NOVEL WEB Chapter 20 - NPC With Terrifying Strength
Chapter 20: NPC With Terrifying Strength
“Red Name for Killing?” Zhao Hanyan chuckled. “I won’t need to dirty my hands. Just a few words from me, and countless players will charge forward without hesitation, acting on my behalf.
“Besides… You probably don’t know this, but in this game, NPCs can kill players!”
As she spoke, she gestured to the burly young man beside her with a hooked finger.
The burly young man immediately stepped forward, standing in front of Zhao Hanyan.
In a deep, booming voice, he declared, “I know you Undying players can revive after death, so if anyone is unwilling to accept this, feel free to come at me. Killing you won’t bother me in the slightest!”
Adorable Sunny glanced at the smug Zhao Hanyan, then at the imposing NPC.
She was puzzled.
How did Zhao Hanyan manage to find such an obedient NPC?
Of course, she had no idea what would happen if an NPC killed a player. Nor did she know what would happen if a player killed an NPC.
Regardless, the fish had already taken the bait.
Adorable Sunny turned to the players she had recruited and instructed, “You’ll still get paid as usual. We’re done digging for today. Let’s call it a day.”
As she spoke, she shot Zhao Hanyan a look filled with indignation.
“We’ll see about that!” With an angry expression, she threw out this final remark before turning to leave.
Just then, a Level 10 tiger monster appeared, baring its fangs and claws as it lunged at Zhao Hanyan and her group.
Adorable Sunny stopped in her tracks to watch the show.
But the next moment, her expression changed dramatically.
She saw the burly NPC beside Zhao Hanyan react instantly to the sudden attack.
With a thunderous roar, he shouted, “Courting death!”
With a swift sidestep, he positioned himself in front of Zhao Hanyan.
Raising both hands, he caught the tiger monster’s front limbs with precision.
Then, amidst the tiger’s pained wails, a sickening tear echoed in the air!
That Level 10 tiger monster, more than three times the size of a human, was ripped apart on the spot!
Blood and entrails splattered across the ground!
All around, players stared, dumbfounded.
For a long moment, they couldn’t recover from the shock.
Terrifying!
This NPC was unbelievably powerful!
With his bare hands, he had instantly obliterated a Level 10 tiger monster?!
Adorable Sunny was just as stunned. Her heart pounded in disbelief.
“No, I need to tell my brother immediately!” She hurriedly left.
She had to report this to her brother, Thousand Faces Gentleman, and make sure he found a strong NPC of his own!
She wasn’t aiming for the strongest NPC in the game, she just needed one as powerful as the one beside Zhao Hanyan!
As Adorable Sunny departed, she remained unaware of what happened next.
After killing the tiger monster, the burly NPC turned to Zhao Hanyan and said, “We agreed. You’d arrange a woman for me in exchange for killing a Level 10 tiger.”
Zhao Hanyan found him repulsive but kept a smiling face. “Don’t worry, there are plenty of women.”
Teaming up with NPCs didn’t necessarily require raising their favorability.
One just needed to fulfill certain conditions.
And the quickest way? Find an NPC greedy for money or lust!
That was human nature.
Few people weren’t motivated by wealth or desire. This game had an incredibly high level of realism. As a result, the NPCs behaved just like real people.
Zhao Hanyan beckoned to a subordinate player and instructed, “Go offline and recruit a hostess from a club. Offer a generous payment. Oh, and make sure she’s from Novice Village 0001. Once you find her, notify me.”
“Understood, Boss!” The subordinate immediately logged off to make the arrangements.
—
Wolf Head Ridge…
Night had fallen. Few players roamed the area.
The primary reason was the Black Wolf Monsters that inhabited it.
These creatures moved in packs. When one wolf stirred, a thousand wolves would rise!
In some cases, they were even harder to deal with than a high-level boss!
Thus, most players avoided this area when leveling up.
But now, the vast Wolf Head Ridge was littered with the corpses of Black Wolf Monsters!
Countless bodies, many sliced cleanly in half!
Scattered around were numerous dropped items!
At the highest point of Wolf Head Ridge, a lone swordsman stood still, eyes closed.
That player was none other than Ye Qiu!
He had been slaughtering monsters for so long, even the respawn rate of the creatures couldn’t keep up with his kills!
Nine Styles of Slashing!
“Horizontal Cut.” “Piercing Thrust.” “Straight Stab.” “Side Slash.” “Diagonal Strike”…
Ye Qiu was deep in comprehension.
In his previous life, many players had pushed their understanding and mastery of skills to the absolute limit!
This was largely thanks to NPC demonstrations.
For example, take the basic swordsman skill Slash.
When used by a player, it was nothing more than an ordinary skill that consumed mana.
But in the hands of an NPC from the Trial City, it could be performed in countless ways!
Take, for instance, the “Nine Styles of Slashing” that Ye Qiu was currently grasping. It was an advanced version of “Slash”!
In his past life, a player had learned it from an NPC and later shared it on the forums.
For a time, countless players began experimenting with skill development.
From then on, skills flourished in diversity!
Beyond the “Nine Styles of Slashing,” there was an even more advanced “Thirteen Styles of Slashing”!
In short, even a simple skill, if mastered in its advanced form, could multiply in power several times over, depending on the user’s proficiency.
[Nine Styles of Slashing (Lv.1): 322/2000. Each style increases attack power by 10 points.
(Note: This skill is an advanced form of the basic “Slash.” It consumes a large amount of mana.)]
Suddenly, Ye Qiu moved.
In his right hand, he wielded a high-grade blue weapon, the Refined Steel Sword!
First Style — Horizontal Cut!
Whoosh!
The long sword swept across just as a freshly spawned Black Wolf Monster lunged toward him.
Slash!
In a single instant, The wolf was cleaved in half!
Its body split cleanly apart!
The motion was fluid and effortless, as smooth as melting chocolate.
Second Style — Piercing Thrust!
Third Style…
Fourth Style…
…
Sixth Style — Scarlet Point!
Buzz!
The sword in Ye Qiu’s hand trembled violently.
Huff… Huff…
He stopped, panting heavily.
“With my current mana, I can only execute up to the Sixth Style.”
Even so, Ye Qiu was thrilled.
After all, In his previous life, despite surviving until the apocalypse, he had only mastered a handful of advanced skills.
The “Nine Styles of Slashing” was one of them.
Until his death, he had never managed to comprehend the “Thirteen Styles of Slashing”!
Yet in this life, in less than two days, he had already mastered six out of the nine styles!
His heart pounded with excitement.
Snapping back to reality, Ye Qiu finally checked his system notifications.
Ding!
[Your level has increased by 1. HP and attributes have increased, and you have received fixed attribute points.]
Ding!
[Your level has increased by 1…]
Ding!
[Your level has increased by 1…]
He had leveled up three times in a row!
Ye Qiu was now Level 8!
Not bad.
Early in the game, leveling up was fast.
But the higher he climbed, the slower it would become.
Ye Qiu had no intention of teaming up with NPCs to level up.
There was a massive downside to doing so. a fatal flaw. One that players would only gradually discover later on.
Just then…
Ding!
[Player “Thousand Faces Gentleman” has sent a voice request. Accept?]