"You dog, I'm not done with you!" Wo Hei Qie Ne, his defenses broken, glared at Shen Mu furiously and roared.
"Small, too small! Bro, do you think you got the short end of the stick? Actually, think about it, are you the only one who called me Big Brother Village Chief Grandpa? Definitely not! Why aren't others like you?"
Shen Mu shook his head and walked out of the village. The players had already finished picking up coins and returned. If he didn't leave now, he wouldn't be able to!
Wo Hei Qie Ne was stunned once again. Thinking carefully, those words seemed to make some sense... What a load of crap!
But when he wanted to confront Shen Mu, he found that Shen Mu had vanished. He could only curse wildly in his heart, but it was useless!
"Ding! Stealing failed!"
Even with the Goddess of Luck's buff, Shen Mu's first Stealing attempt still ended in failure. He walked behind a tree, exited Shadow Cloak, and began to summarize the reasons for his failure:
Was it the wrong posture? Or was the Goddess of Luck tired? Could it be that I was too impatient?
Shen Mu didn't pay too much attention to not getting the Village Chief's wool, after all, the Village Chief had already given him a gift:
Sleepy Sheep Summoning: Summons a Sleepy Sheep wandering in the Shadow Power. The Sleepy Sheep has absolute health, only loses one health point per injury, its attack power is fixed at one point, and it exists for one minute.
While the Sleepy Sheep exists, one's maximum health can be consumed to use Sleepy Sheep Power on a target, with a chance to put them into a sleep state. The sleep chance and duration are inversely related to the Sleepy Sheep's maximum health; the lower the health, the higher the sleep chance and the longer the duration.
Cooldown: 10 minutes, Skill Cost: 35 mana points.
Skill Description: It's definitely not lazy, it's just... sleepy!
Learning Condition: Shadow-aligned profession.
This was a summoning skill. Although he hadn't learned it yet, Shen Mu knew very well that this skill was very powerful. After all, the sleep control effect was comparable to strong controls like silence and stun, making it very useful.
Without hesitation, Shen Mu directly chose to learn this coincidentally obtained skill. After looking at the skill description again, he increasingly felt that this skill was too suitable for him!
When encountering monsters in the future, put them to sleep first, then talk?
After learning the skill, Shen Mu planned to find a monster to test the skill's effect. The area outside the village was packed with people, making it impossible for him to find a wild monster.
"What happened to the promised rabbit infestation? Isn't it too brutal for ten players to gang up on one rabbit?"
After half an hour of competing with other players for rabbits, Shen Mu still gave up on his plan to do quests first. In that half an hour, he hadn't even touched a single rabbit fur!
Helplessly, Shen Mu chose to move away from the village, intending to find some wild monsters to level up in the wilderness. Melee professions were indeed no match for ranged professions in the early game, including healers...
"Ding! New Map Discovered: Red Maple Forest, Experience +10, Reputation +1."
The system's prompt made Shen Mu stop. His mouth twitched twice, and he grumbled, "Damn, are you trying to appease a Begging beggar?"
Shen Mu never expected that the first experience points in his experience bar would come from a map exploration reward... even if it was only 10 points!
He had been in the game for over an hour and hadn't killed a single wild monster; his saintly heart was maxed out!
"Can you give me a monster? I can go three days without showering!"
Perhaps the Goddess of Luck heard Shen Mu's prayer, and for the sake of his health, a bright light suddenly appeared not far to his left. A treasure chest glowing with white light impressively spawned!
Shen Mu, his eyes dazzled by the golden light, widened them and quickly ran towards the treasure chest. Such treasure chests spawned in the wilderness were good things. The Goddess of Luck truly loved him!
The treasure chest was entirely silver, with a circle of golden threads inlaid on its lid, and a beautiful, transparent gem in the center, looking quite extraordinary.
"Such good Luck, it's not locked!"
Whether in dungeons, towns, the wilderness, or certain hidden areas, treasure chests encountered could be locked. Locked treasure chests could only be opened with a key or an unlocking skill.
For example, Thief professions like Treasure Thief, and Archer professions like Treasure Hunter, all possessed unlocking skills and could open locked treasure chests without a key.
The treasure chest in front of Shen Mu was a Silver Treasure Chest. If it were locked, he would only be able to sigh in despair, unless he had a Silver Key or a higher-level key.
However, even with a key, it wasn't 100% guaranteed to open; the failure rate for opening chests with keys was very high.
Rubbing his hands, Shen Mu smiled, preparing to open the chest, but the lid of the treasure chest suddenly opened, revealing a circle of ferocious teeth that bit Shen Mu fiercely.
-50!
This sudden attack instantly left Shen Mu with critical health. Shen Mu screamed, immediately activated Shadow Cloak, and vanished into the Shadow Power, barely saving his own life!
"Holy crap, it's a Mimic!"
A Mimic is a wild monster and also a treasure chest, but it can only be opened by killing it. Overall, it's quite clumsy. Although its attack power is high, it cannot move. As long as you're not ambushed, even a healer can solo it.
Seeing Shen Mu disappear, the Mimic reverted to its harmless appearance, awaiting the arrival of the next lucky person. However, what appeared before it was a gray goat with confused eyes.
The goat's two horns were twisted and gnarled, like intertwined tree roots, and they were incredibly black. Its body was covered in oval-shaped spheres of fur, with circles of golden patterns distributed on each sphere.
It was the Sleepy Sheep summoned by Shen Mu!
Shen Mu felt a bit dizzy just looking at it. After a silent commendation, he immediately issued a command. The Sleepy Sheep glanced at Shen Mu, then its golden patterns glowed, and it let out a soft bleat towards the Mimic:
"Baa—"
A wave of Shadow Power, visible only to Shen Mu, flew from the Sleepy Sheep towards the Mimic, and then—nothing happened...
"Baa again!"
"Baa baa—" The Sleepy Sheep bleated again, and a swirl symbol suddenly appeared above the Mimic's head. Shen Mu's eyebrow twitched slightly, and he extended his hand towards the Mimic!
Begging!
"Ding! You used Begging on the Mimic. Begging successful! You obtained Small Experience Potion Recipe x1!"
After Begging, Shen Mu didn't stop. With a flash of black light on his body, he instantly used Hidden Hand, and a crimson gem fell into his backpack!
"Ding! You successfully Stealing a Cracked Ruby (D+)!
Sleepy Sheep Summoning + Begging + Stealing!
Sleep first, then ask, then steal!
The combo was seamless, the target was utterly defenseless, and after Stealing... the Mimic was still sleeping like a baby!
Then Shen Mu chuckled, pulled out the Newbie Dagger given by Big Brother Village Chief, ran behind the Mimic, and stabbed it, effectively opening its eyes!
-35!
Targets in a sleep state will immediately break free from control upon taking damage, but—
"Baa baa baa—"
The Sleepy Sheep bleated again, and the Mimic fell asleep once more. The Sleepy Sheep also dissolved into light and disappeared. Its health was only six points, so it could bleat a maximum of three times. However, the last bleat allowed Shen Mu to stab the Mimic two more times.
-30!
-33!
After the stabs, the Mimic awoke. With two-thirds of its health remaining, it immediately opened its mouth to bite, but only bit air. Shen Mu had already created distance.
His major in college was kiting; he knew how to stab once and then move to a different spot!
One Mimic, nine stabs would kill it. Using skills would be even faster. If nothing unexpected happened, Shen Mu grinding down this Mimic was a sure thing!
But... the unexpected still came!
A fireball flew at an extremely fast speed, directly hitting the Mimic's head, and a vivid orange-yellow number appeared:
-106!
The orange-yellow damage represented a critical hit, and this single blow instantly suppressed Shen Mu's damage output, and Shen Mu's expression also turned ugly!
That's right, he encountered someone trying to steal his monster!
Not long after the fireball landed, a five-person team appeared in front of Shen Mu, with game names displayed above their heads, all prefixed with Lord of Chaotic World. Leading them was a curvaceous female mage holding a bright silver staff.
Luan Shi Hong Yan, Luan Shi Weiyang, Luan Shi Yao Zha, Luan Shi Qing Chuan, Luan Shi Shen Chu.
People from Lord of Chaotic World...
Shen Mu looked at the five-person team walking towards him with a complex expression, knowing that this Mimic was lost. He couldn't out-damage five people by himself.
"This Mimic is ours! You can leave!" Luan Shi Hong Yan's voice was pleasant, soft and clear, but her tone was undeniable.
"Little noob, your Luck is really good, you can't PK outside of Newbie Village!" Luan Shi Weiyang was a Shield Warrior. As he spoke, he patted the Mimic, and the latter bit him.
-35, -10!
The difference between the two numbers was obvious, and their colors were also slightly different. The latter was white, which meant... the Mimic didn't break his defense!
Shen Mu sighed, shrugged his shoulders, and left without saying a word. He didn't say anything harsh, but his desire to level up was incredibly urgent.
"This guy is quite sensible, didn't say anything!"
"A biting dog doesn't bark, still, be careful!"
"Just a level zero noob, what's there to be careful about? Does he dare to provoke Lord of Chaotic World?"
"Shijie Ruliu... Why does that name sound a bit familiar?"
After Shen Mu left, the Lord of Chaotic World members chatted casually. The Mimic had long fallen under Luan Shi Hong Yan's second fireball, dropping two gems and two pieces of equipment.
"Let's go, these are minor matters! The priority is still to find clues, we've already wasted a day!" Luan Shi Hong Yan put away the dropped items, and the group walked deeper into the forest.
"Clues... Do these people have some unknown shady dealings? Should I follow and see?"
Shen Mu walked out from behind a tree. Although he was a handsome, dashing, elegant, and refined person, having suffered such a great loss, he couldn't tolerate it, but...
"I'm just a level zero noob right now, I really can't get my revenge. I'll go level up first!"
With a feeling of indignation, Shen Mu's speed at killing rabbits suddenly increased significantly. By the end of the day, he had finally killed enough for the quest, and even obtained an extra rabbit head.
Speaking of which, what kind of rabbit has two heads?