Chapter 10: The Expert at Snatching Monsters
Chapter 10: The Expert at Snatching Monsters
“Haha, buddy, with us here, forget about snatching any monsters. Go try your luck somewhere farther away, or maybe someone who doesn’t know about stepping on Hunter traps.” An Assassin Player named Poison Hand laughed, patting Chen Mo on the shoulder.
At the start of the game, Hunter Players using Traps to snatch monsters were almost unbeatable, but as more players joined, people soon discovered that Hunter traps could be deliberately triggered by stepping on them, and then Hunters completely lost their edge.
The Wild White Rabbits quickly respawned, and seeing that Chen Mo hadn’t listened to his advice to leave, Poison Hand just shrugged. In this world, good advice often goes unheeded—this guy probably couldn’t swallow his pride and was determined to compete with them till the end.
As the respawn glow of the Wild White Rabbits flashed, surrounding Players raised their weapons, attacking or casting spells. In the blink of an eye, every single Wild White Rabbit was dead.
“Damn, too slow again! Didn’t get one!”
“Ah, just a few more needed.”
“Haha, got another one!”
Voices rose around them—those who succeeded were naturally thrilled, while those who failed secretly regretted it, growing anxious as they watched others complete the Quest and get ahead, while they were still stuck on this low-level task.
Poison Hand calmly glanced at the complaining Players nearby. Once again, he had snatched one; just five more, and he would finish the Quest. The movements of the others around were no match for his speed, and as for Chen Mo, the Hunter trying to rely on Traps to steal monsters, he wasn’t even worth a second glance.
The Wild White Rabbits soon respawned again, and the surrounding Players all sprang into action. Poison Hand swiftly swung his Dagger, quietly taking down another Wild White Rabbit.
But this time, he looked curiously at Chen Mo. Last time, this Hunter had tried to attack the Wild White Rabbit barehanded, but this time, he had switched to using a Crossbow Bolt.
The Wild White Rabbits had very little Health Points, so with so many Players attacking at once, whether barehanded or with a weapon didn’t make much difference—as long as you landed the first hit, you could snatch the monster.
In Poison Hand’s view, using ranged skills and weapons to snatch monsters was the stupidest approach. Low-level monsters always respawned at fixed points, so ranged attacks offered no advantage. Instead, close-range attacks, timed carefully with the respawn, gave a decent chance of securing the monster.
Several Players around were doing just that, but none succeeded because they had the misfortune of encountering him. There was no way they could snatch a Wild White Rabbit from him—he had perfected his timing for the respawn, and no one could be faster. Anyone faster would simply miss their attack.
The Wild White Rabbits respawned once more, and Poison Hand’s Dagger, mixed among the many weapons, swung down again.
The Wild White Rabbit instantly fell dead, but this time, Poison Hand couldn’t help but freeze.
He hadn’t gotten it!
His gaze turned to Chen Mo. He knew Chen Mo’s Crossbow Bolt had taken this Wild White Rabbit.
Was it luck?
Poison Hand couldn’t help but wonder.
The Wild White Rabbits respawned again, and Poison Hand focused, his Dagger moving swiftly.
He missed again! That Hunter had snatched it once more!
Damn, he had run into an expert!
Poison Hand looked at Chen Mo and finally understood why the Hunter wasn’t attacking barehanded but had switched to a Crossbow Bolt.
Even if the Hunter performed perfectly with bare hands, he would only manage to hit the Wild White Rabbit at the same time as him. In that case, the kill would go to whoever dealt higher Damage.
Poison Hand was an Assassin, and his normal attack was clearly stronger than a barehanded Hunter’s. There was no way the Hunter could snatch a Wild White Rabbit from him barehanded.
So the Hunter used a Crossbow Bolt. The Crossbow Bolt, along with the Hand Crossbow, added extra attack power, making the Damage much higher than with bare hands.
Poison Hand also had a basic skill called Stab, but using a skill didn’t give him 100% confidence.
His ability to consistently snatch Wild White Rabbits from the surrounding Players wasn’t just due to precise timing—there was a small trick involved.
His attack motion, just as it was about to reach the Wild White Rabbit’s respawn point, would deliberately slow down slightly. Then, the moment the Wild White Rabbit appeared, he would instantly accelerate. This way, even if his timing was slightly off, he could still be the first to hit the Wild White Rabbit. If he used a skill instead, his timing would have to be absolutely perfect, or the attack would likely land too early and miss.
Poison Hand knew he couldn’t pull that off, so he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of awe as he looked at Chen Mo.
This Hunter was definitely a super expert!
Chen Mo didn’t know what Poison Hand was thinking, but in reality, he wasn’t as ridiculously skilled as Poison Hand imagined. After all, this was just estimation—nothing could be 100% accurate. That he had managed to snatch two Wild White Rabbits in a row involved a fair bit of luck. He hadn’t overthought it like Poison Hand; he was just focused on snatching monsters. If he missed this time, he’d just try again next time.
“Expert! Hunter expert over there! Come here quickly—I have extra monsters!”
Just as Chen Mo killed his second Wild White Rabbit, the rich player Da Qing Shan excitedly shouted as if he had discovered a new continent.
Even before Chen Mo showed up, Da Qing Shan had been observing Poison Hand.
He was a complete newbie who had initially entered the Game out of curiosity, but after a short while, he became enchanted by this realistic fantasy world.
After much effort, he reached level 4 and accepted a monster-killing Quest. Excitedly, he left Earl Town, only to spend half an hour competing with other Players without snatching a single monster.
So, in a fit of anger, Da Qing Shan simply paid a group of surrounding Players to block off a respawn point.
Money was like fleeting clouds to Da Qing Shan, and he enjoyed the envious and jealous glances from others. However, he knew that needing to pay people just to kill a monster was ridiculous—many of those envious looks hid plenty of scorn.
Da Qing Shan also wanted to snatch monsters from other Players like everyone else. Even if it took longer to complete the Quest that way, it would be much more interesting.
So he had been watching the surroundings closely, and Poison Hand quickly caught his attention. He had planned to observe a bit longer before asking Poison Hand for advice, but then an even more impressive Hunter showed up.
In Da Qing Shan’s eyes, Poison Hand was already very skilled, but now there was someone even better. Da Qing Shan couldn’t stay calm.
Da Qing Shan’s eyes held an undisguised desire, a look Chen Mo was quite familiar with. He knew what Da Qing Shan wanted.
After a moment’s thought, Chen Mo walked over to Da Qing Shan.
Helping this rich player out would also save him some time—it wasn’t a bad deal.
“Hey, Brother Qing Shan, we agreed we were just helping you finish the Quest.”
However, Da Qing Shan’s actions immediately drew dissatisfaction from some Players around.
“Stop whining! I’ll double your pay!” Da Qing Shan glared at the speaker with his wealth-backed confidence, and the surrounding Players fell silent.
“Expert, you’re amazing! Can you teach me? Damn, I spent over half an hour earlier and couldn’t snatch a single monster!” Da Qing Shan got straight to the point, staring eagerly at Chen Mo.
Chen Mo’s move was just too cool. The thought of being able to do the same made Da Qing Shan practically vibrate with excitement.
“Of course.” Chen Mo smiled. It wasn’t some big secret—anyone could do it with good timing and decent reflexes.
He explained the general method to Da Qing Shan, who nodded repeatedly, then eagerly started testing it on the respawning monsters around.
“Haha, it actually seems to work!”
Da Qing Shan wasn’t stupid, and Chen Mo’s explanation was simple and to the point. After a few tries, Da Qing Shan found it seemed feasible and couldn’t contain his excitement.
“Observe more. Patterns are important. Master the timing before you strike. Higher-level monsters might be more complicated, but the basics aren’t too different.” Chen Mo offered advice while killing Wild White Rabbits.
“Yes, yes, you’re absolutely right, Silence Expert.” As they spoke, Da Qing Shan and Chen Mo added each other as friends.
“I’ve finished my Quest, so I’m heading off now. Keep practicing on your own, and if you have questions, you can ask me.”
With no one else competing for monsters, twenty Wild White Rabbits didn’t take long for Chen Mo to kill.
“Alright, expert, take care!” Da Qing Shan nodded repeatedly, but as he spoke, he didn’t even turn his head, just kept staring intently at a Wild White Rabbit respawn point, looking tense, his greatsword ready to strike.
Chen Mo knew Da Qing Shan was fully focused on killing monsters, so he didn’t disturb him and left alone.
“Hey!”
Not long after Chen Mo left, Da Qing Shan swung his sword down, striking a newly respawned Wild White Rabbit.
“Hahaha! I can snatch monsters now! Everyone disperse—I’ll have the money transferred to your cards!” Da Qing Shan laughed excitedly, waving for the surrounding Players to leave. Then he looked around and blended into the crowd.
He had actually completed his Quest a while ago, but now that he had learned how to snatch monsters, how could he not take the chance to annoy the people around him?
“Damn! What’s going on?”
The Wild White Rabbits respawned again, but the result was completely different from what he expected. Over ten Wild White Rabbits appeared, and he hadn’t managed to snatch even one.
“Damn it! I refuse to believe this!”
Da Qing Shan’s stubbornness kicked in. He stared fixedly at the Wild White Rabbit respawn point, determined not to give up until he snatched one!