"'Mister Skeleton, could you...'" Sofia hurriedly spoke as she saw Alexander about to leave. "I'm in a desperate situation. If I don't do something soon, I'll starve. Forget about playing any games."
Hearing this, Alexander paused and turned back to listen to her request.
"Could I... could I sell some gold coins? I haven't eaten in two days... just one coin," she pleaded, sticking out one finger and pouting. "Just one, is it okay?"
After saying this, she looked away from Alexander, as if afraid he might refuse.
"Sell gold coins?" Alexander looked at her in surprise.
With her strikingly beautiful face, exquisite features, and a body that could tempt a saint, this girl should be a goddess in the real world, pursued by countless admirers. Could she really be so impoverished as to sell gold coins?
Seeing her embarrassed expression, Alexander couldn't help but chuckle internally. Finally, he nodded.
Elated, Sofia leapt up and planted a kiss on Alexander's skeletal face. "Yay, Mister Skeleton is the best!"
Alexander: "…"
While his bony visage conveyed no emotion, Alexander was a bit taken aback internally. "Oh well, I need enhancement points anyway."
Realizing her impulsive act, Sofia's face flushed scarlet. "What... what did I just do? I think that was my first kiss. Oh my God, I gave my first kiss to Mister Skeleton..."
"Uh..." Sofia froze in place, a flush of embarrassment tinting her cheeks. "Is Mister Skeleton going to think I'm frivolous? Why am I even thinking this way? He's just data in a game, right? We can't really be together."
"My goodness, what am I thinking? Isn't my idol The Great Demon King of the Ladder What am I doing?"
Confused and a bit guilty, she couldn't even bring herself to look at Alexander now.
"Gurgle..." Right then, the rumbling of her stomach overpowered her modesty. Sofia quickly logged into a forum, ready to find someone to sell a gold coin to.
Just then, monsters respawned.
Suddenly, three stone men appeared beside Alexander.
"Bang!"
With a flick of his cloak, his weapon materialized in his right hand. With a swift slash, he emitted a tremendous sound.
With an attack power of 305, a critical hit, and a 30% bonus to critical damage, an astonishing damage number floated above the Stone Man's head.
"-570!"
The Stone Man, with 500 hit points, didn't even get a chance to activate its passive skill. Its health bar was emptied instantly, and it disintegrated into countless pebbles scattering across the ground.
"Killed Stone Man, gained 80 experience/evolution points, gained an additional 20 points for killing a higher-level monster."
At his current damage level, as long as Alexander triggered a critical hit, he could instantly kill these Stone Men with a single blow.
"-295!"
Alexander swung his weapon at another Stone Man; this time, the critical hit didn't trigger, and the Stone Man activated its passive talent.
At the same moment, the Blood Prison effect on Alexander's weapon activated. Continuous "-20, -20" damage numbers appeared above the Stone Man. The debuff effect of Blood Prison was status damage, bypassing defense and skills unless there was a tearing resistance.
With the Blood Prison effect lasting for 60 seconds, dealing 20 points of damage per second—adding up to 1200 damage—the Stone Man with only 500 health stood no chance.
Alexander didn't even have to wait for the Stone Man's petrification skin to wear off; a single attack was enough to guarantee experience and evolution points.
So he continued to move forward, slashing at each Stone Man as he went.
His skill level allowed him to make a single slash, take a step forward, and move out of the Stone Men's field of vision.
Five minutes later, all 258 freshly spawned Stone Men were eradicated by Alexander's Blood Prison effect.
"Killed Stone Man, gained 80 experience/evolution points, gained an additional 20 points for killing a higher-level monster."
This message rang in his mind over and over again, sometimes with up to 30 Stone Men dying at the same time.
After the slaughter, he leveled up to 15, with increases of 100 points to both health and mana, 10 points to attack, and 5 points to defense.
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Endless experience gain alerts echoed in Alexander's mind.
With that wave of kills, he gained an additional 25,800 evolution points, bringing his total to 36,000.
However, he had yet to try out his other skills and abilities, and the Stone Men were already gone.With another 25 minutes until the next wave of monsters, Alexander had run out of patience.
When Sophia sold the gold coins for 30,000 dollars and happily paid her rent to Aunt Landlord, she was gobsmacked when she re-entered the game after sharing a dinner with her.
"I'm... level 15?"
"It took only the duration of one dinner! Mr. Skeleton, what on earth have you done? I've leveled up faster than a plane could fly!"
Alexander, preparing to take Sophia to battle a Boss, was interrupted as a colossal Stone Man suddenly appeared in the Stony Forest.
【Mountain Troll】
Level: 20 (Hidden Boss)
Health: 150,000
Attack: 300-500
Defense: 50-100
Skills: Resentment, Earthquake Stomp, Stone Throw.
Overview: The hidden Boss of Stony Forest, rumored to have been a pharmacist who fell into a petrification pond and turned into a stone demon. Bears a grudge against humankind. Item drop rate temporarily increased by 200%.
"This looks like a good opportunity to obtain my enhancement points," Alexander mused after reading the Boss's attributes, "and a chance to practice with my new weapon and skills."
Alexander extended his hand to Sophia, who appeared stupefied, asking for bone powder.
Hidden Bosses are rare in the game. Not just because they are scarce, but because they are tied to specific storylines and can drop items that allow players to change their job class to hidden classes—unique and rare. Missing out on a Hidden Boss is a definite no-no in the game.
"Let's get to it," Alexander said, without further contemplation.
While most players might hesitate at the sight of the Boss's formidable stats, he felt confident. With his current abilities and skills, he could unleash about a tenth of his full potential, more than enough for a one-on-one showdown.
Just as a flustered Sophia handed him the bone powder, Alexander sprang into action.
"Assault Armor activated, weapons can be freely switched for the next 30 minutes."
"Bloodlust activated, your attack and attack speed increase by 90%."
"Quick Slash triggered, your attack speed increases by 300%."
"Gale Step activated, your movement speed increases by 80%."
With all his active skills triggered, Alexander's attack speed had soared by 390%, reaching a strike every 0.3 seconds.
His movement speed had jumped by 80%, accelerating from 1.75 seconds per meter to 1.4 seconds per meter.
His attack power had also been boosted by 90%, reaching an astonishing 579—unimaginable when most players had only double-digit attack points.
"Roar!"
As Alexander approached the Mountain Troll, the behemoth noticed him early on. Its thirty-meter-tall frame lurched, grasping a mountain peak with both hands and tearing it away, scattering rocks everywhere.
This was the Troll's domain, a wood of stone peaks; it could easily bombard anyone to death with its throwing ability.
After tearing the sharp peak from the mountain, the Mountain Troll lifted it above its head. Amid Sophia's cries of alarm, it hurled the mass at the approaching Alexander.
"Whoosh!"
The peak cut through the air, its howl growing louder as it closed the hundred-meter distance in an instant.
"Mr. Skeleton, please be careful!" Sophia was genuinely worried; if Alexander got hit by the Mountain Troll's attack, he would surely be reduced to fragments on the spot.
"Boom!"
The sharp rock landed, creating a massive crater and sending debris flying through the air. But the next moment, Sophia, who had feared for Alexander's life, saw a crimson figure. A flick of his cloak, and a blood-red spear appeared in his hands.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
The numerous scattered rocks were shattered by his spinning spear, pulverized into dust, creating a downpour of stone.
"Phew," Sophia let out a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the ground, her heart still pounding.
"Roar!"
Seeing that its attack had been entirely ineffective, the Mountain Troll became instantly livid. It took a step back and once again strained its powerful arms toward another mountain peak.
However, Alexander had already used Gale Step to dodge the massive rock and closed the distance. By the time the Mountain Troll reached for another boulder, Alexander was merely 20 meters away.
Weapon Switch!
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
With his attack speed at 0.3 seconds, Alexander fired off three bone arrows in a second, each one hitting the Mountain Troll's head, heart, and abdomen respectively.
"-1737!"
"-527!"
"-1054!"
"-20."
Blood Prison effect activated, draining 20 health points per second.
After those three exploratory arrows, Alexander already had a clear grasp of the Mountain Troll's weak points. "The head and heart are the vulnerable spots; the abdomen, not so much."
"However," he thought while sidestepping to the left and continuously aiming his arrows at the Mountain Troll's heart, "this Mountain Troll is thirty meters tall; melee weapons can't reach its weak points."
To take down the Mountain Troll with arrows alone would require at least 150 arrows. Clearly, he didn't have that many; close combat was inevitable.
"-1054!"
"-1739!"
"-1746!"
Damage numbers continuously popped up over the Mountain Troll's head. Within ten seconds, thirty arrows had lodged themselves into the same spot in the creature's heart area, draining its health by 33,585—a sudden drop by one-fifth of its total health.
Sophia, standing at a distance with her heart pounding, was stupefied. She covered her mouth, her expression one of disbelief.
"Mr. Skeleton has gotten even stronger; this is terrifying! Is this really a hidden boss? Why does it seem like a mere minion in front of him?" Sophia pondered aloud.
"Roar!"
In pain and frustrated, the Mountain Troll, arrows still lodged in its body, mustered all its strength to tear free a small peak from the ground and hurled it toward Alexander. This time, the beast was determined to squash this irritating foe.
Undeterred by the flying mass of stone, Alexander continued to shoot his arrows. A barrage of bone arrows formed a straight line, each making its way toward the Mountain Troll.
Only when the giant stone peak was about to hit him did Alexander step to the side. At that very instant, the longbow in his hand transformed into a spear, lightly bracing against the stone's edge.
As he felt the stone's immense force transfer to him, he activated his dodge skill, utilizing the incoming force to slide himself laterally, out of harm's way.
The moment he cleared the stone's path, a loud "Boom!" echoed. The crimson spear in his hand spun, deflecting all the debris that had flown off from the impact. Using the residual force from the stone, Alexander had already retreated ten meters back.
Switching his spear back to a longbow, three more arrows were fired.
"-1776!"
"-1110!"
"-1117!"
At this moment, the Mountain Troll was left with only ninety thousand health points.
Meanwhile, two uninvited guests had arrived in the stone forest. A man with a buzz-cut hairstyle, wearing golden gauntlets, led a woman carrying a large sword. They stopped behind Sophia and fixed their scrutinizing gaze upon Alexander.