If he could, Drake wanted to ask Blackshade where he bought his hacks and if he could get one too.
One-shotting monsters like that was ridiculous.
"Everyone, take a moment to recover, especially Sophie—get the mana back to full," Drake ordered.
In his mind, Drake added,
"Also, adjust your mindset."
Anyone would feel discouraged if they saw their entire team struggling to kill monsters, only to watch someone else casually take them out with a single hit.
Seeing the team's morale dropping, Drake quickly added, "Don't get discouraged. Forget about Blackshade for a second—our team is still very powerful. At this time, can other players kill level 5 wild boars like we can? They can't."
This statement was met with unanimous agreement.
That's right—they were strong players.
As long as they didn't compare themselves to Blackshade.
The assassin in the team quickly added, "I bet Blackshade's talent is related to ranged attacks. In other words, his melee abilities can't be that great!"
The assassin seemed to have found a new sense of purpose, proudly declaring, "My talent boosts my melee damage by 20%. The potential in the late game is immense—definitely no worse than Blackshade. So, in that sense, I'm 50/50 with him. I can't match his ranged abilities, but he can't match my melee!"
The archer in the team felt a bit down.
"You're comparing melee with Blackshade, and I, as an archer, can only compare with him in ranged combat."
But the archer quickly found his own bright spot, eagerly saying, "Most likely, Blackshade's ranged damage comes from his class abilities—he definitely doesn't use a bow! When it comes to archery, I'm above Blackshade! You know, I'm a professional shooter in real life."
The assassin and the archer exchanged a smile, regaining their confidence.
Drake, however, couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Can you two please aim a bit higher?"
But then, thinking about it, Drake gained some confidence as well.
When it came to defense, he was better than Blackshade!
With their spirits lifted, the team set off, ready to find the next target.
Meanwhile, Tristan was oblivious to Drake's team's thoughts and was focused on leveling.
After several kills, Tristan had become adept at handling the 50-meter range, just waiting for his attributes to improve, which would allow him to increase the range and eventually kill from miles away.
"If Damien Arrow reappears in this life, I'll make him understand what Sniper God really means!"
Tristan thought to himself, casually throwing a dagger that instantly took down a wild boar in the distance.
"You have reached level 3!"
"You have earned 5 free attribute points!"
"The power of shadows is gathering, you gain an additional 5 free attribute points!"
"Beast Blessing activated, granting you 5 free attribute points!"
This time, Tristan didn't allocate his points to Strength. Unless he was going all in, it wouldn't make much of a difference.
Compared to Strength, the Assassin needed more Agility.
With 15 free points allocated to Agility, Tristan's Agility stat reached an astonishing 37!
For reference, a regular Assassin player would need at least level 6 or 7 to achieve this kind of Agility, and by then, Tristan's attributes would have improved even more.
The gap between him and regular players was only growing wider!
"Choosing to get the Beast Skull right away was definitely the right move," Tristan thought, satisfied.
"After killing around 60 more wild boars, I'll have enough for one Evolution Point."
"That's probably not enough to evolve Shadow Stealth, unless a BOSS shows up…"
"Wait, how could I forget about that?"
Tristan's eyes lit up.
In ExoGenesis, there was a rule: if a player repeatedly kills the same type of monster in large numbers, a corresponding BOSS will be triggered.
In fact, this was the easiest way for new players to encounter a BOSS.
Tristan turned to look toward the newbie village.
If things went as expected, after all the slaughter, the wild rabbit BOSS would soon be ready to spawn.
As he thought this, out of the corner of his eye, Tristan noticed Drake's team leaving a wild boar with only a third of its health left, heading back to the newbie village.
Tristan knew right away—the BOSS had spawned!
Without hesitation, Tristan headed toward the newbie village as well.
Now, his 37 points in Agility really paid off.
Not only did he catch up with Drake's team, but he easily overtook them.
...
Meanwhile, outside the newbie village, countless players were eagerly rushing forward.
"Get out of the way! This BOSS is mine!"
"You think it's yours just because you said so? Did you write your name on it?"
"We've claimed this spot for Rosha Palace, if you don't want to die, get lost!"
"What trash guild do you think you're from? Want to contest? Take this!"
Outside the newbie village, a huge rabbit BOSS was hopping around, chomping on players with loud crunching sounds.
But this didn't stop the players' enthusiasm.
This was the first BOSS outside the newbie village, and it was sure to drop great loot!
Given how popular ExoGenesis was, any equipment dropped could fetch a high price.
The dream of making a fortune was within reach, and players were rushing to take part.
If anyone got in their way, players with short tempers would immediately swing their weapons.
But soon, some players noticed something wasn't right.
Killing a BOSS was a good thing, but why was no one dealing any damage?
Looking closer, they saw the BOSS had 250 defense!
One player shouted angrily, "Game developers, come out here! How is this a BOSS a new player can kill?!"
"Shut up, refund!"
"Who the hell is touching me? Want to die?!"
"Excuse me, fatty, please get out of the way."
"Only reckless brutes with no brains would try to fight this BOSS. It's up to us mages to step in! Ladies, let's show them the power of our Five Fireballs!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Five fireballs shot out, hitting the wild rabbit BOSS dead on.
But the excitement was short-lived.
Miss!
Resistance!
The total damage from the five fireballs was zero!
The wild rabbit BOSS shook its body, completely unharmed, and continued chomping on players.
However, hidden class players, relying on their class advantages, were still able to deal some damage.
Slowly but surely, they chipped away at the wild rabbit BOSS's health.
Seeing this 'impressive' result, the players became even more excited.
Even players who couldn't break its defense didn't hesitate, charging forward to attack.
They couldn't break its defense? No big deal. Others couldn't either.
ExoGenesis had a rule: if no player or team dealt more than 50% of the decisive damage in a BOSS fight, the loot would be randomly distributed among all participants.
In other words, everyone had a chance to get the god-tier loot!
What could be more exciting than that?
Nothing!
Additionally, the newbie village was right nearby, so players could easily respawn. This made them feel bolder and more carefree.
Seeing the BOSS's health drop by 5%, several guild leaders grew anxious.
They were determined to get the first kill, but if they didn't accumulate enough damage, it would all be for nothing.
Luckily, their competitors were equally helpless, so they could relax a little.
But just as everyone was calculating their moves, a huge damage number appeared above the wild rabbit BOSS's head.
-976! (Weak Spot Attack)