The streets and alleys of Nolan Village were packed with people.
Some discussed the "Monster Siege," some talked about the "sudden appearance of sixty or seventy pieces of Blue Gear," and others discussed the "Flying Man of Nolan Village." It was extremely lively.
But at the very moment the Howling Moon Wolf King fell to its death, every player received a System Announcement:
"Ding! The Howling Moon Wolf King siege event has ended. Thank you for your enthusiastic participation!"
The instant they received the System Announcement, Nolan Village fell briefly silent.
Everyone stared blankly at the system prompt, lost in a daze.
What the hell?!
They had come specifically to take part in the Monster Siege. The countdown still showed nineteen minutes until it began, so how had it ended before even starting?!
After that brief silence, a deafening uproar erupted throughout Nolan Village.
"Holy shit! The event ended before it even started? Is the game company screwing with us?"
"This trash game didn't have any launch events, and it never said it would give us Ten Consecutive Draws. Now that it finally opens an event, it dares to stand us up?"
"I came all the way here from another village, and this is it? This is it? This is it?"
"The officials have zero sincerity. This game isn't worth playing!"
"Fuck you, refund my money!"
The players were furious, their roars shooting into the sky.
The offline Official Forum also exploded. Its front page was filled with discussions about the "cancellation of the Monster Siege," along with every imaginable insult directed at the game officials.
A few minutes later, Operations Staff made a post explaining the situation.
The post read:
"The Monster Siege was not canceled. Rather, a player killed the boss ahead of time before the Monster Siege began and claimed the rewards. Naturally, there was no need for the Monster Siege to continue."
The staff also said things like, "Please look forward to the game's upcoming content," and, "Monster Sieges will also be triggered in other Novice Villages," attempting to calm the players' anger.
This Pinned Post worked very well.
Not long after Operations Staff posted it, the players redirected their hatred.
They began discussing which heartless players had stolen their boss:
"I know! It must have been a major guild that secretly brought people in and killed the boss!" one player said.
"That's disgusting! Just because they're a major guild, they can do whatever they want? They stole the rewards belonging to all players!"
"Which major guild has that kind of strength?"
"Village Number Six never had a major guild stationed there before. Recently, only the Skycutter Guild moved in and made this place its headquarters."
"Skycutter again! It must have been the Skycutter Guild! Skycutter Sword, compensate us for our boss!"
"Skycutter Sword, compensate us for our boss!"
"Skycutter Sword, come out and apologize! Share the siege rewards with the players! Why should your guild monopolize them?"
"Exactly! Skycutter Sword, come out and apologize!"
The players' demands were utterly unreasonable. Even if the Skycutter Guild really had stolen the Siege Boss, there was absolutely no need for them to compensate the players for anything.
But players had never been rational. As long as someone touched their interests, whether that person was right or wrong, they would curse them out!
Very soon, the forum was filled with fierce condemnation of the Skycutter Guild.
Skycutter Sword had been innocently caught in the crossfire, utterly baffled.
He casually opened the Official Forum, intending to see how the players evaluated the "cancellation of the Monster Siege."
But why was his guild getting cursed at again on the forum?
After browsing several posts and learning why they were being attacked, Skycutter Sword hurriedly posted a clarification. "Everyone, please believe me! This time, it really wasn't our guild that secretly killed the boss. No, wait, last time it also wasn't our guild that blocked the village and collected entry fees. Please, you have to believe me!"
Below the post, Skycutter Sword also uploaded screenshots of the past half hour's Combat Log, Loot Log, and other records to prove his innocence.
Members of the Skycutter Guild were also summoned offline to help their leader bump the post. Only then did the players' insults gradually subside.
Afterward, Skycutter Sword felt utterly exhausted.
Ever since entering "Evolution," he had always felt as though some invisible force was tightly controlling him. Why had everything gone so wrong?!
That was enough about the turmoil both online and offline. The scene returned to Su Yu in the game.
Su Yu fell from the cliff.
The oversized Leather Backpack he had purchased was not a professional Glider Pack, after all. It could only slow his descent a little, and he was still falling rapidly.
But that was fine.
The Wolf King's pounce had a fifteen-second cooldown.
Su Yu's teleportation spell had a cooldown of only twelve seconds.
The Leather Backpack bought Su Yu roughly four extra seconds before he hit the ground. By the time he was about to land, his teleportation spell had finished cooling down.
A flash of white light appeared, and Su Yu landed steadily on the forest floor.
"Ah! I finally got it done. Monsters really aren't as smart as people."
Looking at the blue-green "fountain" of items around the Wolf King, a harvest-like joy welled up in his heart.
So Su Yu turned into a diligent little bee, picking up the equipment and items from the ground one by one.
He stuffed the heavier equipment into his system backpack and the lighter equipment and items into his Leather Backpack.
"Level 10 green Heavy Armor Boots? Not bad."
"An Earth Spike Skill Scroll? I can use this one."
"Oh, a Pet Egg! Nice!"
The dropped Pet Egg was a Howling Moon Wolf Egg (Excellent). After hatching, it would produce a Howling Moon Wolf pet that could assist the player in battle.
Every player could have their first pet upon reaching Level 10, and they could own one additional pet for every ten levels gained.
However, they could only summon one pet at a time to assist them in battle.
When the game's second Expansion Pack, "Clash of Kings," opened two months later, only the new Summoner class would be able to summon multiple pets at once to assist in battle.
Now that Su Yu had obtained a Pet Egg, he would not have to worry about lacking a pet after Level 10.
He tossed the Pet Egg into his system backpack and continued picking up the other items.
While he was in midair, Su Yu had seen a Golden Streamer flash amid the Wolf King's "rain of equipment and items," and it immediately caught his attention.
Because that Golden Streamer was thin and small, it indicated that this Golden Item was not ordinary armor, but more likely a piece of jewelry or an accessory.
But no matter what, anything that could be brought into reality was a good thing.
Su Yu patiently searched the ground for that dropped Golden Item.
Finally.
After storing most of the equipment in his backpack, he found the Golden Item.
Intermediate Life Recovery Potion (Golden): Restores 300 Health over three seconds.
"A Golden Health Potion?!" Su Yu was overjoyed.
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