Chapter 12: Elite Monster
Chapter 12: Elite Monster
“Haha, Boss Huìyuè Liúhén, leveling up here feels amazing!” the Mage shouted excitedly.
The three of them had been in a party the whole way, but both the Mage and the Archer had to be careful with their damage output, worried they might accidentally draw aggro.
In Wild Wolf Valley, however, the Mage and the Archer didn’t need to worry about aggro—they even had to go all out to pull the hatred toward themselves.
This way, Huìyuè Liúhén only needed to lure the monsters from below. Once he pulled the wild wolves over, the Mage and the Archer would take the aggro, allowing Huìyuè Liúhén to attack freely as well. Essentially, all three could deal full damage without worrying about taking any harm.
There was no better place to level up! Who could match this leveling speed?
The three of them were thrilled and fought exceptionally hard. One wild wolf after another quickly fell under the rocks.
Their experience soared. They didn’t notice that the wild wolves respawning around them began to change.
“Haha, we gained nearly 15% experience in just five minutes! We’re almost at Level 6! I told you coming with me was the right choice—believe me now!” After luring and killing a few more wild wolves, Huìyuè Liúhén laughed loudly.
“Of course, Boss Huìyuè…” The Mage and the Archer quickly agreed, but their voices suddenly cut off as they stared in horror at their surroundings.
Huìyuè Liúhén sensed something was wrong and immediately turned to look.
Then, as if he had seen a ghost, he watched as dozens of wild wolves instantly spawned around them, where there had been very few before.
Dozens of wild wolves, with ferocious expressions, rushed toward the three of them!
The wolf pack was enraged!
…
“This kind of game design is just insane!” Chen Mo watched from a corner of the valley, witnessing the entire scene clearly.
Seeing the dozens of wild wolves pounce on Huìyuè Liúhén and his party, instantly wiping them out, Chen Mo couldn’t help but gasp.
He only knew that attacking from the rock for too long could trigger a special aggro, causing the surrounding monsters to mutate. But he never expected the mutation to be this terrifying, leaving no chance of survival.
After Huìyuè Liúhén and his party died, the special aggro from the wolf pack vanished instantly. The wild wolves looked around briefly before scattering across the valley.
Only then did Chen Mo leisurely walk over, climb onto the rock, and start tossing traps to kill the monsters.
Four minutes later, a holy white light flashed—Chen Mo had reached Level 5.
After allocating his attribute points, Chen Mo’s Strength reached 33 points, his Attack 36–37, and his Health Points 200. His stats were finally somewhat decent, though his equipment still consisted only of an ordinary Hand Crossbow and a pair of Goblin Shoes.
Speaking of equipment, Chen Mo couldn’t help but complain about the game’s ridiculously low drop rate. He had killed quite a few monsters by the time he reached Level 5, but aside from the pair of shoes dropped by the Mutated Black Goblin, he had never seen any other equipment drop. The drop rate was embarrassingly low.
After leveling up, his monster-killing speed naturally improved a bit. However, Chen Mo didn’t get to enjoy the peace for long before Huìyuè Liúhén and his party returned with grim expressions.
Even though they had been wiped out inexplicably by the wild wolves, Huìyuè Liúhén couldn’t bring himself to give up such a prime leveling spot like Wild Wolf Valley.
Seeing the three return, Chen Mo cooperatively yielded the spot without a fuss.
“Be careful this time!” Huìyuè Liúhén had wanted to vent his anger on someone, but since Chen Mo was so accommodating, he couldn’t say much. He just growled at the Mage and the Archer.
“Yes, Boss!”
The three began killing monsters around the rock. This time, they were much more cautious. But after a few minutes, when the monsters in Wild Wolf Valley showed no changes, they gradually relaxed.
It seemed the earlier massive wave of monsters was just a coincidence.
However, about five minutes later, Huìyuè Liúhén and his party paled as they saw another huge wave of wild wolves suddenly spawn around them!
Roar!
The large pack of wild wolves howled and charged toward the three.
…
“The respawn time was at least a minute earlier than the first time!”
Chen Mo checked the time.
With Huìyuè Liúhén’s party acting as the daredevil squad, Chen Mo was happy to stay on the sidelines and test a few things he was curious about.
Their deaths weren’t in vain—Chen Mo learned some extra information, at least about the second wolf pack’s respawn time.
“Wild Wolf Valley is terrifying!”
Just as Huìyuè Liúhén and his party were killed by the fierce wolf pack, a large group of players appeared at the valley entrance. They happened to witness the scene inside Wild Wolf Valley and were utterly shocked.
They had been teams farming Man-eating Flowers. As more players came to farm Man-eating Flowers, they decided to head to Wild Wolf Valley together. Little did they expect the wild wolves there to be so vicious.
That pack of wild wolves could wipe out not just one team, but all of them combined.
“Let’s find another spot. Even if it only happens occasionally, it’s too much of a time waste—not worth it,” someone immediately suggested.
“Right, let’s go somewhere else.”
“Let’s farm Black Wild Boars instead. They’re also Level 7 monsters, just with thicker hides, but their attacks are much weaker than the wild wolves’.”
The group ignored Chen Mo, who was farming in the corner, and left in a massive procession.
Chen Mo rubbed his nose. It seemed fate wanted him to farm there a bit longer. In that case, he shouldn’t waste this gift from the heavens.
With the mindset of farming as long as possible, Chen Mo returned to the rock and continued killing wild wolves.
It had to be said, farming from this rock was incredibly comfortable.
But Chen Mo’s comfort didn’t last long. Huìyuè Liúhén and his party soon returned, fuming with anger.
Well, these three still hadn’t given up!
Chen Mo acted as if he were afraid of them and quickly ran off.
“Let’s try one more time!” Huìyuè Liúhén said through gritted teeth.
“Boss Huìyuè, I’ve been thinking. The previous large waves of wild wolves appeared after we killed monsters for nine minutes straight. How about this time we farm for eight minutes, then leave for a bit and come back to try again,” the Mage suggested.
“Alright, let’s do that,” Huìyuè Liúhén nodded.
The three began killing wild wolves again. This time, they kept a close eye on the time as they fought.
Six minutes passed. The flowing experience gave them a significant boost.
The high experience gain was the reason Huìyuè Liúhén and his party refused to leave despite being wiped out twice in a row.
The seventh minute.
Huìyuè Liúhén was about to go out and lure more monsters when, suddenly, the familiar massive wave of wild wolves appeared around them once more!
At the same time, another large group of players arrived at the valley entrance.
Upon seeing the ferocious wolf pack, they immediately abandoned Wild Wolf Valley without a second thought. Soon, the valley’s fearsome reputation spread far and wide.
…
“The accumulation of special aggro is indeed speeding up—this time it was a full two minutes earlier!”
Chen Mo watched as the trio was wiped out for the third time, calculating the time difference.
“This game’s design is fascinating. Even such a small detail has multiple layers. But the more complex the design, the more likely there are loopholes.”
Huìyuè Liúhén and his party served as live demonstrations, providing Chen Mo with plenty of information. Based on this particular setting, he realized his earlier idea of repeatedly farming the Mutated Goblin in Goblin Valley definitely wouldn’t work. After a few tries, the Mutated Goblin probably wouldn’t drop anything at all.
With the three dead, Chen Mo—who knew how to avoid triggering special aggro—returned to the rock and continued killing wild wolves.
While they kept dying, he was steadily gaining experience from killing monsters. In just over twenty more minutes, he would reach Level 6.
But what Chen Mo didn’t expect was that when he had nearly cleared the surrounding wild wolves, a much larger wild wolf suddenly spawned not far from the rock.
A Wild Wolf Elite!
Chen Mo was stunned. He had a feeling this Wild Wolf Elite appeared because Huìyuè Liúhén’s party repeatedly provoked the special aggro rules. Otherwise, with so many monsters being killed by players before, no Elite Monsters had ever appeared.
Chen Mo couldn’t help but feel a mix of amusement and frustration. He hadn’t found any game loopholes, but he had uncovered quite a few hidden game mechanics.
But… since he had encountered it, he might as kill this Wild Wolf Elite first.
The Wild Wolf Elite was Level 7 with 5000 Health Points—1000 more than the Mutated Black Goblin.
However, the Wild Wolf Elite was just an Elite Monster, a tier below Mutated Monsters. Compared to the Mutated Black Goblin, it only had slightly higher Health and Attack, while its speed was about the same.
Having soloed the Mutated Black Goblin before, Chen Mo wasn’t afraid of the Wild Wolf Elite, which was roughly on par with it. Besides, his Attack power was nearly double what it had been during the fight with the Mutated Black Goblin.
With the same advantageous position and no special attacks from the Wild Wolf Elite, Chen Mo defeated it without any real danger.
“Roar!”
As Chen Mo laid down a trap, the Wild Wolf Elite let out one last furious howl and collapsed to the ground. A pile of copper coins and items spilled out from its body.
Three figures appeared at the entrance of Wild Wolf Valley. The moment Huìyuè Liúhén saw the Wild Wolf Elite fall, his eyes filled with rage.