NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 12: Silver Wolf
"Let's check out the level 10 monsters first. If they're manageable, I can keep grinding my talent."
Ethan Carter continued forward, passing through the Wolf Plains with a pack of wild wolves trailing behind him. Since wolves were aggressive creatures, they would chase anyone who entered their aggro range. However, with his impressive 33 Movement Speed, Ethan didn't care much—those wolves couldn't catch up with him anyway.
After walking for quite some time, a valley appeared in the distance. Inside the valley, several majestic silver-colored wolves could be seen prowling around.
"Wolves again?!" Ethan's heart sank. He still needed to drink potions to handle normal wolves, and these ones looked way stronger.
Approaching the valley entrance, he used Insight on the nearest Silver Wolf.
[Silver Wolf]
Level: 10
Health: 6000
Attack: 140
Defense: 60
Speed: 30
Skill: Blinding Speed – Howls loudly to gain 50% Attack Speed and 50% Movement Speed for 30 seconds. Cooldown: 2 minutes.
…
"Nope, not happening. This thing's a hard counter to me—I can't take it on. Time to bail." Ethan immediately turned around without a second thought.
"Forget it, I'll log off for now and grab something to eat. I've been playing for six hours straight, and all I've had is one piece of bread. My body's gonna give out if I keep this up. Besides, after making all that money, I should treat myself to something nice."
Finding a safe spot, Ethan logged out and removed his game helmet. Sitting up in bed, he shook his head, feeling fine physically—until his stomach suddenly started churning violently. He bolted to the bathroom, where he spent the next half hour in misery.
Emerging weak and wobbly, Ethan muttered to himself, "Damn, must've been that expired bread I had earlier. I seriously need to stop eating random stuff."
Collapsing onto the worn-out couch in his rented apartment, he pulled out his phone and, with great indulgence, ordered a family bucket of fried chicken. He'd considered going out to eat but was too weak to even walk properly.
While waiting for the delivery, Ethan browsed the game forums on his phone. Unsurprisingly, nearly all the top posts were about Oracle. To his surprise, two of the three pinned posts were directly related to him, each with millions of views:
1."Speculations about the high-tier equipment frequently appearing in the 8365 Novice Village auction house"
2."White-grade equipment sold for 60,000 dollars in the 8365 Novice Village auction house"
3."Wild Boar King sighted in the Novice Village—full stats attached. Calling all pros for a raid strategy!"
Intrigued, Ethan clicked on the first post. The author, claiming to be a game analyst, had made several guesses about his equipment. To be honest, the analysis wasn't too far off.
"Currently, three high-quality pieces of equipment have appeared in the 8365 Novice Village auction house. Based on my analysis, the first two were likely obtained by killing the level 6 Wild Boar King, while the third item, the Wolf Fang Necklace, was probably dropped by the level 9 Gray Wolf."
"I strongly urge the developers to investigate this player. I suspect them of cheating—forget the Gray Wolves, even the level 6 Wild Boars are impossible for players at this stage to kill."
The post had tens of thousands of comments, most of which were demanding an investigation. A few outliers suggested it might just be skill, but those voices were quickly drowned out.
To Ethan's surprise, there was an official response at the top of the post:
"Oracle has no cheats."
A simple, no-nonsense reply that instantly silenced the flood of accusatory comments.
"Wow, that's bold!" Ethan muttered, rubbing his nose. Skimming through the other two posts, he noticed one about the Wild Boar King. "Didn't expect someone to find the boss already. Looks like I need to hurry up and kill it. No one's gonna be able to take it down for a while, but still, knowing that others have their eyes on it makes me uncomfortable."
Ten minutes later, Ethan's food arrived. He devoured the meal with gusto, wiped his mouth, and laid back on his bed. Putting on the game helmet, he logged back in.
Reappearing at his previous location, Ethan checked his stats. He still wasn't strong enough to fight the Wild Boar King, and fighting Gray Wolves would drain too many potions. "Damn it, am I really going back to kill boars again? I swear, if I see another boar, I might actually throw up."
"Maybe I should check out the level 8 monsters. If they're manageable, I might be able to farm some different gear and stack up my stats enough to take on the Wild Boar King."
He guessed that level 8 monsters would be beyond the Spider Forest, so he had to be cautious while passing through. "If those disgusting spiders web me, even with my current stats, I won't survive more than a few hits."
Sighing, Ethan lamented the chaotic monster distribution in the game. "This setup is gonna screw over so many people. Just imagine—most players would keep pushing forward after easily farming level 3 Green Snakes, only to stumble into the level 7 Giant Spider zone and get webbed. That kind of despair could scar someone for life."
Navigating the Spider Forest with ease thanks to his high speed, Ethan soon reached the heart of the forest, where he finally encountered level 8 monsters. Seeing the creatures before him, he felt a wave of discomfort wash over him.
[Toad]
Level: 8
Health: 3200
Attack: 100
Defense: 48
Speed: 15
Skill: Tongue Strike – Extends its tongue to pierce the target, ignoring 50% of their defense and dealing 145% Physical Damage. Reduces the target's Movement Speed by 30%. Cooldown: 10 seconds.
"Huh, this one's doable," Ethan calculated. Even with the defense-ignoring skill, the toad could only deal about 137 damage to him. With his 290 Health, he could handle it. His poison damage had reached 23, meaning he could kill a toad in three hits. Even with the 30% speed reduction, he'd still have 20 Movement Speed—more than enough to kite it.
"Well, it's ugly as hell, but whatever. I'm not here to date it."
Each level 8 toad gave 30 base experience, with an extra 9 points for a 3-level gap bonus, totaling 39 experience per kill. Killing 77 toads would earn him a level-up. Along with four copper coins per kill, the toads also dropped a slimy liquid, likely a quest item. "Seems like every type of monster in the Novice Village has a corresponding quest."
Thus began Ethan's journey of slaughtering toads.
Meanwhile, most top players in the 8365 Novice Village had reached level 3 and were attempting to farm level 4 crabs. Equipped with a few pieces of gear, the strongest teams wore full defensive sets, albeit low-quality ones with only two-point attributes. Despite being in groups of five, the crabs were still tough opponents, making the process slow and arduous.
At this time, many players kept their eyes glued to the auction house, eagerly waiting for the mysterious player to list more high-quality gear. Although many items were already listed, most were mediocre two-point attribute gear, with sellers asking absurd prices of 20,000 to 30,000 dollars—prices no one was willing to pay.
Suddenly, a pair of shoes appeared in the auction house, priced at 5000 dollars. Within a second, it was snapped up.
"What the hell just happened?"
"I think I saw a pair of shoes pop up and then disappear instantly."
"Holy crap, seriously? I checked the auction history—it was a five-point attribute pair of shoes, and it sold for 5000 dollars. Must've been that mysterious player again. Damn, whoever bought it must have insane reflexes—single for 30 years, I bet!"