The surroundings were eerily quiet, save for the soft rustle of bamboo leaves swaying in the wind. In this tranquil forest, there seemed to be no trace of monsters.
As Edward walked, his eyes scanned the path ahead while his ears tuned in to every sound. Hearing and sight were skills honed through practice; it wasn't merely about increasing HP but also about endurance, perception, and environmental adaptation.
In truth, being vigilant had always been a necessary part of Edward's gameplay, and with his high level of endurance now, he could discern sounds from all sixteen directions without difficulty.
Suddenly, he detected a strange noise. Though it resembled the wind rustling through the leaves, it was unmistakably the sound of footsteps—something was moving in the underbrush, close behind him.
If he were an ordinary player, the first instinct would be to turn around. But Edward knew that doing so would expose a critical vulnerability, inviting the monster to strike. He would not give it the chance; as a gunner, self-preservation was paramount.
Just as he took a few more steps, a gust of wind whipped up behind him, altering the rhythm of the bamboo's rustling. Recognizing this change, Edward made a quick decision. He darted to the left, rolling into a crouch with precise execution.
He had learned this evasive maneuver from Hot Girl; it seemed simple, yet it proved effective. But as he moved, a sharp pain shot through his back. He had been grazed. Looking up, he saw a white blur leap over him, vanishing into the depths of the bamboo forest.
"That was fast," Edward thought, identifying the creature as an ice bear. Glancing at his HP, he was stunned to see it drop by over 500 points.
"Seriously? Is this for real?" he murmured, swallowing hard. "That's an outrageous attack power."
Having taken damage, Edward began calculating his options. The cold temperature meant his HP would recover slowly—he estimated it would take around three minutes to regain 300 points.
"Not buying health potions was a miscalculation," he told himself, shaking off the pain as he continued deeper into the woods.
Before long, the telltale sounds of movement returned. It seemed the ice bear AI was no slouch, adept at executing ambushes from behind.
"So this is what a level 30 monster is like?" Edward mused, deciding to remain still and wait for the bear to strike.
The ice bear did not disappoint. This time, it lunged faster, its claws slicing through the air with a faint whoosh. Drawing on his earlier experience, Edward made a small movement, crouching low just as the bear soared over his head.
Standing back up, he gripped his gun tightly. The Desert Eagle's sights aligned perfectly with the target, but instead of firing immediately, he tracked the bear's airborne trajectory until it landed, bolting twenty meters away. Only then did he squeeze the trigger.
"Boom!"
The gun discharged a burst of golden sparks, and several bamboo stalks shattered with a crack, a pained roar echoed from deep within the forest, accompanied by a flurry of red damage numbers.
Stunned, Edward sank into the snow, speechless.
That shot nearly left him deaf, and a flash of light from the muzzle still lingered in his vision. The tremendous recoil had numbed his wrist, rendering him momentarily lost for words over the power of this "cannon."
—1792!
What kind of figure was that?
This was peak performance for a handgun.
In the realm of shooting, damage derived from three main factors: weapon performance, muzzle energy, and the bullet itself.
Take the basic handgun, for instance; it had little to offer in terms of performance, and its bullets might as well have been peanuts. Damage was solely reliant on energy, with the theoretical muzzle energy pegged at 576 joules. However, actual damage could never reach that figure, often reduced to a mere third of the potential due to various factors, such as an opponent's armor.
Many weapons operated under this principle—even melee weapons had to adhere to it. The purple-tier energy sword previously wielded by Mommy had a damage range of 108–432, with significant limitations, rarely reaching its maximum potential.
But the Desert Eagle was different. Its muzzle energy was already high, and the .50 AE bullet created small explosive effects upon impact, delivering additional penetrating damage. In simpler terms, unless the target had formidable defenses, such attacks largely disregarded any armor.
Of course, AE bullets couldn't compare to true explosive rounds—that was a different tier entirely.
That shot had delivered a staggering 1792 damage, leaving Edward in awe. "Is this what a purple-tier weapon can do? The Desert Eagle truly lives up to its name!"
However, the level 30 ice bear was still standing. Edward believed it was severely injured.
He sprinted the twenty meters to the last impact site, where a pool of blood marked the bear's path. With renewed determination, he thought, "Let's see how far you can run now."
The blood trail was obvious in the snow. After following it deeper into the forest, he discovered a massive ice bear, nearly as tall as him, panting heavily atop a rock, blood pouring from its chest.
Without hesitation, Edward raised his gun and fired.
"Bang!"
The recoil was staggering. Edward realized that firing one-handed might dislocate his wrist; the gun nearly slammed into his forehead.
Yet, the Desert Eagle's power was undeniable. The second shot obliterated the ice bear, sending it back to its origin in a flash of white light.
Ignoring the numbness in his hand, Edward rushed forward to loot the carcass, only to be disappointed to find nothing dropped.
"Greedy, aren't you?" he grumbled, glancing at the experience bar: 12th level, 5%. It was an oddly high gain, meaning he'd need to kill 19 more bears to level up.
The thought of leveling quickly dispelled his frustration. Edward raised his gun and ventured further into the bamboo forest.
After three hours of wandering, the sun was high in the sky, almost noon, and he had only managed to hunt seven bears.
Now he understood why no one frequented this place. The experience was high, but the drawbacks were numerous: bitter cold, harsh environment, the scarcity of ice bears, their incredible speed, high attack power, and advanced AI. Most importantly, they hardly dropped any loot—after killing seven bears, he'd only received a single C-grade ice crystal, which wouldn't even sell for a credit. It was a place that offered more losses than gains; who would willingly come here?
Of course, there were places where monsters were plentiful and dropped gear, but those areas were crowded, making leveling speeds comparable to here.
It seemed the game developers had considered such details carefully while designing the maps; money and experience weren't so easily acquired.
Want experience? It required both wisdom and courage, Edward thought.