Assassin at Range: The Sniper’s Lethal Power

What did Tristan see?

He had just discovered what could only be described as the "Source of All Toxins" — Toxic Blood Plague! In his previous life, this was a god-tier skill for monster farming.

As long as one monster died, the damage would spread to others. Combine that with some area-of-effect skills, and you could quickly farm and level up. It was practically invincible.

The method was simple: find a monster gathering point, aggro a dozen or so monsters, and as long as you could take out one first, the spreading Toxic Blood would gradually weaken all of them. When it was about to expire, just kill another one to refresh the plague. Rinse and repeat, and you could wipe out hordes of enemies in no time.

For Tristan, this was perfect.

"Start with Shadow Dagger to take down a monster, then spread Toxic Blood Plague, and with the added bonus of Sniper's Blessing, even if I can't insta-kill the monsters, I'll still bring their health down significantly. Throw a few more knives, and I'll be able to take out ten times the number of monsters. My leveling speed will skyrocket!" Tristan thought excitedly.

He immediately learned Toxic Blood Plague. Right now, not having any area skills didn't matter — Shadow Dagger would be enough. Besides, IFA was already on the lookout for related skill books. Given IFA's strength, news would likely come within three days.

By then, Tristan would transition from a ranged assassin to a ranged magic assassin, throwing out a skill at a monster pile and watching his experience shoot up! Just imagining that scene filled him with excitement.

With Toxic Blood Plague, Tristan's earlier frustration over the overwhelming number of mage-type gear he had dropped was completely wiped away. What more could he ask for?

At this point, Tristan had reviewed all of the Baron Ghibbobo's drops. Not only had he acquired the extremely rare storage ring, but he had also gained a brand-new Gold Grade skill.

Previously, he had worked so hard to evolve his Shadow Stealth to Bronze Grade, and now he had a Gold Grade skill in hand. However, Tristan kept his mindset balanced. While Toxic Blood Plague was great, it couldn't replace the importance of Shadow Stealth. The latter was the core of his playstyle.

As the saying goes, "Only the living can deal damage." And he had already gathered 7 evolution points. If he farmed a few more wild monsters, he could unlock the next level of evolution for Shadow Stealth.

Once Shadow Stealth reached Silver Grade, Tristan's Stealth would become unbeatable. Not even the archers under DarkSaber's command, no matter how skilled, would be able to break through his Stealth. Furthermore, the next evolution would boost his base damage as well. Pair that with his planned class advancement and the ability to dual-wield, and his damage output would be explosive.

"While you're hunting rabbits, he's hunting wild boars, and I'm going for the first kill. We all have bright futures ahead of us," Tristan muttered to himself, looking towards the teleportation array in the blood pool. It was time to return.

However, to avoid falling into any traps set by the village chief, Tristan activated the shield effect on his ring while maintaining his Stealth. After equipping the two pieces of Wolf King gear, his health had risen to 2,540, and with the added shield of 3,000 health, he was confident that there was no way he would be ambushed in the Newbie Village.

With that thought in mind, Tristan stepped into the teleportation array.

"Ding, a sealed teleportation array has been discovered. Do you wish to activate it?"

"Activate."

"The teleportation array has been activated. Teleporting to the Newbie Village Abandoned Shack."

In a flash of light, Tristan vanished from his spot.

At the same time, the village chief of Newbie Village 8860 felt a sudden jolt, a wave of unease surging through his heart.

The teleportation array arranged by his master had been activated — but it wasn't supposed to happen at this time. Thinking back to his master's previous roar, the village chief had a sense that something wasn't right.

"Village chief, here are the materials you requested," said a player's voice, interrupting his thoughts.

The village chief quickly shifted to a warm smile. "Brave adventurer, you've done an excellent job completing my task. Please, accept your reward."

The player beamed, saying, "Thank you, village chief. Is there anything else I can assist with?"

The village chief's face turned somber. "There have been signs of some abandoned shacks being invaded. Could you help me check them out?"

Upon hearing this, the player thumped his chest dramatically. "Don't worry, village chief! It's our duty to protect the village. Let's go, everyone, let's gear up and check it out!"

A group of players rushed out of the village chief's hut, heading toward the abandoned shack.

In that moment, all the players had a single thought: Whoever dared to invade Newbie Village would not leave alive!

...

Meanwhile, Tristan had barely adjusted to the light changes when he heard a sharp, whistling sound from above. A semi-transparent ghost extended its claws and attacked the air.

From its trajectory, the ghost hadn't spotted Tristan yet. It had simply followed its programmed behavior, launching an attack as it failed to detect the vampire's presence.

Tristan easily dodged and chose not to engage. If memory served, this ghost was an innocent villager who had been killed by the village chief. Since it posed no threat, Tristan decided to let it be.

Moving stealthily through the slightly ajar wooden door, Tristan left the abandoned shack and headed toward the village chief's residence.

Once he was well clear of the ghost's detection range, Tristan deactivated Stealth and walked confidently forward.

Before he had even taken two steps, he saw several players running toward the shack he had just emerged from, chattering about completing the quest.

Tristan shook his head.

These poor fools. They could have arrived earlier, but instead, they only showed up after the ghost had been activated. What were they thinking?

Before he could fully process this thought, he heard angry shouts from behind.

"What the hell, what kind of task did the village chief give us? This monster just one-shotted the captain!"

"How are there ghosts in Newbie Village?"

"Where's the village guard? Someone help!"

"Brothers, meet us at the respawn point!"

Thud, thud.

One by one, the players fell and turned into white light, returning to the respawn point.

Tristan glanced back at the ghost, which was slowly becoming invisible again, but he still didn't make a move.

If his memory was correct, leaving the ghost alive and revealing the village chief's true nature would trigger a hidden quest.

There was nothing special about the reward, just an unremarkable wooden comb — a gift from the ghost's lover.

"That damn village chief has caused enough harm. It's time to expose him!" Tristan thought with righteous anger, marching forward.

And that was when he found himself surrounded by a large group of players.

"What the hell! Blackshade!"

This one word exploded like a bomb, spreading across the entire Newbie Village at lightning speed. Countless players dropped what they were doing and rushed back, eager to witness the infamous Blackshade — the player who could easily claim first kills like it was nothing.

As the crowd grew larger, Tristan's mind shifted. He raised his voice and said, "I know you're all eager, but before we do anything, how about a hidden quest?"