribute points to physique, making it even easier for him to block the Ironback Rhinos.

The female archer behind him also fired noticeably faster. Her damage increased from -2 straight to -10, increasing her monster-killing efficiency severalfold.

Watching the brother and sister farm monsters, Xiao Wen could not help recalling when he had first started playing games and his sister had guided him.

Although their experience had been far more embarrassing than this pair's current situation, the sibling bond born of shared blood had been no less strong.

Watching the siblings work so hard to farm monsters now, Xiao Wen found himself unable to move on. He wanted to see just how far they could go.

Bottle after bottle of health potion went down the little fat boy's throat, and his health remained above 90 percent. More and more Ironback Rhino corpses piled up before him.

Moo!

Moo!

Moo!

Outside, the eyes of one Ironback Rhino after another changed from blood-red to dark crimson. Heavy breathing sounded from their nostrils, and pairs of eyes fixed in unison on the narrow gorge ahead.

Moo!

Their two front hooves rose in unison before crashing down. The ground shook, and waves of gravel rolled down from the cliff walls.

"Damn, Sis, have these dumb cows gone crazy? They're stomping around outside. Are they trying to shake these two mountains down?"

The little fat boy caught sight of the Ironback Rhinos' actions from the corner of his eye and sneered.

"Focus on the monsters in front of you. Stop thinking about nonsense. If you let even one slip through, I'll beat you into a pig's head!" the female archer snorted.

The little fat boy nodded aggrievedly and vented all the frustration in his heart on the Ironback Rhino before him.

Standing in the distance, Xiao Wen's expression changed slightly as he watched the scene. He narrowed his eyes, surprise appearing on his face.

"Interesting. These two little ones have really gotten themselves into trouble now. How are they going to clean this up?"

Rubbing his chin with a finger, Xiao Wen spoke in an old-fashioned tone, completely forgetting that he was only a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old youth himself.

As the Ironback Rhinos repeatedly raised their hooves and stomped, the earth trembled. Milky-white points of light emerged beneath the remaining Ironback Rhinos, turning into rings of light that spread outward one after another, enveloping every Ironback Rhino in the area.

At the same time, an extraordinarily powerful aura began to form within.

"Not good! Yang Cheng, retreat!" The female archer's expression changed as she cried out.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Xiao Wen looked at the distant balls of light and clapped in celebration, his face full of delight.

I searched everywhere without finding it, yet it came to me without any effort at all.

"A Lord-class BOSS has finally appeared!"