Chapter 17

The Curser, a magic-type boss monster, had mostly area-of-effect attacks, and they dealt high damage.

After throwing out his Poison Dart, Qin Feng had retreated as quickly as possible.

With his speed, he barely managed to get out of the boss's attack range before the skill exploded.

"That was close. If I got hit by that, with my current health and defense, I'd be dead for sure."

Qin Feng watched as the large area filled with gray mist, his heart pounding.

This Curser had killed over thirty players, allowing it to evolve to Silver-tier in one go.

It had even stolen enough lifespan to evolve to Gold, maybe even beyond...

But unfortunately for the Curser, it ran into Qin Feng!

After the first gray mist explosion, Qin Feng didn't rush in. Instead, he stayed far from the boss, waiting for his Stealth skill to cool down.

The Curser continued to raise its arms, releasing gray mist explosions into the air around it.

Although these smaller skills didn't have as large an area of effect, they still posed a great threat to Qin Feng.

If even one of them hit him, he'd be dead.

Thankfully...

He remained in stealth the whole time, staying far away from the boss, without encountering any real danger!

Once Qin Feng's Stealth skill cooled down, the Curser seemed to be running out of energy. After using more than ten spells, it appeared low on mana.

Cautiously, the Curser scanned its surroundings and began moving deeper into the forest.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared behind it. Another Poison Dart shot out, hitting it right in the head!

-659 (Weak Point Attack)!

-219!

-219!

...

Qin Feng's figure disappeared again, but the dart had already flown more than ten meters, hitting the boss squarely in the head.

His accuracy with long-range attacks was something no other player could match.

Qin Feng didn't dare to get too close. At this range, he could barely escape the boss's area attacks in time.

On paper, his stats were strong, but much of his success came from the nine years of hard-earned experience in his previous life.

After two Poison Darts, the boss's health bar had dropped to just one-third!

The Curser, unable to see its attacker, continued moving deeper into the forest, frantically fleeing.

The withered, thin Curser, with its long, bony arms hanging down to its knees, ran as fast as it could...

Anyone who saw this scene would be utterly shocked.

No one would have imagined that a boss, which had evolved to Silver-tier, was being hunted by a single player!

This was the same boss that had killed dozens of players back when it was just Bronze-tier!

And yet now...

A shadow appeared behind it once more.

Another Poison Dart!

The Curser's body turned green again as the poison took effect.

Under the continuous damage from the poison, the Curser's health bar finally dropped to zero. Its withered, fragile body collapsed onto the decayed, damp forest floor.

——

[You have killed 'Curser (Silver-tier)'.]

[You have gained 1800 experience points.]

[Congratulations! You have reached level 5!]

[You have gained 4 evolution points.]

[You have gained 124 days of tradable lifespan.]

——

The massive experience boost allowed Qin Feng to instantly level up twice, bringing him to level 5!

Additionally, the Silver-tier boss provided him with 4 evolution points!

"Greedy Hand!"

Qin Feng immediately activated his Greedy Hand skill.

A large golden hand emerged from the void and grabbed onto the Curser's withered body...

——

[Skill 'Greedy Hand' successful!]

[You have gained 4 evolution points!]

[You have gained 4 evolution points!]

[You have gained 124 days of tradable lifespan.]

[You have gained 124 days of tradable lifespan.]

——

He received two bonus rewards!

This one Silver-tier boss alone gave Qin Feng 12 evolution points and 372 days of tradable lifespan!

Moreover...

As soon as Qin Feng used Greedy Hand, a golden glow flashed from under the boss's corpse...

"Is that a Gold-tier item?"

"No wonder it's the Emerald-tier Greedy Hand!"

Qin Feng realized that the extra effect of his upgraded Greedy Hand had triggered—20% chance for the bonus loot to be one tier higher.

While the loot was excellent, Qin Feng found himself a little frustrated as he stared at the seven or eight items under the boss's body.

"I only have ten slots in my backpack. I can't go back after killing every boss, that'd waste too much time..."

"Hopefully, this Curser dropped a storage ring or something."

That would increase his inventory space.

With hopeful anticipation, Qin Feng reached out to collect the pile of loot from the boss's body...

...

Meanwhile, as Qin Feng killed the Silver-tier boss and leveled up to 5, back at Shell Town, countless people were stunned by what they saw on the leaderboard.

"From level 3 to level 5? Did he just kill some powerful boss?"

"Just ten minutes ago, he was selling gear, and now he's already two levels higher?"

"This is insane!"

"My sister just turned 18. I hope the big boss notices her, then maybe I could get in on the action and level up too..."

"Give it a rest. He didn't even care about a million RMB, what makes you think he'll look at your sister?"

In the center of town, Wang Meng and Lin Liyu's party of six had finally reached level 3.

Out of habit, they glanced at the leaderboard.

"What the f***!"

The young man, a sharpshooter in the party, cursed aloud. "We just reached level 3, and the boss is already level 5? How are we supposed to live?"

Wang Meng was equally shocked.

But he quickly shook his head and spoke seriously. "Don't overthink it. Let's head back to reality and warn our family and friends about what's happening in the Forsaken Game. The world might fall into chaos soon, and at the very least, we need to prepare our loved ones..."

Wang Meng's identity was that of a member of the armed police.

The reason he had fallen asleep that morning was because he'd been on a stakeout for a suspect the entire night. When he finally switched shifts and went to rest, he was pulled into the Forsaken Game.

Hearing Wang Meng's words, Lin Liyu and the others nodded gravely.

They returned to reality.

Their in-game bodies gradually turned translucent and then disappeared...

...

As countless people were still in shock, Qin Feng enjoyed his spoils.

From this one Silver-tier Curser, he gained 12 evolution points and 372 days of tradable lifespan.

Even his non-tradable lifespan increased by more than two hundred years!

"I now have 418 years and 271 days of non-tradable lifespan."

"It seems like a lot, but once I get to higher-level areas in the Forsaken Game, or when the first Desolation spreads into reality, the rate at which lifespan drains will accelerate..."

Qin Feng shook his head, putting the thought aside for now.

He turned his attention to the contents of his inventory.

First, he checked out the Gold-tier item:

[Ring of Curses (Gold-tier): Universal equipment. +8 to all stats. +26 dark element resistance. Weak Point Attack multiplier +0.1. Required level: 4.]

"A ring that boosts all stats?"

Qin Feng was quite pleased.

Eight points to all stats amounted to 32 total attribute points, equivalent to the amount others would get from leveling up three times!

"The dark element resistance is useful against a lot of monsters."

"The Weak Point Attack multiplier... Normally, it's 1.5x, but with this ring, it becomes 1.6x. Not bad."

In the Forsaken Game, there was no such thing as a critical hit.

Instead, there was a Weak Point Attack multiplier.

In other words, the Weak Point Attack multiplier functioned similarly to "critical damage" in other games.

Next, Qin Feng turned to one of the skill books...

Compared to equipment, Qin Feng had a clear preference for skill books.

After all, he could evolve his skills infinitely!

And now, the Silver-tier skill book the Curser had dropped made Qin Feng's eyes light up with excitement.