"This is absolutely insane!"
Jiang Bai stared at his character stats, utterly enchanted.
"I'm only level 10, but my stats already surpass even top-tier characters. Tank-type classes probably have around 2000 HP, but their defense definitely wouldn't exceed 150. As for full offense builds, their attack might hit 250 with bonuses, but their HP and defense would be rock-bottom."
"I'm basically a super hexagonal warrior now..."
"Wait a sec..."
Suddenly remembering something, Jiang Bai turned back and walked over to the old blacksmith, Brent.
"You haven't told me how to upgrade my weapon yet. Last time you said you'd explain it when I hit level 10."
The old blacksmith set down his massive hammer and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. "Ah, that's what you're asking about."
"It's actually not that complicated. You'll need to bring me ten Boss Soul Crystals and one level-10 Ancient Crystal."
"Ancient Crystal? What's that?"
Jiang Bai looked confused.
"You get Ancient Crystals by dismantling Ancient-grade gear. The crystal's level depends on the gear level. So for a level-10 Ancient weapon, you'll need a level-10 Ancient Crystal. If it's Legendary-grade gear, then you need a Legendary Crystal—same logic."
"Damn, that's pretty involved..."
Jiang Bai felt relieved he hadn't tossed out any of his old gear. Looks like it was going to come in handy after all.
"Can I dismantle stuff here?"
"Afraid not."Brent shook his head. "You'll need to find a Dismantling Master in a Tier-2 Main City for that. I don't have the ability."
A bit disappointed, Jiang Bai left the blacksmith's shop.
Meanwhile, in the 33856 starter village where Jiang Bai was based, the three major guilds were mobilizing every player available.
They were not only recruiting tons of solo players but also gearing up to compete for the first kill on the event boss—or at least to land in the top three.
Jiang Bai knew two of those three guilds quite well.
To be precise, they had grudges.
One was the Xiaoyao Guild, the other was the Yuncheng Guild. The third one, Xingchen Guild, had no prior dealings with Jiang Bai.
As for Datang Wuzui's Datang Guild, they weren't located in this particular starter village, but the name "Datang" popped up frequently on the forums—suggesting they were pretty powerful.
Because Jiang Bai had been leveling in higher-level monster zones, he rarely ran into other players and hadn't had many chances to clash with members of those two enemy guilds.
But today was different.Both Xiaoyao and Yuncheng were sure to go after the event boss. That meant plenty of chances to cross paths.
"Eh… maybe I'll let it go for now..."
Jiang Bai thought it over and decided that, with such an important event that could determine the entire starter village's future, it was best to set aside personal vendettas—for now, getting the boss first-kill mattered most.
"You ready, bro?"
Just as Jiang Bai was about to head out and do a bit more grinding, he got a message from Datang Wuzui.
"What?!"
Jiang Bai blinked, confused.
"The [Demonic Invasion] event, obviously. You ready for that boss loot or what?"
"Oh, that. Ready as I'll ever be. I'm just a solo player though, not much I can do in a big group fight."
"Heh, no worries. We Datang are definitely taking the first kill. I checked out those three guilds in your village too—they're not that impressive. Plus, I heard you've got beef with Xiaoyao and Yuncheng?"
"Just a small grudge, nothing serious."Jiang Bai replied while casually slaughtering rabbits outside the starter village.
"No problem. Once we meet in the Tier-2 main city, I'll help you wipe those guilds off the map."
After some pointless small talk, there was only an hour and a half left before the [Demonic Invasion] event began.
Jiang Bai glanced at his EXP bar—he was 22% away from hitting level 11. Grinding that out in time was unlikely, so he headed back to the village and zoned out for a bit.
Funny how people always feel the most idle at times like this.
As he absentmindedly watched world chat scroll by, a private message popped up from none other than Yuncheng Emperor.
"You there? I want to talk."
Jiang Bai raised an eyebrow at the message.
"Go ahead."
Yuncheng Emperor: "Tonight's monster siege is huge for our entire starter village. Let's put our differences aside for now—same goes for Xiaoyao. Getting the boss first-kill is more important."
"Agreed."Jiang Bai didn't hesitate to reply."Didn't think you had that kind of perspective, but respect."
Finally, after hours of anticipation across the entire server, the clock ticked to 19:59:59.
The system announcement thundered across every player's screen:
"The [Demonic Invasion] event has begun!"
The moment the announcement ended, a thunderous roar erupted outside the starter village.
From the horizon, countless Demonic Beasts surged toward the village like a tidal wave—an overwhelming, apocalyptic force.
A black tide of monsters drew closer and closer. The sky was darkened by clouds, the earth trembled beneath their march.
Inside the village, players were flushed with excitement, weapons in hand, waiting for the battle to erupt.
As the wave of enemies approached, Jiang Bai cast [Scout].
These were enhanced level-10 Demonic Monsters. They came in all forms—melee, ranged, tanks, DPS.
Their health? Over 2000 HP each—basically small elite-tier mobs.
"As expected. Siege monsters have boosted stats."
A new quest appeared in every player's mission log: 0/10,000.
The entire starter village had to kill 10,000 Demonic Monsters within 1 hour to advance to Phase 2 of the event, where the boss [Slaughterer Gonzalez] would appear. Otherwise, the event would be considered a failure.
10,000 might sound like a lot, but for a village that could host 50,000 players, it wasn't really that bad.
Even if you formed 5-person squads, you could still get 10,000 teams.
Plus, there were no penalties for dying during the event—players could revive infinitely. So as long as people took it seriously, Phase 1 should be manageable.
As soon as the fighting began, many players were instantly wiped out.
No surprise there—the stat gap was massive. Fragile classes like assassins couldn't even take a hit.
Soon, tens of thousands of players and monsters were completely mixed together in chaotic battle.Some were fighting for their lives, others were trying to leech loot, and a few were even... groping people in the confusion.
In this kind of messy melee, Jiang Bai's role was limited. He mostly played it safe, picking off isolated enemies here and there.
"Come on, guys! The faster we kill 10,000, the sooner we get to Phase 2—and the better chance we have at the first kill!"
"Holy crap! I got a blue item drop!!!"
...
World chat was exploding.
Meanwhile, as Jiang Bai was enjoying the monster-slaying grind, a soft and sweet voice suddenly spoke up beside him:
"Hey there, all alone? Want to team up~?"