Chapter 15

"But the boss will need some time to evolve," Qin Feng thought to himself.

"Since no one can kill it right now, I'll give it some time to evolve… and handle my other business first."

He glanced at his inventory.

Currently at level 3 and a half, his 10-slot inventory was already full, mostly with equipment and skill books that didn't match his class.

These items were useless to him but could be traded for [Tradable Lifespan]. However, for the other players in Shell Town, they were valuable items that could greatly enhance their strength.

Take the mage skill book "Frost Spike," for instance. Once learned, it could slow targets on hit, with a chance of freezing them. Of course, bosses had higher resistance to control effects, making it hard to freeze them, but against regular mobs, it was a great tool.

On his way back to Shell Town, Qin Feng saw many players getting chased down and killed by Crawlers…

His expression didn't change.

This kind of thing was common early in the game.

It wouldn't be long before people realized that the solution was simple: invest in Agility. With high Agility, they could run faster and avoid being chased down. No matter how many Crawlers there were, they wouldn't catch you.

Moreover, when Crawlers tried to flee, having high speed would allow players to chase them down easily.

This was exactly why Qin Feng had prioritized Agility.

As he neared the safety of Shell Town, he finally stopped using his stealth skill.

However…

He opened the system menu and activated the "Face Mask" feature.

In the Forsaken Game, player avatars mirrored their real-life appearance, with no option to alter them.

"I'm still an ordinary person in the real world and haven't extracted any abilities yet," he thought.

"I can't reveal my identity."

Qin Feng knew this very well.

If his identity were exposed, especially as the top-ranked player in Shell Town, it would undoubtedly attract trouble—and possibly even deadly threats.

This kind of thing…

He had seen it plenty of times in his past life.

Once he activated the Face Mask feature, a layer of black mist obscured his face, making it impossible to see through. He was still wearing the basic black robe, along with the brown "Charger's Leather Legguards" and "Rottenhide Boots." The only thing visible beneath the black mask were his cold, emotionless eyes.

...

In Shell Town, the players—all from Jianghai City—wore grim expressions.

They all wanted to reach level 3 and return to reality.

But now, they couldn't even kill a single Crawler. And when they encountered one, it was never alone—how were they supposed to fight?

So, they crowded into Shell Town, discussing potential strategies.

When Qin Feng arrived, his cold and imposing figure immediately caught the attention of the surrounding players.

His legguards, boots, and the "Corrosion Shortblade" in his hand were clearly items dropped by monsters outside.

The shortblade and legguards, in particular, emitted a faint bronze glow—obviously Bronze-tier gear.

"Who is this guy? Showing off like that?"

"With two pieces of Bronze gear, can you blame him?"

"Damn, could he be the top-ranked player, Shadow?"

"Whoa, it might actually be him! Shadow, someone's offering a million RMB to have you power level them!"

"Shadow, you don't even need to help me level up! I'll give you 100,000 just to tell me how you're soloing everything…"

"Please, Shadow! I've died four times already. If you help me, I'll do whatever you want. I'm still… you know, untouched…"

In an instant, many players crowded around him.

Some were begging him to help them level up, while others were asking for his soloing strategy.

But Qin Feng ignored them all.

He walked straight to the town square and sat down near a broken fountain.

Opening the trading menu, he listed the ten items he had: equipment and skill books.

The store's name was: [Equipment and Skills for Sale, 10 Minutes Only, First Come First Serve].

With so many people in town, Qin Feng estimated that ten minutes would be plenty of time.

As soon as he set up the stall, it drew the attention of everyone around him.

"Whoa! It's really Shadow!"

"Man, this guy is impressive—he's even selling Bronze gear!"

"He must've killed a Bronze-tier boss. I heard that Bronze-tier Curser wiped out more than thirty players, including that blonde guy's group."

"Yeah, that Bronze-tier boss was insane. Did someone actually manage to kill it?"

Players quickly gathered around the stall.

Soon, a woman in a gray mage robe approached with her team.

Her figure was curvaceous, with a perfect S-curve, a well-endowed chest, and long, shapely legs that made it hard to look away…

"How much for the Frost Spike?" she asked, glancing at the item and then pursing her lips.

Like Qin Feng, she had activated the Face Mask feature.

But Qin Feng recognized her.

She was ranked 11th in Shell Town under the alias "Gray Rose."

Her robe was just a shabby, low-quality drop from ordinary monsters, which suited her alias quite well…

Qin Feng glanced at her and replied, "100 days of tradable lifespan."

Gray Rose frowned. "100 days? That's too much. Can't you go lower?"

Qin Feng shook his head, not bothering to say more.

The "Frost Spike" spellbook, even at the normal tier, could significantly increase a mage's efficiency when killing monsters. 100 days of tradable lifespan was already a bargain.

Gray Rose bit her lip and asked, "Can I pay in cash?"

Qin Feng replied coolly, "If you have the cash, you can buy lifespan from others first and then trade with me. If no one offers a higher price, I'll hold onto the item for you."

Gray Rose hesitated before saying, "Wait a moment."

She moved aside with her team to discuss in their party chat.

After about half a minute, she returned to Qin Feng.

"Alright, 100 days of lifespan. Let's trade."

Qin Feng had accumulated 268 days of tradable lifespan up to this point.

Gray Rose had reached level 2, leading her team to kill at least 30 to 40 Crawlers. However, the lifespan dropped by the Crawlers had been split among her team.

Now, Gray Rose had pooled together all of her team's tradable lifespan to buy the "Frost Spike" skill, allowing them to develop faster.

——

[You have sold the skillbook 'Frost Spike.' You received 100 days of tradable lifespan!]

[Tradable lifespan: 268 days → 368 days!]

——

Just as the transaction finished, a few people rudely pushed through the crowd and approached Qin Feng.

At the front was a girl in a black short-sleeved shirt with a ponytail—the one who went by the codename 'Ya Li,' Sister Li herself!

The girl had clearly torn off the sleeves of the initial black robe given by the system, so now she sported a breezy, playful short-sleeved look…

"Shadow?" Sister Li looked down at Qin Feng, sitting by the fountain. Her tone was haughty as she spoke: "I'll give you an opportunity. Just power level me to 3, and when we're back in reality, I'll give you a million RMB. My father is the CEO of Dajiang Industries, so don't worry about me not being able to pay."

Her words caused a stir among the crowd.

A million RMB!

Just to help her reach level 3!

People were stunned.

"That's insane!"

"For Shadow, getting someone to level 3 should be easy."

"Yeah, that's a million RMB, practically for free…"

But what no one expected was Qin Feng's response.

He glanced at the girl, his expression unchanged.

"I refuse."