Chapter 6
"Eh, where did he go?"
Pear Sister and her group of five were stunned.
They looked around, but couldn't find any trace of Qin Feng.
The tall male assassin in the group was baffled, "Is this an invisibility skill? He has invisibility as a starting skill? What kind of class is that? So lucky!"
He had chosen the 'Assassin' class, but his starting skill didn't include invisibility.
After searching for a while and failing to locate Qin Feng, the five hesitated to leave the safety of the town and reluctantly retreated back to Shell Town.
Pear Sister spoke in a serious tone, "It's too dangerous out there. We've already died once, and our remaining lifespan has been halved. Let's search the town first, maybe there's a way to get stronger."
The soft-spoken girl with long hair lit up, "Yes, yes! Let's look for treasure chests or NPCs or something!"
The tall male assassin, maintaining a positive attitude, laughed, "You're all too nervous. Sure, this Forsaken Game is strange, but the idea that it could affect our lifespan is pure fantasy... Since we've already revived, we should just go back out and finish off that Crawler."
The male warrior chimed in, "I agree. We already brought its health down by half. If we don't finish it, that guy from earlier will get all the benefits."
Pear Sister scoffed, "It took all five of us to bring the Crawler's health down to half. He might be able to survive with his invisibility, but if he thinks he can kill it alone, he's dreaming."
...
As for Pear Sister and her group, Qin Feng had no idea what they were up to.
Even if he knew, he wouldn't care.
After all, the starter town offered no real resources for growth, only a safe place for players to rest.
At that moment, Qin Feng activated his 'Shadow Veil' skill and walked through the dark, scorched earth.
Once invisible, all sounds—footsteps, breathing, even his heartbeat—were completely erased!
The only thing that remained was his physical presence; otherwise, it was as if he didn't exist at all.
The only way to detect an invisible unit was through anti-stealth skills.
Of course, Qin Feng's Shadow class came with a natural '+1 Invisibility Level,' making it nearly impossible for early-game players or monsters to spot him.
Qin Feng quickly walked over a hundred meters away from the town and entered a sparse forest.
In the distance, he spotted the dark silhouette of a Crawler resting among the trees.
——
[Crawler (Lv1)]
[Rank: Normal (Evolving…)]
——
"This thing just killed those five players and is now digesting their lifespan?"
Qin Feng narrowed his eyes.
He had seen this kind of thing countless times in his previous life.
When monsters hunted players and gained their lifespan, they needed time to evolve. The Crawler in front of him had already become greedy.
It had hunted five players and should have found a safe place to evolve, yet it stayed here, clearly wanting to kill more.
"In that case, give me that lifespan."
Qin Feng found a hidden spot and waited for his invisibility to wear off. Then, he activated 'Shadow Veil' again, seamlessly chaining his invisibility without any gap.
With the scrap iron short dagger in hand, he quietly approached the Crawler.
As he got closer, he could smell the foul, rotten stench coming from the Crawler's body.
Its silhouette became clearer—it was a faceless, gray-skinned humanoid with long, thin limbs, crouching beside a tree with grayish-white mist swirling around it.
That mist was the visible form of lifespan, indicating that the Crawler was in the process of consuming it to evolve.
"Lifespan that hasn't been fully absorbed by the monster will drop as loot when the monster dies…"
Qin Feng didn't hesitate.
Maintaining his invisibility, he crept behind the Crawler and struck swiftly!
The scrap iron dagger emerged from the darkness, gleaming coldly as it struck the Crawler's vulnerable neck.
The 'neck' was one of the Crawler's weak points. Hitting it increased damage by 50%, resulting in 1.5 times the normal damage.
-372 (Weak Point Hit)!
With a single blow, grayish-white blood spurted from the Crawler's neck, and its body collapsed to the ground!
"This Shadow class is incredible!"
Even Qin Feng was taken aback by the sheer power of his attack.
However, he knew it wasn't just because of the Shadow class.
Most of his damage came from his twice-evolved 'Shadow Veil' skill.
The additional 90 points of attack power had multiplied his damage two to three times.
If he had been using the original, poor-quality 'Shadow Veil,' the damage would've been less than half of what he just dealt.
——
[You have killed 'Crawler (Lv1)'.]
[You have gained 10 experience points.]
——
In addition to the experience points, a grayish-white mist gathered on the Crawler's corpse, forming a fist-sized orb of light. It was the visible form of tradable lifespan.
Qin Feng reached out and grasped the mist…
——
[You have gained 3 days of tradable lifespan.]
[You have gained 54 years and 155 days of non-tradable lifespan.]
——
The system notification rang in Qin Feng's mind, and he shook his head.
"Those five players must've lost at least 20 to 30 years each, adding up to over a hundred years."
"But after passing through the Crawler, only 54 years dropped…"
"Not that it matters—non-tradable lifespan isn't that useful for now."
Qin Feng understood this well.
Non-tradable lifespan only had one function: keeping you alive. There was no other use for it, at least for the time being.
Tradable lifespan, on the other hand, was key!
"Tradable lifespan can be consumed to extract equipment, skills, and even classes into the real world."
"But killing a small monster for just three days of tradable lifespan is way too little."
"It's nowhere near enough to extract any equipment or skills."
"I need to keep hunting."
Qin Feng didn't dwell on it for long.
Grayish-white mist swirled around him, gradually being absorbed into his body.
Then, he reached out and picked up two items from the Crawler's corpse.
One was a piece of equipment, the other a skill book.
——
[Rotten Skin Boots (Poor): Gray quality. Physical Defense +3, Movement Speed +5%. Requirements: Level 1]
[Skill Book: Ice Spike (Normal): White quality. Mage skill book. Requirement: Level 1]
——
The Crawler was a level 1 normal monster.
The loot it dropped was mostly poor quality, with only a small chance of being normal.
"Two items from one kill, not bad."
"Too bad neither is very useful to me..."
Qin Feng equipped the Rotten Skin Boots.
He was a bit disappointed.
The Crawler hadn't provided any evolution points, nor had the kill given him enough experience to level up.
Without wasting time, Qin Feng reactivated 'Shadow Veil' and continued deeper into the forest…
Meanwhile, more players were starting to venture out of Shell Town.
Some were forming small teams, while others, more reckless, were heading out alone or in pairs.
Before long…
A young couple came upon the spot where Qin Feng had just killed the Crawler, noticing its lifeless body.
"Someone killed a monster here?"
"Looks like this game isn't that hard after all. I told you, no need to be so nervous, haha."
"Just watch, Xiaoya. When the next monster shows up, I'll show you how I take it down!"
What they didn't notice, however...
The large shadow lurking in the tree above them!