"Yo... yo... yo..."
"If you're that bad, then practice some more. Sometimes you should look for the problem in yourself instead of blaming others for everything!"
That comment came too fast, and Jose couldn't handle it.
"What the hell do you mean by that?"
He froze for half a second before reacting, then instantly exploded in anger.
"You talk like you're some kind of pro! I don't believe you can handle such an insane difficulty any better than I!"
Boshita didn't waste a second. Looking at this clueless prince, he directly sent him an invite.
"South Zone 2, coordinates xxx-xxx."
"What does that even mean? I don't get it..."
Boshita laughed in exasperation and reluctantly explained how to open the map.
Only then did Jose realize what he meant.
"Alright, stop talking! I just didn't notice it, that's all!"
Because the map was massive, even though he had spawned in South Zone 2, Jose still had to travel a considerable distance. After enduring countless hardships along the way, he finally arrived at Boshita's base.
He climbed over a hill and stopped in his tracks.
On the distant shoreline stood a small camp made entirely of wood. At the center was a decent-sized wooden house with its roof neatly covered with thatch. Around the camp, three Dilophosaurus were slowly patrolling the perimeter like trained guards.
He was so shocked he couldn't even form words.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Inside the camp, Boshita was already riding a Moschops toward him, clearly enjoying his stunned reaction.
As one of the few creatures that could be passively tamed, the Moschops was practically a god-tier starter companion for beginners. Not only could it gather wood efficiently, but it could also harvest berries at incredible speed.
But each Moschops preferred different food types. Boshita's happened to eat berries, which made it easy for him to tame it early on. And it didn't even require a saddle to ride, which was an additional bonus.
Seeing his sworn rival developing so well already, Jose was completely speechless.
"It hasn't even been a full day! How could you progress this fast? Where did you get all this stuff?"
He couldn't understand where the house and mount had come from, let alone the tamed dinosaurs.
"Call me 'Boss' and I'll tell you."
"You're asking for it... Take this!"
He had already been annoyed by that smug face showing off. Without hesitation, he swung his fist and charged forward recklessly.
But almost immediately, Boshita let out a sharp whistle.
The three Dilophosaurus received the command and rushed at Jose with perfect teamwork.
"Damn you..."
"YOU SHAMELESS MOTHERFUCKER!!!"
"I'LL FUCK YOU UP YOU SCRAWNY TWIG!!!"
"YOU'RE MOTHER NEVER LOVED Y- ARGHHHHHH!!!!"
"FIGHT ME ONE ON ONE YOU COWARD!!"
Jose was so furious that he had completely lost his usual composure, and he cursed at Boshita wildly while dodging dinosaur attacks.
"Beat my underlings first, noob."
"YOU'RE THE NOOB!!!"
Before long, Jose was sent back to respawn once again, his body dissolving into particles.
He completely snapped.
He swore he would make Boshita pay for this humiliation! He would take revenge no matter what it took!
This time, he wasn't going back to complain. He decided to properly develop in this world and wait patiently for a chance to retaliate.
Before, he had been stuck in a fundamental misunderstanding. In his preconceived notions, defeating monsters was similar to the tales in his storybooks, where you went through layers of grand adventures, where you defeat small mobs one by one, obtain treasures, and acquire divine artifacts. Then dominate everything with overwhelming power.
But clearly, that way of thinking was completely wrong in this kind of situation.
Seeing Boshita's well-established camp, he suddenly realized that this formula simply didn't work here. He had to use an actual strategy.
So he began carefully studying the implant on his arm, which he'd mostly ignored before.
Opening the Engram interface, he found numerous blueprints inside that he could unlock.
"So that's how it works!"
Finally, he had a bit of direction and purpose.
He began experimenting with all sorts of things, no longer charging blindly into danger. Gathering wood, collecting stone, harvesting berries, crafting items, and leveling up while carefully allocating points.
When a Dilophosaurus suddenly burst out of the bushes ahead, he grabbed his newly crafted wooden club and charged forward with newfound confidence.
As a small dinosaur that commonly spawned near beaches, the Dilophosaurus wasn't particularly strong aside from its blinding venom spit. As long as you avoided the spit, it was relatively easy to deal with.
Seeing Jose approach, the Dilophosaurus tried its old trick and launched venom at his face.
But Jose dodged it cleanly this time.
He immediately swung his club at its head with all his strength.
After only a few solid hits, it was knocked unconscious. This one wasn't high-level and had low torpor resistance, which worked in his favor.
As it fell limp, a stun meter appeared above its body.
He soon realized that taming a Dilophosaurus required feeding it meat, but he had none on him currently.
Spotting a dodo strolling leisurely by the beach nearby, he rushed over with his weapon raised.
After quickly finishing it off with a few brutal swings, he obtained raw meat and a bit of hide.
He hurried back to the unconscious Dilophosaurus, worried it might wake up.
To his dismay, its torpor was dropping quickly, much faster than he expected.
He smacked it again with the club to keep it down. After waiting for quite some time and feeding it meat periodically, the tame finally succeeded.
[Ding! Taming successful!]
[Taming effectiveness 70%. Obtained companion: Dilophosaurus Level 15 + 5 Levels = Level 20]
[Dilophosaurus] Level: 20
"Hahaha... I'm a genius!"
Looking at his successfully tamed Dilophosaurus, Jose's eyes were filled with excitement and pride. This would be the first step of his revenge against that smug girl.
Then he noticed something descending slowly from the sky overhead, casting a shadow as it fell. It was a glowing white diamond-shaped crate.
"What's that?"
Though he didn't know what it was exactly, curiosity drove him to investigate it immediately.
He led his Dilophosaurus toward the supply drop at a brisk pace.
Luckily, it wasn't far away, and he arrived quickly without incident.
[Supply Crate: White]
Unlock requirement: Level 3.
He met the requirement and opened it eagerly.
[You obtained a Parasaur Saddle]
[You obtained Wood]
[You obtained Thatch]
[You obtained a Slingshot]
He received a pile of items that materialized in his inventory. Aside from the Parasaur Saddle, the rest were common materials he'd already been gathering.
He felt slightly disappointed by the haul.
Still, having a saddle was genuinely good. Now that he had a Parasaur Saddle, he planned to tame a Parasaur first thing.
Before he could act on that plan, he suddenly noticed some ruins ahead through the trees.
They looked abandoned for a long time, with moss covering the crumbling stone walls.
He walked inside cautiously and found a box tucked in the corner.
"What's this? Another treasure chest?"
He stepped forward and opened it carefully.
[You read Rockwell's Notes]
[Your experience has increased]
[You leveled up]
With a pleasant notification sound, Jose went up five levels instantly and gained an experience-boosting buff that would help him progress even faster.
He was absolutely ecstatic at this discovery.
Now at level eight, he had unlocked the bow and narcotics in his Engram list.
With narcotics, he should be able to tame much larger creatures, he thought excitedly.
However, crafting narcotics required spoiled meat and blackberries, which had to be made in a mortar and pestle.
He didn't have those yet, so he immediately began gathering the necessary materials with renewed determination.
First, he crafted a bow and arrows, which greatly increased his combat power.
Ordinary small carnivorous dinosaurs could no longer pose much threat to him now.
Before long, through his persistent efforts, a small dinosaur squad was formed under his command.
Holding a bow proudly, riding a hard-earned Parasaur, and followed by six Dilophosaurus, Jose charged furiously toward Boshita's camp with a burning desire for revenge.