Chapter 14: The Player With Maxed-Out Luck

One-shotted?! Player No. 1 was stunned — they'd lost a man in just a single exchange!

Once he got a look at the weapon in the enemy's hand, he immediately understood what had happened. They had a [Deadly Strike of a Single Stick] too. Big Dumb Duck had mentioned it was bought specifically for killing bosses, so there was no time to ask for instructions now. Even so, No. 1 immediately swapped to the stick as well — because he noticed that No. 7's dagger had dropped on the ground after his death, and the hammer in his own hands was worth far more than that!

The damage was the same either way. And even if his luck was bad and he dropped a weapon upon dying, it would only be a stick.

"We're in a fight here — stop spacing out."

A snarky voice came from behind No. 1. He spun around to find that Heart and Soul, who had been up front moments ago, had somehow stealthed back to No. 8's healer's side. The healer had been working hard to keep both himself and the Archer alive — the latter was currently being chased down by Night's Gentle Chill and the others. No. 1 still had Heart and Soul's bleed debuff on him, and a moment later he felt a sharp pain in his back as two numbers popped up above his head.

-55! -21!

The bleed debuff instantly stacked to four layers, dealing 4 HP of damage every two seconds!

No. 1 spun around instantly. His [Heavy Strike] cooldown had just reset, so he swung the stick straight at Heart and Soul — but two figures suddenly appeared in his way: the tanks from both teams. The two of them were busy blocking each other, occasionally trading blows, but since both had dumped most of their points into Constitution, they were essentially just tickling each other. No. 1's stick swing was blocked by Hit Me Please, barely shaving off less than a fifth of his HP bar...

Meanwhile, Heart and Soul had successfully taken out the enemy healer.

Can't win this. This guy's weapon was absurd — probably a drop from the Stone Wolf King. On top of that, they had bonus attribute points from the first-kill reward, making their base stats stronger to begin with, and they were burning through [Deadly Strike of a Single Stick] weapons without a second thought... The enemy Archer's accuracy was terrifying too. No. 1 figured he probably wasn't going to escape.

Even so, No. 1 did his best to stall for time against Night's Gentle Chill and the others. After all, the other two squads were already on their way — if he could hold out long enough, maybe he wouldn't have to die...

It wasn't long before, back in the Starter Village —

"That [Deadly Strike of a Single Stick] is absolutely ridiculous..." No. 1 walked out of the respawn point. He'd been trying to stall, but they'd sent him back with one stick each. Well, since he was back, he could finally contact Big Dumb Duck.

"It's fine. Get in touch with the other squads and link up with them. After that, work it out among yourselves — rotate ten people to keep them pinned down at a time, while the rest keep leveling and farming bosses." Big Dumb Duck wasn't worried about Night's Gentle Chill's group at all. He'd done his research — the other side only had five people. His crew could run shifts around the clock. "Use whatever weapons you need, don't hold back. We're not short on cash."

"Yes, boss."

Not long after, Eagle was sent back too.

"Damn it! Who the hell targets the Archer first?!" Eagle cursed as he made his way toward the crowd. But since he was back anyway: "Attention, friends of Starter Village No. 0113 — I have some good news for everyone. Starting today, anyone who kills a player with the ID Big Dumb Duck, No. 1, No. 2, No. 3... and so on, and provides a kill record, can come claim 5 silver coins from me! Additionally, Night's Gentle Chill's team is now officially recruiting. We'll be establishing a company in the coming days. All members will be hired offline, with a starting salary of 6,000 yuan, full social insurance and benefits, great company perks, limited spots — first come, first served! DM me if you want the details!"

"What's going on, there's a fight? This is literally the Starter Village!"

"Big Dumb Duck and Night's Gentle Chill? Is this because of that thing at the blacksmith shop earlier?"

"What's this about getting hired? Monthly salary of 6,000?"

"Watch out, don't get scammed — if your first month's 'team building trip' is overseas, you're in for a wild ride."

Eagle heard all of this but didn't bother to argue, because a good number of people were already sending him private messages.

He casually sent out the pre-prepared text he'd written in advance, shouted a couple more times, and then bolted out of the village.

"Boss, looks like they've put a bounty on you — and they're recruiting too." One of Big Dumb Duck's underlings who'd been sent back by Night's Gentle Chill overheard the village buzzing with talk about what Eagle had announced, and relayed the information to Big Dumb Duck.

A bounty? Recruiting? Big Dumb Duck blinked, then broke into a grin. "We'll do the same. Put the word out — we're offering 5 silver and 1 copper. And whatever price they offer going forward, we'll always beat it by 1 copper. Same goes for recruiting — match their model, same salary as the bounty: 6,001."

Not for any strategic reason — purely to be annoying.

Half an hour later, both announcements had spread completely through Starter Village No. 0113!

The two groups who'd been fighting out in the field were sent back to the Starter Village, only to discover they couldn't leave at all — thousands of players were camped outside the respawn point waiting for them. Even Big Dumb Duck himself, who had been out leveling, got sniped by an Archer's arrow and sent back. After that, more and more players joined both sides' teams.

A few hours later, what had once been a peaceful Starter Village had descended into complete chaos!

"Quite the lively brawl out there." Liu Kongkong had been in the blacksmith shop crafting weapons the whole time, selling a few here and there. Eventually he noticed more and more players outside ignoring the guards and cutting each other down. "Looks like my level-5 gear will keep selling for a few more days."

In Hunt Heaven, players who died during the beginner phase would drop equipment and lose 1% of their current level's EXP. Under normal circumstances, getting killed by a wild monster was barely a nuisance — but in a large-scale brawl this intense, the EXP losses were absolutely devastating.

Who would've thought he'd get to profit off a war right here in the Starter Village.

After a few more hours, the hundred-plus stone weapons Liu Kongkong had just crafted were all sold out. Nobody bought his enhanced weapons, though — they were listed at 40 silver, which most people couldn't afford, and those who could afford it couldn't get out of the respawn point.

Not bad — a tidy little profit. Liu Kongkong leaned against the doorframe and watched the chaos unfold.

Night's Gentle Chill and Big Dumb Duck's groups had both retreated into the respawn point and refused to come out. A few of them had even lost a level. The situation inside the respawn point had gone from the two factions trading insults, to the outside players mocking them for being too scared to come out — it was as chaotic as it could possibly get.

"I'm a miner, mining is my game~ I'm gonna take that iron mountain... huh? What's going on here?"

Lonely as a Song came skipping back to the Starter Village in high spirits, only to find a massive crowd of people hurling curses at each other. But he had more important matters at hand!

"Master Liu! I've completed your quest — here are three hundred iron ores."

Hm? Liu Kongkong turned to look. Truth be told, the moment he'd posted that quest, he'd already spotted the problem. There was a reason the original quest only asked for five — iron ore was so heavy that most players could barely carry twenty or thirty before they were weighed down. He'd been planning to tell the guy he could deliver in batches when he came back... and yet this kid had actually brought them all in one trip?!

"Master Liu, you really kept your lips sealed, huh. I was originally wondering how anyone could possibly carry that much iron ore, and I was fully prepared to make multiple trips back and forth. But then I suddenly remembered how you'd had me kill three hundred wild rabbits before, so I decided to trust you. So I just gritted my teeth and pushed through — until I was literally crawling under the weight of all that iron ore!"

As he spoke, Lonely as a Song pulled out an item.

"[Reward for the Diligent]?" Liu Kongkong stared at the small pouch in the other player's hand. "Every hardworking person deserves to be unhindered by their load — unlimited carry weight, 30 inventory slots?!"

What kind of luck does this guy have? Liu Kongkong looked at Lonely as a Song. Hunt Heaven didn't have a luck stat per se, but if it did, he was pretty sure the person standing in front of him would be maxed out.

Lonely as a Song didn't catch what Liu Kongkong was muttering to himself — he was still completely absorbed in his admiration for the man.

"Without your guidance, I never could have obtained this item. After all, who in their right mind would walk a hundred meters while carrying over 200% of their carry weight limit?"

Well... fair point.

200% over the carry weight limit... he must have been literally crawling along the ground...

"This item was always meant to be yours." Liu Kongkong said this from the bottom of his heart — and he meant every word of it.