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Chapter 12 – Elite Monster
“Haha! Leader Bright Moon, this place is great for leveling!” The mage cried happily.The 3 of them had been fighting together before but the archer and the mage had always been very careful not to pull aggro.
In the Wild Wolf Valley, however, the archer and mage did not have to worry about the aggro problem and struck with all their might, pulling aggro as needed.
This way, Mark of a Bright Moon just needed to lure monsters to the foot of the boulder and let the archer and mage pull aggro away from him. He could then hit the monsters without fear of reprisal and all 3 of them won’t suffer any damage.
There’s no better place than this to grind levels! Who can keep up with this levelling speed?
The 3 of them were in high spirits and put their all into their strikes as Wild Wolves dropped dead one after another.
They did not notice that, as their EXP increased exponentially, the surrounding respawning Wild Wolves began to undergo a change.
“Haha! We got 15% EXP in just 5 minutes! Just a little more and we’ll be Level 6. I told you – coming to this valley was the right thing to do. You believe me now, right?” After luring and killing a few more wolves, Mark of a Bright Moon grinned up at his companions.
“Of course, Leader Bright Moo…” The archer and mage chorused agreement but their conversation was cut short as they turned to look at their surroundings, startled.
Mark of a Bright Moon sensed that something was amiss and he hurriedly turned to look.
It was as though he had seen a ghost. The scarcely populated surroundings had filled with scores of Wold Wolves all of a sudden!
The Wild Wolves charged at the 3 of them with malevolence in their eyes!
A Wild Wolf rebellion!
“Woah, what a shitty situation!” In his corner in the valley, Chen Mo clearly witnessed their peril.
Chen Mo winced* as he watched Mark of a Bright Moon and his buddies get insta-killed by the mob.
He knew that a special aggro would be induced if one attacked from above on a boulder, causing a possible mutation in the surrounding monsters, but he had not expected this mutation to be so terrifying. There was no way out alive.
With the death of the 3, the special aggro on the Wild Wolves dissipated. The pack of wolves looked about for a bit, then dispersed to the 4 corners of the valley.
After the wolves walked off, Chen Mo went unhurriedly to the boulder and climbed up, then started throwing his trap-grenades.
4 minutes later, a pure white light flashed and Chen Mo rose to Level 5.
After adding his attribute points, Chen Mo’s Strength reached 33 points, his attack was 36~37 and he had 200HP. His attributes were barely decent but his equipment comprised of an Ordinary Crossbow and a pair of Goblin Shoes.
Speaking of equipment, Chen Mo couldn’t help but bemoan the low equip-drop rate of the game. He had slain quite a few monsters on his path to Level 5 but other than the Goblin Shoes from the Mutated Black Goblin, he had not seen any other monster drop any equipment. The drop rate was so low that he could not bear to even look at his equipment.
After levelling up, his killing speed naturally increased but he did not have much time to himself to kill the wolves leisurely for, not long later, Mark of a Bright Moon and his buddies were back with sullen faces.
Although they had been killed for no apparent reason, Mark of a Bright Moon was not willing to give up on such a good levelling up spot so easily.
Seeing the 3 of them return, Chen Mo took the initiative and gave up his treasured spot.
“Be careful this time!” Mark of a Bright Moon wanted to vent his anger on someone but Chen Mo had cooperated so he had nothing to vent on. Instead, he yelled at the archer and mage.
“Yes, boss!”
The 3 surrounded the boulder and started killing monsters. This time, they were more cautious but after a few minutes, there was no change in the monsters in Wild Wolf Valley. The trio gradually let down their guard.
Looks like the large wave of monsters earlier was just a coincidence.
However, after about 5 minutes, Mark of a Bright Moon’s face paled. Another wave of Wild Wolves had suddenly spawned around the trio!
Roar!
The pack of wolves came roaring towards the three.
… … …
“The respawn time was at least 1min earlier than the first time!”
Chen Mo looked at the time.
With Mark of a Bright Moon and his cronies so willing to die, Chen Mo happily began to test some of the things that interested him on the side.
The trio’s death had not been in vain. Chen Mo had gotten some additional information from the respawn time of the 2nd wave of wolves.
“Wild Wolf Valley is scary!”
When Mark of a Bright Moon’s team was getting killed by the 2nd wave of wolves, a large group of players had appeared in the mouth of the valley and witnessed the slaughter. What they saw scared the living daylights out of them.
They had originally been killing the Man-Eating Flowers and had decided to come to Wild Wolf Valley after discussing it amongst themselves as the area was getting crowded with more players. They had not expected to see such viciousness displayed by the monsters in Wild Wolf Valley.
The attack by that pack of wolves was no joke. Don’t even talk about a team taking them on – even if their entire group went up against the wolves, they would all die.
“Let’s go somewhere else. Even if this happens occasionally, it’s too time-consuming and not worth it”, someone recommended immediately.
“I agree! Let’s go somewhere else.”
“Let’s go kill Black Boars. They’re Level 7 too. Their skins are quick thick but their attack is weaker than Wild Wolves.”
The group ignored Chen Mo, who was quietly killing monsters in a corner, and left the valley with their noses in the air.
Chen Mo tapped his nose. Seems the Heavens were telling him to stay and continue killing monsters in the valley. If that were so, he should not waste the Heavens’ goodwill.
With an “I’ll take what I can get” attitude, Chen Mo returned to the boulder and continued to kill Wild Wolves.
Needless to say, it was really comfortable killing monsters from up above on the boulder.
However, his comfort did not last long. Mark of a Bright Moon and his cronies rushed back, steam blowing from their ears.
Ha!
These 3 guys haven’t given up!
Chen Mo acted scared and quickly ran away.
“Let’s try again!” Mark of a Bright Moon growled through his teeth.
“Boss Bright Moon, I’ve been thinking… those huge groups of Wild Wolves earlier spawned when we had been killing for 9mins straight. What if we kill for 8mins, then leave the valley and walk for a bit before coming back to kill wolves again?”, suggested the mage.
“Okay, let’s do that”, Mark of a Bright Moon nodded.
The trio began to kill wolves again and this time, they kept a constant eye on the time as they killed wolves.
Six minutes passed and their EXP rose like water being poured into a jug.
They were unwilling to leave so easily despite being insta-killed twice because of the high EXP here.
The seventh minute.
Just as Mark of a Bright Moon was about to go lure more monsters, the familiar wolf pack suddenly emerged around them!
Additionally, the moment the wolf pack appeared, yet another large group of players entered the valley.
Upon seeing the murderous wolves, this group of players left without a word, giving up on Wild Wolf Valley. The notoriety of Wild Wolf Valley soon spread.
… … …
“The special aggro accumulates more and more quickly – it was 2mins quicker this time!”
Chen Mo observed the trio’s third slaughter and calculated the time difference.
“Interesting game setting. Such a small detail but settings have numerous little details – the more complicated the more likely there are loopholes.”
With Mark of a Bright Moon inadvertently acting as a guinea pig, Chen Mo had gathered enough information. From what he knew, his previous idea of repeatedly killing Mutated Black Goblins would not work. He estimated that the Mutated Black Goblin would not drop anything after killing them a few times.
The 3 were vanquished again and Chen Mo, the guy who knows how to avoid the special aggro, hopped back on the boulder and started killing wolves.
The trio kept dying repeatedly but Chen Mo kept accumulating EXP. In a little over 20mins, he would be able to get to Level 6.
When Chen Mo had almost cleared the wolves around him on the boulder, something unexpected happened. A wolf much larger than the others spawned near the boulder.
Wolf Elite!
Chen Mo hesitated. He felt sure that the Wolf Elite had appeared only due to Mark of a Bright Moon continuously inducing special aggro. Furthermore, hundreds of monsters had been killed but no Elite monster had spawned.
In this regard, Chen Mo could not help feeling frustrated**. He had not found a single loophole but uncovered a lot of hidden game settings.
Though… Since he’d encountered one, he should kill it first.
The Wolf Elite was Level 7 and had 5000HP – a thousand more than a Mutated Black Goblin.
However, the Wolf Elite was just an elite monster. It was a level lower than mutated monsters and, compared to the Mutated Black Goblin, only its HP and attack were a little higher. Its speed was the same as the Mutated Black Goblin.
Chen Mo had the experience of going one-on-one against the goblin so facing this Wolf Elite was no biggie. He was unafraid and his attack power had nearly doubled compared to the time he was up against the Mutated Black Goblin.
He was in a similar environment and the Wolf Elite did not have any special attacks. Chen Mo whacked away at its HP with no incident.
“Roar!”
Chen Mo threw down a trap, and with a final roar, the Wolf Elite dropped dead. A pile of bronze coins burst from its body.
Three figures appeared in the mouth of Wild Wolf Valley. Mark of a Bright Moon had witnessed the fall of the Wolf Elite and his eyes blazed with anger.
*Yes, this is the prodigal “sucked in a breath of cold air” phrase you’ll find in TONS of Chinese webnovels. I just HAD to change it – one would think their heroes’ bellies are full of ice from all that cold air they inhale.
** The legendary “did not know whether to laugh or cry”
