Virtual Realm: My Venom Can Slay Gods

Ethan stared blankly at the auction house. "Was that for real? How could someone be that fast? I barely clicked confirm, and the item's already gone! Either my price was too low, or there's just too much money floating around."

The pair of shoes came from the first Sea Turtle he defeated and had been with him ever since. Just now, he had looted a new pair from a Toad, finally replacing his trusty old Canvas Shoes. Thinking he could list them for $5000 to see if anyone would buy, he figured if they didn't sell, he'd lower the price later. After all, they were second-hand shoes—he didn't want to rip anyone off.

"Guess I underestimated the value of gear. Who knew second-hand shoes could be this popular?" Ethan thought as he glanced at the newly equipped Toad Boots: +5 Movement Speed, +3 Defense. With his Movement Speed now at 35 and Defense at 18, he was ready to continue grinding.

Over the next two hours, Ethan relentlessly farmed Toads. After killing 77 of them, he finally leveled up to Level 6, gaining three pieces of equipment along the way:

Toad Belt: +40 Health, +4 Defense

Toad Helmet: +40 Health, +4 Defense

Toad Ring: +20 Health, +8 Physical Attack, +1% Attack Speed

He decided to keep the Toad Ring because of the additional 20 Health. He listed the old Wild Boar Belt and Wild Boar Helmet at a fixed price of $10,000 each. There was no need to use the auction mode anymore, as it had a higher fee. Besides, most players had started acquiring gear, so Wild Boar gear wouldn't be as valuable. Setting a reasonable fixed price seemed more practical. As expected, both items sold quickly.

"Did I underprice them?" Ethan wondered, but he didn't dwell on it. "They're just second-hand items. As long as they sell quickly, that's fine. A few thousand dollars more might mean waiting hours, and with the current flood of gear in the auction house, overpriced items just sit there."

"Finally got something!" The veiled woman exhaled in relief. "I didn't expect it to be this difficult to buy a white-tier item for $10,000."

"Everyone knows by now that not all white-tier items are equal. High-attribute gear naturally becomes highly sought after," Uncle Lee commented beside her.

"Who on earth is capable of farming such high-level monsters? Could it be a large group using sheer numbers to overpower them?" the woman asked, puzzled.

"Unlikely. If they were using large numbers, it would've caused a commotion. Someone would've noticed. Plus, with a large group, they'd need the gear themselves and wouldn't have surplus to sell. I believe the seller is either a small team of five or fewer, or even a solo player," Uncle Lee analyzed.

The woman nodded, agreeing with his reasoning. Still, she couldn't help but recall the fleeting figure she had seen last time. For some reason, that person felt… different.

"Wait, speed!" The woman suddenly realized. "Back then, that person was wearing beginner gear, but their speed wasn't normal. Everyone was only Level 1 or 2 at the time, and even with full Agility, they shouldn't have been that fast. The difference wasn't huge, so most people didn't notice, but my instincts are sharp. That person's speed was definitely above 20. I've seen plenty of fully Agility-built Level 3 players, but none of them reached that speed."

"Could it be him?" she wondered. "Either way, next time I see him, I'll need to pay close attention."

Meanwhile, completely unaware that someone had taken an interest in him, Ethan was contemplating how to allocate his newly gained attribute points. He opened his character panel:

Name: Sealed

Level: 6

Health: 350

Mana: 110

Physical Attack: 20

Magical Attack: 10

Physical Defense: 18

Magical Defense: 5

Movement Speed: 35

Attack Speed: 18% (35 Agility provides 17%, plus 1% from the ring)

Experience: 3/4000

Strength: 5

Intelligence: 5

Constitution: 5

Stamina: 5

Spirit: 5

Agility: 30

Skill: Insight

Talent: Source of Venom: Inflicts 23 true damage per second for 60 seconds. Can stack once.

"Let's put these 5 points into Constitution. My focus is taking down the Wild Boar King right now. Speed is already sufficient. Adding 5 points to Constitution will increase my Health to 400, which means I'll regenerate 4 Health per second naturally. If it's 399, I'd only recover 3 per second."

With that, Ethan allocated all five attribute points into Constitution, bringing his Health up to 400. He checked his inventory: 15 Small Health Potions, 9 remaining from before, and 6 newly looted. Feeling confident, he decided it was time to take on the Wild Boar King. This boss had been on his mind for a long time.

Running through the Wild Boar Forest, Ethan soon reached the massive creature's lair. Seeing the towering Wild Boar King again, he felt a pang of anxiety. Despite his improved stats, the oppressive aura of the boss was still intimidating.

Cautiously approaching, Ethan entered the Wild Boar King's aggro range. With a deafening roar, the boss launched a Savage Charge at him.

"Whoa! The animation's different this time!" Ethan exclaimed as he dodged. Regular wild boars would scrape the ground twice before charging, but the Wild Boar King roared instead. Fortunately, his experience with the skill had ingrained a near-reflexive reaction, allowing him to evade in time.

Taking advantage of the boss's brief post-skill lag, Ethan struck its rear and immediately backed away. He watched as the venom damage began ticking—23 damage per second.

"If everything goes smoothly, I should be able to take it down in about half an hour. But during its 30-second berserk mode, I can't get close. If the poison wears off during that time, things will get tricky since it regenerates 500 Health per second. I'll just have to play it by ear. If necessary, I'll tank a hit to reapply the poison. I've got potions, after all."

With that plan in mind, Ethan continued kiting the Wild Boar King, skillfully dodging every Savage Charge and landing a hit whenever possible. For three solid minutes, the boss failed to land a single blow, eventually entering a rage.

"Roar!"

With a thunderous bellow, the Wild Boar King stood upright, towering over three meters tall. It pounded its chest twice before charging again.

"Damn, that's intense! Good thing its speed doesn't increase during berserk mode, or this fight would be impossible," Ethan muttered. "The poison still has 28 seconds left. No big deal—I'll just keep dodging until the effect wears off."

For the next 30 minutes, Ethan expertly evaded six berserk phases. Only once did the poison wear off mid-berserk. He had no choice but to tank a hit and reapply the poison, losing 355 Health in the process. Fortunately, the boss's increased attack speed wasn't enough to land a second hit before Ethan escaped.

After more than half an hour, the Wild Boar King's health dropped to 10%, triggering its final survival skill. However, it turned out to be completely useless—it stood there dumbly for 10 seconds without recovering a single point of health. Out of all the Wild Boar Kings in the beginner villages, this one was definitely the unluckiest.