Night fell over the "Wild Boar Forest" on the outskirts of Novice Village No. 999.
This was a necessary path for leveling leading to the exit of the novice village, populated by irritable level 8-10 wild boars. For most players, this was the main leveling area at this stage.
But at this moment, the forest seemed unnervingly quiet.
Ye Yi walked along the forest path alone. He was heading to the post station at the village entrance, where there were carriages bound for the main city.
Suddenly, his footsteps stopped.
Under the tree shadows ahead, several startled birds took flight.
Killing intent.
As a top-tier expert who had experienced countless battles in his past life, Ye Yi's perception of danger was practically ingrained in his bones.
"Since you've come, there's no need to hide."
Ye Yi kept his hand on the hilt of his sword and said calmly to the empty forest.
"Clap, clap, clap."
The sound of applause rang out.
From the bushes on both sides of the road, five people slowly walked out.
They were all wearing the uniform badge of the Angel Guild.
The leader was none other than "Holy Light · Judgment," who had been humiliated at the blacksmith shop a few hours ago. Standing beside him was a tall warrior wearing heavy armor and holding a two-handed greatsword.
That warrior's ID was "Holy Light · Judgment," the chief tank of the Angel Guild's first team. It was said that he was a professional bodyguard in reality, with extremely solid mechanics.
"I told you this kid has high alertness; an ambush wouldn't be easy," Judgment said in a low, muffled voice.
Judgment smiled sinisterly: "So what if he's alert? To corner you this time, I've brought our entire elite team. 2 warriors, 1 mage, 1 assassin, plus me, the priest. Even a level 15 BOSS, we could grind to death, let alone a squishy mage like you."
Ye Yi's gaze swept over the five people.
Their levels were not low, averaging around level 8, and their equipment was clearly a cut above the casual players, mostly mixed with green-grade gear.
This lineup was indeed here to kill.
"This is the wilderness," Ye Yi stated the facts calmly. "Killing people results in a red name."
"So what if I get a red name?" Judgment sneered disdainfully. "As long as we kill you back to level 0 and loot that black sword and bracers you're wearing, the red name will wash off in a few days. Besides, we have plenty of people to wash red names for us."
"Hand over your equipment, kneel, and call me 'Grandpa,' and maybe I'll let you die quickly." The assassin player twirled the dagger in his hand, looking playful.
Ye Yi sighed.
"This is exactly why I don't like guilds."
He slowly drew the heaven-swallowing demon sword. The black blade was almost invisible in the moonlight, with only the Bloodlust patterns glowing faintly.
"Too much talk, do it!"
Judgment shouted and was the first to initiate Charge.
Like a heavy tank, he crashed toward Ye Yi with a whistling wind. If this collision landed, there would be a 1-second stun, followed by a focus-fire kill from the other four.
The tactic was simple, but very effective given the absolute numerical advantage.
Unfortunately, their opponent was Ye Yi.
The moment Judgment started his Charge, Ye Yi didn't back away like a normal mage; instead, he made a move that no one expected.
He stepped forward and turned sideways.
"Z-step jitter."
This was a high-end movement technique that utilized visual persistence and system judgment latency.
Judgment only felt a blur before his eyes; he clearly should have hit Ye Yi, but it was like running into a puff of air, and he charged right past Ye Yi.
"What?!" Judgment was shocked.
And Ye Yi had already appeared behind him.
Instead of attacking the tank with thick skin, Ye Yi's target was the back row!
"Blink!"
A blue light flashed.
Ye Yi instantly crossed the ten-meter distance and appeared directly in front of the mage who was preparing to cast a fireball.
The mage was still foolishly chanting spells, completely unaware that the Grim Reaper was already in his face.
"Bye-bye."
The demon sword swung out.
With the enhancement of Basic Sword Mastery, this sword was as fast as black lightning.
"Pfft!"
It hit the throat directly.
"-210!" (Critical Hit)
The mage's fragile body couldn't even withstand this slash, his HP bar was cleared instantly, and he turned into white light.
"Priest, heal... damn, he died?!"
Judgment's healing spell hadn't even been cast yet, and his teammate was gone.
"What kind of damage is this?! Isn't he a mage?!" The assassin's hand shook in fear.
"Don't panic! He has no skills left! Surround him!" Judgment reacted quickly, immediately turning around to reinforce, and roared out a Taunt.
However, Ye Yi didn't fall for that at all. After killing the mage, he didn't stop for a second, used the mage's falling corpse to block the assassin's path, and then backhanded an Ice Spike.
It wasn't aimed at a person, but at the ground.
The frost exploded at the assassin's feet, causing the assassin to slip and slow down by half a beat.
Ye Yi used this half-beat to open up the distance again and rushed toward the nearby forest.
"Want to run? No way!" Judgment shouted, "Chase! He must have used all his skills!"
The remaining four chased into the forest with red eyes.
However, this was just the beginning of the nightmare.
Wild Boar Forest was Ye Yi's home turf.
Using the trees as cover, Ye Yi moved through the forest like a ghost. He didn't just run blindly but kept using the terrain to split the opponent's formation.
Whenever someone fell behind, a black sword would reach out from the darkness.
Three minutes later.
The assassin was intercepted by Ye Yi behind a large tree.
"You..."
Just as the assassin wanted to call for help, Ye Yi's basic attack followed by Heavy Slash (a variant of basic attack) landed directly on his chest.
"-150!"
"-160!"
The assassin fell to the ground.
Another minute passed.
Another warrior was lured by Ye Yi into a monster pack using the wild boars' aggro, and then finished off with a sword in the chaos.
The five-man team was left with only Judgment and the other tank.
The two stood back-to-back in a clearing in the forest, covered in cold sweat, looking at the dark forest around them with terror in their eyes.
The previous arrogance had long since vanished.
"Come out! If you have the guts, come out and duel!" Judgment shouted with a trembling voice.
"As you wish."
The voice came from overhead.
Both of them looked up abruptly.
Ye Yi jumped down from the treetop, the demon sword in his hand tracing a perfect arc in the moonlight.
"In the next life, remember not to provoke solo players."
The sword fell.
Blood splattered.
...
Five minutes later.
Ye Yi put away the demon sword, picked up a green staff dropped by Judgment from the ground, and curled his lip in disgust.
"So poor."
He tossed the staff into his backpack and glanced at the five corpses on the ground (they hadn't returned to the city to revive yet, and were in a soul state watching).
"Go back and tell Lin Tianyu."
Ye Yi said to the void.
"This is just the interest."
After saying that, he left the Wild Boar Forest without looking back.
After this battle, the mysterious mage "Wing" who held a demon sword and could kill in melee would become the nightmare of the Angel Guild.
And Ye Yi's next target was the main city.
It was also there that he would meet the girl who was about to change his fate.
"Little Bing Xin, I hope I can make it in time."