Time passed little by little.
Shi Feng and Heizi kept busy, too, killing level 4 Roaming Goblins not far from Red Star Mine.
Roaming Goblin, Normal Level 4, HP: 400.
Compared to Kobolds, Roaming Goblins were more agile and good at dodging, but their attack and defense were nothing special.
Besides, Dark Moon Valley hadn't been developed yet, and there were plenty of low-level monsters around. With no one competing for kills, there was no need to go looking for monsters.
Shi Feng was already a level 3 Swordsman, and Heizi was a level 2 Cursemancer. With Shi Feng keeping the Roaming Goblins occupied up front, their daggers couldn't touch him while he had Agile Swiftness active. Meanwhile, Heizi drank Black Iron Beer and dealt heavy damage from behind. They could kill the Roaming Goblins with ease, even faster than they'd been farming Kobolds.
Outside Red Star Mine, Kobolds lay in heaps, while all kinds of ore and copper coins were scattered across the ground.
"Brother Tiger, this place is amazing! It's been barely half an hour, and everyone's already level 2. We even got a ton of money."
"Hahaha! Keep it up, everyone. You three, go lure more monsters. If we keep farming, we'll reach level 3 in less than three or four hours."
Flame Tiger excitedly directed the three Assassins who had just arrived, sending them to lure more Kobolds. The magic classes were all level 2 now, and their kill speed had improved dramatically. Luring just thirty-odd Kobolds at once was nowhere near enough.
"Brother Tiger, something dropped!" shouted a Berserker, holding up a book.
"Bring it here. Let me take a look." Seeing the drop, Flame Tiger licked his dry lips and grinned.
Flame Tiger took the book and immediately burst into laughter.
"This is great, absolutely great! Not only did I take over the place that brat worked so hard to find, but now I've got a rare skill book for Swordsmen, too. I'd love to see the look on that brat's face when he realizes!"
"Brother Tiger, I saw that brat when I came here. They're still killing Roaming Goblins nearby. They must be thinking about this place and really hate that we took it. Why don't we go kill them, just to be safe?" Shadow Wolf's eyes gleamed coldly, and his murderous intent was palpable. He held a deep grudge against Shi Feng for killing him twice.
Flame Tiger waved a hand and laughed dismissively. "Let them watch. They can see us level up and make money fast, while we become the overlords of Red Leaf Town and they're left standing around, feeling nothing but regret and resentment. Hahaha! Just thinking about it feels great."
Shadow Wolf had some complaints about that, but when he pictured Shi Feng grinding away at Roaming Goblins outside, full of regret, he couldn't help feeling pleased.
"Just you wait. Once I reach level 6, you're dead." Shadow Wolf hadn't given up on killing Shi Feng. In fact, imagining how satisfying it would be to kill him once he reached level 6 filled him with anticipation.
Meanwhile, in the woods sixty yards south of Red Star Mine, Shi Feng watched Flame Tiger and the others from behind the trees.
"Brother Feng, can the two of us really do this?" Heizi asked worriedly.
These eleven players weren't ordinary gamers. They were experts who had passed the Shadow Studio's assessment, and they even had two healers. There was no way the two of them could kill them all.
"Don't worry. It's almost time. We'll just watch the show." Shi Feng checked the time and said calmly, "In a moment, stay behind them. Target whoever's low on health, and don't let a single one escape."
"Almost time?" Heizi asked, confused.
Shi Feng pointed at the smoke at the mine entrance and smiled. "Flame Tiger thought it'd be easy to kill monsters above his level. The Smoke Bomb we used before leaving has a time limit. There are only two minutes left before it's been an hour. They think they've taken my territory and can enjoy themselves forever? I'll teach them a lesson now."
Heizi understood, and his admiration for Shi Feng grew even stronger.
"You really are amazing, Brother Feng. Those bastards from Shadow Studio are done for." Heizi grinned.
They'd been able to kill Kobolds above their level without taking damage because of the Smoke Bomb. Without it, they never could have pulled that off. Just imagining what would happen once the smoke disappeared was terrifying.
Two minutes later, the smoke in front of Red Star Mine began to fade.
"Brother Tiger, the smoke's disappearing," an Elementalist said, pointing it out to Flame Tiger.
"The smoke's gone? No way." Flame Tiger, who had been lying down with his eyes closed, sprang to his feet and looked over. The smoke at the entrance had indeed disappeared. "So what if it's gone? The smoke might come and go in cycles. Ignore it and keep killing."
As soon as Flame Tiger finished speaking, the usually dull and passive Kobolds all turned to face everyone from Shadow Studio.
More than forty groups of Kobolds glared at them with bloodshot eyes and let out furious roars. They had finally noticed the people who'd been attacking them, and they charged forward as one.
The people from Shadow Studio didn't have time to react. They were instantly mobbed by the Kobolds. Level 2 players couldn't withstand three hits from a Kobold, let alone a whole group.
In the blink of an eye, seven people were dead. The others in the back panicked and fled for their lives.
But the Kobolds were fast. Before long, they caught up with the fleeing magic classes and each smashed a hammer into a mage's head. All the mages ended up sprawled on the ground.
"Damn it, what the hell is going on? Why did these Kobolds suddenly go berserk?" Flame Tiger had seen things go south and taken off running. He cursed as he fled.
The whole team had worked hard to reach level 2, but now that they'd died, they'd all fallen back to level 1. The three Assassins had even dropped to level 0. They'd suffered a huge loss. Their dream of becoming the overlords of Red Leaf Town had gone up in smoke, and now Shadow Studio was behind ordinary players in level—and far behind the other guilds.
Flame Tiger's heart was bleeding.
"We meet again, 'Rich Brother.'" Shi Feng stood in Flame Tiger's path and smiled calmly.
At the sight of Shi Feng's cold smile, even Flame Tiger could figure out that the Kobolds' rampage had to be his doing.
"You're dead, brat! You actually set me up. If I don't beat you back to level 0, I'll change my name!" Flame Tiger roared in fury, hoisted his shield, and swung it at Shi Feng.
Compared to the rest of Shadow Studio, Flame Tiger was clearly more skilled.
He used his large shield to block Shi Feng's view while stabbing at his vitals with his short sword—simple, vicious, and hard to defend against.
But Flame Tiger's confident strike missed.
"Where'd he go?" Flame Tiger stared ahead, but there wasn't a person in sight.
"Right here." Shi Feng stood behind Flame Tiger and swung his sword.
Slash!
-36 damage appeared above Flame Tiger's head, dropping his 220 HP to 184 in an instant.
After being hit, Flame Tiger hurriedly turned and used Shield Bash.
But Shi Feng had already read his move. He stepped back, spun around behind the shield, then moved behind Flame Tiger again and struck with another sword swing.
Without a skill to boost its damage, the attack dealt only 23 damage against the Shield Warrior's high defense.
"You coward! If you've got guts, stop dodging. I'll finish you in a few seconds!" Flame Tiger couldn't land a hit on the nimble Shi Feng, while his own HP kept falling. Now he had only 83 left, and he had no way to counter Shi Feng's attacks. So he taunted him, hoping Shi Feng would get angry and give him a chance to take him down.
"Sure. I'll stand still. Come attack me." Shi Feng agreed without hesitation.
Flame Tiger smirked. He hadn't expected Shi Feng to be so stupid. He'd only goaded him a little, and he'd fallen for it at once.
"Let's see how I finish you off!" Flame Tiger raised his shield and charged straight at Shi Feng. If Shi Feng didn't dodge, he'd have to face him head-on—and Flame Tiger was sure he could win in a contest of strength.
But Flame Tiger was in for a disappointment.
As soon as he was two yards from Shi Feng, Shi Feng used Wind Thunder Flash.
Three flashes of lightning pierced the shield and passed through Flame Tiger's body. Three huge damage numbers, -28, -35, and -41, appeared above his head, and his HP dropped to 0.
"You... You're despicable!" Flame Tiger glared at Shi Feng, so furious that he spat blood. If he hadn't charged forward, the skill couldn't have hit him with all three strikes.
"Rich Brother, are you all right? I said I'd stand still, not that I wouldn't fight back. Why are you so naive that you charged right at me?" Shi Feng spread his hands, pretending it was all a misunderstanding. "Oh, and I really should thank you, Rich Brother. You gave me all this ore and saved me a lot of trouble."
Flame Tiger pointed at Shi Feng as if he wanted to say something, but his body had already turned into starlight and vanished before he could utter a word. All he left behind was a pile of ore and a book.