Wu Shaozhen stared at the auction house in bewilderment. How could anyone click that fast? I'd only just hit confirm, and it vanished before I could even lower my hand. Did I set the price too low, or did some rich player just have too much money?
Those were the Canvas Shoes that had dropped from the first sea turtle he killed. He had been wearing them ever since, until a pair of shoes dropped from a toad just now and finally replaced his longtime companions. He had figured he would list them for ten thousand and see if anyone wanted them, then lower the price if nobody did. After all, they were secondhand shoes he had worn himself. He couldn't go ripping people off, could he?
Ah, looks like I underestimated the value of equipment. Who knew even secondhand shoes would be so popular?
He glanced at the newly dropped Toad Boots: movement speed +5, defense +3. His movement speed had reached 35, and his defense was now 18. Sweet. Time to keep killing.
For the next two hours and more, Wu Shaozhen diligently farmed toads. After killing a full 77 of them, he finally reached level 6. Three pieces of equipment dropped along the way.
[Toad Belt]: HP +40, defense +4 [Toad Helmet]: HP +40, defense +4 [Toad Ring]: HP +20, physical attack +8, attack speed +1%
Since the ring added 20 HP, Wu Shaozhen equipped it himself rather than putting it up for sale.
He listed the Boarhide Belt and Wild Boar Helmet he had replaced in the auction house, setting a ten-minute bidding period.
Ten minutes later, both pieces sold for thirty thousand each.
As players gained levels and better equipment, level 6 wild boar gear no longer offered them such a major boost.
"Finally got one. I didn't expect plain equipment to still cost so much this long after launch," the veiled woman said with a sigh of relief.
"Yes, everyone knows by now that even plain equipment can have better or worse stats, so naturally, gear with higher stats costs more. But it won't get too outrageous. As players gain levels and equipment, the prices will drop quickly. The equipment market in the Novice Village changes by the hour," Uncle Liu said beside her.
"I wonder what sort of person could kill monsters at such a high level. Could some major organization be overwhelming them with sheer numbers?" the woman asked in puzzlement.
"Impossible. If they were using sheer numbers, they would make far too much of a scene for nobody to notice. Besides, a large group would need plenty of equipment for its own members. They wouldn't have any spare gear to sell. So I think the team selling this equipment has no more than five people. It might even be just one person," Uncle Liu reasoned.
The woman nodded, clearly agreeing with Uncle Liu. Yet the figure she had briefly glimpsed last time slipped into her mind.
"Wait, he seemed to be coming from the direction of the Wild Boar Forest!" she suddenly realized.
Could it be him? she wondered. Whatever the case, she would have to pay close attention the next time she met him.
Meanwhile, Wu Shaozhen had no idea someone already had their eye on him. He was checking his stats after leveling up and equipping his new gear, considering how to allocate his five attribute points.
Name: Dustseal Level: 6 HP: 350 MP: 110 Physical attack: 20 Magic attack: 10 Physical defense: 18 Magic defense: 5 Movement speed: 35 Attack speed: 8% (35 agility provided 7% attack speed, plus 1% from the ring) Experience: 3/4000 Strength: 5 Intelligence: 5 Constitution: 5 Vitality: 5 Spirit: 5 Agility: 30 Skill: Insight Talent: source of venom: dealt 23 true damage to the target every second for 60 seconds. Could stack up to 1 time.
"I'll put these five points into constitution. Taking down the Boar King comes first for now, and I'm already fast enough. Five points in constitution will bring my HP up to 400, which gives me four HP of natural regeneration per second. Even 399 HP would only give me three per second."
He immediately added all five attribute points to constitution, bringing his HP to exactly 400. He checked the potions in his inventory. He had originally had nine bottles left and had picked up another six just now, giving him fifteen red potions in total. He felt ready to take on the Boar King. He had been itching to fight this boss for ages.
He ran through the Boar King's stats in his head again. It has 250 attack, and I have 20 defense, so each hit will deal 230 damage. I can recover 200 HP in fifty seconds. That should be fine. I know Brutal Charge inside out, so dodging it shouldn't be hard. I just need to stay away while Frenzy is active. The only worry is the poison wearing off during those thirty seconds of Frenzy, but there's nothing I can do about that. Worst case, the fight takes a little longer.
"All right, it's settled. Let's go get it." Having made up his mind, Wu Shaozhen headed toward the Boar King.
When he saw the Boar King's enormous body again, Wu Shaozhen still felt uneasy. His stats had improved considerably, but that oppressive presence remained.
He slowly approached the Boar King and soon entered its aggro range. The Boar King let out a roar and immediately rushed at him with Brutal Charge.
"Holy shit, why's the windup different?" Wu Shaozhen hurriedly dodged aside. Ordinary wild boars scraped their front hooves twice before activating the skill. Why didn't the Boar King do that? Why did it roar instead? Fortunately, all that time fighting wild boars had made dodging Brutal Charge almost a reflex, so he still avoided it.
Taking advantage of the one-second pause after the Boar King's skill ended, Wu Shaozhen turned and slashed its rump, then quickly darted away. Watching the ticks of 23 damage rise above its head, he calculated how long it would take to kill.
Under normal circumstances, the poison would kill it in a little over half an hour. But he couldn't approach it during the thirty seconds of Frenzy, so he had to account for the possibility of the poison wearing off during that window. With 50,000 HP, the Boar King could regenerate 500 HP per second. That would be tricky. Still, he would deal with it when the time came. If necessary, he would tank a hit to reapply the poison. He had potions, after all.
Looking tense, Wu Shaozhen kited the Boar King, staying ready to dodge its Brutal Charge at any moment and landing another slash each time he avoided it. For three straight minutes, the Boar King failed to touch him even once. Finally, it grew furious.
"Roar!"
With a mighty roar, the boar reared upright, its height instantly exceeding three meters. It pounded its chest twice with its front legs, then chased Wu Shaozhen again.
Good grief, that's pretty intimidating. Thank goodness it doesn't gain movement speed, or this would be impossible, Wu Shaozhen thought. He calculated the remaining poison duration: twenty-eight seconds. No problem. HP regeneration would only begin ten seconds after the poison ended, so he could let it rampage for now.
Just like that, Wu Shaozhen seemed to have the Boar King completely under control. None of its tricks mattered if it couldn't catch him. Although Brutal Charge lacked the two hoof scrapes as a windup, it still roared first. With his thorough understanding of the skill, dodging it really wasn't difficult, especially with his movement speed of 35.
During the fight, the Boar King activated Frenzy six times. Only once did it activate just as the poison was about to wear off, forcing Wu Shaozhen to take a hit while landing a slash to reapply it. He lost 355 HP. The 50% increase in attack speed wasn't enough for it to land a second attack before he escaped-it would have needed to attack twice per second for that. In the end, Wu Shaozhen got away after a scare but without further harm.
A little over half an hour later, the Boar King's HP dropped to 10%, and it activated its final lifesaving skill. But it didn't do a damn thing. It stood there like an idiot for ten seconds without recovering a single point of HP. Of all the Boar Kings across the Novice Villages, this one probably had it the worst.
Before you continue