As he walked, Ethan realized he couldn't make a move. There were people everywhere, mostly in disarray. When rabbits spawned, groups of people would swarm them and start hacking away randomly. However, observant Ethan noticed that some groups seemed to be well-trained, coordinating smoothly to patrol nearby spawn points with clear roles. Some would take turns delivering the final blow, while others focused on wearing down the enemies, leaving the last kill to one person and concentrating all the resources on a single player. Nonetheless, these organized groups were much better than the chaotic crowds. This must be the power of guilds, Ethan thought to himself.
Ethan grew anxious; up to now, he hadn't managed to collect even a single rabbit fur. If he continued like this, he'd be left far behind. But he didn't want to compete with others either; not only was it unlikely he could win, but even if he got lucky and snagged one, it was highly inefficient.
"Do I have to go to the level two monster area?" After thinking for a moment, Ethan decided to keep moving forward, thinking it was better to explore than to just stare at nothing. Monsters of level five and below wouldn't attack on their own; as long as he didn't provoke them, he'd be fine.
At this moment, a few players waiting near the rabbit spawn points saw Ethan walking alone towards the level two monster area. One short, young man said, "Look, isn't that guy heading to the level two monster area?"
"Seems like it. Probably can't find monsters here and wants to try his luck inside. Haha, once he goes there, he'll feel desperate. I was thinking the same way at first, but after seeing the level two monsters' stats, I had to come back embarrassed," one slightly chubby young man replied.
"Hey, have you been there? Are the monsters really that tough?" the short young man asked.
"Yeah, they're not something current players can handle unless a group attacks them. But that's not worth it. It's better to stick to killing rabbits," the chubby young man replied cautiously.
Ethan walked a while longer and finally saw a different type of monster ahead: a group of goats leisurely grazing on the grass. Looking around, there were no players nearby, and so many goats remained untouched. Ethan approached and used Insight on one of them.
[Goat]
Level: 2
Health: 300
Physical Attack: 21
Physical Defense: 8
Speed: 7
Skills: Charge: The goat lowers its head and charges at the target with its two horns, dealing 120% Physical Attack damage. Cooldown: 5 seconds.
Looking at the goat's stats, Ethan twitched his lips again, finally understanding why no one was attacking them. Are these the attributes of a level two monster? Jesus, they have skills at level two? What were the developers thinking? With these stats, who could withstand them at this stage?
He suddenly remembered his own talent: to increase poison damage by one point each time he kills a monster five levels above himself. He had originally thought it wouldn't be difficult and that he could quickly become wealthy and successful, marry a rich girl, and reach the pinnacle of life. But now it seemed he had overestimated. If the monsters' attributes continued to grow like this, how was he supposed to level up his talent?
Unwilling to give up, Ethan continued walking until he reached a fork in the road. Ahead was a bamboo forest; to the left was the forest, and to the right seemed to be a beach. He guessed they had reached the seaside; he didn't expect there to be an ocean in the game. With that thought, Ethan headed to the right. Even if he didn't kill monsters and just looked at the sea, it would be nice.
After a while, he indeed saw a beach, with an endless ocean ahead.
The scenery was beautiful. "Is this really the game?" Ethan thought, feeling like he was in a real place. Breathing in the sea breeze, he opened his arms and took a few deep breaths. "In the real world, this kind of fresh air is long gone." The game fully immersed him.
"Jesus, such a huge crab!" Ethan's peripheral vision caught a basin-sized crab emerging from the sand, waving its two giant claws as it walked sideways towards him.
Ethan used Insight on the crab and then sprinted away faster than a rabbit.
[Giant Crab]
Level: 4
Health: 800
Physical Attack: 45
Physical Defense: 15
Speed: 8
Skills: Dual Claw Strike: Swings both massive claws at the target, dealing two consecutive hits of 70% Physical Damage each. Cooldown: 10 seconds.
After running a long distance, Ethan glanced back at the crab with lingering fear, muttering, "Game developers must be real bastards. Are you sure this game is for players? This Jesus crab can easily kill people. How am I supposed to survive?"
"Ah, what's going on? I guess I have to go back and try to gang up with them to kill rabbits."
Just as Ethan was about to leave, he saw a large turtle slowly crawling on the beach. Out of curiosity, he used Insight on it.
[Sea Turtle]
Level: 5
Health: 1800
Physical Attack: 50
Physical Defense: 40
Speed: 3
Skills: Thorn Shield: Blocks the next attack and reflects 50% of the attack damage back to the attacker. Cooldown: 10 seconds.
Looking at the sea turtle's stats, almost everyone would probably turn and run. With high defense and 1800 health, no one would want to fight such a monster; the rewards were too low.
But at this moment, a strange light flashed in Ethan's eyes. Indeed, the turtle's stats were insurmountable for a level 0 player. With 40 defense, it was impossible to break through. However, Ethan could ignore the attack power; he noticed the turtle's speed was 3, and he could kite it. Even if it hit him once with its 50 attack, he couldn't be killed immediately because his defense was 6, so it would only deal him 44 damage. Its only skill had no use against him; the attack wouldn't bypass his defense, and the poison damage he could deal would be 60 points per minute. With the turtle unable to regenerate health, 30 minutes of poisoning would be enough to kill it. Plus, he wasn't sure if he could get any rabbits by the time he returned to the village after 30 minutes.
Most importantly, he was level 0, and the turtle was five levels above him, which could trigger his talent's special feature. "Haha, I've got this!"
Acting on impulse, Ethan quickly walked towards the turtle. At level five, the sea turtle wouldn't attack players on its own. Ethan approached the turtle and swung his wooden sword at its shell.
-1
-1
A red "-1" appeared above the turtle's head, indicating a forced health reduction without bypassing defense, followed by a white "-1" representing true damage.
The turtle, though slow in movement, had quick reactions. After Ethan struck it once, the turtle stretched its neck and bit Ethan.
-44
With only 50 health, Ethan was immediately at low health. Frightened, he quickly ran away. The speed advantage became evident: the turtle trudged slowly behind him, watching Ethan get farther away, while white "-1"s continued to appear above the turtle's head. His health bar was decreasing at a very slow rate.
After running a long distance, Ethan looked back at the slow-moving turtle and smugly said, "Come chase me, you little guy."
The poor turtle could only drag its slow pace, step by step, persisting in chasing Ethan.
After ten seconds, Ethan slowly regenerated 1 health per second while continuously taunting the turtle. In Oracle, both characters and monsters behaved the same way. After ten seconds without attacking or being attacked, the turtle was considered out of combat, and its health would slowly regenerate at a rate of 1% per second. If the health was below 100, it would regenerate 1 point per second. Without potions, this was the only way to heal.
Thus, Ethan used this sneaky tactic to create a prolonged battle with the turtle. Timing it right, as the poison duration was nearing the end, he would make a finishing strike, then run. The 60-second poison duration was enough for him to fully recover his health before making each finishing strike.