The moment the Poison Dart pierced through the air, the battlefield shifted.
One of the Contaminators collapsed almost instantly, its body dissolving into foul-smelling sludge. With the ranged threat reduced, the pressure bearing down on Wang Meng and the backline eased noticeably.
The girl holding the staff stared wide-eyed at the scene, excitement and disbelief flashing across her muddied face. "Someone's helping us… Is that Shadow from the rankings?"
Her appearance was no longer discernible. Mud clung to her hair and robes, and her health bar was dangerously low. Only her figure stood out as she continued repositioning with quick, agile movements, forcing herself to stay alive through sheer will.
Wang Meng did not waste the opening. As his skill cooldown completed, his expression hardened, and he activated Holy Barrier. Golden light surged around his sturdy frame, granting him three seconds of invincibility. The Swift Runner's claws scraped uselessly against the radiant shield, buying precious time for the rest of the team to regain their footing and dodge.
With one Contaminator gone, the rain of muddy projectiles thinned considerably.
Nearly half a minute passed.
Then, without warning, Qin Feng emerged behind the second Contaminator.
The Corrosion Dagger flashed.
The monster did not even have time to turn its head before its body collapsed, dissolving into sludge just like the first.
Qin Feng glanced at the system prompt, his expression calm. No Evolution Points this time. As expected. He activated Greedy Hand out of habit.
This time, fortune answered.
A skill book slid out from the remains of the monster. Qin Feng picked it up and glanced through the description, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Poison Dart.
A mid-range Assassin skill with continuous damage. Not rare, but extremely practical, especially in the early stages. For ordinary players, acquiring something like this early on would drastically accelerate their growth.
Skill books were notoriously rare drops from normal monsters. Qin Feng had killed countless Crawlers and Polluters already, yet only two had appeared so far. One was the Ice Cone Technique from the first Crawler, and this one had been obtained only thanks to Greedy Hand.
That alone spoke volumes.
Bosses still held the highest drop rates. But without proper equipment and skills, normal players could not even dream of challenging a Bronze-tier Boss, let alone surviving one.
Qin Feng did not hesitate. With three Evolution Points remaining, he immediately evolved Poison Dart twice, pushing it straight from Normal to Silver.
When the evolution finished, the increase in damage was obvious.
He absorbed the information seamlessly, the entire process fluid and unhurried. To him, learning, refining, and adapting skills had long become instinct.
The last remaining Contaminator finally noticed him and turned, raising its arm to unleash another muddy projectile.
It was too slow.
Qin Feng lifted his hand, and the Poison Dart shot forward in a clean arc.
The dart struck the monster squarely in the head.
For a new player, landing such a precise hit on a moving target would have been nearly impossible. But Qin Feng had spent nine years fighting in the God Forsaken Game in his previous life. Ranged accuracy was etched into his muscle memory.
-237 (Weakness Attack)!
The damage number itself was not overwhelming. There was no stealth bonus, no back attack, and the Shadow class passive had not triggered due to detection.
But Qin Feng vanished the instant the attack landed.
The Contaminator's body rapidly turned green as poison spread through it. Damage numbers continued to rise above its head.
-158-158
After the second tick, the monster collapsed completely.
Qin Feng's gaze flickered. The continuous damage was stronger than expected, and more importantly, it benefited from his class passive once he re-entered stealth. Since he was no longer within the enemy's line of sight, the poison damage was effectively doubled.
As expected. Unfortunately, the corpse yielded nothing further.
Only one enemy remained on the battlefield now.
The Bronze-tier Boss, Swift Runner.
By this point, Wang Meng was drenched in sweat. His breathing was heavy as he shouted, "I can't hold on much longer."
The middle-aged cleric behind him continued casting healing spells without pause, but the effect was limited. Wang Meng's health bar was still steadily approaching a dangerous threshold.
Despite reaching Level 2, the team's lack of proper equipment and offensive skills was painfully obvious. Against a Bronze-tier Boss, their methods were simply too crude.
Then, a figure appeared behind the Swift Runner.
The timing was perfect.
As the Swift Runner lunged toward Wang Meng, Qin Feng seized the opening. Another Poison Dart flew, faster and sharper than before.
It struck the Boss directly in the head.
-845 (Weakness Attack)!
Stealth bonus. Back attack. Weakness hit.
All conditions met.
The Boss's health bar plummeted violently, nearly halving in an instant.
Wang Meng's eyes widened. "Holy crap…"
Their entire party had fought desperately for so long, barely scraping off a fraction of the Boss's health. Yet this unseen attacker had erased nearly half of it with a single skill.
And that was only the beginning.
The Swift Runner's body turned green.
-324
-324
-324
-324
The continuous poison damage was stacked relentlessly. The Boss twitched once, attempted to move, and then collapsed at Wang Meng's feet without even letting out a final cry.
Silence followed.
Wang Meng and his teammates stared at the corpse, hearts pounding. They could not see damage numbers, only the Boss's health bar draining in terrifying chunks. Each drop made their breaths hitch.
"That… that wasn't human."
"Is that really a player who entered the game at the same time as us?"
"You're missing the point," someone whispered. "He hit the Boss's head while it was moving like that."
"Yeah… we can barely land a hit at all."
A pile of loot spilled out from the Swift Runner's corpse.
No one stepped forward.
They all knew the rules.
In the God Forsaken Game, loot ownership belonged to whoever dealt the most damage.
And this time, there was no doubt.
Qin Feng had claimed it all.