Mayor Cross's furious roar echoed throughout the town hall.
Cross was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Shi Feng, throwing a punch at him.
All the players looked at Shi Feng with schadenfreude, eager to see just how powerful Mayor Cross was.
Cross was a Level 15 Elite who could kill a player with a single slap. Yet Shi Feng had foolishly provoked the mayor. No one in Red Leaf Town could save him. He would either be locked up for the rest of his life or driven out of Red Leaf Town.
Shi Feng, however, was surprisingly calm. This left the players baffled. Had he already made peace with the fact that he was going to die?
Just as Cross was about to hit him, Shi Feng finally moved. Like a hunter waiting for his prey to take the bait, he instantly drew his Novice Sword and held it in front of himself with incredible speed.
Bang!
Cross's fist struck the Novice Sword, sending Shi Feng flying. Just as he was about to hit the ground, Shi Feng twisted in midair like a nimble cat and landed steadily on his feet. However, his HP had instantly dropped by 84 points, and the Novice Sword trembled violently. Its durability had decreased by 1 point. Once its durability reached zero, the weapon would be unusable.
Hiss.
All the players sucked in a sharp breath.
They had thought he was a noob who was asking for trouble. But anyone with a discerning eye could tell from Shi Feng's performance that he was highly skilled. Even though Cross was a magic class with little physical damage, he was still a Level 15 Elite, and any one of his attacks could kill the players as they were now. Yet Shi Feng hadn't died. He had blocked the attack with his weapon and reduced the damage to a minimum.
"He's clearly a magic class, but his strength and speed are incredible." Shi Feng looked at the Novice Sword in his hand, which was letting out a mournful cry, and marveled inwardly. Thank goodness I put all my points into Agility earlier, bringing my Attack Speed to 4. Otherwise, I'd be dead, and I'd have to redo the quest.
"Die, you bug!"
Cross grew even angrier when his attack failed. Suddenly, his clothes tore apart, revealing black fur all over his body. In the blink of an eye, he had turned into a werewolf with sharp fangs and claws.
All the players were stunned. They hadn't expected the mayor to be an evil werewolf in disguise.
Cross blurred out of sight and reappeared behind Shi Feng. He raised his gleaming claws and slashed at Shi Feng's chest.
With only 16 HP remaining, Shi Feng gave a cold smile.
Cross's claws suddenly stopped. They were only a few centimeters away from killing Shi Feng, but a Level 25 guard had struck him with Charge, stunning him for one second.
Shi Feng quickly got away during that time.
As soon as Cross recovered, he chased after Shi Feng again, but another guard interrupted him.
Both Level 25 guards were Warriors. Though they weren't Elites, their damage was still high. A Charge followed by a normal attack took more than 300 HP from Cross. Together, the two guards dealt over 600 damage, instantly dropping Cross's HP to just over 1,700.
"No wonder they're guards. Their attacks are fierce." Shi Feng watched Cross struggle and teased him.
Guards were the town's protectors, tasked with safeguarding its ordinary citizens and fending off evil. Now that the mayor had turned into a werewolf, he had proven that he wasn't human at all, but an infiltrator for the forces of evil. Naturally, the guards wouldn't let him go. They treated him like a monster and attacked him.
Shylock's request seemed like a harsh quest, but all Shi Feng had to do was get the mayor to attack him and survive the first blow. Once he did that, the mayor would reveal his true nature, and the guards would take care of the rest.
In his previous life, this unique quest had caused a sensation throughout White River City because the mayor was an infiltrator for the forces of evil. It had given many players a new perspective on God's Domain: NPCs weren't necessarily trustworthy. They could be disguised agents of evil.
Players had also been shocked by the way this player had lured the mayor into attacking him. The player who managed it had wracked his brain and struggled to complete the quest. Once he finished, he naturally wanted to show off and posted a guide. Now Shi Feng was the one benefiting from it.
Mayor Cross was attacked by the two guards. Though their damage was high, Cross kept targeting Shi Feng and chasing after him. Unfortunately for Cross, the guards kept him occupied. One used Hamstring, while the other used Thunderclap, drastically reducing his movement speed. Thankfully, Shi Feng had 5 points of Movement Speed, so he always managed to escape with his life.
Shi Feng whittled away over 2,000 HP. Cross was on the verge of death.
When the players saw that Cross was about to die, they grew restless, eager to land the final blow on the mayor. They didn't understand why the guards were attacking Cross instead of killing Shi Feng, but the mayor was a Level 15 Elite. If he died, he was bound to drop something good.
Shi Feng, watching from a distance, scoffed.
They thought they could attack the mayor? Even though he had become part of the forces of evil, this was a story quest. To other players, the mayor still had a Friendly status, so they couldn't attack him at all.
When Cross had less than 100 HP remaining, all the players sprang into action, charging toward Mayor Cross to land the final blow and plunder his drops.
Seeing that Cross was only one hit away from death, Shi Feng rushed over as well.
Unfortunately, Cross died at the guards' swords. Not a single player managed to attack him. Though Shi Feng could have attacked, he didn't take the risk. After the mayor died, he simply took the Mayor's Badge and disappeared into the crowd.
Even if an NPC in a city was killed, they wouldn't grant EXP or drop anything. If not for the quest, Shi Feng wouldn't have been able to take the Mayor's Badge, either.
"Damn it, a system bug! Why can't I attack the mayor?"
"I want to file a complaint! Why didn't the mayor drop anything when he died?"
Some noob players complained nonstop, furious and unable to accept that a Level 15 Elite had died right in front of them without their getting anything out of it.
"Idiots. Don't you know you have a Friendly relationship with the NPC? Players can't attack NPCs they're Friendly with. If you don't even know that much, why are you playing God's Domain?"
A few players who understood the situation mocked them before searching for Shi Feng. Someone who could kill the mayor like that was surely an expert, and they wanted to make friends with him. But after searching for a long time, they couldn't find Shi Feng—or even learn his name. They couldn't help feeling regretful.
News of Mayor Cross's death spread throughout Red Leaf Town, causing a sensation among all the players.
While everyone else was still struggling to level up by killing monsters, someone had toyed with a town mayor until he died. That was incredible.
Less than thirty minutes after God's Domain had launched, a post appeared on the official forums.
A Mysterious Swordsman Kills Red Leaf Town's Level 15 Elite Mayor. The Mayor Was a Werewolf in Disguise—What Kind of Game Is God's Domain?
The post immediately caused a sensation among all God's Domain players. Its click count topped ten million in no time. Everyone was curious about the mysterious swordsman, but no one knew his name or how to contact him.
By then, Shi Feng had already arrived in a dim alley.
"Mr. Shylock, here's the Mayor's Badge you wanted." Shi Feng handed the silver badge to Shylock, the beggar.
For players who had already accepted the mayor's quest or wanted to accept it, completing this quest was a disaster. Cross wouldn't respawn, so even if they completed the quest, they would have nowhere to turn it in. Red Leaf Town would no longer have a mayor, either. Shi Feng didn't care about any of that, though.
"Thank you. Thank you so much. Now I've avenged my friend, too. I hope these items will be of some help to you."
Shylock handed Shi Feng a small, exquisite box, then left the dim alley with the Mayor's Badge.
System: Unique Quest "Shylock's Request" completed. Rewards: 2,000 EXP, 20 Free Mastery Points, Luxury Accessory Box.
With a flash, Shi Feng reached Level 1. He was 1,000 EXP away from Level 2. God's Domain had been live for thirty minutes, and Shi Feng had already become the highest-level player in Red Leaf Town. An ordinary player needed 1,000 EXP to reach Level 1, which would take six or seven hours of grinding. After all, a Level 0 monster gave only 3 EXP, and players also had to find monsters and recover their HP. With so many players crammed together at the start, everyone was fighting over the same monsters. Taking more than ten hours to reach Level 1 was normal.
"Why are the rewards for a unique quest so generous? Could it be because I completed it at Level 0?" Shi Feng wondered. Still, he was very satisfied with the rewards.
The rewards posted in his previous life hadn't been nearly this generous. The EXP was the same, but the Free Mastery Points were different. That player had received only 10 points and an Exquisite Accessory Box, whereas Shi Feng had received 20 points and a Luxury Accessory Box.
Free Mastery Points were extremely precious in God's Domain. Only a handful of quests awarded 3 to 5 points, yet this unique quest had given him 20 at once.
"I hope this doesn't disappoint me. It's not an Exquisite Accessory Box, but the Luxury Accessory Box is supposed to be even better. It should have something good inside." Shi Feng carefully cradled the accessory box. His throat bobbed as he swallowed, and he felt a little nervous as he slowly opened it.
EXP and Free Mastery Points were all well and good, but what Shi Feng really wanted was the item inside the accessory box. It was crucial to his plans for leveling up and making money, and it was also a top-tier item that had made countless experts drool in his previous life. If anything went wrong, he'd be devastated.
For readers interested in the backstories of some of this book's characters or the world of God's Domain, follow Tianyun Old Cat's WeChat public account to read content that couldn't be included in the book.