"Did I hear that right? People from Clear Rain Pavilion? And that guy is not an NPC?"
"Damn! They must be cheating! I'm going to report them!"
"The folks at Clear Rain Pavilion are so awesome! I want to join the Clear Rain Pavilion!"
...
A cacophony of voices created a tumult outside Sunward Town.
Violet and her companions quickly swapped into beginner armor sets, scattering and leaving the battlefield.
"What?! They took down the Boss? How's that possible? Wasn't that Boss super strong with a hundred thousand hit points? How could it be slain in less than a minute?"
Inside Sunward Town, Slaughter Charge was utterly baffled.
"Here's a video taken live. You might want to watch it."
One of his underlings stepped forward, opening a link from the forum and playing the recording.
"It's him! Officer Guan!"
Slaughter Charge's gaze darkened as he spoke icily, "I didn't have proof of him cheating and disturbing the game balance before. Now, with this video and eyewitness evidence, I have to get his account banned!"
"But boss, we got a free level up out of this mess," someone piped up.
"Hmph, did you not notice that everyone from Clear Rain Pavilion gained two levels?" Slaughter Charge frowned. Sunward Town only had one formidable foe to their Slaughterworld Syndicate, and now with the entirety of Clear Rain Pavilion leveling up twice, this was hardly good news for them, especially considering the rewards they got for killing the Boss.
"I'll go offline to deal with Officer Guan's matter. You guys better speed up your leveling, got it?"
"Yes, Boss!"
"Hmph, Officer Guan? I'll make sure you won't get away with this!" With a dark scowl, Slaughter Charge logged off.
...
At the same time, within a private room on the third floor of Sunward Town, sat a man and a woman who had just cooperated—Guan Ren and Violet.
The table before them was laden with a dazzling array of items and equipment.
"Considering we hardly exerted ourselves in killing the Boss, these spoils of war should be distributed at your discretion."
Violet glanced at the items piled on the table, visibly tempted. But the Jungle Boar King had indeed fallen to Guan Ren alone, and she felt somewhat out of place meddling with the distribution of the loot.
Guan Ren looked at Violet with surprise. From his perspective, guilds were invariably profit-driven entities, and it was rare for someone like Violet to allow him to decide on the loot distribution, especially since she had paid for his services. After all, he was but a hired hand.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
But since she had made the offer, Guan Ren didn't stand on ceremony. He picked up a softly glowing boar tusk and said, "I'll just take this. As for the rest, if you guys can afford it, feel free to purchase them."
Violet, shocked, realized that among the items were seven or eight pieces of Black Iron quality gear. He wanted none of them?
"But... we don't have that many gold coins," she frowned. The guild was currently investing heavily in a covert mission and couldn't afford to buy all this equipment outright.
"Transferring Sea-Blue Coins works as well." Guan Ren continued, "For all these items, I'll charge you one million Sea-Blue Coins. That's not expensive, right?"
"Not at all! Give me your account, and I'll transfer the money immediately!"
Violet's expression was one of excitement; gold coins were what Clear Rain Pavilion lacked, but Sea-Blue Coins they had plenty of!
[Ding, your account ending in 6618 has received a transfer of 1,000,000 Sea-Blue Coins!]
With the transaction of a million Sea-Blue Coins completed, Guan Ren stood up, greeted Violet, and stepped out of the room.
[Ding, player 'Violet' has sent you a friend request. Do you accept?]
Guan Ren hesitated for a moment before clicking accept. He had a favorable impression of Violet, and having more friends would open more paths—it was a good choice.
"Remember to give priority to Clear Rain Pavilion for any future equipment sales. We'll give you a fair price!"
"Understood."
After messaging Violet, Guan Ren did not head straight to Fang's mansion to complete his mission. Instead, he quietly left Sunward Town and made his way to the Boar Forest.
With the Jungle Boar King dead, there should be plenty of quality loot left in its den. And he wasn't about to let these riches pass him by.
Having ascended to level 8, Guan Ren was now ranked first in the Sunward Town level leaderboard. The recent battle had awarded him a whopping 10,000 Sunward Town points, and the experience of his Ultimate Acceleration System had increased to 50,000 points!
Moreover, the Attribute Plunder triggered by slaying the Jungle Boar King had increased his Strength and Constitution by 10 points each, raising his overall attributes significantly.
In addition to that, he was rewarded with a [Newcomer's Village Honorary Citizen Badge].
[Newcomer's Village Honorary Citizen Badge: A symbol of honor in the Newcomer's Village, Base Attributes +20, Charm +5, Luck +2, and Experience Gain Speed Increased by 20%, Bound to: Officer Guan]
Such badges only needed to be kept in the backpack to take effect, though they occupied a backpack slot.
"I've arrived!"
With the system’s tenfold speed boost, Guan Ren quickly reached a gloomy cave deep within the Boar Forest. Taking out a pre-purchased torch from his backpack, he marched into the cave.
[Ding, you have discovered the special scene 'Boar King’s Den'!]
As he delved deeper, the pungent smell grew stronger, but for the treasures within, Guan Ren could only tough it out.
Before long, Guan Ren arrived at the endpoint of the cave—a stone den lit up with flickering lights. At the entrance lay five robust wild boars.
[Boar King’s Guard (Elite): Entrusted with guarding the Boar King’s Den, these wild boar elites are formidable. Life: 1500, Attack: 40, Defense: 30, Level: 6]
To the average player, these Boar King’s Guards might pose a challenge within the dark and narrow confines of the cave, but to Guan Ren, these creatures were utterly insignificant.
With nimble steps, Guan Ren promptly dispatched the elite guards, collected the loot, and strode into the stone den.
[Truffle Wine: Consuming increases base attributes by +1, up to 10 uses.]
Good stuff!
With a sharp gleam in his eye, Guan Ren promptly swept all the Truffle Wine from the den.
[Jungle Ring: Bronze quality, Agility +10, Strength +10, Attack Speed +10%, Camouflage: Merges the bearer with the surrounding environment making them hard to detect, unable to move while camouflaged.]
Bronze quality!
A smile curled Guan Ren’s lips as he put on the ring, enjoying the further enhancement of his attributes.
He then scoured the entire stone den, yielding 100 gold coins, various potions, four pieces of Black Iron quality equipment, and several ordinary gear pieces.