The moment the battle ended, the extreme tension in Lin Mo's mind suddenly relaxed, and a tidal wave of exhaustion, like a mountain and sea, surged over him, almost engulfing him.
He leaned with one hand on a withered tree beside him, its form disfigured by Deadly Poison, panting heavily, sweat on his forehead mixed with dirt, sliding down his cheeks. The dazzling white light that formed from the BOSS's death, in his somewhat blurred vision, appeared so unreal.
Half an hour! A full half an hour!
In this desperate place, where he had to endure 10 environmental damage per second, he had tangled with a Level 5 elite BOSS for half an hour! During this time, his Life value had dropped to single digits multiple times; if his reaction had been a tenth of a second slower, or if his positioning had been off by even a hair, he would already be a white light at the Novice Village resurrection point.
This battle had drained all his energy. It was not only an extreme test of operation and reaction but also a cruel torment of willpower and psychological endurance.
"But... I won!"
Lin Mo let out a long breath, all the suppression and tension in his chest dissipated, replaced by an indescribable sense of immense accomplishment. He looked up, his pale face illuminated by surprisingly bright eyes. He gazed at the loot suspended in mid-air, the corners of his mouth curving into an uncontrollable smile.
Solo killing an elite BOSS above his level!
This was the limitless potential that the divine talent, Endless Poison Source, brought him!
He propped up his weary body and walked step by step towards the shimmering light. Within the glow, three items lay quietly: an ancient ring radiating a bronze luster, a thick skill book, and a pile of clinking silver coins.
For players at this stage, any one of these would be enough to drive people mad!
Lin Mo reached out, and just as his fingertips were about to touch the ring—
An anomaly suddenly occurred!
Without any warning, a grand, cold, and emotionless mechanical synthetic voice, like an Oracle from the Nine Heavens, resounded in every corner of the epoch world, echoing in the ears of hundreds of millions of players!
[server Announcement!]
[Congratulations to player 'Anonymous' for successfully killing the hidden elite 'King Venomous Toad' in Novice Village (No. 9527), achieving the server's First Kill achievement — [Ruler of the Highly Poisonous Swamp]! Rewarded with 10 achievement points and 50 Novice Village reputation points!]
[server Announcement!]
[Congratulations to player 'Anonymous'...]
[server Announcement!]
[Congratulations to player 'Anonymous'...]
Three consecutive system announcements, like three heavy nuclear bombs, detonated with a roar across the entire epoch world!
... The world channel, after three seconds of dead silence, was instantly submerged by an endless flood of information!
"???????"
"Holy crap?! I didn't mishear, did I? A First Kill announcement? And for a hidden elite?"
"Anonymous? Who is this god? The highest-level player is only Level 3 right now, right? Someone can actually solo kill an elite monster?"
"King Venomous Toad? Sounds like a Poison Class BOSS! Who in Novice Village would dare touch that thing? I passed by the Highly Poisonous Swamp yesterday and lost half my Life bar from just a touch of the miasma!"
"The key is the word 'hidden'! This means it's not a regular monster; it appeared because some special conditions were triggered! This 'Anonymous' big shot is not only incredibly powerful but also a quest master!"
"Damn it, I'm still fighting tooth and nail with others for a Level 2 wild wolf, and someone has already quietly taken care of a hidden elite? Are we playing the same game?"
"Where are the major Guilds? Are they all asleep? Such an amazing person, hurry up and investigate! Recruit him, and the Guild's strength will directly skyrocket!"
The world channel went completely insane! Countless ordinary players frantically spammed the screen in shock, envy, and jealousy, trying to dig out any clues about this "Anonymous" big shot from the massive amount of information.
Meanwhile, the reactions of the major Guilds were a hundred times more intense than those of ordinary players!
... [Mad Dragon Guild] elite command channel.
"Investigate! Investigate for me! Everyone drop what you're doing and turn Novice Village No. 9527 upside down! Even if you have to dig three feet deep, you must find this person called 'Anonymous' for me!"
The roar of the Guild Leader, "Mad Dragon Soaring in the Sky," echoed in the channel. He had just been leading the elite group, fiercely fighting their sworn enemy, the Ba Tian Guild, over a Level 3 elite wild boar BOSS, when a server-wide announcement suddenly made him feel that the elite BOSS in his hand was no longer appealing.
"Guild Leader, the other party chose Anonymous; there's no way to investigate!" a Rogue player said helplessly.
"Then go to the Highly Poisonous Swamp! Since he killed the King Venomous Toad, he must be somewhere nearby! Send people to blockade the entire swamp and interrogate everyone! I don't care what methods you use, whether it's coercion or enticement, this person must belong to our Mad Dragon Guild!" Mad Dragon Soaring in the Sky commanded domineeringly... [Oracle] Guild.
In a nascent Guild residence decorated like a cosmic library, a woman in a silver-white priest's robe, her face shrouded in a holy light mist, was quietly listening to her subordinate's report.
"Guild Leader, according to intelligence, there are no famous players or teams in Novice Village No. 9527. This 'Anonymous' seems to have appeared out of thin air."
"Appeared out of thin air?" The woman, who was Luo Li, the Guild Leader of the Oracle Guild, let out a soft laugh, her voice as clear and cold as moonlight, "There is never strength without reason in this world. Either it's a secret weapon of a top studio, or it's... someone like us."
Her gaze seemed to penetrate the barrier of space, looking towards the distant Novice Village No. 9527.
"Notify our people to also go to that Novice Village to take a look. No need to actively search, but if you encounter him, you can try to make contact. Remember, our goal is cooperation, not domination."
"Yes, Guild Leader!"
... At the same time, in a certain volcanic map, a berserker warrior engulfed in flames split the lava giant in front of him in half with an axe. He glanced at the announcement in the system log, a proud smile curving on his lips: "Interesting, someone is even faster than me. I hope you don't disappoint me."
Countless gazes, countless forces, because of these three announcements, all converged on this obscure Novice Village No. 9527. A storm sweeping across the entire server was quietly brewing.
As the center of the storm, Lin Mo, however, was completely unaware of everything happening outside.
In his eyes, there were only those few pieces of loot within reach.
The outside world's commotion had nothing to do with him; he just wanted to know what kind of surprise the items he risked his Life for would bring him!
He took a deep breath, no longer hesitating, and reached out to pick up the pile of silver coins.
[Obtained Silver Coin x 3]
Three silver coins!
Lin Mo's eyes instantly lit up. One must know that at this stage, the exchange rate between game currency and real currency was still around 1:100, and it was a seller's market. These three silver coins meant three hundred yuan! Enough for half a month of his food expenses!
A good start!
He suppressed the joy in his heart and turned his gaze to the skill book.
[Skill Book: Venom Spray]
[Quality: Bronze]
[Learning Requirement: Level 3, Magic Class Profession]
[Skill Effect: Sprays a stream of venom from the mouth, dealing (15 + Spell Attack x10%) Poison damage to the target and applying one stack of 'Poisoned' effect. Cooldown: 10 seconds.]
His first active attack skill!
Lin Mo's heart began to beat faster. Although the damage bonus wasn't high, it solved the problem of going from nothing to something! More importantly, it could directly apply a stack of the "Poisoned" effect, which meant he could stack Endless Poison Source faster, greatly improving his output efficiency!
"Learn!"
Lin Mo chose to learn without hesitation. The skill book transformed into a green light and merged into his body. His skill bar was finally no longer empty.
Finally, and what he was most looking forward to, was the ring.
He carefully picked it up; the ring felt cold to the touch, with a slightly slimy sensation, as if it were a toad's skin.
[toad's protection]
[Quality: Bronze]
[Equipment Requirement: Level 3]
[Attribute: Constitution + 1]
[Special Effect ①: Poison Immunity — Immune to all Poison damage below Level 10.]
[Special Effect ②: Poison Absorption — When you are affected by the Poison Immunity effect, you have a certain chance to absorb this Poison damage and convert it into your own experience points.]
[Description: It was once the King Venomous Toad's most precious treasure; now, it belongs to you.]
The moment he clearly saw the ring's attributes, Lin Mo's breathing stopped.
He stared intently at the two special effects, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks due to extreme shock.
Constitution + 1, better than nothing.
But, these two special effects... Immune to Poison damage below Level 10!
Absorb Poison and convert it into experience points!
This... what kind of heaven-defying attributes are these?!
For other players, this ring might just be a mediocre piece of equipment useful only in specific environments. After all, monsters with Poison in the game are few, and giving up other better attributes for this little Poison immunity would be a net loss.
But for him, Lin Mo, this ring was simply a tailor-made divine artifact! A supreme divine artifact!
With it, this Highly Poisonous Swamp, which deterred all players, would completely become his backyard! His exclusive leveling sanctuary!
He wouldn't even need to painstakingly kite monsters anymore; he could stand directly in this Poison pool, enjoying the "experience point massage" from the environmental damage while leisurely applying Poison to monsters!
Leveling efficiency would increase tenfold! A hundredfold!
"Divine artifact... This is definitely a divine artifact!"
Lin Mo was so excited that his body trembled slightly; he eagerly put the ring on his hand.
The moment the ring touched his skin, a cool sensation spread throughout his body, and the surrounding purple miasma that had been continuously eroding his Life value seemed to have met its nemesis, instantly dissipating without a trace.
The constantly flickering [Deadly Poison Miasma] negative status in his status bar also completely disappeared.
In its place were rows of green experience point notifications.
["Poison Absorption" effect triggered, you absorbed "Deadly Poison Miasma", experience + 2!]
["Poison Absorption" effect triggered, you absorbed "Deadly Poison Miasma", experience + 2!]
... Lin Mo looked at his constantly rising experience bar and couldn't help but laugh uproariously.
At this moment, all the fatigue, all the danger, was worth it!
He knew that from the moment he obtained this ring, his Life, his destiny in this game, would be completely rewritten!
The legend of the Poison God officially began at this very moment!