The feeling of taking down the big fat guy and starting the game with a red name can only be described with one word: satisfying.
Kai didn’t waste any time and immediately went to find higher-level monsters to level up.
Stepping into a bamboo grove, he spotted green snakes coiled around the stalks, spaced roughly five meters apart.
He checked one right away.
—Bamboo Viper!
(Common Monster) Level: 3 HP: 600 Physical Attack: 21–39 Magic Attack: 0 Physical Defense: 15 Magic Defense: 0 Move Speed: 8 (Don’t be fooled by its bright, vivid green scales — its attacks carry a chance to inflict lethal poison.) For a Level 3 monster, its stats were shockingly high.
The Bamboo Viper’s Defense sat at 15, while Kai’s Attack was only 11.
It was nowhere near enough to break through it head-on.
Still, its Speed was only 8.
If he kept his distance right and made good use of the Universe Quiver alongside Soul Reaper, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Kai first pulled out the complimentary Transformation Mask the system had given him and put it on.
The mask didn’t add any stats, but it hid his face and basic info.
A solid way to sidestep a lot of headaches.
With the mask on,he pulled a Level 1 Spirit Arrow from the Universe Quiver, drew his bow from fifteen meters out, and took aim at one of the Bamboo Vipers.
SWOOSH!
An arrow was shot.
Damage: -11!
A Level 1 Spirit Arrow carried a flat 10 true damage, so landing 11 damage without triggering Soul Reaper was about right.
—DING!
“Soul Reaper trigger chance increased to 5.5%!” Kai’s eyes lit up at that.
Which meant — no matter how bad his luck was, once he’d landed 98 arrows on the same target, Soul Reaper was guaranteed to trigger and insta-kill it.
Once his attack speed got fast enough, even a boss standing right in front of him probably wouldn’t last ten seconds.
HISS!
The Bamboo Viper bared its fangs wide, its jade-green body sliding down off the bamboo stalk with a slithering rasp.
Kai wasn’t some game newbie.
The instant he shot the arrow, he stepped back twice, and without missing a beat, pulled a second Level 1 Spirit Arrow from the Universe Quiver.
He drew and fired.
Damage: -11!
Soul Reaper’s trigger chance climbed to 6%.
Kai kept stepping back two paces with every arrow he fired, keeping his distance as best he could.
His movement speed was 10; the Bamboo Viper’s was 8.
As long as he played it right, he could take it down this viper without taking a single hit.
Damage: -11, -11, -11… After firing off eleven arrows in a row, Soul Reaper’s chance had climbed to 13%.
With 490 HP left, the Bamboo Viper was now less than three meters from Kai.
As he attacked with arrows, he also retreated, which naturally affected his normal movement speed.
Even though he was 2 points faster than the viper, he was about to be caught up.
Another arrow is fired, triggering [Soul Reaper], damage: -490!
DING!
“(Congratulations on defeating a level 3 [Bamboo Viper], gaining 17 experience points.)” The corpse of the viper immediately collapsed to the ground.
This vaper was a level 3 monster, and the normal experience value should be 15 points.
Kaii killed it, which was above his level, so he got an experience bonus and it was 17 points.
The drop rate in the [Ancient Realms] was extremely low, and the probability of ordinary monsters dropping equipment was even more outrageously low.
Killing a level 3 Viper yielded 17 experience points but not even half a game coin.
Kai didn’t care and continued playing.
Immediately, it selected another bamboo viper 15 meters away and fired an arrow.
This time, Kai had bad luck; he fired a full 21 arrows before triggering the [Soul Reaper], and in the process he lost 23 HP.
Fortunately, the bite did not trigger poisoning.
The battle continued.
When Kai killed the 5th [Bamboo Leaf Green], his health had dropped to 14 points.
Fortunately, after killing the [Bamboo Leaf Viper], he had just enough experience to level up, and a comfortable warm current flowed through his body.
DING!
“(Congratulations on successfully leveling up to level 1 and gaining 5 freely distributable attribute points.)” After the upgrade, the vitality was restored to full, and the total Health Points increased from 100 points to 105.
Defense increased by 1 point, and attack increased by 2 points.
Mystic Wing class was inherently fragile.
And with its weak HP and Defense growth were its natural drawbacks.
Kai added all 5 attribute points to Agility, making his body even more agile, and his movement speed increased from 10 to 13.
With the speed boost, farming Bamboo Vipers got a lot smoother.
He went on to kill over thirty more Bamboo Vipers in a row, only getting bitten once.
Kai was already Level 3.
The attribute points allocated in both instances were undoubtedly all placed on Agility, increasing his movement speed to 25 points.
“No way!
Someone’s already appeared at level 3 so quickly?
Is he soloing it?” “Hey, want to join a party?
Our group’s got two Sky Dragons, a Divine Wastes, and a Spirit Blade — we’re just missing a physical ranged Mystic Wing.” “Teaming up together will definitely be more efficient.” A team of four arrived at the bamboo forest.
Upon discovering Kai, they looked mildly surprised and extended an invitation to him.
These four people were able to level up to level 1 so quickly and get here, so they can be considered as minor elite players.
“No need.” Kai refused and turned to leave.
Players had already appeared in the Level 3 hunting grounds, and it wouldn’t be long before more showed up.
He decided to move to a higher-level area and keep grinding alone.
“Tch.” “Monster stats in this game are already this brutal, and he thinks he can solo it this early on.
Talking big without backing it up.” Seeing Kai turn down the offer, the Divine Wastes player in the group scoffed.
“No, he’s not bluffing.
Look — there’s a dozen Bamboo Viper corpses over there that haven’t even respawned yet.” The party leader, a Spirit Blade user, spotted it first and said, clearly caught off guard.
“Damn, these Bamboo Vipers have 600 HP, 15 Defense, 39 Attack, and a poison chance on top of it.” “The server just opened.
How’s he doing this efficiently already?” “He’s probably running a Mystic-tier Link Token and must’ve pulled some solid gear.” “A Mystic-tier stone — that’s 300,000 Star coins a piece wait is he from one of those rich families, I heard they get a discount of Fifty thousand star coins.
Damn, money really does make life easier.” “Captain, it’s a bit difficult for us to farm these [Bamboo Vipers].
Let’s go back and farm level 2 Mountain Boars instead.” “Yeah.” …
Once the group left, Kai made his way into a mountain range.
The vegetation was thick, the trees were so tall that sunlight barely reached the ground and gave it somewhat a shady feel.
Howl, howl, howl!
The cries of a monkey troop suddenly rang out through the trees.
Kai focused his gaze and spotted a group of wild monkeys with white faces, yellow fur, and long tails.
And among them, one was noticeably larger, standing at least 1.6 meters tall and weighing well over 200 pounds.
It was clearly the pack leader.
(Wild Monkey Chieftain!) (Elite Monster) Level: 9 HP: 3,600 Physical Attack: 98–123 Magic Attack: 0 Physical Defense: 45 Magic Defense: 0 Move Speed: 45 Skill: (Vicious Pounce) (A fiercely territorial, short-tempered monkey chieftain, known for tearing apart small creatures that wander onto its turf.
A dangerous creature.) A mini-boss?!
Kai’s eyes flickered with a touch of excitement.
In Ancient Realms, players could view the stats of any monster up to 10 levels above their own.
But even having found a mini-boss, once he saw its numbers, Kai decided not to provoke it for now.
If his first arrow failed to trigger Soul Reaper, the chieftain’s blistering 45 movement speed would catch up to him in seconds and finish off his fragile little frame.
Not to mention the pack of underlings standing guard around it.
It was better to come back once he’d leveled up a bit more.
Reading the room, Kai quietly left the area and soon arrived at the edge of a lake.
And there, moving along the water’s edge, was a monster that made his eyes lit up at once.