Chapter 10

After ending the call with Lan Yu, Lu Yang continued to level up frantically, preparing to reach the top of the level rankings before the game server closed the next morning.

This was not just any first place, but the first place among millions of players who started at the same time, a position that would be officially recorded.

In his previous life, Lu Yang had been relatively unknown in the early stages of the game. Even when he gained the ability to create a guild, most of the skilled players had already been recruited by large guilds.

Since he had been reborn this time, Lu Yang decided to make a name for himself from the start. Even if he didn't create a guild in the early stages, forming a team of twenty elite players was still feasible, making it easier to run dungeons or level up in the wild.

Lu Yang wasn't worried about the "tallest tree catches the most wind" problem. The game was realistic; there were no health bars or names above players' heads. Without adding each other as friends, it was impossible to know who the person in front of you was. Even if someone was unhappy about him becoming the top-ranked player, with over ten million players, it would be impossible to find him in the vast sea of people.

Thinking about how he would surpass the leaders of major guilds and various level-grinding fanatics to become the top-ranked player on the first day of the game, Lu Yang felt exhilarated. After his mana bar refilled, he continued grinding.

He kept grinding until all the wild bulls in the valley were killed. Looking at the ground in the valley, which was now covered only with bull corpses, Lu Yang felt a bit depressed.

After killing several hundred bulls, he hadn't dropped a single piece of equipment. Lu Yang couldn't help but sigh that the drop rate in "Second World" was really too low.

Fortunately, "Second World" was very realistic. Players could skin the bulls and sell the hides to NPCs in the newbie village, otherwise, ordinary players wouldn't be able to afford the game.

After eating a piece of crispy electric eel meat to refill his mana, Lu Yang used a rope to reach the concave-shaped valley and began skinning the bull corpses.

Each bull hide was worth three copper coins, not much, but every little bit counted.

While skinning, Lu Yang was also looking around for any respawning monsters when a golden figure suddenly appeared at the entrance of the concave-shaped valley. Instantly, Lu Yang's whole body shivered with excitement, his eyes turning red.

"Golden Hatchling."

If you asked which boss in "Second World" was the strongest or the hardest to beat, you would get a thousand different answers from a thousand people. However, when it came to which boss had killed the most players, everyone would agree.

As a level 5 boss in the newbie village's wilderness, the Golden Hatchling was small, about the size of a dog, with a golden body, tender wings, and a dragon head that looked more cute than fierce. Yet, this little thing was both loved and hated by all players.

It was loved because it dropped good items, including the best level 5 equipment in the newbie village. It was hated because it had high attack, speed, defense, and health. Many players thought seeing this boss was their luck, but in reality, it was the beginning of their misfortune.

New players leaving the newbie village only had a starter sword and a set of starter gear. The equipment drop rate in "Second World" was very low, and even at level 5, there wasn't much change. Encountering the Golden Hatchling, even a tank class like a knight would be killed in three hits, other classes in two, and a fragile mage in one.

Even with a group, it was useless. Historically, a single Golden Hatchling had once slaughtered over a hundred players and then left gracefully. Without skilled coordination, a large number of players, and good equipment, it was impossible to defeat him.

However, the Golden Hatchling had a weakness—it only used melee attacks. If on flat ground, Lu Yang would have run as far away as possible upon seeing the Golden Hatchling. But now, he was on a cliff. If he could lure the Golden Hatchling into the concave-shaped valley, he could use the terrain to his advantage and kill it. Thinking about the top-tier equipment it had dropped before, Lu Yang felt he was about to get rich.

Dropping the half-skinned bull hide, Lu Yang climbed up the cliff using the rope and ran to the top of the concave-shaped valley.

When Lu Yang arrived, the Golden Hatchling was just passing by the bottom of the cliff. Seeing it about to leave his attack range, Lu Yang immediately cast a Fireball.

Three seconds later, just as the Golden Hatchling was about to leave his attack range, the Fireball hit it with a "puff."

"-35"

"Roar~"

The Golden Hatchling, attacked, turned and charged at Lu Yang. Just as it was about to reach the bottom of the cliff, it suddenly spread its wings and leaped high. When it was just two meters away from Lu Yang, it fell back down.

The Golden Hatchling's legs struggled against the rocks on the cliff, but the steep slope provided no foothold. After a few futile clawing attempts, it fell back to the ground.

If the Golden Hatchling could have hit Lu Yang, it would have killed him instantly. Unfortunately, the two-meter gap made it impossible for the Golden Hatchling to reach Lu Yang.

Seeing the Golden Hatchling jump repeatedly at the bottom of the cliff, unable to fly up, Lu Yang felt relieved. The Golden Hatchling's charge had startled him.

He lured the Golden Hatchling into the valley, as there were too many monsters outside, and Lu Yang was worried that even if he killed the Golden Hatchling, he wouldn't be able to get the loot immediately.

In his previous life, Lu Yang had never killed the Golden Hatchling, as such a boss was always a prized target for major guilds. From the beginning to the end, every time the Golden Hatchling respawned, it was a time for guild wars.

Lu Yang never expected to have this opportunity this time. After luring the Golden Hatchling into the valley, he cast another Fireball at it.

In "Second World," players received 5 free attribute points each time they leveled up. Lu Yang had allocated all his points to intelligence, so with the automatic increase of one point per level, his intelligence reached 16 points. Adding the 10 points from the Heart of the Demon and the 5 points from the crispy electric eel meat, his total intelligence was 31 points.

This high intelligence gave him more mana, reaching 310 points, and increased his spell damage to 31 points.

Facing the Golden Hatchling with 10000/10000 health, without such high mana and spell damage, Lu Yang wouldn't have dared to provoke it.

He cast Fireballs for over two minutes, and just as he was about to reduce the Golden Hatchling's health to 7000 points, he awkwardly realized he was out of mana.

In the game, the system NPCs did not sell instant recovery potions; players had to craft them through alchemy. Since the game had just started, no one could make them yet. Seeing his empty mana bar, most players would have been frustrated, but Lu Yang had a solution. Relying on the 8/5 second mana regeneration from the crispy electric eel meat buff, he spent two hours grinding the Golden Hatchling to death.

With a final roar of defiance, the Golden Hatchling exploded in a 4x4 drop, and among the 16 items, Lu Yang immediately spotted a golden staff in the center.

"Arsonist's Staff."