Hunting Wild Wolves

"Ding! Your item listed on the auction house has been sold. Final transaction amount: $30,000. After deducting a handling fee of $4,500, $25,500 has been credited to your linked bank account."

"What the hell? The price went up?" Ethan Carter exclaimed in surprise as he opened the transaction record. "This doesn't make sense!" He had assumed the second piece of equipment wouldn't be worth as much as the first since the first was a weapon. How could it have sold for an even higher price? Ethan couldn't figure it out. He had initially planned to set a fixed price of $15,000 but luckily decided against it.

He quickly checked his bank account balance and burst into a foolish grin upon seeing the $43,900. Honestly, he'd never seen so much money in his life. It felt like a dream come true.

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, he was sent flying into the air and crashed into a tree. Stars circled around his head as he was inflicted with a stun effect lasting 1 second.

-90

"What the hell?! You ambushed me, you cowardly little trash!" Ethan cursed loudly. He had been so lost in thought over the money that he forgot he was still fighting monsters. After dealing with so many wild boars, he had finally experienced what it was like to get hit by Savage Charge.

While Ethan was still stunned, the Wild Boar charged at him again, landing another hit.

-55

Fortunately, with 230 health points now, Ethan could take the hit. If this had happened back when he was level 3, he would have been sent back to the village by now. But now? It was just a scratch.

Ethan turned around, gave the boar a swing of his sword, and ran off while muttering curses under his breath, "Damn, that hurts! Even with just 5% pain simulation, it feels like I got hit in the kidney!" He glared at the boar chasing him. "You're dead meat."

After two minutes of tormenting the boar with his poison and relentless insults, the poor creature finally collapsed. It dropped two copper coins, a tusk, and—surprise—a piece of equipment.

"Huh? That was quick. Must be compensation for the ambush," Ethan said as he picked up the item and examined it.

[Wild Boar Leather Pants]

Quality: White

Health +40

Defense +2

Equipment Requirement: None

He quickly equipped the pants and opened his character panel.

Name: Sealed

Level: 4

Health: 270

Mana: 90

Physical Attack: 12

Magic Attack: 10

Physical Defense: 17

Magical Defense: 5

Movement Speed: 28

Experience: 1580/2000

Strength: 5

Intelligence: 5

Constitution: 5

Stamina: 5

Spirit: 5

Agility: 25

Skill: Insight

Talent: Source of Venom – Deals 16 points of true damage per second for 60 seconds. Can stack once.

Equipment:

[Wooden Sword] (Starter Weapon): Physical Attack +2

[Wild Boar Leather Armor]: Health +40, Defense +2

[Canvas Shoes]: Speed +3, Defense +2

[Wild Boar Leather Helmet]: Health +30, Defense +3

[Wild Boar Belt]: Health +30, Defense +3

[Wild Boar Leather Pants]: Health +40, Defense +2

"Got the full boar set now, huh? Too bad it's not a real set with bonuses. Looks like boars don't drop accessories either, but that doesn't matter. Defense is king for me. Attack power means nothing," Ethan muttered.

After checking his stats, Ethan frowned slightly. "Hmm, still not good enough to take on the wolves. But I've already equipped all my defensive gear, so the only way to improve is by leveling up. But if I do that, grinding for talent points will be pointless."

Ethan began calculating again. "The wolves have 4,000 health. With my current poison damage of 16 points per second, it will take five applications of poison to kill one wolf, meaning I'll have to take five hits. If it's regular attacks, I'll only take 98 damage after subtracting my defense. That's fine. With my recovery rate of 2 points per second, 50 seconds should be enough to heal up. But if I get hit by their skill, it'll be 155 damage. That's still manageable, but the real problem is the bleeding effect. If I get hit with that, I'll be in trouble."

He glanced at the six small health potions in his bag. "Screw it, let's do it. Worst case, I'll just drink potions. If I can kill even one wolf and gain a talent point, it'll be worth it."

Having made up his mind, Ethan immediately got up and headed toward the Wolf Plains. Before long, he crossed the Boar Forest and reached the plains where groups of wolves roamed. Seeing the packs of wolves, he felt a bit tense.

Luring monsters requires skill. Since he didn't know the aggro range of the wolves, trying to lure out just one was quite challenging. Fortunately, Ethan's speed was significantly higher than that of the wolves. If he accidentally attracted too many, he could simply run back to the Boar Forest. Once outside their territory, they would stop chasing him.

Ethan cautiously approached the nearest group of wolves, trying to lure just one. But as soon as he got within range, four or five wolves started chasing him.

"What the hell! So many!" Ethan shouted as he quickly ran back to the Boar Forest. After a while, the wolves gave up and slowly wandered back to their territory.

He kept trying again and again. After over ten minutes and countless attempts, he finally managed to lure a lone wolf away from the pack.

A sinister grin appeared on Ethan's face as he watched the lone wolf approach. He raised his sword and struck.

-1

-16

Perhaps feeling insulted by Ethan's grin, the wolf immediately used its skill, Bite, sinking its teeth into Ethan.

-155

"Ding! You have been affected by Bleeding. You will lose 5 health per second for 10 seconds."

"What the fuck…" Ethan cursed. "What kind of shitty luck is this? First hit, and I'm already bleeding."

Ethan quickly ran in circles, leading the wolf around while pulling out a health potion from his bag. He gulped it down, wincing at the thought of wasting such a precious item. "These things have such a low drop rate. Drinking one means I have one less."

He timed his attack perfectly, striking the wolf just as the poison was about to wear off. The wolf retaliated with a normal attack this time. Ethan sighed in relief, glad it wasn't a skill.

But his relief didn't last long. On the third strike, the wolf bit him again, and once again, the bleeding effect triggered.

…

"Isn't the bleeding chance supposed to be 50%? Why the hell do I trigger it every damn time?" Ethan gritted his teeth and drank another health potion. "Two potions for one wolf? This is such a rip-off."

On the fourth hit, it was a normal attack. He survived without any issues. On the fifth and final hit, although the wolf bit him, the bleeding effect didn't trigger this time. Even if it had, it wouldn't have mattered, as he could just wait a bit longer before pulling the next wolf.

Soon, the first wolf collapsed to the ground in defeat.

"Ding! You have killed [Gray Wolf]. You gained 40 experience points. Overlevel bonus: 20 additional experience points."

"Ding! Talent trait activated. Poison damage increased by 1 point."

"It's been so long since I heard that notification. I almost missed it," Ethan said with a grin. Despite wasting two health potions, hearing that notification made it all worth it.

He walked over to the wolf's corpse and picked up four copper coins and a wolf claw, which had a description similar to the boar tusk. "Maybe there's a quest for this back in the village."

"But man, these wolves give a lot of experience. If I kill six more, I'll level up. That means I can only increase my talent six more times. What a drag. Why do they give so much experience?" Ethan complained.

He resumed his quest to pull another wolf. This time, it went much faster, as the pack now had a gap where he had pulled the first wolf. He quickly lured another one out.

After raising his poison damage to 17 points per second, he only needed four hits to kill a wolf. However, his luck was still terrible. Out of four attacks, three were skills, and two inflicted bleeding, forcing him to drink two more potions. He cursed the wolves' entire family under his breath.

The second wolf fell, and his talent increased by another point, reaching 18. But with only two health potions left in his bag, Ethan didn't dare continue. "If I get hit by three skills with bleeding again, I'm done for. And with my luck, that's entirely possible. I swear this Main Brain has it out for me."

"Whatever. I'll head back to the village and buy some more potions. I've got money now, so I can afford to splurge."