"Andrew came out? Is this for real?" The sound came from the direction of the entrance to the second level. Amidst the commotion, Xiao Hua heard an interesting name: Andrew.
"It’s true. Today, I had a hunch that the guy was going to come out and show off, so I specifically started digging near the entrance to the third level. I never thought he would actually appear. Several guys on the third level got caught by him. When I heard the commotion, I rushed back to the second level. Looks like I managed to dodge this one. Ha ha. Let’s get out of here quickly. If he doesn’t find anyone, he’ll catch up in an instant. I’ve worked hard to dig up this much, and I don’t want to lose half of it to him!"
It was Andrew. Should he consider this good luck or bad luck?
Almost every mine on Allen Continent had a small wooden house locked away at the very bottom. The owner of the house was a dwarf who looked like a round barrel, named Andrew.
Andrew’s reputation on Allen Continent was on par with that of any legendary boss. Anyone who had ever mined or dealt with ores would know Andrew’s name!
Among the many titles given to Andrew by players, the most famous were "Andrew Twice-a-Week" and "Miner Plunderer Andrew."
Andrew’s wooden house was usually locked tight, unaffected by whatever was happening outside. However, Andrew would open the door twice a week at unpredictable times. He would patrol the mine, come rain or shine, emerging only twice a week, neither more nor less. Each time, Andrew would start from the lowest level of the mine and plunder ores from miners, ascending level by level. Once he reached the first level and could see the mine entrance, if there weren’t many players in sight, he would stop and return to his house.
But this didn’t mean he wouldn’t chase after them. If there were plenty of players at the entrance, Andrew would still pursue them. Once Andrew reached the mine entrance, miners who hadn’t escaped would be trapped, as the entrance would shut. It would reopen only when Andrew left!
Initially, miners who encountered Andrew were quite curious. After all, a wooden house that was usually closed and seemed useless suddenly opened, and a humanoid NPC emerged. Players had been gaming for a while and knew that such rare occurrences often indicated quests!
Quest rewards in Second World were generous. One could stumble upon a quest chain and receive rare equipment, high amounts of experience, substantial gold, or even valuable skill books. Good luck could propel a player to the top!
When Andrew appeared, the miners rushed over. Accepting quests involved luck and conditions, and rushing over might give them a chance to receive the quest.
Andrew was surrounded by a dozen miners, but he didn’t seem bothered. Instead, he reached out and touched each person. Amidst the excitement of the quest-seeking crowd, a player noticed something amiss.
"Damn it! Half of my ores are gone! ‘You have been plundered of half your ores by Andrew!’ What kind of message is this? I spent six to seven hours mining, and now half of my ores are missing!" exclaimed one miner in disbelief.
Upon hearing this, many miners instinctively checked their backpacks. Their hearts sank as they realized they had suffered the same fate: half of their ores had vanished!
"The ores were stolen by this guy!" the miners realized, hastily distancing themselves from the thief who stole half their ores with a single touch!
Unfortunately, the misfortune didn’t stop there. The miners discovered that no matter how far they moved, if Andrew targeted them, there was no escape! Despite his pudgy appearance, he moved with incredible speed, appearing in front of them in a flash, stealing their ores!
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
To make matters worse, some miners were targeted by Andrew a second time, losing the remaining half of their ores!
Andrew’s first appearance was quite effective. Starting from the lowest level, he cleared out every player until he was satisfied and returned to his wooden house, locking himself inside once more.
In every encounter with Andrew, players who were touched once had half their ores plundered. Those touched a second time lost all their ores. As for a third touch, no one had experienced it yet.
Andrew’s name quickly spread throughout Second World. It wasn’t just in one city; miners in almost every city’s mine faced Andrew’s plundering.
Amidst the chaos, someone used Appraisal on Andrew, revealing that he had 100,000 HP and was level 30, equivalent to an elite boss.
A 30-level elite boss could be defeated by over a hundred players. Therefore, a guild targeted Andrew.
When the door to the wooden house at the lowest level opened and Andrew appeared, over two hundred guild members lying in wait launched an attack. They soon realized they were dealing with a tough opponent!
All magical attacks landed on Andrew resulted in -0 HP, causing no damage, akin to complete magic immunity! Physical attacks that broke his defense dealt a mere -1 HP!
Despite being attacked, Andrew remained calm, not retaliating. Instead, he dashed toward players like a phantom, plundering their ores.
The guild members had prepared for this, carrying two ores each. If Andrew wanted them, they would gladly give them to him.
The attacks continued. They were determined to wear Andrew down with -1 HP hits! Even the weakest elite bosses would drop decent loot on their first defeat!
However, two ores could only protect them from two plunderings. When a player ran out of ores and Andrew touched them again, they were shocked to find that a third of their equipment vanished!
Equipment was a player’s lifeline. Without it, what could they do? As more players had their equipment plundered, they scattered, fleeing towards the mine exit.
Unfortunately, they had entered the deepest part of the mine, with seven levels. After they finally escaped the mine and assessed their losses, they discovered that without ores, Andrew would steal a third of their equipment on the first plunder, leave them with a third on the second, and take the remaining third on the third plunder!
Some extremely unlucky players who were plundered three times and stripped of all their equipment were instantly killed by Andrew!
This encounter solidified Andrew’s reputation in Second World. People analyzed multiple incidents involving Andrew and concluded that he possessed three skills: Plunder Judgment, Phantom Dash, and Instant Death Judgment.
Plunder Judgment: Prioritizes plundering ores. If a player has more than two ores, the first plunder takes half, and the second takes all. If a player has fewer than two ores, the second plunder rule applies. Next, he plunders worn equipment, taking a third on the first plunder, leaving a third on the second, and taking all on the third. The order of priority for equipment plundering is shoes, leggings, armor (mail, cloth), bracers, rings, necklaces, and lastly, weapons. The skill has no cooldown but can target the same player only once per minute.
Phantom Dash: Activates when there are more than three players within ten meters, and Andrew is within one to ten meters of each player. Andrew dashes at the fastest speed in the game, knocking down players and plundering them in the process, until all players within ten meters are knocked down.
Instant Death Judgment: A passive skill. When a player has no ores or equipment, Andrew’s plunder results in instant death.
These three skills made Andrew the most unsolvable, bizarre, and invincible humanoid boss in Second World!
Andrew, with only 100,000 HP and level 30, shouldn’t have such near-invincible attributes. Many speculated that there was a special task or requirement to defeat Andrew!
Unfortunately, Andrew remained a mystery.
Fortunately, Andrew only emerged from his wooden house to plunder twice a week. After appearing once, he wouldn’t come out again for at least a day. After appearing twice, the rest of the week was safe. Experienced miners could avoid encountering Andrew based on this pattern.
Now, the group of miners had escaped from the second level. Once they exited the mine, they would be safe. Andrew never chased beyond the mine entrance. Once every level was clear of players, he would automatically return to his house. Therefore, when Andrew emerged, all miners would evacuate the mine, waiting for him to return to his house.
Xiao Hua, of course, knew of Andrew’s reputation. In fact, during the beta, when Xiao Hua was mining to strengthen his weapon, he dug continuously for two days and had amassed over eight hundred ores when Andrew appeared. Unaware of Andrew’s prowess, Xiao Hua became his target and lost over four hundred ores, forcing him to dig for an additional day.
Now, knowing Andrew was about to appear again, Xiao Hua didn’t plan to wait to be plundered. Just as he was about to follow the miners out of the mine, he spotted his phantom on the other side. An evil thought crossed his mind!