Monster-Stealing Expert

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by SnowPeaches

"Hehe, brother, I'm afraid you have no chance of competing for the monsters with us. Perhaps you can try your luck somewhere else. The others might not know they can trigger a Hunter's traps by stepping on them," an Assassin Player with the nickname The Hand of Deadly Poison patted Chen Mo on the shoulder and said.

When the game just started, the other Players were having a hard time landing their attacks on the monsters first since the Hunters could just place a trap on where the monsters were spawning. However, someone eventually found out that they could step on the traps to set them off. Since then, the Hunters had become the ones to suffer.

The Wild Hares respawned pretty quickly. The Hand of Deadly Poison shrugged when Chen Mo did not listen to his advice and left. As the saying went, good advice jars on the ears. He assumed Chen Mo was unwilling to accept his advice. He insisted to compete with them.

The light indicating the Wild Hares were respawning appeared again. The Players nearby raised their weapons and channeled their spells. The monsters all died within the blink of an eye.

"Damn it, I was just a second slower!"

"(Sigh), I just need a few more."

"HAHA, got one!"

An uproar took place. Some were excited after securing the first hits on the monsters. Others were disappointed because they failed to secure the monsters. They began to panic when they saw the others had already done with the quest while they were still stuck with the low-level quest.

The Hand of Deadly Poison calmly glanced at the people that were complaining. He had managed to secure a Wild Hare again. He just needed five more of them to complete the quest. The others nearby were not as quick as him, thus he was not too worried about them, including Chen Mo who was trying to rely on his traps to secure the first hits.

The Wild Hares spawned again. The Players immediately made their moves. The Hand of Deadly Poison swung his dagger and secured another Wild Hare.

However, he was looking at Chen Mo curiously. Previously, the Hunter was trying to attack with his bare fists, but he was using his crossbow this time.

The Wild Hares had very low HP. It did not matter if they were attacking with their weapons or bare fists. The person that landed the first hit would be able to secure the monsters.

In the eyes of the Hand of Deadly Poison, using range skills or weapons was the stupidest decision. These low-level monsters were spawned at fixed locations. Using range attacks did not really have an advantage. It was easier to secure the first hit by using a melee attack in advance just before the Wild Hares respawned.

Many Players were using the same trick, but they were out of luck as they were competing with him. No one could possibly steal the Wild Hares from him as he was perfectly calculating the respawn time of the Wild Hares. No one could be quicker than him, as those that attacked earlier than him would only miss their attacks.

The Wild Hares spawned again. The Hand of Deadly Poison swung his dagger together with many other weapons that the Players nearby were using.

The Wild Hare fell to the ground following its death. However, the Hand of Deadly Poison was startled.

He failed to secure the first hit!

He looked at Chen Mo. He knew he was the one that secured the Wild Hare with a bolt.

-Was it a coincidence?-

The Hand of Deadly Poison thought.

The Wild Hares spawned again. The Hand of Deadly Poison concentrated and swung his dagger rapidly.

He missed it again! It was the same Hunter that landed the first hit!

Damn it, the Hunter was an expert!

The Hand of Deadly Poison looked at Chen Mo. He finally realized why the Hunter was using his crossbow instead of bare fists.

The best that the Hunter could do with his bare fists was landing an attack on the Wild Hare at the same time as him. When that happened, the System would automatically assign the kill to the person that dealt with higher damage among the two.

The Hand of Deadly Poison was an Assassin, thus his normal attack was obviously higher than a Hunter who was attacking with bare fists. Therefore, the Hunter would never be able to take the kill from him.

As a result, the Hunter decided to use his crossbow instead. The damage of the crossbow and the bolt was a lot higher than using bare fists.

The Hand of Deadly Poison had a basic skill called Stab. However, he was not that confident in using it to secure the first hit.

Apart from calculating the respawn time perfectly, he was using a little trick to constantly land a first hit on the Wild Hares.

He would purposely slow down the animation of his attack when the Wild Hare was about to spawn, before speeding it up the moment the Wild Hare appeared. As a result, even if his timing was a little behind, he could still land his attack on the target first. However, if he was using a skill, he could not afford to make any mistake. Otherwise, he might end up missing his attack if he used it just a little earlier.

The Hand of Deadly Poison admitted it was beyond his capabilities. As such, his gaze toward Chen Mo was filled with astonishment.

The Hunter was most likely a professional!

Chen Mo was unaware of the Hand of Deadly Poison's thoughts. He was not as impressive as the man had thought. He was only estimating the timing of his attack. It was impossible to be perfectly precise. Luck was part of the reason that he was able to secure the Wild Hares twice in a row. He did not overthink the situation. He just kept trying until he secured the first hit.

"Expert, that Hunter over there, come over here quick, I have some extra monsters for you!"

When Chen Mo killed the second Wild Hare, the previous guy Da Qingshan yelled excitedly as if he had discovered a new continent.

Da Qingshan was already watching the Hand of Deadly Poison before Chen Mo showed up.

He was a total newbie. He only started playing the game out of curiosity, but he was dazzled by the fascinating world as soon as he entered the game.

It took Da Qingshan some time to reach Level 4. He excitedly left Aiur Town after accepting the quest of killing Wild Hares, but he could not secure a single one of them after spending thirty minutes competing with the other Players.

The frustrated Da Qingshan decided to hire a bunch of Players to surround the spawning area instead.

Money was insignificant to Da Qingshan. He enjoyed the envious looks of the Players nearby, yet he knew it was crazy to bribe the Players with money just so he could kill some monsters. He was aware of the disdain in the eyes of the Players nearby.

Da Qingshan wanted to steal the monsters from other Players too. It would be more interesting that way even though he would complete the quest much slower.

He had been observing the Players nearby. The Hand of Deadly Poison soon caught his attention. He was planning to wait a little longer before asking the Hand of Deadly Poison for some advice, but a Hunter who seemed to be more skillful had appeared.

Da Qingshan thought the Hand of Deadly Poison was already very impressive, yet someone better than him had shown up. He could no longer withhold his urge.

The look in Da Qingshan's eyes had blatantly expressed his intention. Chen Mo was quite familiar with the look he had. He immediately knew what Da Qingshan wanted.

After a slight hesitation, Chen Mo started to approach Da Qingshan.

Teaching the man might actually save him some time. It was not a bad thing for him.

"Yo, Brother Qingshan, we've already made a deal."

The Players nearby were displeased by Da Qingshan's decision.

"Cut the crap, I'll pay double!" Da Qingshan glared at the Players. They immediately stopped complaining.

"Expert, you're so impressive. Can you please teach me some tricks? I couldn't even steal a single monster in half an hour!" Da Qingshan cut straight to the topic. He asked Chen Mo with a sincere look.

What Chen Mo did was too impressive. Da Qingshan could not hold himself back when he imagined himself doing the same thing.

"Of course," Chen Mo smiled. It was not like he was using a secret trick. Anyone with an average reaction time could do it after getting the hang of the right timing.

Chen Mo briefly explained it to Da Qingshan. The man nodded and immediately went to try it out.

"HAHA, I have a feeling it's actually going to work!"

Da Qingshan was not stupid. Besides, Chen Mo had explained it in a simple way too. After a few attempts, Da Qingshan was excited when he discovered that the trick might work.

"Spend more time observing, remember the patterns, only attack when you got the hang of the timing. It's more difficult against high-level monsters, but the basic principles are the same," Chen Mo gave his advice while killing a Wild Hare nearby.

"Aye, Master Chen Mo," Da Qingshan sent Chen Mo a friend request as he spoke.

"I'm done here. I'll be going first. Have a go at it yourself, and feel free to send me a message if you have any questions."

It did not take too long for Chen Mo to kill twenty Wild Hares since there were no Players competing with him.

"Alright, see you later!" Da Qingshan nodded. He did not turn around when he spoke. He was staring nervously at the spot where a Wild Hare would spawn. He was prepared to swing his sword in any second.

Chen Mo knew Da Qingshan was focusing on killing the monsters. He left without disturbing him any further.

Right after Chen Mo left, Da Qingshan swung his sword at a Wild Hare that just spawned.

"HAHAHA, I know how to steal the monsters now! You guys can leave now, I'll ask someone to transfer the money later!" Da Qingshan burst out laughing. He waved his hand and dismissed the Players nearby. He then made his way to a group of Players nearby.

He had long completed the quest, but since he had learned how to steal the monsters from the other Players, how could he not try it out on the Players nearby?

"Damn it! What's going on!?"

A Wild Hare spawned in front of him, yet the outcome was different than what he had imagined. He could not secure a kill out of more than ten Wild Hares that had spawned in the same spot.

"F**k this, I don't believe it!"

The stubborn Da Qingshan stared at the spot where a Wild Hare was going to spawn. He would not give up until he was able to steal a kill from the other Players!