With the fall of the Swift Runner, silence briefly returned to the forest.
A cascade of system prompts echoed through Qin Feng's mind the instant the Bronze-grade boss collapsed, each one arriving faster than the last.
"You have killed a Swift Runner (Bronze-grade)."
"You have gained 600 experience points."
"Congratulations! You have levelled up to Lv. 3!"
"Congratulations! You have gained 2 Evolution Points!"
"You have gained 55 days of lifespan (tradable)."
Qin Feng did not linger on the notifications. The moment the Poison Dart left his hand, he had already activated Shadow Cloak once more, his figure dissolving into the darkness as stealth enveloped him again.
The cooldown timer surfaced clearly in his mind.
"Twenty-six seconds."
He frowned slightly. The duration was still a little too long.
"It affects farming efficiency," he thought calmly. "But with Evolution Points available, Greedy Hand should take priority."
Without revealing himself, Qin Feng moved soundlessly toward the Swift Runner's corpse. To Wang Meng and his five companions, the scene that followed was nothing short of eerie. They had not seen a shadow approach, yet the pile of loot beside the boss vanished piece by piece, as if swallowed by thin air.
Wang Meng inhaled and stepped forward, cupping his fists toward the empty space ahead of him. His expression was solemn and sincere.
"Friend, thank you."
Qin Feng's voice answered from nowhere in particular, calm and detached. "Thank me? In the wilderness, don't trust others so easily."
Those words struck deeper than expected. Wang Meng straightened, his gaze sharpening as he nodded seriously. "I understand. Thank you for the reminder, big brother."
Outside of towns, God Forsaken Game had no mercy. Players could kill players freely, and death meant losing half of one's lifespan, whether tradable or not. Only the tradable lifespan could be collected directly. As for non-tradable lifespan, it had to pass through monsters first before any portion could be recovered.
If Qin Feng had wanted to act, Wang Meng's entire team would already be dead.
But there was no point. They were simply too poor.
Wang Meng clearly understood this as well. If the expert before them truly harboured ill intent, there would have been no warning at all. That realisation only deepened his gratitude.
"We won't disturb you any longer," Wang Meng said respectfully. "My name is Wang Meng. If you ever need help in the future, you can look for me."
He turned, preparing to lead his team away, but the mud-covered girl behind him suddenly raised her hand and waved enthusiastically at the air.
"Expert! Expert! I'm Black Plum Da Lizi! Can I add you as a friend?"
For the briefest moment, Qin Feng nearly laughed. He remembered her. Not from this life, but the last.
Her real name was Lin Liyu, taking one character from each parent's surname to create that strange codename. She was lively, sharp, and undeniably beautiful, even now beneath the layers of mud. More importantly, her Hidden Class, Prophet, was far stronger than it appeared.
In his previous life, they had cooperated more than once.
"So her starting trajectory hasn't changed," Qin Feng thought. "Still with Wang Meng. Still destined for Great Xia."
There was no reason to interfere.
"I'm not interested in Black Plum Da Lizi," he replied flatly.
The girl hesitated, clearly unwilling to give up, but the middle-aged female priest beside her sighed helplessly and pulled her away. As the group disappeared into the forest, Qin Feng felt a faint ripple of emotion.
Wang Meng's Holy Shield Warrior class was exceptionally durable, and the Oracle Priest's healing output was far beyond normal standards. Without those two Hidden Classes, the team would never have survived that long.
Still, efficiency was the real issue.
"My damage looks like an instant kill," Qin Feng assessed calmly. "But Shadow Cloak's cooldown stretches the interval too much."
From start to finish, dealing with the Swift Runner and three Crawlers had taken nearly two minutes.
For ordinary teams, two minutes against that boss would have meant total annihilation.
Once the area was completely clear, Qin Feng activated Greedy Hand on the Swift Runner's corpse.
New system prompts followed immediately.
"Congratulations! You have gained 2 Evolution Points!"
"You have gained 55 days of lifespan (tradable)."
A single Bronze-grade boss had yielded a total of 4 Evolution Points, 110 days of tradable lifespan, and five drops.
"Not bad," Qin Feng thought.
Among the loot were three pieces of equipment and two skill books. Only one piece suited his class, which was hardly surprising given the sheer number of professions in God Forsaken Game.
"Swift Runner's Leather Leggings (Bronze): Assassin equipment. Physical Defense +9, All Elemental Resistance +5. Cooldown Speed +15%. Equipment Requirement: Level 2."
The defensive stats were unremarkable, but the Cooldown Speed was valuable.
He equipped it immediately.
"Shadow Cloak's cooldown has dropped from 26 seconds to 22.61 seconds."
In this world, cooldown reduction did not exist. Only cooldown speed mattered, and in later stages, it could be stacked to terrifying levels. Qin Feng understood this better than anyone.
"Continue farming," he decided. "One more Evolution Point, and Greedy Hand can reach Emerald-grade."
Remaining in stealth, he moved deeper into the dark forest. His tradable lifespan had already climbed to 268 days.
"I still have plenty of equipment and skill books for other classes," he noted. "Once my backpack fills up, I'll return to town and convert them into lifespan."
Only then would he consider extracting skills and equipment into reality.
Compared to his previous life, his development speed was incomparably faster. Back then, he had struggled simply to survive. As towns filled with players, monsters gathered in greater numbers, turning the outskirts into death traps.
Even now, Wang Meng's team had retreated closer to Shell Town, limiting themselves to Level 1 monsters.
Yet the moment they arrived, they saw a horrifying scene.
A six-player team was being surrounded by more than ten Crawlers.
A single Crawler was manageable.
Ten were not.
"So many Crawlers… what the hell am I supposed to do?"
The scream rang out just before three Crawlers lunged forward, tearing into the young man as panic consumed the battlefield.