14: First Kill

Ordinary players hadn't dealt enough damage to attract the aggro of the Wild Rabbit BOSS, so their retreat was unimpeded.

As more players pulled out, the area outside the village began to clear.

This development shocked many players even more.

The Wild Rabbit BOSS was extremely fast, there was no doubt about that. Every time it hopped, it left an afterimage, and in the blink of an eye, it could cover tens of meters.

Some players calculated that even if they attacked from forty meters away, they wouldn't be able to retreat in time before the BOSS closed the gap.

Stealth wouldn't help; the landing shockwave would hit them.

But Blackshade had done it.

The Wild Rabbit BOSS's counterattack couldn't touch him.

"Blackshade's agility must be over twenty, or he wouldn't be able to dodge the BOSS's landing shockwave."

"Not only that, I've calculated it. With twenty agility, the shockwave would still take a bit of health. Even if Blackshade's Stealth is special and can't be detected, the constant health drain would eventually take its toll."

"Could Blackshade's agility be over 30? How high must his level be to achieve that?"

"Didn't you see? He dealt almost 1,000 damage with one hit, easily killing monsters above his level."

"But the game just launched; he can't possibly be level seven or eight already."

"Don't forget, Blackshade has a hidden class with extra attribute points. I bet he's stacking everything into agility."

"Protest! Why does Blackshade get all the good stuff?"

The players were in an uproar.

It didn't matter if they were weaker; after all, everyone was in the same boat.

But if someone stood out too much, they wouldn't hesitate to focus their attacks.

Hearing this, Drake spoke up:

"Why? Because of Blackshade's talent! Everyone must've drawn their talents when entering the game, right? Players with hidden classes usually get B-grade talents or higher."

Drake's words made many players pause to think.

But some players countered:

"I have an A-grade talent, and I also have a hidden class, but it only gives me 3 extra free attribute points when leveling up. It's tough to get a single attribute over thirty at this stage."

"I took a good look earlier. Blackshade's only level three. Even if he put all his free attributes into agility, he shouldn't have over thirty."

"Could it be that Blackshade's hidden class is stronger and gives more attributes?"

"It's possible, but don't rule out that Blackshade might have some rare gear."

"Speaking of which, a player got something from Cole Hunter earlier. Could that have been Blackshade?"

"Now that you mention it, I remember that player used Stealth. It's probably Blackshade!"

"Wasn't ExoGenesis supposed to have no internal testing? How did Blackshade know that Cole Hunter had something good?"

"I seriously suspect Blackshade is a game company shill!"

Tristan, waiting in Stealth for his cooldown, was dumbfounded by the players' imagination.

But some of their guesses were almost spot on.

"Seems like there are a lot of talented players out there. Can't afford to slack off."

Tristan thought to himself, then threw another knife at the Wild Rabbit BOSS's eye.

-976! (Weak Spot Attack)

The BOSS's health dropped a little more, and in a few minutes, it would be nearly depleted.

After Tristan's attack, the BOSS immediately retaliated, jumping to the spot where Tristan had previously been, causing a cloud of dust.

The shockwave from the landing was enough to send a fragile assassin like Tristan back to the respawn point.

But Tristan had anticipated this. While in Stealth, he had already started moving.

With 37 points in agility, he was fast enough to avoid the shockwave, taking no damage at all.

"My attributes still aren't high enough."

"Once this BOSS is down, I need to keep leveling up and get to level five or higher."

"I don't need to spend this evolution point just yet. I'll save it to evolve Shadow Stealth further."

"My performance today has probably caught the attention of several guilds. They're definitely going to focus on training archers. Black Iron Grade Stealth isn't stable enough."

Thinking was a habit for Tristan.

It helped him make wiser choices.

Of course, the Wild Rabbit BOSS posed no real threat to him. Since he had nothing else to do, he let his mind wander a bit more.

-976! (Weak Spot Attack)

After taking countless knives, the Wild Rabbit BOSS finally fell, exploding into several light orbs.

The players surrounding the area couldn't help but feel envious, but since the loot rights were in Blackshade's hands, even if they rushed over, they wouldn't get anything.

Still, many players gathered around.

They secretly communicated, planning to strike and kill Blackshade the moment he picked up the loot.

Blackshade was an assassin, and he had maxed out his agility. His health must be low. A focused attack could easily kill him.

If they couldn't get the BOSS's loot, at least they could get rid of Blackshade.

Tristan, of course, saw their movements but didn't care.

After killing the BOSS, he received a slew of notifications:

"Killed Black Iron Grade BOSS, gained 3,000 XP."

"First Kill on the server, additional reward of 20 free attribute points, 1 skill point, and 10 reputation points."

"You have reached level 4!"

"You have gained 5 free attribute points!"

"Shadow power is gathering, you have gained an additional 5 free attribute points!"

"Beast Blessing has activated, you have gained an additional 5 free attribute points!"

"Hunting Moment activated, you gained 1 evolution point!"

A total of 35 free attribute points!

Tristan allocated them all to agility.

He glanced at his attributes.

Attributes: Strength 13, Constitution 8, Agility 74, Spirit 7

74 points in agility!

Such a high number was expected for a level ten player, but Tristan reached it at level four.

To describe Tristan now in one word: light as a feather.

The speed boost from his high agility was very noticeable.

As for the evolution point, Tristan had initially planned to upgrade Shadow Dagger, as it was just enough.

But after seeing LV3 Flare, Tristan decided to continue evolving Shadow Stealth.

After all, evolving Shadow Dagger was meant to increase damage, and evolving Shadow Stealth could do that while also boosting his survivability—two birds with one stone.

As he thought this, the system's prompt sounded again:

"Your first kill is about to be announced to the entire server. Do you want to hide your nickname?"

"No."

[Player 'Blackshade' has made the first kill of the Black Iron Grade BOSS, Giant Wild Rabbit. Let's all strive to do better!]

With that, the first BOSS battle of the newbie village was almost over.

Tristan looked at the Giant Wild Rabbit. Around its corpse were five light orbs!

Four pieces of equipment and a skill book!

This was definitely a big loot drop.

The skill book's drop was especially surprising to Tristan.

Skill books were incredibly rare in ExoGenesis. In his past life, he'd barely seen a few after grinding for hours, and yet here it was, dropped by the first BOSS.

As Tristan marveled at his good fortune, a message from Drake popped up.

"Blackshade, if you have any equipment you don't need, would you mind selling it to me? Don't worry, I'll make sure the price is right."