[Ding, the item you listed at the auction house has been purchased by a player. The transaction amount is 30,000 yuan, with a 4,500 yuan fee deducted. The remaining 25,500 yuan has been transferred to your linked bank account.]
"What the heck, why did the price go up?" Wu Shaochen exclaimed in surprise as he checked the transaction record. "This doesn't make sense!" Logically, the second piece of equipment shouldn't be more valuable than the first, especially since the first one was a weapon. How did the price increase? Wu Shaochen couldn't figure it out. He was about to list it for 15,000 yuan, but luckily, he didn't.
He quickly checked his bank account balance and grinned foolishly at the 43,200 yuan. To be honest, he had never seen so much money in his life; it felt like a dream.
"Bang!"
Just as Wu Shaochen was daydreaming, he heard a bang and was sent flying, crashing into a tree with stars circling his head, stunned for a second.
-90
"Damn, you sneak attacked me!" Wu Shaochen cursed. He had been so distracted by the money that he forgot he was in the middle of fighting monsters. After battling so many wild boars, he finally experienced the taste of a Savage Charge.
While Wu Shaochen was stunned, the wild boar rammed him again.
-55
Fortunately, Wu Shaochen's health was now at 230. If he were still at level 3, he would have been sent back to the village by now. Although dying in the Novice Village doesn't cause level loss, it does result in equipment loss. In Oracle, death means losing equipment, and with gear being so valuable, losing even one piece would be heartbreaking.
Wu Shaochen retaliated with a sword strike at the wild boar and ran away, cursing, "Damn, that hurt! Even at 5% pain sensitivity, it still hurts. Did it hit my kidney?" He glared at the pursuing wild boar, thinking, "You're dead."
Under the torment of Wu Shaochen's poison and taunts, the wild boar finally succumbed after two minutes. It dropped two copper coins, a fang, and a piece of equipment.
"Huh, the equipment dropped pretty quickly this time. Looks like it's compensation for me." He picked it up and examined it.
[Boar Leather Pants]
Quality: Blank Slate
Health +40
Defense +2
Requirements: None
After quickly equipping it, Wu Shaochen opened his character interface again.
Name: Chen Feng
Level: 4
Health: 270
Mana: 90
Physical Attack: 12
Physical Defense: 17
Magical Defense: 5
Movement Speed: 28
Experience: 1564/2000
Strength: 5
Intelligence: 5
Physique: 5
Constitution: 5
Spirit: 5
Agility: 25
Skills: Insight
Talent: Source of Venom: Inflicts 16 points of true damage per second on the target, lasting 60 seconds, stackable once.
Equipment:
[Wooden Sword] (Novice Equipment): Physical Attack +2
[Boar Leather Armor] Blank Slate Equipment: Health +40, Defense +2
[Canvas Shoes] Blank Slate Equipment: Speed +3, Defense +2
[Boar Leather Helmet] Blank Slate Equipment: Health +30, Defense +3
[Boar Belt] Blank Slate Equipment: Health +30, Defense +3
[Boar Leather Pants] Blank Slate Equipment: Health +40, Defense +2
With most of the defensive gear equipped, Wu Shaochen had a full boar set, though it wasn't a complete set. It seemed boars didn't drop accessories, but it didn't matter. For Wu Shaochen, attack wasn't important; defensive gear was more appealing.
Looking at his current stats, Wu Shaochen frowned. These stats weren't enough to take on wild wolves, but with all the defensive gear equipped, the only way to improve was to level up, which seemed pointless.
Wu Shaochen calculated again. Wild wolves had 4,000 health points, and his poison dealt 16 damage per second. It would take five applications of poison to kill one wild wolf, meaning he would have to endure five hits. If it was a normal attack, it wouldn't matter; after reducing defense, he would only take 98 damage. With a recovery rate of 2 points per second, 50 seconds would be enough. But if he took skill damage, it would be 155 damage, which was still manageable. The main concern was triggering the bleeding effect, which would complicate things because bleeding didn't count as leaving combat. He would have to wait ten seconds after bleeding ended to start healing, leaving only 40 seconds for recovery, meaning he could only regain 80 health. In that case, he would have to use potions.
Glancing at the six small red potions in his backpack, Wu Shaochen made up his mind: "Let's do it. Worst case, I'll drink potions. Killing one is better than none, and gaining a talent point is worth it."
Having decided, Wu Shaochen immediately set off for the wild wolf area. He quickly crossed the Wild Boar Forest and arrived at the Wild Wolf Plains, feeling nervous at the sight of the packs of wild wolves.
Luring monsters was a skill in itself, as he didn't know the aggro range of the monsters. Trying to lure just one was quite challenging, but fortunately, Wu Shaochen was much faster than the wild wolves. If he attracted too many, he could always run back to the Wild Boar Forest; once out of their territory, they would stop chasing him.
Wu Shaochen cautiously approached the nearest wild wolves, trying to lure one out. As he entered their aggro range, four or five wild wolves started chasing him.
Wu Shaochen kept trying, and after more than ten minutes and countless attempts, he finally managed to lure a lone, foolish wolf.
Wu Shaochen grinned wickedly at the approaching wild wolf and swung his sword.
-1
-16
Perhaps Wu Shaochen's grin insulted the wild wolf, as it immediately bit him.
-155
[Ding, you have been affected by the bleeding effect, losing 5 health per second for 10 seconds.]
"Son of a..." Wu Shaochen felt like cursing. What kind of luck was this, getting hit right away?
Wu Shaochen quickly ran away, leading the wild wolf in circles while taking out a red potion from his backpack and drinking it with a pained expression. These things had such a low drop rate; drinking one meant having one less.
Timing it right, he struck the wild wolf again just as the poison was about to wear off. The wolf retaliated with a claw, but fortunately, it wasn't a skill attack, Wu Shaochen thought with relief.
Unfortunately, his relief was short-lived. On the third attack, he was bitten again, and once more, the bleeding effect was triggered.
***
"Isn't the bleeding effect supposed to have a 50% chance? Why do I keep getting hit every time?" Gritting his teeth, he drank another red potion. Using two potions for one wild wolf was too costly.
The fourth attack was a normal one, passing safely. The fifth attack resulted in a bite, but luckily, it didn't trigger bleeding. Even if the last attack triggered bleeding, he wouldn't need to drink another potion; he could just wait a bit before luring the next one.
Soon, the first wild wolf fell to the ground, full of resentment.
[Ding, you have killed a [Wild Wolf], gaining 40 experience points. Five-level kill bonus: 20 extra experience points.]
[Ding, talent trait triggered, poison damage increased by 1 point.]
It had been a while since he heard this notification, and it felt nostalgic. Although he wasted two red potions, hearing this notification made it all worth it.
Approaching the wild wolf's corpse, he found it surprisingly generous, dropping 4 copper coins and a wolf claw, similar to the boar tusks. He planned to check if there were any quests to submit when he returned to the village.
However, the wild wolves gave quite a bit of experience. At this rate, if he killed six more, he would level up, meaning he could only increase his talent by six more points. It was annoying; why did they give so much experience?
He resumed his monster-luring journey. Fortunately, this time it was quicker, as the gap left by the previously lured wolf made it easy to lure another one.
With his talent increased to 17 points, he only needed to attack wild wolves four times, saving one attack. Unfortunately, Wu Shaochen's luck still wasn't great; out of four attacks, three were skill attacks, and two of them included bleeding. Wu Shaochen could only drink two more red potions with a heavy heart, cursing the wild wolves' entire family.
The wild wolf fell, and his talent increased by another point, reaching 18. However, with only two potions left in his backpack, Wu Shaochen didn't dare continue. If four attacks resulted in three skill attacks with bleeding, he'd be in trouble. Although the odds were low, Wu Shaochen felt that this possibility was quite high for him, as if the main brain had a grudge against him.
Forget it, I'll go back to the village and buy some potions. He had lost interest in farming wild boars; if he was going to farm, it would be wild wolves. Glancing at the over two hundred copper coins in his backpack, Wu Shaochen thought, "Once I buy more potions, I'll farm here with reckless abandon. Having money is liberating."
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan