The King of Buffaloes

"Swoosh!"

Accompanied by the emergence of a white light, Jiang Han returned to the game, finding himself in the buffalo territory.

At this moment, the in-game scene had transitioned to the night, with a radiant full moon hanging high in the sky. The air was filled with the chirping of insects, and fireflies danced low around the bushes and branches, creating a serene atmosphere.

Gripping the iron sword, Jiang Han carefully sought out buffaloes resting at a distance from the herd, attempting to keep the number of buffaloes attacking him at any given time to three, to avoid mishaps.

As time silently passed, everything went according to Jiang Han's wishes. Although the buffalo's cries echoed particularly far in the quiet night, fortunately, they did not attract a widespread response from their companions.

As Jiang Han became more adept at dealing with buffaloes, his efficiency improved. Three hours later, golden light once again showered upon him, marking his attainment of level 6!

"Let's call it a day for now..."

Jiang Han glanced at the time and the increasingly demanding experience bar, deciding to log out and take a break.

"Moo!"

Suddenly, a roar louder than the ordinary buffaloes' cries reached his ears.

"Hmm?"

Jiang Han's intention to log out was interrupted by this unexpected roar. His spirits lifted, "A BOSS?"

Without hesitation, he stealthily moved toward the source of the sound. Eventually, near a stream, he saw a buffalo that resembled a small mountain. Its eyes were crimson, its horns were thick and sharp, emitting a bewitching red glow, displaying a formidable aura.

Currently, it was drinking water.

Knowing oneself and knowing the enemy is the key to victory. Jiang Han decisively cast the reconnaissance skill—

[Buffalo King](Bronze-level BOSS)

Level: 8

Health: 4000

Attack: 18-23

Defense: 14

Skills: [Thick Hide][Charge][Berserk]

Introduction: Among buffaloes, it stands out, more affected by the aura of death. Its strength is far beyond ordinary buffaloes. Young adventurers, beware of being kicked to death.

Ignoring the seemingly malicious intent towards adventurers in the introduction, and after comparing it with his own character panel, Jiang Han took a deep breath, feeling somewhat conflicted.

The strength of this Buffalo King was undeniable, with overall attributes surpassing his by one level. The real issue, however, was its high defense and the uncertainty of its skills.

Thick Hide was the basic passive skill, increasing a small percentage of health, which could be overlooked. What was crucial were Charge and Berserk, especially Berserk. If it increased some basic attribute percentages, breaking through its defense would be quite challenging.

"...Who knows what will happen in a week. If I don't give it a try, how can I turn a bicycle into a motorcycle?" Jiang Han gritted his teeth, deciding to go all out.

Unable to defeat it and unable to escape, to prevent de-leveling, he still had a Forbidden Scroll!

Thinking about using a Forbidden Scroll to kill a buffalo in the novice village was quite thrilling.

Of course, just thinking about it.

He wasn't ignorant of the importance of Forbidden Scrolls for players in the early stages. Though using a Forbidden Scroll to kill buffaloes seemed constructive, it was quite an overkill.

Glancing around to make sure there were no buffaloes to intervene, Jiang Han picked up a stone, throwing it accurately at the Buffalo King. It hit two round, rolling things beneath the buffalo with precision.

"-25!"

A splendid critical hit. The Buffalo King lost a solid 25 points of its 4000 health. Such damage was lethal!

"Moo!"

Being ambushed, the Buffalo King stopped drinking water, turned around, and stared angrily at Jiang Han. Its right front hoof kept tapping on the ground, emitting two streams of white air from its nostrils.

"Ding!~"

System prompt: Your despicable ambush has infuriated the Buffalo King, causing it to enter the [Berserk] state prematurely. Attack +25%, Movement speed +20%, Defense -40%, lasting until the end of the battle!

"Prematurely?" Jiang Han couldn't help but laugh, "Can it even be like this?"

"Moo!"

The Buffalo King didn't give him time to react. With a roar, it charged towards Jiang Han, its speed extremely fast, like an arrow leaving the bow, with a grand momentum.

However, Jiang Han reacted quickly. As it approached, he calmly dodged, not panicking in the slightest. "The most feared thing is when defense is too high to damage. You, on the other hand, lower your own defense. Truly thoughtful."

"Moo!"

Unfortunately, the Buffalo King couldn't understand human language and continued using a single charging attack against its present enemy.

Clearly, apart from having higher attributes than ordinary buffaloes, its method of attack was no different. Moreover, the side effects of its skills lowered its defense to the level of regular buffaloes. Jiang Han's sword strikes, dealing 50 points of damage per hit, were quite effective.

However, due to the high attack power of the Buffalo King, Jiang Han remained mentally tense. He dared not be easily hit, to avoid a potential critical strike that could lead to being directly killed.

This was a battle of attrition!

The Buffalo King was fast, and Jiang Han had very short windows of time to attack. He could only occasionally counterattack while evading. However, he did not get greedy. Inflicting damage was enough; sooner or later, the Buffalo King would be worn down by him.

One hour... Two hours...

"Hoo! Hoo!..."

The life of the Buffalo King gradually decreased. Its eyes were bloodshot, panting heavily but relentless.

When its health dropped to 30%, the radiant glow on its body intensified.

Jiang Han, watching the change in the Buffalo King, felt a sinking feeling, "Brother, wasting hours of my effort with you, don't tell me you're going to evolve in the end."

Evolve!

This was mentioned by the official Eternal game as an uncertain factor. Creatures in the game, even ordinary monsters, could evolve, and even undergo three evolutions, becoming stronger. The probability of a lord-level creature evolving was higher than that of ordinary monsters.

"Moo!"

The Buffalo King roared, and red light surged out. Two red silhouettes of the same size appeared on its sides, significantly increasing the horizontal range of its attacks.

"Ding!~"

System prompt: The Buffalo King uses the skill [Charge], generating two silhouettes based on its own attack, increasing the attack range by 200%, lasting for 30 seconds!

Relieved after obtaining the skill information, Jiang Han knew that his luck wasn't good enough to encounter the first BOSS in the game that had evolved.

After releasing the skill, the Buffalo King charged at the despicable ambusher once again. However, Jiang Han remained calm. After avoiding the main attack, even though he was hit by the silhouettes, the damage was not high.

"-40!"

The Buffalo King's attack was indeed fierce, but the silhouettes were only equivalent to half of its own body. It was at the attack level of regular buffaloes. With Jiang Han's

 current 600 health, he could withstand around 15 hits. Moreover, the duration of the Charge skill was only 30 seconds, enough for three to four attacks at most. It was inconsequential.

20%!

10%!

The Buffalo King's health continued to decrease until it fell to around 1%, with only a sliver of health left. Its attack intensity sharply decreased, seemingly exhausted, unable to run.

"Splash..."

Suddenly, a sound of a blade tearing through the air came from behind. Jiang Han, as if having eyes on his back, narrowly avoided it by lowering his head, then turned around cleanly, slashing with his iron sword.

"-83!"

Bright red damage numbers appeared. The ambusher repeatedly retreated. Not only did he fail, but his stealth state was also interrupted, revealing his tracks.

Under the moonlight, Jiang Han clearly saw a young man, around seventeen or eighteen years old, named Qing Yun. His appearance was quite handsome, but his actions were despicable, attempting to kill and loot at a critical moment.

[Qing Yun]

Level: 4

Health: 400

Attack: 10-12

Defense: 6-8

...

This was a player who had learned the thief's stealth skill early on.

"Damn!"

Qing Yun took a cold breath, completely unable to believe it. "Indeed, a master like you could discover me even though I was hiding so deeply?"

Originally, his plan was to let the other person grind down the Buffalo King to low health, then take advantage of the situation. However, the current situation was completely different from what he had imagined.

Before being counterattacked by Jiang Han, he had never considered that his stealth could be seen through, and his inevitable backstab was effortlessly avoided by the other party.

The Buffalo King's health wasn't high, and Jiang Han didn't have time to mess around. He swung his iron sword, attempting to take down the opponent as quickly as possible.

"-60!"

"-63!"

Instantly, Qing Yun's health dropped below half.

"Let me die with understanding." Knowing that the gap was too great, and retaliation was hopeless, Qing Yun, unwilling to admit defeat, asked, "How did you discover me?"

Jiang Han remained indifferent. "Kid, use your brain to figure it out!"

With that, he cleanly finished a set of attacks, turning Qing Yun into white light that dissipated. He would likely respawn at the starting point of the novice village.

"Trying to ambush me?" Jiang Han shifted his gaze to the exhausted Buffalo King, sneering, "Naive!"

In fact, he suspected that someone was secretly manipulating things. There must be a reason for the Buffalo King to make such a loud noise, most likely having engaged in a battle.

Furthermore, buffaloes usually gathered together even as normal monsters, and he still had to look for a lone target to strike. As a Buffalo King, a lord-level creature, it surprisingly acted independently with no allies around. Jiang Han couldn't help but suspect that it was deliberately lured here by someone.

With the crisis averted, Jiang Han lifted his iron sword and struck down at the Buffalo King. After grinding it down for about three hours, he felt particularly excited, "Brother, for staying up late to play with you, drop some good loot!"