All Liars

In the bustling square of Red Leaf Town, flashes of white light flickered as one figure after another appeared—the resurrected members of Shadow Studio.

These people wore dejected expressions, feeling utterly stifled.

Nothing was more painful or agonizing than losing something just after obtaining it.

A moment ago, they had been dreaming of dominating Red Leaf Town and skyrocketing in level; the next second, they were dead, losing both levels and skill proficiency. Furthermore, the experience points accumulated at level 1 were now even lower than before, making them significantly worse off than ordinary players.

Flame Tiger, who had just resurrected, looked livid, his gaze sharp enough to devour someone.

System: Player Ye Feng has killed you. You will resurrect in Red Leaf Town in 3 seconds. Your level will decrease by 1, and all skill proficiency will decrease by 100 points.

"Ye Feng, I won't let you off! I will make you wish you were dead!" Flame Tiger roared as he stared at the data in his system log, scaring other players into scurrying away, not daring to look this madman in the eye.

After venting for a while, Flame Tiger ordered everyone to check their bags to see what they had lost.

Although everyone had suffered a great loss from dying, they had gained experience and loot from farming the Kobolds. This was the only thing that brought them any comfort; at least their hard work hadn't been entirely in vain.

Flame Tiger opened his bag, and a sweet taste rose in his throat; he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Immediately, right now, we are going to Dark Moon Valley. I must kill that brat!" Flame Tiger bellowed, his rage soaring to the heavens.

The skill book he had prepared to use to mock Shi Feng was gone. It was a very rare Swordsman skill and the most valuable item dropped by the Kobolds. Now, it was gone.

But what was most unforgivable was that this skill book had fallen into Shi Feng's hands. In the end, he had been working hard for Shi Feng's benefit. He could not tolerate this. Even killing Shi Feng back to level 0 wouldn't be enough to quench his hatred now.

The other members didn't understand what was wrong with Flame Tiger. Going to find Shi Feng now was a futile effort. No one would be stupid enough to wait for them to come for revenge; he would have definitely slipped away long ago, laughing to himself in some corner.

Just then, Flame Tiger's communication device rang.

"Who is it! Bothering this master at a time like this, are you looking for death?" Flame Tiger cursed as he connected.

"Flame Tiger, your temper has grown quite a bit in just one day." The voice on the other end was cold and sounded extremely angry.

Flame Tiger found the voice very familiar. When he realized the person's identity, his face turned as ugly as it could possibly get: "Brother Zhang, why is it you? I was just disciplining my subordinates. I didn't expect you to contact me. Brother Zhang, please don't take it to heart; I wasn't talking about you."

"Enough. I already know about your affairs. Look at the mess you've made—what has Shadow Studio developed into in Red Leaf Town? I am heading to your location now. From this moment on, you are no longer the captain in Red Leaf Town. The team's Elementalist, Wusheng Yu, will take over temporarily. If I arrive in Red Leaf Town and you haven't reached level 2, get lost. Shadow Studio has no use for trash."

Upon hearing these words, Flame Tiger wilted completely. His hatred for Shi Feng was so deep that even the vast oceans couldn't wash it away.

Meanwhile, in Dark Moon Valley, Shi Feng and Heizi were picking up the items dropped by the Shadow members.

Shi Feng was currently holding the skill book dropped by Flame Tiger.

"Flame Tiger is really too kind, leaving this behind for me." Shi Feng didn't hesitate to choose to learn it.

Wind Chasing Sword: Action-type, requires a sword. Launches a surprise attack on an enemy between 5 and 30 yards away. Movement speed increases by 40% while charging toward the target, and attack speed increases by 20% for 3 seconds. Cooldown: 25 seconds. Level 1, Proficiency 0/300.

With this skill, a Swordsman's mobility was greatly enhanced, providing a strong counter to Rangers and Mages who liked to kite.

"Brother Feng, the Starfall Ore is complete now, and we have quite a bit of Bronze Ore. Shadow really did us a huge favor," Heizi laughed heartily, picking up the dropped ores from the ground. He noticed a dark green ore and picked it up, asking, "Brother Feng, what is this Star Glow Stone?"

Shi Feng, who was busy picking up ore, turned around and ran toward Heizi the moment he heard "Star Glow Stone," ignoring the Starfall Ore at his feet.

"Damn, it really is a Star Glow Stone. Heizi, your luck is too good to be able to pick this up," Shi Feng said excitedly after taking the dark green stone and examining it closely.

Every monster in the world had a one-in-a-million chance of dropping a Star Glow Stone. To others, it might be trash, but to him, it was a priceless treasure and the very thing he needed most.

"Brother Feng, what is this Star Glow Stone used for?" Heizi asked curiously. Seeing the usually calm and collected Shi Feng so excited showed just how precious the stone was.

"It's for eating, though not for players to eat," Shi Feng smiled slightly, offering no further explanation as he put the Star Glow Stone away.

"For eating?" Heizi was confused. Who would eat a stone? But since Shi Feng didn't want to explain, there must be a reason, so he didn't ask further.

Before long, all the loot had been collected. They had harvested a total of 14 Starfall Ores and 32 Bronze Ores, not only completing Shi Feng's quest but exceeding it.

The two then headed to the Blacksmith Workshop.

"Master Jack, I have finished collecting the Starfall Ore you requested." Shi Feng handed over all the Starfall Ore, not keeping a single one. These were quest items; even if sold to an NPC, they were only worth 1 copper per set and were essentially worthless.

"Young man, you've done well. However, to become an outstanding blacksmith, you need sufficient strength to obtain precious ores. There is a powerful Kobold Leader in the Red Star Mine. Go kill it to prove your strength," Master Jack said grandly as he put away the Starfall Ore.

System: Hidden quest 'Path of Forging' requires killing the Kobold Leader in the Red Star Mine. Time limit: 1 hour.

Seeing that there was a second stage to the quest, Shi Feng wanted to curse Yichui Maimai; he had been thoroughly screwed over.

Sure enough, everyone kept secrets; you couldn't trust anyone—they were all liars.

In his previous life, Yichui Maimai hadn't mentioned a second stage at all. Now, a timed second-stage quest had popped up, and it required dealing with a Leader-class monster. That wasn't just some common elite monster; it was stronger than a special elite, equivalent to a dungeon boss. For him, currently only level 3, this was fatal.

In his previous life, Yichui Maimai had only accepted this quest at level 16, making it much simpler to complete.

"Forget it, I'll go take a look first." There was no helping it after being tricked. Shi Feng didn't intend to give up; the talent for forging was too valuable, and he had to learn it.

Shi Feng and Heizi then cleared their way through the Kobolds, venturing deeper into the Red Star Mine.

Compared to the Kobolds at the mine entrance, the ones inside were level 5 instead of level 4. Killing them was time-consuming and exhausting; often, before one was killed, another would respawn. If not for the ample supply of Black Iron Beer to reduce the Kobolds' level by 2, their killing speed wouldn't have kept up with the respawns.

Half an hour later, Shi Feng arrived at the deepest part of the Red Star Mine.

It was a large open area where over a dozen Kobolds were mining. In the center of the clearing stood a massive Kobold clad in armor, constantly directing the others.

Kobold Leader, Leader-class, Level 5, HP 2100/2100.

The HP alone was enough to induce despair, not to mention that the Kobold Leader wore heavy armor, meaning its defense was undoubtedly high. It was almost impossible for physical attacks to deal significant damage. Furthermore, Leader-class monsters had a health regeneration rate of 2% every 5 seconds during combat—meaning it recovered 42 HP every 5 seconds. That might not seem like much, but an ordinary level 5 physical damage dealer might not even be able to deal 42 damage in 5 seconds.

As for killing it without taking damage using Smoke Bombs, that was impossible. The Leader-class monster had a massive field of vision; even for a Kobold, it was 55 yards. Even with a 10-yard reduction, that left 45 yards. Even the Ranger with the longest range only had 40 yards, which wasn't enough.

Looking at the Kobold Leader before him, Shi Feng weighed his options repeatedly and smiled helplessly: "Do I really have to use that?"