Chapter 4 (Assassin Reborn)

[Translated by ChickenBakuba]

Chapter 4, Snake King's Gall Bladder

Xu Xiang estimated one bite of the snake king to send him to the edge of death. However, he still remembered the video of exploiting the land's topography to kill the red-tailed snake king. The video was pinned on the forums after a month from the game's release. The video was about a level 2 archer using the topography to trap the red-tailed snake king before shooting it slowly, arrow by arrow, to death.

Although it had already been a month since the servers started and many people had changed professions, the video still caused a huge sensation. Not long before the video, a guild had assembled 20 level 5 players against the red-tailed snake king.

But the snake king was too dangerous. With one bite, it could take out half a player's HP, and the level 5 players had no capable priest to heal them. Defeating the snake king required a lot of sustain and HP. Even simply relying on health potions was not enough. The entire group was wiped out.

Xu Xiang first verified the topography. As a mercenary, he could not blindly believe information. The information could have been fake or wrong. It was best to confirm it with his own eyes for safety. This had become a rigid habit of Xu Xiang's, similar to eating and sleeping. Xu Xiang returned to his previous position after confirming it and discovered that the red-tailed snake king was still in the same position, and had not even moved a single yard from its original position.

Xu Xiang quietly approached the red-tailed snake king. The red-tailed snake king was an impressive 7 yards in length. The bright-red scales of its tail glinted evilly under the moonlight. The snake rested impassively on the ground, as still as a rock. Xu Xiang calmed himself down, before abruptly leaping up. Exploding with strength, he plunged his dagger into the back of the red-tailed snake king. 1 point of damage emerged above the red-tailed snake king's head. The snake's eyes shot open.

Xu Xiang retracted his dagger and turned heel to run. He remembered the place where the archer had trapped the red-tailed snake king. It was at a certain tree, not far away from where he was currently. Three people could wrap their arms around the trunk of the colossal tree. The tree began to branch out 1 yard from the ground. A person could just barely fit through the small space between the branched-out trunks of the tree, but not the red-tailed snake king. If he got the snake king to jump through the branched-out trunks of the tree, the snake king would be stuck in the tree, unable to advance nor retreat.

In reality, though, it was nothing as easy as described. The person in the video was an archer. Although speed was the forte of both of the archer and the thief profession, Xu Xiang was only level 0 currently. All he had on him was novice garments. The archer was level 2, and it was estimated that he had pumped 20 attribute points into agility. To top it off, the archer also had shoes. Hence, his speed was extremely fast, enough to rival the snake king.

However, it was because Xu Xiang did not have these equipment that he did not have to worry about straying from the aggro range of the snake king and losing its attention.

Xu Xiang's speed could not match up to the snake king's. Within 50 yards of running, the snake king had caught up to Xu Xiang. The bloody mouth of the snake king split horrifyingly wide open as it snapped at Xu Xiang. Xu Xiang rolled to the side as he evaded the gaping maws of the beast, before leaping to his feet to continue fleeing. Pain flared on his back as he noted an additional condition on his stats.

Venom of the Snake King

9 HP lost every single, persists for 15 seconds.

Now, Xu Xiang finally understood why the group of level 5s had been wiped out. The fact that he had still been affected by the venom of the snake king despite successfully evading it meant that the venom was an AOE skill. As long as one touched the venom, one would be poisoned. A lethal poison indeed.

Xu Xiang quickly did the math. After 11 seconds, he dug out the elementary instant recovery potion and gulped it down. His HP recovered to full, before it began to fall again, finally stopping at 74 points. He received another dose of venom while fleeing, but Xu Xiang had an additional potion on him and the potion had already finished its cooldown. Everything was going smoothly.

Xu Xiang had already neared the tree, and the snake king was 10 yards away from Xu Xiang's position. Leaping through the tree, Xu Xiang heard the rustle of leaves as it whipped past his face. Smoothly rolling to break his fall as he landed, he got up and backed a few yards away from the tree before finally turning back to face it.

Dear god! The red-tailed snake king was already trapped in the tree, its fleshy abdomen jammed between the sturdy trunks of the tree. The snake king thrashed about violently. The leaves began to rustle loudly, fluttering to the ground as the ferocious beast struggled to free itself in vain. However, the snake was tightly stuck in the tree, like a pair of pliers were tightly clamping it together.

Xu Xiang walked around the snake, approaching its back. At present, the snake had already given up, powerlessly hanging down, suspended in the tree. Fortunately, this position of it gave it no chances to borrow force from the ground and free itself. If that happened, the red-tailed snake king would swallow Xu Xiang with a gulp.

Xu Xiang began to relentlessly attack the snake king. Although he had the boost from his passive backstabbing skill, Xu Xiang's level was too low. Every strike of his only dealt one point of damage, which angered the snake king greatly. However, the snake king's heart had already given up at this point, if it had one.

<i>Dispute</i> ensured that damage was done as long as one struck the target successfully. Even if it was a level 0 novice attacking a level 250 overlord monster, it would not MISS unless  the target had evading passive skills or equipment. This had also resulted in numerous guilds employing the 'quality in quantity' tactic by simply swarming BOSSes with players. However, the BOSSes' HP recovery speed would put most guilds to shame, and then there was the AOE skills.

The HP recovery speed of the red-tailed snake king was average. By continuously attacking it, Xu Xiang discovered that he required at least 1 hour before he could successfully kill it. Despite how ridiculous it sounded, it made sense if one did the math. To begin with,  a level 0 novice to slay a level 7 BOSS was something inconceivable.

"Ding~ Red-tailed snake king HP is lower than 10 per cent, entering a frenzied status. Attack will increase by 30 per cent, defence will be raised by 20 per cent and HP will cease recovery. Lasts for 10 minutes."

The entire body of the red-tailed snake king turned several shades redder. The entire tree tottered, like it was on the verge of collapse. This made Xu Xiang's heart leap to his mouth. Fortunately, the tree was sturdy and held firm. No cracks appeared on the trunk. On the contrary, since the red-tailed snake king's body had swelled in size, it had become wedged even tighter in the tree. Now, the red-tailed snake king could not even budge.

If the players who had banded together as a team to take on the red-tailed snake king had heard of the system's notification, they would have spat a mouthful of blood onto their screens. The initially attack had been raised even higher by 30 per cent. A normal team which had fought to this point would not even have many people left to finish it, but to Xu Xiang, it was instead good news because the snake king's HP had stopped recovering.

"Ding~ Congratulations on killing the red-tailed snake king (Bronze level BOSS), 30,000 experience points obtained, additional 80 per cent boost to experience points for killing a monster 8 levels higher than you. Total experience points received: 54,000 exp. Prestige obtained: 10 points. Congratulations, you have levelled up! Present level is 1. All attributes upgraded by 1. You have received 10 free attribute points."

Gorgeous white light enveloped Xu Xiang. The red-tailed snake king had finally been slain and he had levelled up. The stiffened body of the snake king relaxed. Xu Xiang collapsed onto the ground as he breathed heavily. Waving a dagger for an hour continuously for an hour had made him quite tired. However, his fatigue was soon diluted by the BOSS's loot. The snake had dropped three items.

Snake king's leather boots (Bronze-level)

Level requirement: 5

Type: Leather

Defence: 18

+5 Agility

+2% movement speed

Can be enhanced to level 4, +1% dodge rate

Weight: 10

Class restrictions: Thief, Archer. Not limited to race.

Snake king sword (Bronze-level)

Level requirement: 5

Type: One-handed sword

Attack: 35-42

+7 strength

Attack speed: 1.2

Can be enhanced to level 4, +2% damage.

Weight: 25

Class restrictions: Warrior, Knight. Not limited to race.

Snake king's gall bladder (Mission item)

Introduction: Gall bladder of the red-tailed snake king of the novice village. A reward can be collected from the village head if presented to him.

Chapter 4, END