Chapter Ten: The Demonized Boar King

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Zhang Shan asked Wind Chimes in the Breeze, “In the newbie village, can red names be cleared?”

“I’m not sure about that. The New World is quite different from other games, and there’s no official information about it on the website. We only find out when players run into these issues. But if what that post on the forum said is true, then it’s possible. After all, if the sin value doesn’t decrease at all after an hour, it can’t be that it takes ten hours or a whole day to clear just one point, right? If that were the case, red-named players would be stuck in the newbie village for ages. I think you probably have to pay to clear your sin, and it might not be cheap. Those with red names are in for a tough time.”

“There’s no way it’s just one point every ten hours or a day. Nobody stays in the newbie village that long. Like us, we’ll hit level five by noon, and probably get to eight or nine before bed. The fastest players might even reach level ten and leave the newbie village today. If it really took ten hours per point, those who killed a lot would never get out,” said Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, joining the conversation.

“Good thing we haven’t done any PvP. If we got a red name, it’d be a pain even just grinding monsters, let alone leaving the newbie village. Someone could ambush us at any time, and there’s no penalty for killing reds. The moment we step out, we’d be dead and losing a level,” Zhang Shan said with some relief.

“Yeah, this red name system in the newbie village is a real trap. Who knows how many people will suffer now. Reds might get killed the moment they leave, and lose a level. They’ll have to level up in hiding. Serves them right, I suppose,” said Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, his tone half gloating.

“True, losing a level each time you die—the death penalty is harsh. What’s someone like me, a squishy caster, supposed to do to stay alive?”

Zhang Shan was a bit troubled. He wished he could find some skills to keep himself alive, like blink or magic immunity. Luckily, other classes didn’t have any crowd control yet, so PvP was just about trading blows and out-damaging each other. As long as his gear was decent, he could get by for now.

“Don’t worry, brother. If anyone kills you, tell me. I’ll make sure their gaming days are over,” Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles tried to reassure him.

But that kind of reassurance was useless. If he got killed, he’d still lose a level—no amount of revenge would change that.

“Actually, the death penalty isn’t always a full level loss. Later on, classes like Taoist or Witch Doctor will probably get resurrection skills. If you’re revived by a skill, you shouldn’t lose much experience, maybe none at all. It can’t always be a full level per death—nobody could handle that, especially since it might take a whole month to level up later on. And for things like events and dungeons, deaths probably won’t cost you as much either,” Wind Chimes in the Breeze explained.

She really knew her games. Zhang Shan, on the other hand, was a total newbie—he hadn’t played in ages, always busy with work. As Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles put it, he was out of touch.

Just then, as the clock struck eleven, a beam of light rose from Zhang Shan.

System: Congratulations to player Six-Barreled Bodhisattva for reaching level four. Skill point +1, all stats +2, free attribute points +5.

He’d save one skill point, and continue investing in Headshot. That skill really needed to be leveled up to be effective; the trigger chance was too low otherwise. All attribute points went into Agility.

Check Attributes

Character: Six-Barreled Bodhisattva
Class: Hunter
Level: 4
HP: 160
MP: 70
Physical Attack: 37–42
Magical Attack: 11–11
Strength: 11
Agility: 31
Intelligence: 11
Defense: 5
Luck: 9 (randomly generated between 1 and 10; Luck is a hidden stat and never changes)
Talent: King of Passives (chance to randomly acquire a passive skill from any monster killed; chance: one in a million)
Skill 1, Headshot (Passive), Level 3: Each attack by the musketeer has a chance to trigger Headshot, dealing 50 extra damage and stunning for 0.05 seconds; trigger chance 1.5%.
Equipment: Novice Cloth, Novice Musket, Black Iron Ring.

Zhang Shan checked his experience bar. Sure enough, going from level four to five required five thousand experience—one and a half times more than the previous level. It was getting tougher. Each boar only gave 17 experience, so nearly three hundred boars would be needed to level up. At the current three-person grinding speed, it would take about two hours, unless they managed to upgrade their gear.

Not long after, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles and Wind Chimes in the Breeze reached level four as well. After leveling, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles had a big boost to his health and a bit more defense. The enchanted boars did even less damage to him.

Wind Chimes in the Breeze put her skill point into Rejuvenation, making her heals even stronger. It now instantly healed for 200 and an additional 25 per second, so the total healing was increased by 125.

“I’m stronger again! These little boars are no challenge at all,” Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles crowed with pride.

“Yeah, maybe we should try grinding higher-level monsters. Wouldn’t that be more efficient?” Zhang Shan asked Wind Chimes in the Breeze, figuring she’d know more about the monsters.

“We could handle level six monsters, but there’s no need. It wouldn’t actually be much faster. Let’s keep grinding boars. The enchanted ones drop level five gear, and I’ve heard players in other newbie villages have found green level five equipment on the boar map. If we get a couple pieces, we’ll be much faster at level five,” Wind Chimes in the Breeze replied.

Zhang Shan and Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles could only continue silently hacking away at the monsters. Zhang Shan didn’t care what they killed, as long as they could handle it.

Just as they finished clearing a patch of boars and were about to move on, they suddenly noticed an enormous wild boar lumbering around in the distance.

“The Enchanted Boar King! It’s a boss! Haha, no one’s killed a boss yet. If we take it down, we might get level five gear, and maybe even make the world announcement. We’ll be famous!” Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles exclaimed excitedly.

“Wait, let’s check its stats first. We can only try if it’s possible. Let’s get closer and take a look,” Zhang Shan quickly stopped him.

The three of them crept up to the Boar King—and were stunned.

“Is that even a boar? It’s more like an elephant! How can a boar be that big?” Zhang Shan was dumbfounded.

“Can’t see its stats.”

“The boss is higher level than us, so its stats are hidden. It’s not like regular mobs—maybe you have to hit it first to see,” Wind Chimes in the Breeze guessed.

“Six-Barrels, you go up and hit it,” suggested Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles. He knew he wouldn’t survive the first hit; the Boar King was as big as ten regular boars, so its damage would be terrifying. But Zhang Shan was ranged—he might have a chance to run out of aggro range. If he went up, he'd just be meat for the grinder.

“No way, I don’t even have boots. There’s no way I could outrun a boss; even regular mobs aren’t slower than me. If the Boar King chases me, I’m dead for sure,” Zhang Shan protested. He wanted to try for some good loot, but dying to a boss and losing a level just wasn’t worth it.

“Let’s look around for terrain we can use. If you hit the boss, just keep out of its sight, hide in a blind spot so it can’t see you. That way, you should be able to get away,” said Wind Chimes in the Breeze, also excited. This could be the first boss kill in New World—there were bound to be great drops.

The three of them split up to search for advantageous terrain near the Boar King. Suddenly, Zhang Shan spotted two large boulders with a narrow gap between them. He could easily slip through, but the Boar King was so massive it definitely couldn’t fit. If he hid behind one of the rocks, the boss wouldn’t be able to see him. The only question was whether the boss would try to path around.

He called out in the party channel, “Come over here. I think this spot could work.”

Soon, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles and Wind Chimes in the Breeze ran over.

“This terrain’s perfect. Do you think that gap between the rocks will block the boss?” Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles asked hopefully.

“I doubt it. The gap’s too narrow; the Boar King’s way too big to squeeze through. It definitely can’t get in,” Wind Chimes in the Breeze replied after thinking it over.

“What I’m worried about is whether the boss will really give up if it loses sight of you, or if it’ll path around. What do we do if it comes after us?” Zhang Shan wasn’t fixated on trapping the boss; that was wishful thinking. He just wanted to see its stats and figure out what kind of gear and team they’d need to beat it.

“What are you afraid of? If the boss goes around, just kite it between the rocks. It’ll never hit you. Get ready—go for it, brother, I believe in you,” Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles said cheerfully.

Zhang Shan was speechless. So he was supposed to take the risk. But he had a point: if the boss tried to go around, he could just keep running between the rocks and it wouldn’t be able to hit him.

“You guys get back. I’ll take a shot and see what happens.”

No sooner said than done, Zhang Shan crept up to the Boar King. Once in range, he fired a shot. Before he could check the boss’s stats, the Boar King let out a roar, eyes red, and charged at him with terrifying speed.

Zhang Shan turned and ran, hearing the wind whooshing behind him as the Boar King barreled down. As he neared the two boulders, he heard Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles shouting, “Run! The boss is speeding up!”

Zhang Shan ignored him and dashed through the gap between the rocks. There was a thunderous crash behind him, and when he looked back, he couldn’t help but laugh. The Boar King was stuck in the gap, its head and neck squashed between the stones.

He took another shot: -3. Damn, what kind of defense was this? He was barely scratching it.

Check Attributes

Enchanted Boar King: HP 20,000, Attack 516
Skill 1: Enraged Charge
Skill 2: Heavy Blow

Enraged Charge: The furious Boar King accelerates madly toward its target, knocking them back and stunning them, and dealing an extra 1,000 damage.

Heavy Blow (Passive): Each attack from the Boar King has a chance to deal five times normal damage.

Seeing the boss stuck and unable to move, Zhang Shan kept attacking. -3, -2, -3… the damage numbers floated up one after another.