Chapter 36: The Plan Begins
Chapter 36: The Plan Begins
“Dismissal? I’m not firing you!”
Sun Fei was bewildered by Ileena’s sudden panic. “Ileena, you must have misunderstood. I just want to tackle those monsters alone this time. Once the mission’s done, you absolutely can join my future wasteland adventures.”
“But… I…”
Hearing this, the beautiful mercenary relaxed slightly. Still, she felt an urge to argue further. Beyond her unwillingness to part ways so soon, abandoning her employer in tough times felt deeply dishonorable for a proud Rogue warrior.
“Let’s leave it at that—time is tight. I’ll explain properly next time.”
Sun Fei might be a flirt, but he had principles. Teasing a female mercenary was fun, yet looming dangers in the real world killed that mood. After speaking, he decisively stepped through the Portal. To prevent Ileena from following, he instantly shut it down, severing the path to Tristram.
Ileena stared blankly at the vanished Portal, her expression twisting with self-blame, disappointment, and… faint relief. A rosy flush crept onto her breathtaking face, lips curving ever so slightly.
……
……
ROAR—!
Sun Fei’s first move in Tristram was unleashing the Barbarian’s special skill Howl.
The tactic worked.
Mystical waves of fear shot out with his bellow. Immediately, the hovering [Skeleton Archers] erupted with eerie green light from their skulls, turning tail in a terrified scramble.
“Now’s my chance!”
Sun Fei lunged forward, wildly whacking the fleeing monsters. Several shattered under his strikes within seconds.
But ten seconds later, Howl’s effect faded. The bony horrors spun around, surging back.
Sun Fei roared again.
In this Diablo World, as long as he had enough Mana, there were no cooldowns or chants to slow him down. He’d come prepared with multiple [Minor Healing Potions], ensuring near-constant use of Howl.
Round after relentless round he bellowed. After the eleventh roar, the last sneaky skeleton scattered. Equipment clattered across the ground—including two blue items dropped by their mini-boss leaders. He scooped them into his pack.
Pushing deeper into the village, new foes emerged—
The [Dark Clan].
These bull-headed monsters wielded huge crimson scythes. Their legs bent like a cow’s, ending in hooves, topped with sharp, curved horns. Deadly at close range.
Yet melee attackers posed little threat to a Barbarian.
Again, Sun Fei used his shameless Howl and isolate strategy, swiftly clearing the pack. Among them, a beefy [Dark Clan leader] took extra hits to kill and rewarded him with two more sparkling blue items.
This time though, he didn’t grab the loot.
Fighting the two waves stirred too much noise. Monsters’ dying wails finally roused Tristram’s supreme boss — Griswold.
The fallen hero-Paladin charged out from hellfire-scorched ruins.
Though now a humanoid demon, Griswold kept his mortal appearance—unlike grotesque demons elsewhere. He was stout and pot-bellied, but his eyes… glowing red like swirling pools of blood, they beamed twin rays of scarlet light. Waves of rage, cruelty, and bloodlust radiated from him—a deeply terrifying sight.
In life, Griswold was a mighty Paladin.
Corrupted, his power grew. Without Holy Power, demonic might made him far deadlier. Blazingly fast, he spotted Sun Fei and lunged, fist like a lightning strike.
Sun Fei raised his shield.
THUD!
The impact nearly knocked him off his feet, forcing him three steps back. Scalding heat shot up Sun Fei’s arm. His blood felt like fire, bone-deep agony radiating inside. This was Griswold’s corrupted power—hellfire burning his very essence.
Sun Fei swapped weapons, his brutal [Two-Handed Greataxe] materializing.
S-W-I-S-H! Three glittering chops cut air.
All struck home! Griswold screamed as massive gashes split his mutated flesh. His health bar plummeted roughly ten percent.
“Ha! Got his number! Just a dozen more hits and this geezer’s toast.”
Hope ignited in Sun Fei. He gulped down a [Health Potion], grimly weathered another attack, then recklessly swung his axe—landing two strikes this time. Thankfully, Griswold’s demonic form made him mindless. Though strong, his clumsy, instinct-driven moves made him manageable.
Sun Fei backed through the fight, gradually retreating from the village center.
By luring the boss out, the chaos attracted no distant monsters. He avoided the deadly swarm ambush he’d faced alongside Ileena last visit.
Safety first, though. After some distance, he activated a [Town Portal Scroll]. A faint hum rang as a portal manifested—his planned escape route if things got dicey.
Luckily, his caution proved excessive.
After downing four [Minor Healing Potions], Sun Fei steadily chipped away at Tristram’s ruler. With one final axe whirl…
SLICE!
Griswold crashed dead.
Glittering piles of potions and gear exploded outward.
Sun Fei blinked… One object pulsed with vivid green light.
“Whoa… A green item?!”
He almost fainted at his own luck. Green items belonged to sets—incredibly rare in his past life’s game. Accidentally scoring one here? Unbelievable! His first ever green find—total shocker.
Dead serious, he lifted his boot checking… Had he stepped in anything lucky lately? Maybe dog poop? Or…?
He snatched the green treasure. Intricate fabric armor, softly radiating emerald. But its stats remained hidden—requiring identification. No delays: Sun Fei burned a [Scroll of Identify].
WHOOSH! All stats glowed clear:
[Arctic Fur Lightarmor]
Defense: +48
Durability: 20/20
Required Strength: 12
Required Level: 2
Special Effects:
+303% Enhanced Defense
All Resistances +10
Note: [Arctic Set] comprises Arctic Binding, Arctic Fur, Arctic Horns, Arctic Mitts. Collect all pieces for bonus effects.
……
Slightly disappointing. The [Arctic Set] fit an [Amazon Warrior] far better than a Barbarian in his past game memories.
Still… +48 Defense? Triple enhancement? All resist up! A monster upgrade from his worn leather. He swapped it instantly.
Among remaining loot: one yellow item, several blue pieces.
Sun Fei hesitated… then left them. With the troublesome [Skeleton Archers], [Dark Clan], and boss Griswold gone, only weaker monsters littered Tristram’s ruins. Rescue Elder Kane first—items don’t vanish, especially without rival scavengers.
Shouldering his greataxe, he swaggered back toward the ruined hamlet.
Swarms of blade-skinned monsters [Fallen Ones] howled charges—crumbling into experience points in seconds. A few sluggish [Mutated Zombies] lingered—none escaped his grasp. Less than five minutes later, every demon or [Undead] lay scattered as dust.
Sun Fei pushed through rubble toward the village heart. There—hanging in a tree cage—was Elder Kane.
“Save me! Save me! Young hero, please save me!”
Elder Kane saw Sun Fei and started screaming desperately, like a flirtatious woman who had taken aphrodisiacs seeing a muscular man running naked. His voice was even sharper and more piercing than the demons’ howls, as if someone was poking his rear with a pitchfork under the cage.
Swish!
An axe swung past, and the rope was cut.
The wooden cage fell to the ground and shattered.
The sleazy Elder Kane was overjoyed. He clumsily scrambled out of the cage and, without saying a single word of thanks, immediately opened a Portal. Like a frightened stray dog, he moved faster than an unleashed wild dog, darting into the Portal and vanishing without a trace.
“Damn, that old man didn’t even say thank you!”
Sun Fei was left in shock. Elder Kane’s ability to flee was something Sun Fei felt he couldn’t match.
He raised a middle finger toward where Kane had disappeared and then began cleaning up the battlefield, collecting all the dropped equipment into his backpack. Afterward, he returned to the Rogue Encampment through the previously opened Portal.
The Mercenary Beauty Ileena was nowhere to be seen and did not appear near the Portal. Sun Fei decided to go to Nun Auntie Acarra to report the quest and receive his reward.
The reward for this quest was simple—the stingy Nun Auntie would give you a little ‘customer appreciation service’ in her shop—a 10% discount when buying potions from her. Additionally, the sleazy Elder Kane you rescued could now identify your equipment for free.
Compared to the difficulty and complexity of the quest, such rewards were almost like throwing scraps to a beggar. It was clear that, at their core, Acarra and Kane were both unscrupulous merchants—true bloodsucking swindlers.
After finishing this, Sun Fei began reviewing his character attributes.
This level-up and protection process went unusually smoothly. After defeating the fallen Paladin Griswold, Sun Fei had already reached level 12. This result exceeded his initial goal of level 10 before entering the World of Diablo, and he guessed that the Mercenary Ileena probably had a part in it.
Sun Fei began allocating his points.
He allocated all 25 attribute points from the extra levels according to the ratio of three points to Might and two points to Vitality. As for the extra five precious skill points, after thinking about his upcoming plans, he chose to add one point to Taunt, one point to Sword Mastery, two points to Leap, and one point to Polearm Mastery.
After doing all this, Sun Fei opened his personal attributes panel—
Level: 12
Experience: 95414/112725
Might: 66
Agility: 20
Vitality: 44
Energy: 10
Attack: 3-55
Attack Rating: 169
Defense: 77
Stamina: 34
Life: 157
Mana: 19
Fire Resistance: 10
Cold Resistance: 10
Lightning Resistance: 25
Poison Resistance: 10
…
These numbers greatly reassured Sun Fei.
Based on previous experience, a level 12 Barbarian, despite only having the strength of a Two-Star Warrior, could already stand toe-to-toe with a Three-Star Warrior in the real world through the use of various Barbarian special skills. Next time he faced the Three-Star Swordsman Lund, Sun Fei was confident he could repel him without injury.
Of course, it would only be repelling him. To instantly kill or defeat Lund, Sun Fei estimated he would need to reach around level 20.
After doing all this, Sun Fei went over to the sleazy Elder Kane and had all the unidentified equipment in his backpack identified for free. During this process, the white-bearded sleazy elder chattered nonstop, but Sun Fei was short on time and ignored him. Once the equipment was identified, he slipped away directly.
Hiding in a corner, Sun Fei inspected the attributes of the identified equipment.
The yellow equipment was a short bow, simple and elegant in design, very ancient-looking, named the “Short Bow of Misery Feathers.” Its attributes were decent, but Sun Fei couldn’t use it.
He thought about it—Ileena should be able to use this bow—so he kept it. The next time they met, he could use this bow to tease the Mercenary Beauty. Maybe he could even make her so moved that she offered herself… Um, he wondered if it was possible to engage in intimate activities with game characters in the World of Diablo?
Sun Fei began to have shameless thoughts again.
The other blue equipment had average attributes, and Sun Fei couldn’t use them either. He simply sold them all to the female blacksmith Charsi, earning a total of over 20,000 Gold Coins. Together with what he had saved before, Sun Fei now had 40,080 Gold Coins.
With all preparations complete, he started implementing his plan.
First, he went to Nun Auntie Acarra and bought five bottles of Health Potion—one size larger than Minor Healing Potion—and two bottles of Stamina Potion at a 10% discount. Then, he found a quiet place and began to communicate with that mysterious, cold voice in his mind.
“Are you there? I need to exchange five Health Potions, two Stamina Potions, and one Town Portal Scroll.”
Silence.
Five or six seconds later, the mysterious cold voice finally appeared—
“As you wish… The exchange price for each Health Potion is 5,000 Gold Coins, with a success rate of 25%. The exchange price for each Stamina Potion is 2,000 Gold Coins, with a success rate of 30%. The Town Portal Scroll cannot be exchanged at your current level… Total: 29,000 Gold Coins. Do you wish to proceed with the exchange?”
The prices were within Sun Fei’s expectations.
The only thing that surprised him was that the Town Portal Scroll couldn’t be exchanged due to his current level. It seemed that exchanging items and equipment from the World of Diablo to the real world wasn’t just about money and success rates—there seemed to be other restrictions he hadn’t discovered yet.
However, from the mysterious cold voice’s response just now, Sun Fei had begun to uncover some exchange patterns—
The more expensive and complex the item, the higher the exchange price, the lower the success rate, and the more restrictions there were. The opposite was also true. Compared to the Health Potion, the Stamina Potion had slightly lower effects and grade, so its exchange price was only 2,000 Gold Coins, and the success rate reached 30%—slightly better conditions than the Health Potion’s 5,000 Gold Coins and 25% success rate.
“Do you confirm the exchange?”
Not receiving an immediate response from Sun Fei, the mysterious cold voice seemed a bit impatient and asked again.
“Exchange, confirm the exchange!”
Sun Fei snapped back to attention and quickly replied.
“Ding! Exchange calculation in progress… Sufficient Gold Coins… Five Health Potions exchange success rate 25%… Calculating success rate… Two potions exchanged successfully, three potions failed… Two Stamina Potions exchange success rate 30%… Calculating… One potion exchanged successfully, one potion failed.”