Battling the Wild Boar King

Wu Shaochen gazed, bewildered, at the auction house. Was the pace truly that fast? I had only just confirmed the item, my hand barely lowering from the screen when it vanished? Was my listed price too low, or did the wealthy simply have too much money?

The shoes in question were the canvas pair he had received from defeating his first sea turtle, which he had worn ever since. After killing a toad and receiving another pair, he had finally replaced the well-worn canvas shoes. He decided to list them for 5,000, thinking if they didn't sell, he could lower the price. After all, they were second-hand shoes he had worn; he didn't want to deceive anyone.

It seemed he had underestimated the value of his equipment. He hadn't expected even second-hand shoes to be so sought after.

He glanced at the newly acquired toad boots, which provided +5 movement speed and +3 defense. With a movement speed of 35 and a defense of 18, they were quite appealing. He continued his hunt.

For the next two hours, Wu Shaochen tirelessly hunted toads, slaying a total of 77 and finally reaching level 6. During this time, he obtained three pieces of equipment.

[Toad Belt]: +40 Health, +4 Defense 

[Toad Helmet]: +40 Health, +4 Defense 

[Toad Ring]: +20 Health, +8 Physical Attack, +1% Attack Speed

The ring, with its added +20 Health, seemed useful, so Wu Shaochen kept it for himself and didn't sell it. He listed the Wild Boar Belt and Wild Boar Helmet at 10,000 each in the auction house, opting for a fixed price rather than an auction format, as the fees were high. With players' levels and equipment on the rise, the Wild Boar set was no longer as valuable. A fixed price of 10,000 seemed appropriate, and soon enough, both items were snapped up.

"Did I underprice them?" Wu Shaochen wondered, but he didn't dwell on it. After all, they were second-hand, and it was good to sell them quickly. Even if he had priced them higher, they might not have sold for hours. The auction house was filling with equipment, many of which were overpriced and went unsold.

"Finally got one! I didn't think it would be so hard to buy a white-tier item for 10,000," muttered the veiled woman, letting out a sigh. Every faction was closely monitoring the auction house, and with such slow hands, there was no chance.

"Yes, now everyone knows that white-tier items can vary in quality, so high-stat gear is naturally in demand," Liu Shu remarked beside her.

"I wonder who's been able to defeat such high-level monsters. Could it be a large faction using numbers?" the woman pondered.

"Impossible," Liu Shu replied. "If it were numbers, the commotion would be much larger. No one would have missed it, and a faction with so many players would need all their gear for themselves, not to mention the fact that they couldn't have surplus items to sell. I believe the team selling equipment consists of no more than five people, perhaps even just one."

The woman nodded in agreement but couldn't help thinking of a fleeting figure she had seen before. There was something about that person that felt different.

"Wait—speed!" she suddenly realized. Though the person had been wearing beginner gear, their speed had been abnormal. At the time, everyone was still at level 1 or 2, and even with full agility, no one should have been that fast. Many didn't notice because the difference wasn't huge, but her sharp senses had picked up on it. That person's speed had clearly exceeded 20. She had seen many level-3 players maxing agility, yet none had reached that level of speed.

"Could it be him?" she thought to herself. "Next time I encounter him, I must pay closer attention."

Meanwhile, Wu Shaochen remained blissfully unaware that he had caught someone's eye. He was now reviewing the attributes of his newly equipped gear and considering how to distribute his five stat points.

Name: Dust Sealed 

Level: 6 

Health: 350 

Mana: 110 

Physical Attack: 20 

Magical Attack: 10 

Physical Defense: 18 

Magical Defense: 5 

Movement Speed: 35 

Attack Speed: 18% (17% from 35 agility, +1% from the ring) 

Experience: 3/4000 

Strength: 5 

Intelligence: 5 

Constitution: 5 

Essence: 5 

Spirit: 5 

Agility: 30 

Skill: Insight 

Talent: Source of Venom: Deals 23 true damage per second to the target for 60 seconds, stackable once.

"I'll add these 5 points to Constitution for now," he decided. "My speed is already sufficient, and with 5 more points in Constitution, my health will reach 400. This way, I'll naturally recover 4 points per second. Without that, even 399 health would only allow for a recovery of 3 per second."

He added the points to Constitution, bringing his health to exactly 400. He checked his inventory, noting that he had 15 red potions in total—9 left from before, and 6 more obtained recently. It seemed like it was time to face the Wild Boar King, a boss he had been longing to fight for quite some time.

After reviewing the Wild Boar King's attributes again—250 attack, 20 defense (taking 230 damage from it), 50 seconds to recover 200 points of health—he felt confident. The Wild Boar King's Barbaric Charge was a skill he was well familiar with, and dodging it shouldn't be difficult. As long as he avoided getting close during its berserk phase, he should be fine. The only concern was whether the poison would expire within the 30-second berserk window, but he couldn't do much about that. If necessary, he'd just keep attacking.

"Alright, let's do this," Wu Shaochen decided, heading toward the Wild Boar King's location.

Upon seeing the massive form of the Wild Boar King again, Wu Shaochen felt a flutter of nervousness. Despite his increased stats, the pressure from its imposing presence remained.

As he neared the boss, he entered its aggro range, and the Wild Boar King let out a deafening roar before charging at him with a Barbaric Charge.

"Wait, why was the wind-up different this time?" Wu Shaochen muttered. Normally, the Wild Boar would swipe twice with its front legs before charging, but this time, it just roared before charging. Luckily, his experience with the skill allowed him to react in time and avoid it.

Taking advantage of the brief pause after the charge, Wu Shaochen quickly struck the Wild Boar King's rear with a sword strike before dodging away. As he saw the 23 damage numbers appear above its head, he calculated how long it would take to bring it down.

Under normal circumstances, it would take about half an hour to poison it to death. However, during its berserk phase, he couldn't approach, and he had to worry about the poison running out. The Wild Boar King's 50,000 health meant it could recover 500 health per second, complicating matters. But he would make it work somehow, even if he had to endure some damage to keep the poison going.

With a determined expression, Wu Shaochen continued to weave around the Wild Boar King, dodging its Barbaric Charges and striking whenever he could. For the next three minutes, the boss failed to land a hit on him, and its fury grew.

With a mighty roar, the Wild Boar King reared up on its hind legs, towering over three meters tall, its claws pounding its chest as it charged again.

"This is a bit overwhelming," Wu Shaochen thought. "Good thing I didn't increase my movement speed, or I'd have no chance." He checked the time, noting that the poison would last another 28 seconds. He didn't mind the berserk phase; after all, the Wild Boar King couldn't heal until 10 seconds after the poison ended.

Thus, the battle continued with the Wild Boar King relentlessly charging at Wu Shaochen. It was clear that, as long as it couldn't catch him, all its attacks were futile. Even though its Barbaric Charge had no wind-up now, Wu Shaochen's deep understanding of the skill made it easy to dodge, especially with his 35 movement speed.

The Wild Boar King went berserk six times, and only once did Wu Shaochen need to tank some damage to refresh the poison. He took 355 points of damage, but the 50% attack speed increase was still insufficient for the Wild Boar King to land a second strike before Wu Shaochen could escape.

After more than half an hour, the Wild Boar King's health dropped to 10%. It activated its final life-saving skill, but it was of no use. For ten seconds, it stood still, unable to recover any health. Clearly, of all the Wild Boar Kings in the novice village, this one was the most unfortunate.