Chapter Twenty-Four: Stumbling Upon Treasure

Xiao Liang stood by, stunned. He walked closer and said, "Boss, you are absolutely incredible! You took on five people at once and won without losing a single point of health."

"Just a bunch of trash," Lu Yang replied. "Killing them was like child's play."

"But Boss, how come your spells are cast differently from others? I noticed that when other mages use Fireball, it takes three seconds, and their fireballs aren't as large as yours either," Xiao Liang asked.

"I don't mind telling you, but you must keep this a secret," Lu Yang said. "The skill I just used, which is even larger than a standard Fireball, is called Pyroblast. It deals 50% more damage, but its normal casting time is five seconds. Generally, no mage uses this skill for grinding or group combat. I’m different, though. When I first entered the game, I had the good fortune to learn how to simplify incantations. While it takes others five seconds to cast, it only takes me 0.7 seconds."

"Ah!" Xiao Liang’s eyes widened in shock. "That short?"

Even though Xiao Liang wasn't very experienced with games, he understood the implication: for every Pyroblast someone else cast, Lu Yang could cast seven. In effect, Lu Yang’s damage output was equal to seven people combined.

"How about it? Interested in switching to a mage class? I can teach you how to simplify incantations," Lu Yang suggested with a smile.

A look of longing flickered in Xiao Liang's eyes, but it quickly turned resolute. "No, I want to play as a warrior."

Xiao Liang chose to be a warrior because he wanted to stand in front of Lu Yang. Anyone who wanted to get to Lu Yang would have to go through him first. He couldn't bring himself to say such things aloud, so he chose to show it through his actions instead.

Lu Yang didn't press him. Gaming was a matter of personal preference; some were born to play mages like himself, while others were born to play warriors, craving the visceral sensation of melee combat.

"Fine, suit yourself. If you ever decide you want to be a mage, I won't hold back—I'll teach you all the simplified fire-magic incantations," Lu Yang promised.

"Got it," Xiao Liang nodded.

"Go check the loot. Let's see what these guys dropped," Lu Yang said.

The five players, including Golden Eagle, had all been "Red Names." According to the game's rules, when a Red Name player dies, everything in their inventory is dropped, and there is a high probability that their equipped gear will be lost as well.

Xiao Liang walked over to the spot where they had fallen and said, "Boss, they were carrying quite a lot of good stuff."

The ground was littered with various potions and gear shimmering with a bronze luster.

Lu Yang walked over and took a look. "Black Blood’s lackeys are truly scum. I wonder how many players they had to kill to accumulate all this gear."

Black Blood operated on a philosophy of "war to sustain war." From level zero, he led his subordinates to kill and loot players for any items they could sell for profit. While the method was despicable, it attracted a large number of players who enjoyed PK, and it was through these players that Black Blood’s guild grew strong. Though those players eventually realized Black Blood’s true character and left, that was a story for another time.

Xiao Liang began picking up the gear one by one. When he reached the warrior Golden Eagle, he spotted a bead emitting a green glow. He picked it up and asked curiously, "Boss, this bead is strange. What is it used for?"

Lu Yang looked up and his eyes widened in surprise. "A Venom Bead? How is that possible? How could they have dropped a Venom Bead at this level?"

"A Venom Bead? What is that?" Xiao Liang asked. In the game's official settings, there were no descriptions for special items; players had to discover their functions on their own.

"Brother, this is a treasure," Lu Yang said, his voice brimming with excitement.

If there were any items in the early game that caught Lu Yang's eye, the Arsonist's Staff and the Heart of the Demon God were two of them. Aside from those, the Venom Bead in Xiao Liang's hand was the third.

"No wonder Black Blood’s group rose so quickly in my past life," Lu Yang muttered to himself. "So they found this treasure this early on."

"Past life? What past life?" Xiao Liang asked, confused.

"It's nothing," Lu Yang said. "You've struck gold, brother. This Venom Bead is a special, upgradable treasure. I won't go into what it becomes after it's upgraded, but let me tell you how powerful it is now: it can release a cloud of poison over a 10x10 area. Targets hit by the poison take 10 damage per second for five minutes, with a cooldown of two minutes."

"Wow, it's that strong?" Xiao Liang asked, amazed.

"Indeed," Lu Yang replied. "Against players, it might be countered because they have healing skills, potions, bandages, and can simply run out of the area. But monsters can't. Whoever carries this equipment effectively has an artifact for rapid leveling."

"Boss, does that mean we can level up quickly now?" Xiao Liang said, pleasantly surprised.

"Of course. Keep the bead, equip that set of bronze armor, and let's go level up," Lu Yang said.

Lu Yang had originally intended to go to the Troll Camp for a special quest, but with the Venom Bead in hand, he decided to take Xiao Liang to the Ogre Camp instead.

Following the Flowing Petal Plains, Lu Yang led Xiao Liang northwest toward the city of Saint Gall. After three hours of travel and passing through the level 3 to 9 monster zones, they entered the Silent Forest.

"Boss, this is a level 10 monster zone, isn't it?" Xiao Liang asked, his voice trembling. As a level zero novice who had just entered the game, he was terrified of being in such a high-level map.

Lu Yang smiled and said, "Don't worry, we aren't here to fight monsters."

Xiao Liang looked stunned. "Boss, do you mean we need to go even further?"

Lu Yang chuckled. "Oh, you're quick on the uptake."

Xiao Liang swallowed hard as he watched the massive frames of the level 10 Black Bears in the distance. "Well, that sounds like something you'd do, Boss."

Lu Yang laughed and patted Xiao Liang on the shoulder. "Don't be afraid of these monsters. Stay with me. As long as we find the right method, we won't disturb them."

Although the level 10 Black Bears were massive, their most notable trait was that they were sedentary. Especially at night, they habitually stayed in fixed positions and avoided the main roads of the game.

Lu Yang waited with Xiao Liang until the sun set and the moon hung high. The Silent Forest felt exceptionally eerie in the darkness; bats flitted overhead, and the terrifying cries of owls echoed from afar. The Black Bears had returned to the depths of the forest, each patrolling its own fixed territory.

"We can go now," Lu Yang said.

"Okay." Xiao Liang realized the bears were indeed gone. "Boss, how did you know about this method?"

Lu Yang smiled. "There’s a game library on the official website that has information about this kind of thing."

In truth, this method wasn't found in any library; it was something players had discovered themselves.

In his previous life, when he first entered the game, it was a time when major gaming studios were aggressively expanding. To secure high-level herbs, studios forced their players to venture into high-level maps early on. The price of a single high-level herb was several times that of a common one. To obtain them, the studio's "gold farmers" often took great risks, and after suffering numerous casualties, they eventually discovered this method.

As Lu Yang ran along the path, he couldn't help but reflect on his own experiences from that era. It could be said that it was a time when heroes were born.