"A Boss Monster spawned!"
At that startled shout,
Lin Mo turned around. Sure enough, deep in Medicine Valley, a gigantic man-eating flower with three heads and three gaping, bloodthirsty mouths had spawned in a clearing!
The players were fired up.
"Everybody move! I saw this Boss Monster first! It's mine!"
"You saw jack shit! Why don't you just say you spawned it yourself?"
"Quit yapping! Whoever kills it first gets it! Let your strength do the talking!"
From every direction, countless players brandished their Novice Swords and raced toward the Man-Eating Flower Boss.
Clearly, everyone knew just how valuable a level 5 Boss Monster was this early in the game!
It was their key to pulling far ahead of the other players, edging into the top ten of Cloudside Town's leveling leaderboard, and winning a cash prize of at least ten thousand and as much as a hundred thousand!
But all they saw was how valuable the Boss Monster was.
They overlooked how pathetically weak they were...
Roar! Roar! Roar!
The Man-Eating Flower Boss kept spitting green slime from its mouths, attacking the players closing in around it.
Splat!
Splat!
-78!
-77!
The staggering damage instantly killed every player it hit, without exception!
After all, every player started with only 3 constitution.
At this early stage, no one would waste the attribute points awarded for leveling up on constitution.
Even with all Five-Dimensional Attributes automatically increasing by 1 each level, a level 3 player only had 6 constitution, equivalent to 60 HP.
There was clearly no way they could withstand the Man-Eating Flower Boss's damage!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
As one flash of white light after another flared up,
the players finally stopped charging.
"Holy shit! That damage is insane!"
"What the fuck... I can't even take one hit! Show your face and you're dead?"
"Go ahead, guys! I don't want it anymore! You can have this Boss Monster!"
"Well, thank you so much! There really are plenty of good people in this world!"
The players stared in stunned disbelief, no longer daring to approach recklessly.
After all, even under Oracle's rules, which gave players newbie protection before level 10, every death still cost them 10% of their current level's experience!
And making that round trip from the starter village would waste at least half an hour!
Just as the players stood helpless before this level 5 Boss Monster with its devastating damage, daring only to watch from afar rather than approach,
a figure emerged from the crowd and headed straight toward the Man-Eating Flower Boss.
Instantly, every gaze settled on the player who had stuck his neck out.
With their effects and luster hidden, the gold-quality [World-Shattering · Flowing Light Sword] and orange-quality Novice Pants looked no different from a white-quality Novice Sword and Novice Pants.
When the spectators saw that this bold challenger was merely another rookie in starter equipment just like them, derisive voices immediately rang out from the crowd.
"Someone really does have a death wish?"
"Young man, don't try to act tough when you don't have the strength! Just stay put like us and wait for someone with a high-tier talent or some big-spending whale to take it down!"
"Ignore your elders and you'll pay for it! What an arrogant little brat!"
Lin Mo did things his own way.
He paid no attention to the others' mockery.
As he approached the Man-Eating Flower Boss, he cast Reconnaissance on it.
Man-Eating Flower Boss, level 5 Boss Monster. Attack: 80! Defense: 40! HP: 810!
Aside from having slightly higher base stats than ordinary man-eating flowers,
it also had a skill: Liquid Corrosion (sprayed corrosive liquid at an enemy, dealing damage equal to 110% of attack and inflicting corrosion for 3 seconds, dealing 8% of the initial damage each second)!
For ordinary players currently around level 3, this Boss Monster appearing now was indeed a disaster.
But for Lin Mo, who was already level 5 and possessed a gold-quality weapon and orange-quality armor,
it was nothing!
The moment Lin Mo entered its attack range,
Liquid Corrosion!
Splat!
The Man-Eating Flower Boss opened its gaping maw and spat a glob of green slime straight at Lin Mo.
With the 20 agility granted by his gold-quality Flowing Light Sword bringing his total agility to a whopping 28,
Lin Mo swiftly leaped aside and dodged the attack.
The sight took the onlookers by surprise.
"He actually dodged the Man-Eating Flower Boss's attack?"
"Pfft, pure luck! He dodged once, but can he do it twice?"
Just as a bespectacled spectator eager to stir up trouble finished speaking,
Whoosh!
Lin Mo tilted sideways and easily dodged the Man-Eating Flower Boss's second ranged attack!
The bespectacled player froze for a moment.
Then he gave another disdainful snort. "What good is dodging? You've got to be able to fight! Out here, strength is what counts!"
No sooner had he spoken,
than Lin Mo swiftly closed in on the Man-Eating Flower Boss.
Slash!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
With 28 agility, he swung his sword in a rapid combo!
The next second,
damage numbers that stunned everyone rose above the Man-Eating Flower Boss's head-
-90!
-135 (critical hit)!
-135 (critical hit)!
His tremendous agility not only made Lin Mo nimble, but also gave him high attack speed and an astonishing critical hit rate!
A few sword strikes had cut away nearly half the Man-Eating Flower Boss's HP.
A chorus of sharp gasps instantly swept through the crowd.
"What the fuck... is that damage?"
"Holy shit! Is this guy cheating?"
"I thought he was a noob at first glance! Turns out he's a big shot hiding in plain sight!"
While the players buzzed with discussion,
the Man-Eating Flower Boss bit Lin Mo at close range, taking 28 HP.
He promptly swung his sword again, easily finishing off the Man-Eating Flower Boss.
[Ding! You killed the level 5 Boss Monster, Man-Eating Flower Boss. EXP +800, reputation +3!]
One Boss Monster gave twenty times the experience of an ordinary monster of the same level!
That felt great!
Boom!
As the Man-Eating Flower Boss's enormous body crashed to the ground,
Clatter!
A small pile of loot tumbled from its corpse.
Meanwhile, the surrounding spectators began to stir.
Lin Mo seemed to have anticipated this.
He said nothing.
Shunk!
He simply drove the Flowing Light Sword he had just used to kill the Man-Eating Flower Boss firmly into the ground.
The gesture sent a clear message to the surrounding players:
Anyone who tries to steal my loot dies!
Intimidated by Lin Mo, none of the surrounding players coveting the Boss Monster's loot dared to move!
After all, they had witnessed his strength firsthand.
In their minds, an expert like him surely had considerable status and powerful connections in the real world as well.
Offending such a big shot over a little loot and ending up hunted across the entire server simply wasn't worth it!
And so, under everyone's gaze, Lin Mo calmly collected all the loot.
[Ding! You picked up 3 silver coins and 25 copper coins!] [Ding! You picked up an E-rank skill book: Poisoning!] [Ding! You picked up tier 1 blue-quality equipment: Venomous Ring!]
Before you continue