Sunhocker had been exposed, and no longer tried to hide. Coldly, he said, "Johnnie, don't blame me. People die for money, birds die for food. Wecheat offered too much!"
With a roar, he swung his longsword in a furious slash toward Johnnie.
Johnnie sneered, his longsword flashing with cold light. He struck first, driving his blade straight through Sunhocker's throat.
-250
Critical hit!
The terrifying damage numbers flashed, and Sunhocker was instantly killed.
Having killed over two hundred players, Johnnie's damage and attack speed had tripled.
"Hmph, all those grand words, and I thought you were stronger than that!" He scoffed, glancing at the equipment dropped by Sunhocker—a longsword, a belt, and a pair of white bracers.
What bad luck for him—dropping three pieces of equipment at once.
Whoosh...
At that moment, the sound of arrows whistling through the air filled the air again, and nearly a hundred arrows came flying toward him.
Johnnie snapped back to reality, dodging most of the arrows, and quickly charged toward the group of archers.
He spotted Wecheat hiding among the crowd.
"Die!" he shouted coldly, shoving aside several archers in front of him. His sword flashed, and with one strike, he slit Wecheat's throat.
-221
Another critical hit.
Wecheat's eyes widened in terror as blood poured from his neck. He turned into white light and disappeared, leaving behind two pieces of equipment.
Johnnie couldn't be bothered to pick them up. His longsword gleamed, and he went on a rampage, slaughtering the archer players.
"Retreat, retreat quickly!" Not far away, AsSky looked on in horror, feeling no desire to fight back. He quickly ordered the guild members to retreat.
As for him, he immediately logged off, disappearing from the battlefield.
He hadn't attacked Johnnie or even joined the team, so he hadn't entered combat mode and could log off at any time.
"Running away so quickly!" Johnnie sneered.
Running away was just AsSky's usual way of dealing with things.
Johnnie looked down at the scattered equipment and sent a private message to Cox.
Johnnie: "Where are you? Come clean up the battlefield outside the beginner's village."
After a while, Cox finally replied.
Cox: "Boss, we're in the half-orc territory, heading over now."
Johnnie waited at the same spot.
The commotion from this battle had attracted quite a few solo players nearby.
They were all deeply shocked by what they had witnessed, gazing greedily at the equipment scattered across the ground.
A few players even tried to rush in to grab the loot, but before they could make a move, Johnnie cut them down with a single strike.
He had now exited combat mode, and the effects of his Great Transformation Sword Technique had worn off.
Even so, these solo players were still no match for him.
They eyed the pile of equipment with envy but didn't dare to approach and pick it up.
A few quick-thinking players recorded the battle and posted it on the Horizon forum.
"The Strongest Player in the Beginner's Village: 1v300, Victorious"
Once the post went up, it instantly went viral, and Johnnie caught the attention of major guilds and factions.
He didn't care about this at all.
Soon, Cox and the others arrived.
"Boss!" Cox greeted him enthusiastically, but upon seeing the sea of equipment scattered across the ground, his jaw dropped.
There were over six hundred pieces of equipment here.
"Johnnie, did you really kill everyone from Prince Guild and AsSky Guild?" Poleriver asked, swallowing nervously, astonished.
Johnnie nodded, not offering any explanation. He spoke up, "You guys take care of all this equipment. I have more white items in my beginner's village warehouse. Handle those as well."
Recently, the prices of equipment had been dropping. Ordinary gray gear had fallen to 70 silver coins per piece, but white gear hadn't been affected too much yet.
However, as Horizon continued to evolve, with the price of login crystals dropping and the exchange rate for game currency increasing, equipment prices were expected to keep dropping. Eventually, gray gear would fall to just 10 silver coins per piece.
Cox and the others started cleaning up the battlefield, running back and forth through the beginner's village.
Their inventory couldn't hold all the equipment, so they had to store it in the warehouse.
Johnnie also transferred over 400 white items from his warehouse, which once again stunned them.
"Boss, aren't we supposed to create a guild? Why don't we keep these items for now?" Cox suggested.
With all this white gear, they could attract many high-level players.
"There's no need. We don't lack equipment, and I'm not interested in those high-level players," Johnnie said, already having a plan.
Apart from Cox and the others, as well as a few hidden class players, his guild members had to be retired soldiers or disciples of ancient martial arts.
"Get rid of all the equipment except the ones you guys can use," he instructed them before leaving the beginner's village and heading toward the half-orc territory.
He wasn't going there to hunt half-orcs to level up, but to explore the treasure map.
...
At the straw hut in the beginner's village, the temporary headquarters of Prince Guild.
Wecheat's face was an ominous shade of dark.
He had believed this operation was foolproof, but never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that over three hundred players, all at level 2 of Tier 1, wouldn't be able to kill Johnnie—who instead killed them all.
This time, he had suffered an even greater loss. To recruit these players, he had spent over forty million in game currency.
"AsSky? Where the hell did that bastard go?" He hadn't seen AsSky and angrily asked.
"Wecheat, he's offline. He might have logged out," Sunhocker glanced at his friends list and answered.
"Damn it, useless fool!" He cursed in rage.
These guys called themselves pro players, but in front of Johnnie, they couldn't even block a single strike. It was a total embarrassment.
He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.
Sunhocker glanced at him cautiously and spoke up, "Wecheat, about the three million..."
Bang!
Wecheat kicked him to the ground, enraged. "Fuck! You still have the nerve to ask for money? If it wasn't for you feeding me false information, would I have suffered such a huge loss? Get lost!"
His eyes were bloodshot as the rage he had just managed to suppress flared up again.
Sunhocker struggled to get up, a sycophantic smile on his face. "Wecheat, I'll take my leave now. If you need anything, just let me know."
He turned and walked away, his smile fading and his eyes filled with malice.
This guy failed his own plan and still blamed it on me!
Bang! Bang!
Inside the straw hut, the sound of smashing and hitting echoed.
Wecheat was furious. Having grown up without ever suffering such a defeat, this was a blow to his pride.
He swore to take revenge!
If the players in the beginner's village weren't strong enough, he would wait until they left the village and recruit stronger players. No matter how much it cost, he was determined to kill Johnnie!
...
At this moment, Johnnie had entered the half-orc territory.
Several half-orcs, with grotesque features, were wandering around holding spiked clubs.
He didn't provoke them. According to the coordinates on the treasure map, he quickly arrived at the base of a hill.
"This should be the spot," he glanced at the treasure map in his hand and immediately used it.
[Ding, you used the treasure map and discovered the Beginner's Village Treasure Dungeon.]
[Beginner's Village Treasure Dungeon: One-time dungeon.]
A dark, ominous cave appeared at the base of the hill.
"A dungeon!" Johnnie was surprised.
Most of the time, treasure maps led to treasure chests or monster nests.
It was rare for them to lead to dungeons.
Moreover, the dungeons discovered by treasure maps were always one-time dungeons. Once explored or failed, they would disappear.
He looked at the dark, eerie cave in front of him. After a brief hesitation, he stepped inside.
Dungeons that appeared in the Beginner's Village were unlikely to be too powerful. At most, they would be a small-team dungeon, and his current strength was enough to explore it.
[Ding, you entered the Beginner's Village Treasure Dungeon. The dungeon will disappear once exploration is completed or fails.]
The system prompt flashed as the cave became dark and cold.
Creak!
Suddenly, there was a sound of cracking beneath his feet. He instinctively looked down.
In the dim light of the cave, he saw the surroundings clearly. The ground was grayish-white and covered with dry, brittle bones—most of which appeared to be human bones.
A chill ran down his spine.
The cave was eerily silent, only the sound of bones cracking under his feet echoing, which made the atmosphere even more unsettling.
Johnnie gripped his longsword tightly, keeping a cautious eye on his surroundings.
Crack! Crack...
Suddenly, the sound of bones clattering echoed through the cave, and the brittle bones under his feet started moving.
"Skeleton monsters!" His brows furrowed, and his expression grew serious.
These were the weakest of the undead creatures—Tier 1, Level 5, much stronger than the current beginner players.
The real danger wasn't just a few skeletons; it was a whole group of them.
The bones on the ground began to stir, and one by one, the skeleton monsters shakily got up, wielding rusted, broken swords. They let out low growls and began to charge toward Johnnie.
He couldn't afford to be careless. Taking a step back, he pressed his back against the cave wall, swinging his sword and using Sword Shock.
Crack!
His longsword struck one of the skeletons, and the bones shattered, with three damage numbers flashing above its head.
-33
-30
-32
"They're manageable!" Johnnie breathed a sigh of relief. These skeletons had weak defenses and only around 300 health. He could easily handle them.