Chapter Sixteen: The Tyrant of the Southern City

Chen Hao sighed and said, “What a monster! Right now, my combat attribute is at 22 points. These bullies are level 10 monsters, their combat attribute ranges from 10 to 30. If we run into a monster with less than 20 combat, it’s manageable, but if we face one with 30 combat, the two of us will bite the dust.”

In the game, monsters and players have similar attribute settings. For example, a level 10 bully: if the system randomly allocates 20 free attribute points to combat, then that bully’s combat is 30 points. If the system assigns 0 free points to combat, then it’s only 10 points. Low-level monsters like thugs and bullies are rarely given the full 30 points, nor will the system leave them at just 10 and let low-level players overpower them. So, realistically, a bully’s combat attribute should fall between 15 and 25. The reason Chen Hao mentioned the range as 10 to 30 was, of course, to make White Monster feel that leveling up by killing bullies would be difficult.

Hearing Chen Hao’s words, White Monster grumbled, “Brother Chen, I thought you brought me to the south side of the city because you had a plan. If it’s so easy for us to get killed, why are we here?”

Chen Hao laughed. “If we have the opportunity, we seize it; if not, we create one! Weren’t you curious about what I got from Wang Wu? Think about what Wang Wu is best at—right, the broadsword. I learned a sword technique. With a broadsword in hand, the world is mine. If I had a sword, my combat could increase by about 10 points, and killing these bullies would be as easy as slicing vegetables…”

“Why not just buy a broadsword then?” White Monster shot back instinctively.

“I don’t have any money,” Chen Hao replied sheepishly.

White Monster’s face darkened, thinking, so all this roundabout talk was just to get me to buy you a broadsword! Still, if he could be among the first three players to reach level 10, investing a bit more wasn’t unreasonable. He’d already spent one and a half coins, so steeling himself, he asked, “How much does a broadsword cost?”

Chen Hao grinned broadly. “There’s a smithy just south of the city gate. Their prices are fair, no tricks. Full payment for a broadsword is only five coins.”

“You must have clairvoyance, or maybe you activated some special skill to see into my wallet, huh?” White Monster gritted his teeth, his expression full of misery. He had exactly five coins in his purse.

Handing over the coins to Chen Hao with pain in his heart, White Monster felt as if he was bleeding inside. He thought, damn, is it ever easy for me? I haven’t even started leveling up since entering the game, have been groveling at Spring Fragrance House as a busboy, flattering guests and girls, barely scraped together a few coins, and now you’ve taken them all. You shouldn’t call yourself Chen the Dominator, but Chen the Skinner.

Arriving at the smithy near the south gate, after haggling with the owner, Chen Hao used the five coins to buy a horse-chopping broadsword.

Item Name: Horse-Chopping Broadsword
Item Description: A broadsword forged from refined iron, boasting impressive power.
Item Attribute: Combat +3
Usage Requirements: Combat attribute 15, mastery of basic sword technique.

After equipping the broadsword, Chen Hao’s combat attribute jumped to 33 points, making level 10 bullies no threat at all. At White Monster’s urging, the two formed a team and returned to the bully leveling zone. Chen Hao toyed with the broadsword and said, “Monster, I’ll leave the task of luring monsters to you.”

White Monster was about to lose it. He shouted angrily, “My combat is zero! How am I supposed to lure monsters? I’d just be served up as cannon fodder!”

Chen Hao looked at him with disdain. “Have that little confidence in yourself? You allocated ten free attribute points to physique, so your speed is pretty good. Those monsters can’t catch you.”

White Monster replied, “But to lure them, I have to get close. What if I get one-shotted?”

“Get close to the monsters?” Chen Hao laughed. “Seems you don’t understand the marvels of diplomatic attributes. You just need to insult the bullies from afar. They’ll get provoked and charge at you—no need to approach.”

“Is that for real?” Having just been swindled out of his entire fortune, White Monster was clearly skeptical.

“Try it and see. What do I gain from tricking you?” Chen Hao countered.

White Monster thought it through. He’d just insult the bullies from afar, and if they charged at him, he’d be successful in luring them. If not, there was no risk. He ran toward a cluster of three bullies and unleashed a torrent of vicious insults, venting all his frustration from being cheated out of his savings on them.

The three bullies’ eyes turned blood-red, and suddenly, as if possessed by a deep hatred, they charged madly at White Monster. White Monster hid behind Chen Hao, who swung his broadsword to meet the three bullies, displaying his basic sword technique and forcing them into disarray with several consecutive strikes.

Chen Hao’s basic sword technique was still elementary—his movements weren’t very smooth—but given the huge combat attribute gap, he had no trouble handling three bullies alone. The bullies realized they were outmatched but didn’t flee, showing just how much animosity they bore toward White Monster.

Once the three bullies were dealt with, three copper coins dropped to the ground—a much better drop rate than the opium addicts. Picking up the coins, Chen Hao chuckled, “As the saying goes, ‘One man’s argument outweighs the treasures of nine cauldrons; a silver tongue is mightier than an army of a million.’ Monster, your verbal attacks are quite powerful—keep provoking those monsters!”

Chen Hao’s clean defeat of the three bullies gave White Monster hope for a server-wide announcement. Ignoring Chen Hao, he quickly ran toward another group of bullies. At this point, only the two of them dared to level up in the south city, so they had no shortage of monsters to fight. Before long, Chen Hao leveled up to three, and White Monster reached level two.

Their teamwork grew increasingly seamless, making it easier and easier to kill bullies, though unfortunately they hadn’t encountered any special bullies. After about two hours, White Monster leveled up to three, but Chen Hao still needed about a third of the experience to reach level four.

Checking his satiety, Chen Hao stopped White Monster, who was about to lure more monsters. “Monster, hold off for now. Let’s head back to the city to restore our satiety.”

Only then did White Monster realize his satiety had dropped by over twenty points. Eager to keep leveling up, he suggested, “Brother Chen, why don’t you keep leveling here, and I’ll go buy some steamed buns and stash them in my purse? That way, you won’t miss out on experience.”

Chen Hao shook his head, rejecting White Monster’s suggestion, and explained how the quality of food impacts the strength attribute. Even without that reason, Chen Hao was planning to return to the city anyway—it was nearly dinnertime, and he had to deliver food to Wang Wu.

After a hearty meal at the county noodle shop, Chen Hao rubbed his hands and asked, “Um, Monster, do you happen to have a coin on you?”