Chapter Forty-Six: Upgrading Equipment

Better check the announcement first—can't afford to get distracted from more important things.

Closing the forum thread, Zhang Shan opened the foremost notice: “New World Monster Siege Event Announcement.”

Damn, why is this announcement so detailed? This isn’t the usual New World style at all.

Event Announcement

Event Name: Monster Siege

As some players have reached level twenty and the human race’s power continues to grow, the Demon God has taken notice. The Demon God will dispatch his generals to lead their forces in attacking all human sub-cities, attempting to suppress humanity’s expansion.

Event Time: August 21, 2058, 20:00

Event Details:

1. A City Defense Contribution leaderboard will be established. All city players’ contributions will be recorded on a unified board. Both damage dealt and damage taken from monsters count towards contribution; support classes’ healing, resurrection, and buffs also add to contribution.

2. Leaderboard Rewards: First place receives a five-star City Defense Chest; second and third places each get a four-star chest; fourth to tenth place receive a three-star chest; eleventh to ten thousandth receive a two-star chest; all others get a one-star chest.

3. City Defense Contribution can be exchanged for Merit Points, at a rate of one hundred contribution per merit point, automatically settled after the event.

4. During the event, the entire city will be sealed. No teleportation skills can be used, and city gates and the teleportation hall are closed; no one can enter or exit.

5. All online players may register for the City Defense event, either solo or in teams of up to fifty. Registration closes five minutes before the event starts.

6. During the event, death carries no experience penalty, and players cannot attack one another.

Six points in all—thoroughly detailed. They’re really not allowing teleportation, huh?

If you die, you’ll have to run back on foot. In such a large city, you might only make it back once during the event.

Fortunately, the Wind and Cloud Guild’s headquarters has a resurrection point near the east gate. Defending the city around there means quick returns after death.

Others won’t be so lucky—if they die, they’ll spend most of the event just running.

Even if someone wants to drop out of the defense, their only option is to log off, since leaving the city to grind monsters is forbidden. Pretty strict.

Time to upgrade my gear—I’m still missing plenty of level 20 equipment. The auction house is the fastest solution.

After all, before logging off, he’d sold quite a few epic items, and before tackling the last instance, he’d sold two legendary pieces to Wind and Cloud Blade and the Secretary. He had plenty of gold.

He teleported to the auction house. On checking, he found all the items he’d put up for sale had already been bought.

He’d been selling epic gear dropped by guardians—level fifteen equipment—just the thing for players who’d recently hit level fifteen, making them hot commodities.

He searched for level 20 epic gear. Legendary gear was out of the question—too expensive and unnecessary. A full set of epic gear would be enough for now.

Level 20 epic gear wasn’t even that pricey—cheaper than level fifteen pieces, with some going for just two or three thousand gold each.

He only needed to fill gaps for weapon, boots, and already had a level fifteen epic ring—so he filled out the rest.

Switching out all his gear, his stats rose significantly. Epic gear might lack powerful effects, but the agility boost alone made a substantial difference.

His clothes and hat added defense and a bit of HP, while bracers provided both defense and attack speed.

Attack speed, however, was a hidden stat—not visible, only to be felt through use. The current boost was probably minor.

But his legendary boots were a different story—both their stats and effects were outstanding.

Gale Boots (Complete): Movement Speed +10, Defense +100, Agility +85, Special Effect 1: Gale, Special Effect 2: Life’s Favor.

Gale: Increases movement speed by 3%.

Life’s Favor: Increases health regeneration speed by 10.

With a ten-point boost to movement speed, he was now much faster. While he couldn’t kite bosses, kiting players would be no problem—not that there was any need at the moment.

Still, it’s always good to be fast.

Now he understood legendary gear’s effects: attack gear comes with offensive effects, defensive gear with healing or mana regeneration. The other special effects depend on the gear slot—like boots boosting speed.

With his equipment upgraded, Zhang Shan checked his stats:

Character: Six-Barrel Bodhisattva
Class: Hunter
Title: Nemesis of Demons
Merit: 1500 (Corporal)
Level: 20
Health: 17,600
Mana: 520
Physical Attack: 3465-3480
Magic Attack: 40-40
Strength: 40
Agility: 593
Intelligence: 40
Defense: 317
Luck: 9 (randomly generated between 1-10; hidden and unchangeable)
Talent: Passive King (Upon killing a monster, has a one-in-a-million chance to randomly acquire one of the monster’s passive skills.)
Skills: Headshot (Passive), Heavy Strike (Passive), Tame, Power Bestowal (Passive), Eagle Eye (Passive), Rebirth (Passive), Mastery (Guild Skill).
Equipment: Alrug’s Hand Cannon, Midas’ Touch, Gale Boots, Priest’s Cloak…

With all equipment equipped, his stats had risen greatly.

Attack was up by five hundred, mostly due to two new accessories and the agility enhancements from the epic gear.

Overall attack was close to 3,500; with a priest’s attack buff and his title bonus, he could probably hit nearly 5,000 damage against monsters.

That’s terrifying. Most others were only level fifteen, with the best among them sporting a mix of legendary and epic gear, barely cracking 1,000 attack.

Not even a third of his own power—the gap was immense. I like it, he chuckled to himself.

Defense had increased by over two hundred, health by eight hundred—not that the extra HP mattered much to him.

Attack speed and movement speed had also improved, especially with the new legendary boots—he now moved like the wind.

Of course, these two were hidden attributes, invisible in the character panel.

His gear sorted, and with no need to repair or buy more supplies—he had plenty of bullets and enough major health potions—he was ready.

Teleporting to the guild base, Zhang Shan discovered the place was bustling—likely they’d reached the thousand-member cap while he’d been asleep.

“Hey, Artifact Bro, you’re finally here!”

“Yeah, did you sleep forever or what?”

“Nearly overslept, but thankfully set an alarm, ha!”

“Alright, everyone’s here now—we’ve got a thousand people, so let’s form twenty teams and defend near the east gate. Six-Barrel, join our party,” Wind and Cloud Under Heaven suggested.

“Sure, no problem.”

“Haha, we really got lucky for this first city defense event—our headquarters is right by the city gate. Even if we die, it’s a short run back to the battlefield.”

“Exactly, others must be green with envy, haha.”

“With our HQ so close to the gate, the monsters won’t destroy it, will they?”

“Of course not—the buildings are just part of the game environment. Even if destroyed, they’ll be restored after the event. They wouldn’t leave players in a ruined city.”

“True, that makes sense.”

Zhang Shan continued to group up with the top-tier members of Wind and Cloud—they were all at least level fifteen, decked out in top equipment.

Their team was probably the strongest in New World at the moment—at least in Dangyang City, none could compare.

“Do you guys think our guild can dominate the top ten spots on the defense contribution leaderboard?”

“Dream on. Don’t underestimate the competition—there are plenty of strong players out there.”

“I don’t know about the top ten, but Artifact Bro is guaranteed to take first—no one can challenge him.”

“No kidding, who’d dare compete with him now?”

“I’m not bad myself—over a thousand attack, respawn point so close, I’ll definitely snag a top ten spot and open a three-star chest!” Wind and Cloud Blade boasted.

A little gear and he’s already getting cocky.

“Everyone, make sure you’ve registered for the event—it’d be a joke to miss out,” someone reminded.

Team registration was handled by the leader, so Zhang Shan had nothing to worry about. He simply waited for the event to begin.

Before long—

System Announcement: The Right General Rox under the Fifth Demon God is leading his army to attack Dangyang City. Players, prepare yourselves!