Read Venomous Godhood :: Dishonorable tactics

All along the way, Shawn Chen found himself completely unable to get a hit in. Everywhere was crowded with people, and they were basically a disorganized mess. Whenever a rabbit respawned, a bunch of them would swarm around and start hacking away. However, the observant Wu Shaocheng noticed a few groups of people who seemed well-trained. They worked together in harmony, camping nearby respawn points, and had clear divisions of labor. Some would only deal the final blow, while others would weaken the monsters, allowing one person to finish them off. All the resources were concentrated on one person. Regardless of their method, they were far better than the disorganized mob. "So this is the power of a guild," Shawn Chen thought to himself.

Shawn Chen felt a growing sense of urgency. He hadn't even managed to touch a single rabbit hair. At this rate, he was sure to be left far behind. But he didn't want to fight with the others. He wasn't sure if he could win, and even if he was lucky enough to grab one occasionally, it wouldn't be efficient at all. "Should I go to the level 2 monster zone?" Shawn Chen pondered for a moment, then continued walking forward. It was better than just standing there and staring. Monsters level 5 and below wouldn't attack unless provoked. At that moment, a few players waiting for the white rabbits to respawn saw Shawn Chen walking alone towards the level 2 monster zone. One of the shorter young men said, "Hey, do you think that guy is heading to the level 2 monster zone?"

"Yeah, I bet he's trying to get away from all the competition here and test his luck inside. Haha, he's in for a rude awakening. I had the same idea at first, but when I saw the stats of those level 2 monsters, I turned tail and ran." The chubby young man chuckled. "You've been there, Fatty? Really that bad?" the shorter guy asked. "Yeah, no way a solo player can handle them. Unless you bring a whole party, but that's not worth it. Better stick to the rabbits," the chubby guy said, still a bit shaken. Shawn Chen walked for a while until he finally saw something different: a herd of goats grazing peacefully. He looked around and saw no other players. There were so many goats, and no one was bothering them. He walked closer and cast an Insight spell.

Goat

Level: 2

HP: 300

Physical Attack: 21

Physical Defense: 8

Speed: 7

Skill: Headbutt: The goat lowers its head and uses its horns to ram the target, dealing 120% of its physical attack damage. Cooldown: 5 seconds.

Shawn Chen's mouth twitched as he looked at the goat's stats. Finally, he understood why no one was fighting here. Level 2 monster stats? And it already has a skill? Shenyu, what were you thinking? With stats like these, no one at this stage could handle it.

Then he remembered his talent. To increase his poison damage by one point, he had to kill a monster five levels higher than himself. He thought it would be easy. Soon, he would become rich and handsome, marry a beautiful woman, and reach the pinnacle of life. Now it seemed like he was dreaming. If all the monsters leveled up like this, how was he supposed to level up his talent?

Unwilling to give up, Shawn Chen continued forward. He came to a fork in the road. Ahead was a bamboo forest. To the left was a forest, and to the right seemed to be a beach. It must be the ocean. He couldn't believe there was an ocean in the game. With that in mind, Shawn Chen headed to the right. Even if he couldn't fight, it wouldn't hurt to check out the ocean.

Sure enough, after a short while, he saw a beach. Before him stretched a vast ocean.

"What a beautiful view. Is this really a game? It feels so real." Shawn Chen took a deep breath of fresh air with his arms outstretched. "In the real world, you can't find air this clean anymore." This game was so immersive.

"Holy crap, a giant crab!" Shawn Chen caught a glimpse of a crab the size of a basin emerging from the sand. It waved its two huge claws and scuttled towards him.

Shawn Chen cast an Insight spell and then ran faster than a rabbit.

Giant Crab

Level: 4

HP: 800

Physical Attack: 45

Physical Defense: 15

Speed: 8

Skill: Twin Claw Slash: Swings both claws to deal 70% of physical damage twice in a row. Cooldown: 10 seconds.

Shawn Chen glanced back at the crab, his heart pounding. "D*mn developers, do you think this game is fair? A freaking crab can one-shot me? How am I supposed to play this?" he muttered.

"Well, looks like I'll have to go back and fight over rabbits with everyone else."

Just as Shawn Chen was about to leave, he saw a huge turtle slowly crawling on the beach. Out of curiosity, he cast an Insight spell.

Sea Turtle

Level: 5

HP: 1800

Physical Attack: 50

Physical Defense: 40

Speed: 3

Skill: Thorny Shield: Blocks the next attack and reflects 50% of the damage back to the attacker. Cooldown: 10 seconds.

Looking at the turtle's stats, almost anyone would turn and run. It was a typical tank with high defense and HP. Even at higher levels, no one would want to fight a creature like this. It wasn't worth the effort.

But a strange glint appeared in Shawn Chen's eyes. Of course, the turtle's stats were insurmountable for a level 0 player. Its high defense made it nearly impossible to break through, but Shawn Chen's damage didn't rely on attack power. What he saw was the turtle's slow speed. With a speed of 3, he could kite it.

Even if the turtle hit him, with its 50 attack, it couldn't one-shot him. His defense was 6, so the turtle could only deal 44 damage. The turtle's only skill was useless against him. Since he couldn't break its defense, it didn't matter if he took a point of damage. And his poison damage was 60 points per minute. If the turtle couldn't recover HP, he could poison it to death in 30 minutes. And in 30 minutes, he might not even be able to snatch a rabbit back at the village.

Most importantly, he was level 0, and the turtle was exactly five levels higher, which meant he could trigger his talent. "Let's do this!" he thought.

Without hesitation, Shawn Chen walked towards the turtle. The level 5 turtle didn't attack players on its own. Shawn Chen walked up to the turtle and swung his wooden sword at its shell.

-1

A red -1 appeared above the turtle's head, forcing it to lose one HP. Then, a white -1 representing true damage also appeared.

The turtle was slow, but its reaction was quick. As soon as Shawn Chen hit it, the turtle extended its neck and bit Shawn Chen.

-44

With only 50 HP, Shawn Chen was instantly low on health. Frightened, he turned and ran. His speed advantage was now apparent. The turtle slowly chased after him, but could only watch as Shawn Chen got farther and farther away. White -1s continued to appear above its head as its HP slowly decreased.

When Shawn Chen was far enough away, he turned around and laughed at the slowly moving turtle. "Come and get me!" he taunted.

The poor turtle could only drag its slow body and stubbornly chase after Shawn Chen.

After 10 seconds, Shawn Chen slowly recovered 1 HP per second while continuing to taunt the turtle. In Shenyu, players and monsters were the same. After 10 seconds of no attacks or being attacked, they would be considered out of combat, and their HP would slowly recover at a rate of 1% per second. If their HP was below 100, it would recover 1 HP per second by default. Without potions, this was the only way to recover HP.

In this way, Shawn Chen used this shameless tactic to engage in a protracted battle with the turtle. He calculated the time and went in for another hit just before the poison effect ended. After dealing the damage, he would run away. The 60-second poison duration was enough for him to fully recover his HP before the next attack.