Elite monster？
"Only accepting gold coin transactions, not selling for any price!"
At the outskirts of the Level 4 monster area, Su Mu looked at his constantly buzzing private messages and decisively activated the auto-reply. When he saw the prices offered by those people, Su Mu indeed felt a wavering sensation.
One hundred million for a white-grade item!
For someone who had lived alone since childhood, let alone one billion, he hadn't even seen one million in his life!
"If this were just a game, I would definitely sell it!"
Closing the chat interface, he began searching for targets in the surroundings. A wandering wild wolf entered his line of sight.
[Wild Wolf]
Level: 4
Health: 400/400
Attack Power: 80
Physical Defense: 15
Magic Defense: 0
Description: The wild wolf runs fast and has a keen sense of smell.
"With my magic attack of 64, two fireballs can take down this guy!"
Su Mu cautiously approached the wild wolf. With his current health, he couldn't withstand its attacks and had to eliminate it before it got too close.
"It's so comfortable to have long-range attacks!"
When the wild wolf entered the range of his fireball spell, Su Mu couldn't help but smile. The feeling of having the initiative was truly enjoyable.
"Fireball!"
Su Mu began chanting the skill.
-256!
An exaggerated damage number appeared above the wild wolf's head. If there were other players around, they would definitely be stunned by this number!
"Roar!"
The wild wolf was hit by the fireball and also reacted, charging toward Su Mu.
-256!
Su Mu calmly chanted the skill, directly killing the wild wolf.
[Wild Wolf killed, gained ten experience points]
[You obtained a Health Potion (Small), which can restore 100 health points when used, with a cooldown of one minute]
"Good stuff!"
Picking up the glow on the wild wolf's body, Su Mu now had a bottle of red potion. With his current health at only 80 points, having this could save his life in critical moments.
"Let's continue!"
Su Mu continued to search for lone wild wolves in the area. He needed 500 experience points to reach Level 4 from Level 3, which meant he had to kill 50 wild wolves to level up.
"Shentu is different from those other games. Although there are rewards for doing quests, they don't give experience. If you want to level up, killing monsters is the only way!"
In any other game, this would sound completely unreasonable. But this is Shentu!
There were discussions about this game setting on the internet even before the game started.
A more widely accepted explanation is that there is a kind of energy contained within the monsters, and only by killing them can one absorb it. The process of leveling up is essentially a process of cultivation. This also explains why only those who kill monsters can gain experience. However, these are all speculations made by the general public.
[You have killed a wild wolf and gained 10 experience points and 1 silver coin.]
[You have killed a wild wolf and gained 10 experience points and 80 copper coins.]
...
After two hours of killing two wolves with two fireballs each, Su Mu reached level 4.
The main issue was still the slow mana regeneration. Otherwise, he could have been even more efficient in monster hunting.
"I'll continue to invest all my attribute points in intelligence, and deal with the rest later!"
Relying on the Fireball spell, Su Mu had no intention of adding any points to his constitution. Even though his health was low, the monsters couldn't even touch him!
The best defense is a good offense!
Player: Su Mu
Class: Mage
Level: 4 (0/1000)
Health Points: 100
Mana Points: 400
Attack: 21
Magic Attack: 86
Physical Defense: 10
Magic Defense: 10
Attributes: Strength 8, Constitution 8 (+2), Agility 8, Spirit 10, Intelligence 40 (+3)
Equipment: Worn-out Iron Staff, Tattered Cloth Robe
Having killed fifty wild wolves, Su Mu obtained a variety of items, including a staff with +5 Attack and +3 Intelligence. He also obtained three red potions, four blue potions, twenty pieces of tattered wolf fur, and three broken pieces of equipment.
"I'll continue to sell the equipment, but I'll keep the red and blue potions!"
Su Mu opened the auction house.
"Sold already?"
Both of the previously consigned items were sold, and he had nine gold coins to withdraw.
"The auction house fees are quite high!"
Su Mu felt a bit painful after losing one gold coin to the transaction fee.
After some thought, he decided to list the three pieces of equipment again. One was the staff he had previously replaced, and the other two were pieces of armor, which were obviously less sought after than weapons.
He put the three items up for sale for a total of six gold coins.
[Sale successful!]
"That was quick?"
The items were sold immediately after being listed, and Su Mu was a bit surprised. It seemed like these players had a lot of money!
But upon further consideration, he wasn't really surprised. In the month leading up to the start of Shen Tu, major companies and conglomerates worldwide had issued recruitment notices, attracting countless employees.
"What's that?"
Just then, Su Mu spotted a different kind of wild wolf in the forest. It was a white-colored wolf lazily strolling through the woods.
[White Wolf Pup (Elite)]
Level: 4
Health Points: 1000/1000
Attack: 150
Defense: 20
Skill: Bite
Description: This is a white wolf pup, somehow found its way here.
"It's actually an elite monster!" Su Mu was slightly surprised after seeing the information about this white wolf pup.
Compared to ordinary wild wolves, this elite monster had a health pool of 1000 points, an attack power of 150, and, even more terrifying, a skill.
In Shen Tu, the formula for calculating skill damage is: Attack Power x Skill Modifier - Defense Value equals the final damage.
Putting aside the skill modifier of the white wolf, just the 150 points of attack power alone were something Su Mu couldn't withstand!
"As long as it touches me once, I'm done for!"
"To fight or not to fight?"
Su Mu calculated that his Fireball spell currently dealt 344 points of damage. That meant he would need to cast three Fireballs to defeat the white wolf.
Even though he had the first move advantage, he would still need to chant two Fireballs, which would take 4 seconds.
"The white wolf is very fast. In 4 seconds, it can definitely reach me. If it attacks first, I'm done for."
"I can't take this risk. I should go back to the village and learn some skills first!"
In other infinite resurrection online games, Su Mu would have directly engaged with the Fireball spell. But Shen Tu was different.
Having ten resurrection chances, it would be best not to use any of them.
According to the information handbook, skills could be learned in the beginner's village. Players could visit the profession mentor every few levels to learn, but the prices were very high.
However, after selling the equipment, Su Mu had 15 gold coins, which was definitely enough.
"For others, learning skills may not make a big difference, but for me, it's different!"
"What does an elite monster matter? Once I learn the skills, I won't be afraid to fight a boss one-on-one!"