Chapter Fifteen: Seeking the Boss

After logging off, Zhang Shan grabbed a bite of dry rations and continued grinding on the Rabbit Map for a while, but found nothing until Lone Rider came online.

“Hurry up, brother! What’s the point of grinding alone over there? Come join me—I'm so slow, and Wind Chime isn’t online yet.”

“Alright, I’ll head over.”

No need to buy supplies; with plenty of bullets, Zhang Shan simply followed his teammate’s location and ran toward the Level 10 Monster Map. Along the way, he encountered various low-level monsters and other players farming mobs.

The New World’s map truly was enormous. Even though they were still in the starter village, it took Zhang Shan over twenty minutes just to reach the Level 10 monster area—and that was with boots. He could hardly imagine what it would be like to traverse future maps. He hoped mounts would be introduced soon to save time.

When he arrived at Lone Rider’s spot, he saw him wielding an axe, locked in combat with mountain goats. Each swing dealt over a hundred damage, while the goat only hit for twenty or so—he was under no pressure at all. After trading Lone Rider some strength-based junk white gear, Zhang Shan joined the fray.

Level 10 monsters granted impressive experience; a single horned mountain goat gave over a hundred points, split between them, so each earned more than fifty. That was ten times the rabbit’s yield, though the monsters had thick health—two thousand points. If Zhang Shan fought alone, he’d have no chance; with only seventy attack power, he’d need nearly thirty shots. He still hadn’t found a weapon upgrade, and his damage was simply embarrassing.

“Brother, you’re a bit watery. Your damage isn’t even half mine, haha,” Lone Rider gloated, clearly enjoying the big brother role.

“What can I do? I’m still using the starter musket, and my accessories are just a Level 1 ring. I’m missing a necklace and another ring—can’t get much worse,” Zhang Shan replied helplessly. The equipment gap was growing; he needed to reach Level 10 quickly. Trading gear would be far easier outside the starter village.

“When will Wind Chime and the others log in?” Zhang Shan asked.

“No idea. Those pros care a lot about their health. Even when gaming, they stick to a strict routine.”

“I just don’t get how they play so casually and still managed to make Storm Guild one of the top ten.”

“That’s simple. In gaming, you either grind or spend big. You haven’t seen these pros—when they see equipment or items they like, they drop a million blue coins without even blinking.”

“The pro world is beyond me.”

“Nothing strange about it. Their investments might not be losses—playing more means more fun, but once you’re famous in-game, you’ve got plenty of ways to make money: endorsements, interviews, even streaming. The bigger your name, the faster the money comes in, possibly earning more than you spend. But that upfront investment is something most people can’t handle. And if you mess up, it all goes down the drain.”

“What’s Wind Chime’s background, anyway? Are they second-generation?”

“Definitely second-generation, but what kind I don’t know—could be rich or political. Rumor has it they’re political, but who knows if the gossip’s true.”

“What’s Storm Guild really like? How’s Storm World’s reputation?”

“Well, among the top ten guilds, Storm Guild certainly isn’t the strongest—might even be at the bottom. But being in the top ten is no small feat, and shouldn’t be underestimated. As for Storm World, he seems to play games casually, and is easygoing in person. I once snatched a boss from him in a previous game and wasn’t hunted down for it. He doesn’t seem to care about these things—not much of a tyrant, but great to get along with.”

“How did he lead Storm Guild into the top ten then? Isn’t it hard to survive in-game without being tough? Wouldn’t everyone bully you?”

“Heh, even the nicest people have their moments—Buddha gets angry too. Storm Guild used to be a small guild, just a few dozen big spenders playing together, decked out in top gear. Some got jealous and kept sniping them. Guess what happened? Storm World threw around cash, recruited tons of players, and wiped out a major guild until they scattered and stopped logging in. Storm Guild then rose into the top ten—the power of money is boundless,” Lone Rider sighed.

“That’s good, though. I hate it when big guilds fight and make it impossible to enjoy the game. Seems there’s not much to worry about.”

“Brother, you’re too optimistic. You think holding a top ten alliance spot is easy? It’s a golden brand—represents countless resources and benefits. Someone will always challenge you. Just wait, the real excitement is yet to come.”

“Eh, whatever, I’ll leave it to fate. I just want to quietly grind monsters.”

Chatting and farming, their efficiency was decent. Zhang Shan leveled Headshot to 9, reaching a 4.5% trigger rate, which was impressive. Both had Heavy Strike, so they occasionally triggered it, speeding up their grind—each monster took about twenty seconds, and Zhang Shan’s experience bar steadily climbed.

Thinking of skills, Zhang Shan remembered he’d learned Level 1 Taming, but it required uncorrupted animals. He wasn’t sure where to find them—he’d never seen one.

“By the way, Lone Rider, have you ever seen an uncorrupted animal?”

“No. Why do you ask? Are there such monsters? Isn’t New World all about the human-demon war? Besides humans, everything else should be demonic.”

“That can’t be. I got a Hunter skill book called Taming from the Rabbit Map. It lets you tame uncorrupted animals as pets. Since such a skill exists, there must be monsters it works on.”

“No way, you got another skill book from the rabbits? Including Wind Chime’s Healing, that’s two skill books from the rabbits! So generous! Why not drop a Berserker skill book—ah, ah, ah!” Lone Rider was jealous.

“Jealousy twists the soul, brother. Don’t get carried away. Without suitable monsters, Taming is useless—wasted a skill point.”

“Come on, let me see the skill so I can at least have a look.”

Taming: Level 1. Chance to tame uncorrupted animals as player pets. Tamed pets gain 10% enhanced stats. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Mana cost: 30. Class requirement: Hunter.

“So there really are uncorrupted monsters? That’s a strong skill—if a Hunter has a pet, grinding would be a breeze, solo and unharmed.”

“Not bad, but you still need to find the right monster. Probably none in the starter village, maybe later. Skills in New World are hard to come by—I don’t even have a usable skill myself; my mana is just for show,” Zhang Shan complained.

“Yeah, all I have is Leaf Slash—no sign of Berserker glory. At least give us a Charge skill or something.”

While they were deep in conversation, Wind Chime logged in. Zhang Shan traded her some mana pots and white gear.

“Wind Chime, as the fastest leveler, how close are you to Level 10?” Lone Rider asked.

“Hard to say. I heard some people are already halfway through Level 9.”

“How are they so fast? We even killed a boss and gained an extra level, but we’re only at Level 9 with a bit over ten thousand experience. How about your brother—how much experience does he have? Any chance he’ll be the first to leave the starter village?” Lone Rider pressed Wind Chime.

“He’s only a little ahead of us, maybe ten or twenty thousand experience. They don’t grind faster than us—your orange weapon gives you a big advantage. Others are just more diligent; we rested for two extra hours, but plenty of people haven’t logged off once.”

At this point, Zhang Shan chimed in, “Don’t get cocky—I’m still at Level 8, haven’t even hit 9 yet.”

“Hehe.”

“Should we go hunt for a boss? Boss fights are the best—not only do you get great gear, but leveling is faster. If we kill another boss, maybe we’ll all reach Level 10,” suggested Lone Rider.

“Dream on. Remember how tough the Wild Boar King was? Even here, if there’s a boss, it’ll be level 10—who could handle that?” Zhang Shan shot him down.

“Not necessarily,” Wind Chime mused. “Wild Boar King was an orange boss, so it was strong. There should be purple or even blue bosses, which wouldn’t be as tough. Plus, Secretary bought a Guardian Warrior skill book this afternoon—Guardian’s Heart. It passively boosts health and taunt, perfect for boss fights. Just need to find a suitable boss.”

“Oh? In that case, I’ll go search for a boss. With boots, I’m fast—I’ll scour the mountain goat map, give it half an hour, and if I find nothing, I’ll return,” Zhang Shan said excitedly.

He was now keen on boss hunting—not only for quick leveling, but because he desperately needed gear, especially a weapon. Still using the starter musket was intolerable, and nothing beats boss drops for upgrades.

“Go find one! If you do, check its stats first to see if we can handle it,” Lone Rider said enthusiastically.

“Alright, I’m off. Good luck to us.”

Without further ado, Zhang Shan began searching the map, checking every red dot he saw. On his way, he encountered Storm World and Secretary.

Secretary: “Why are you running around alone?”

Zhang Shan: “Looking for a boss. If I find one, I’ll call you guys.”

Storm World: “Alright, but if you see an orange boss, don’t try it—you won’t beat it.”

“Understood.”

Time passed slowly. Aside from Storm World and Secretary, Zhang Shan saw no other players. Perhaps there simply weren’t any strong players in the starter village yet; everyone’s levels were still low.

Zhang Shan scoured the mountain goat map thoroughly but found not even a shadow of a boss—just identical corrupted horned mountain goats, nothing unusual.

Could there really be no boss on this map? Impossible. With such a large map, it didn’t seem right. Zhang Shan kept pondering, wondering if he’d missed something.