Monster kills yield little experience; quest rewards aren’t generous; the massive number of players grinding levels, the open and hidden struggles between major guilds, factions, and studios; the extremely low drop rate of equipment in the wild; all monsters above level 5 are aggressive and densely packed—these and many other factors make every level gained in “Skyrealm” a string of hardship and sweat.

At this moment, William Smith stood at the entrance of the Blazing Flame Valley, holding an ancient-looking round shield. The scorched earth stretched from deep within the valley, and sparks drifted through the air from the yellowed cliff walls. Inside the valley, packs of Fallen Boars occasionally marched by in groups...

This place was rarely visited. While most players were still hovering around level 4, no player or team would normally venture into these densely packed level 6–7 monster zones. Of course, there were exceptions—William Smith was one of them...

William Smith glanced at his own level 1 status, unable to find a single piece of colored equipment on his body. Looking at the nearby level 6 Fallen Boars, their fiery red tusks and flames snorting from their nostrils, he suddenly felt extremely, extremely frustrated...

Chapter 11: Blood Over the City—A Thousand Kills, Blood Burial!

The air was thick with the scent of scorched earth. William Smith carefully hugged the cliff wall of Blazing Flame Valley, cautiously avoiding a patrolling pack of Fallen Boars at the entrance, and slipped into the valley.

With a level gap of 6–7, these Fallen Boars had an extremely wide aggro range. Fortunately, the terrain inside Blazing Flame Valley was relatively open; otherwise, he wouldn’t have even been able to avoid the first wave of boars—he’d have ended up like in Darkblood Gorge, turning into a flash of white light and being sent back to the respawn point behind the newbie village.

William Smith calculated his distance from the Fallen Boar packs as he carefully slipped past three waves at the mouth of the valley. If possible, William Smith hoped to hug the valley wall all the way to the deepest part of Blazing Flame Valley, right in front of his quest boss—the Demonized Boar. But reality is never as perfect as one imagines.

After advancing about 500 meters from the entrance, the path suddenly narrowed. If the entire Blazing Flame Valley was like a giant gourd, William Smith was now standing at its waist. At this narrow point, a slender rock stood upright, splitting the already tight entrance into two even narrower paths.

Blocking William Smith’s way, a group of three to five Fallen Boars snorted flames as they wandered at the crossroads—there was finally nowhere left to hide...

William Smith gave a wry smile, but felt no urge to retreat. He silently planned his next move.

A level 6–7 Fallen Boar pack had about 150 HP each. Normally, monsters of the same level would have at most 100 HP, but boars were notorious for their thick hides and tough flesh, boasting 50% more health than usual.

As for himself, William Smith’s stats hadn’t changed at all since he first entered the game. His starting attributes:

Strength: 20 + 2

Agility: 20 + 2

Intelligence: 15

Constitution: 19

Spirit: 15

Luck: 10 (constant)

The only thing William Smith could be thankful for was that, thanks to years of physical training, the system scan when he first entered the game had given him very high stats. In fact, William Smith’s starting attributes were already on par with the leveled-up stats of an average level 5 player.

At this moment, William Smith’s greatest advantage was his nearly maxed-out Constitution—190 HP. Combined with the sealed Thorn Shield’s extremely high defense, a single Fallen Boar’s attack shouldn’t deal more than 6 damage to him. With four Fallen Boars attacking at once, the total damage per round would be at most 25 points. William Smith could withstand about seven rounds of attacks from this group, and with his shield’s block rate, that could go up to about ten rounds.

However, “Shield Bash Counter” had a 20-second cooldown after each use. With 150 HP to whittle down, he’d need to use it five times to finish off the boars, which meant 100 seconds.

100 seconds! Normally, that time would pass in a flash, but now it made William Smith’s throat go dry. In 1 minute and 40 seconds, even if the beasts attacked every 2.5 seconds, that would be 40 attacks.

William Smith was confident that with his skill and positioning, he could reduce the number of attacks he took to around 20, but the problem was, he didn’t have another 190 HP to withstand double the damage.

You can’t make bricks without straw! At this point, William Smith could only hope for that elusive passive block rate.

Sighing inwardly, William Smith gripped his shield and resolutely walked toward the boar pack, a throwing knife ready in his hand as he silently calculated the distance. Suddenly, a faint, chilling sensation swept over William Smith’s body.

Hmm! Someone’s here! That feeling—it’s a rogue! A stealthed rogue.

William Smith was startled and abruptly stopped the throwing knife he was about to toss, pulling it back.

The moment that cold sensation brushed past him, William Smith took a few steps back, pressing his back against the wall, his left hand raising the shield in a guarded stance.

But on second thought, William Smith couldn’t help but laugh at himself. In “Skyrealm,” no one knew him, and in the past half month, he’d spent all his time mining. He hadn’t PKed, kill-stolen, or backstabbed anyone—he was, all in all, a model citizen. So what was there to worry about? Maybe this rogue was just on a quest or gathering materials deeper in Blazing Flame Valley.