Chapter Twenty-Two: Bones, One by One

At the edge of the Illusionary Mountains, a young man emerged from the dense forest, looking a bit disheveled. He wiped the sweat from his brow and gazed at the plain before him, nodding in satisfaction. Though the path had been rough, he had managed to take a shortcut, arriving much sooner than he had estimated.

This player wore the standard attire of a shield warrior: the classic combination of a short sword and shield. Glancing at his current appearance, he couldn't help but feel deeply pleased with the powerful function of the Ring of Deceit. If he remained cautious, no one would ever suspect his true identity.

Character name: Bones All the Way.

Because he was using the Ring of Deceit, all his attributes had been forcibly reduced by 70%. Now, his stats were only 450 points, with 45,000 HP. Fortunately, the ring concealed all his attributes—otherwise, if players saw his HP, it would certainly cause an uproar.

The plain before him served as a buffer zone between the Illusionary Forest and the outside world, known as the Emerald Wave Plains. The grass here was lush and rich; when the wind swept across it, the green waves undulated like the surface of a sparkling lake, hence the name.

This area was only a level 30 monster zone, with three elite bosses randomly spawning across the plain: the Level 35 Gale Wolf King, the Level 38 Flame Demon Fox, and the Level 40 Rampaging Lion King.

Li Ren made his way from the depths outward. At first, there were few players along the path, but the further he walked, the more players began to appear.

"Hey, look at that guy wandering around by himself," a pleasant female voice said to her companion.

"Maybe he's strong enough to hunt monsters solo," another replied, glancing briefly before resuming combat.

"Oh, come on, how could a shield warrior solo monsters? And besides, his gear doesn't look impressive at all."

"That’s none of our business. Maybe his party wiped and he’s the only one left... Hey! Pay attention, heal up!" The player glanced at his health bar and then at the female player, who was still standing by, confused.

"Oh! Right, healing spell!" she exclaimed.

Players like Li Ren weren’t uncommon; with so many people playing, all sorts of characters appeared. A lone shield warrior was hardly worth a second glance.

The wind swept across the vast grassland, suddenly carrying with it a strong, bloody scent.

Li Ren sniffed the air and frowned toward the source of the wind. The intense smell of blood was often a sign that an elite boss had appeared.

Having spent much time in various games, Li Ren was well-versed in such situations. He walked forward a few steps and, in the distance, spotted a group of figures and the outline of a massive beast.

Due to the distance, he couldn’t see clearly what was happening. Usually, when players were fighting a boss, others would simply watch from afar unless they desperately wanted the boss's loot. Few would intervene directly.

What’s more, these bosses had attack protection; reckless interference would only mean helping others for nothing, and the system imposed harsh penalties for such behavior.

Li Ren hadn’t planned to get involved, but as he stood there, the figures became clearer. He cursed under his breath as he realized the players were being chased by the boss and, in their panic, had run straight toward him. The boss, he saw, was the Level 35 Gale Demon Wolf. The ones in the lead were spellcasters—priests and mages—who always stood at the back and now, naturally, were the first to flee.

"Entering combat!" the system prompt flashed before Li Ren's eyes.

He glanced helplessly at the approaching demon wolf. He couldn’t just run with them—who knew how long that would take? With the Warfire weapon in hand and his current attributes, he could handle this boss without any trouble. Running with them would only be a hassle, and his pride as a former lone swordsman wouldn't allow him to flee.

The group saw Li Ren ahead and, after a brief pause at his shield warrior attire, continued to sprint past. After all, one more shield warrior wouldn’t make a difference.

Li Ren tightened his grip on his weapon and dashed toward the demon wolf. No one stopped to help, which was expected—but he didn’t care. In a blink, he was before the wolf and intercepted its charge, engaging it directly.

The demon wolf’s attacks barely registered; hits on him resulted in nothing but "deflected," "immune," and "resisted" messages. The level gap was simply too great—he was inherently suppressing the boss.

"Player Falling Moon invites you to join the party." The system prompt appeared.

Even in combat, Li Ren glanced back. Clearly, this invitation came from one of the priests.

Usually, players who got dragged into fights like this were treated as cannon fodder—if they died, it was their loss, and even if the boss was killed, they wouldn’t get a share of the loot.

Li Ren had already resigned himself to such a fate, but being invited to the party caught him off guard, and he felt a flicker of goodwill towards this player named Falling Moon.

"Player Bones All the Way has joined the party." Li Ren continued to play the role of a shield warrior. The mages behind him began unleashing spells, and a barrage of buffs enveloped Li Ren. He had to admit, the variety of player buffs was impressive, boosting his combat strength by over 30% instantly.

He had no intention of revealing his overpowered abilities, so he attacked the demon wolf lightly, making sure to keep its aggro focused on him. As for his HP, the priests—possibly traumatized by a previous tank’s demise—kept spamming healing spells on him relentlessly. Although transforming into a player allowed him to receive holy healing, his undead nature meant the spells still caused sharp, prickling pain.

Li Ren’s presence was a blessing for the players and a tragedy for the demon wolf. Soon, the once-mighty beast was reduced to a corpse, dropping a pile of loot.

Li Ren glanced at the heap of level 35 gear and shook his head—it didn’t interest him. As he was looking, the player called Falling Moon approached him.

"Thank you for your help. I’m Falling Moon. According to the rules, you may choose one piece of equipment as a reward," she said gratefully.

Up close, the youthful air of the girl mixed with a hint of mature charm. Her playful, crescent-moon-shaped brows drew a silent compliment from Li Ren. She was undoubtedly a beauty; even though most game systems included automatic appearance adjustment features, such stunning looks rarely belonged to ordinary people.

Li Ren nodded; the distribution method was fair. Normally, each player would pick one item, with the remainder divided among those who had died—a small consolation.

He pointed at a one-handed sword. "I’ll take this."

Falling Moon picked up the sword and handed it to him. Li Ren placed it in his backpack, watching as Falling Moon gathered the rest of the loot. Unsociable as ever, he fell silent, radiating an air of aloofness.

Curious about this shield warrior who had withstood the demon wolf’s assault alone, Falling Moon ventured, "Why are you by yourself?"

Li Ren, uncomfortable, hesitated. As an introvert, he rarely interacted with others, let alone with such a beautiful girl. Lacking experience, he coughed, "They... uh, they all logged off."

Feeling his answer was awkward, and with a touch of fondness for the girl, Li Ren asked—somewhat lamely—"Are you all together?" Oh, for heaven’s sake, what a pointless question!

Falling Moon nodded, "We were all in the same guild in the last game. We want to form a guild here too, but the Guild Charter is hard to get, so for now we just play together. When we get the chance, we’ll go after one."

Li Ren shrugged and nodded, saying no more.

"Well, we’re off to level up. Thanks again for your help," Falling Moon said with a smile.

Li Ren was surprised. "You weren’t here just to hunt the boss?"

"Of course not! With our levels and that wolf’s strength, we wouldn’t stand a chance. We were just leveling up when it happened to spawn right in front of us," Falling Moon replied matter-of-factly. "We need to level as fast as possible—got to farm for that Guild Charter. Can’t slack off."

Li Ren was speechless. At their pace, getting a Guild Charter was a long shot. The Woma Overlord was a world boss, fiercely contested with players camping it around the clock. Without serious strength, they had no hope.

He glanced at their levels—most were just around 30, some even 27 or 28. The leaderboards showed Sauron at level 41 and most others at least 38. These players were part of the second tier at best; acquiring a Guild Charter would be no easy feat.

Falling Moon called her group to move on to another spot to grind. As they left, paying no further attention to the wolf's corpse, Li Ren quietly used Blood Essence Conversion, turning the wolf into a bright orb of blood essence and placing it in his backpack. With that, peace returned to the plain.

The city closest to the Emerald Wave Plains: Sairan.

"Boss, the intel is absolutely reliable. Should we...?"

"Are you kidding? Of course!"