Chapter 57: Spore Village

Seeing the boss defeated, Xia Yuwei and Zhang Zibo did not celebrate immediately; instead, an overwhelming sense of exhaustion washed over them.

"That scared me to death. During the final phase, I really thought the boss was going to cast Static Stance again," Zhang Zibo said, panting heavily.

"I felt the same way. I saw its arms start to rise," Leng Feng chimed in.

"It's just a shame our team's gear isn't good enough. If we had the kind of equipment Lu Yang has, this boss would have been much easier," Zhang Zibo remarked.

The others nodded in agreement.

Seeing Lu Yang step forward to loot the boss, Xia Yuwei asked, "Lu Yang, what dropped?"

Lu Yang replied, "It's a Silver-grade Mage leggings."

He shared the item stats with everyone in the party.

Anggoro's Leggings (Silver Grade)
Level: 5
Defense: 6–10
Stamina: +3
Intelligence: +8
Spell Damage: +18
Spell Critical Strike Chance: +8%
Spell Hit Chance: +8%

"These are mine," Lu Yang said. They had a prior agreement that all mage gear would go to him.

Xia Yuwei and the others nodded. Though slightly disappointed, they knew that defeating this boss had very little to do with their own contributions.

After equipping the leggings, Lu Yang's spell damage increased by another 26 points. Combined with his previous 148 points, his actual spell damage now reached 174.

However, he didn't dwell on the new gear. Lu Yang said, "Everyone, follow me out of the dungeon. I'll show you the bug spot so you can go level up."

Xia Yuwei had thought Lu Yang was just speaking casually earlier, never expecting that he would actually lead them to exploit a game bug.

"Thank you," Xia Yuwei said, turning to the rest of the group. "Everyone, gather up."

Zhang Zibo, Leng Feng, and the others immediately brought their team members over, and the group headed back to Saint Gall City together.

The moment they materialized in the city, Clear Wine Breeze spoke up, "Brother Lu Yang, everyone, I'll be heading off now. My guild leader needs me for something."

Lu Yang knew that Chimu was eager to learn the exact details of the dungeon clearance. "Thanks for your help today. Please give my regards to Guild Leader Chimu."

Clear Wine Breeze replied, "We should be the ones thanking you. With this video, our guild will soon pull far ahead of the others."

Lu Yang smiled without saying anything.

Clear Wine Breeze knew some things were inappropriate for him to say and required Chimu to address in person.

"Goodbye, everyone. Let's get together again when we have free time." Clear Wine Breeze cupped his fists in a salute, turned, and walked away.

Xia Yuwei, Zhang Zibo, and the others watched Clear Wine Breeze depart. They knew that parting ways now meant meeting again would be difficult, as Clear Wine Breeze was the vice-leader of a sixty-thousand-member guild, while they were merely a twenty-odd-person gaming studio.

Noticing the disappointment among Xia Yuwei and her companions, Lu Yang said, "Don't be discouraged. This is still the early stage of the game, and nobody knows how things will develop. If the few of you have substantial financial backing, once the currency exchange opens, you can also recruit players on a large scale and establish your own guild."

Xia Yuwei nodded. "I was actually thinking the exact same thing."

Zhang Zibo, Leng Feng, and the others nodded as well. Having already witnessed the game's immense future potential, they all believed that investing in it was a worthwhile endeavor.

Knowing that Xia Yuwei would respond this way, Lu Yang said, "Follow me, everyone. We're teleporting to Giant's Town."

"Boss, am I coming too?" Xiao Liang asked.

"Stay here and wait for me. I'll take you to level up shortly," Lu Yang instructed.

He still needed to escort Xiao Liang into the Orc Cave Hall later. Understanding Lu Yang's intention, Xiao Liang nodded and said, "Then I'll wait for you here."

With a nod, Lu Yang led Xia Yuwei, Zhang Zibo, and the rest to Giant's Town via the teleportation portal.

After guiding them to accept Shepherd Fleek's quest and obtain the quest item, the Lasso, Lu Yang led them to the exploit spot beneath the towering mountain.

Lu Yang explained, "Use the lasso to climb up from here. The monsters on the other side of the mountain are Level 5 wild bulls. If you output damage from above, the bulls won't be able to retaliate."

"You can use a quest item like this?" Zhang Zibo asked, dumbfounded.

Lu Yang replied, "Of course. Hurry up and get up there. Very few players are Level 5 right now, so you'll have at least two days to grind levels here."

Xia Yuwei and her group showered Lu Yang with expressions of deep gratitude. On the third day of the game's release, as more and more players flooded in, finding a spot where no one contested for monsters was nearly impossible—let alone having Lu Yang gift them a location designed for cross-level farming.

Eager to level up the Heart of the God of War, Lu Yang exchanged a few polite pleasantries with Xia Yuwei and Blue Feather, then returned to Saint Gall City. He spent 1 silver coin at the teleportation NPC to fly to a Level 20 map: Twilight Town.

Twilight Town ranked ninth on the list of places players voted they hated visiting the most in his past life.

This was because the area was filled with towering black trees over ten meters high that blocked out the sun, plunging anyone beneath them into perpetual gloom.

On the ground just outside the town, marshes stretched everywhere. The game simulated reality; once a player sank into the bogs, death was certain. The location had left deep psychological scars on many players.

For Lu Yang, however, this place was paradise. Back when he offended Black Blood in his past life, Lu Yang and his brothers had survived by hiding out in the swamps just outside Twilight Town.

Thinking of Black Blood stirred a fresh wave of anger in Lu Yang. Setting aside Liu Jie for the moment, even Black Blood was someone he couldn't defeat head-on right now, which only intensified the urgency burning inside him.

Stepping out of Twilight Town, Lu Yang relied on his memories from his past life, battling wild monsters along the way until he reached the depths of the swamp and located a place called Spore Village.

Very few players had been aware of this village's existence in his past life. A single narrow path through the depths of the swamp allowed passage, but it remained concealed within a vast expanse of black marshland.

Lu Yang and his companions had managed to discover this path only after a grueling struggle to evade Black Blood's subordinates, never expecting to find a tiny settlement tucked away in such a place.

A fence made of dark wood encircled the village. At the entrance stood two humanoid guards, barely half a meter tall, with purple skin, rugby-ball-shaped heads, and six yellow eyes.

They served as the guards of Spore Village, though they were only Level 5. Spotting a stranger approaching, both guards assumed vigilant postures.

System Prompt: You have discovered Spore Village.
Your reputation with Spore Village is Neutral.

Approaching the guards, Lu Yang said, "I am a wandering mage out on a trial, and I accidentally explored this place. May I go inside and have a look?"

The guard on the left rattled off a string of Spore language. Lu Yang hadn't understood it when he first arrived in his past life, but having spent nearly half a year living in Spore Village, he could comprehend basic Spore speech.

The meaning was simple: *Adventurer, you may enter of course, but please leave quickly. Outsiders are not welcome here.*

Nodding, Lu Yang walked straight into Spore Village. The settlement was small; because the residents stood only half a meter tall, their houses rose barely over a meter in height.

Built of wood, the dwellings resembled coconuts with their shells removed. Among the cluster of houses stood a slightly larger structure—the chieftain's house.

At that moment, the village chieftain stood right outside his doorway. Spotting Lu Yang, the chieftain's eyes lit up, and he proactively called out to him in the Continental Common Tongue, "Young human man, please come over here."

Walking up to the chieftain, Lu Yang bowed respectfully and said, "Greetings, Village Chieftain. I am a wandering mage."

Looking quite elderly, the chieftain tilted his head up and asked, "Young man, what brings you to this place?"

"I was merely passing by and came in out of curiosity. Is there anything I can help you with?" Lu Yang asked.

"Young man, are you truly willing to help us?" the Spore Village chieftain inquired.

"Of course." Lu Yang had engaged in this exact conversation with the chieftain in his past life. Initially, he had just wanted to check for available quests, never anticipating that the chieftain would repeatedly ask him for Dark Marsh Silk and Glimmering Elemental Cores.

At first, Lu Yang thought it was a hidden quest, but after turning in dozens of bundles, he realized it was merely a reputation-building task.

Only later, when upgrading his Heart of the God of War, did he discover that the ultimate reward for this questline was one of the essential upgrade components for the artifact.