Chapter 56: A Little Wild Wolf

“Do we know which city they’re heading to?” Zhang Shan asked in the guild channel.

“Not at the moment, but honestly, there’s no need to ask. We’ll find out soon enough. Those troublemakers can’t help themselves—no matter where they go, they’ll just stir things up again.”

“Exactly. In a few days, you’ll hear about their antics all over again.”

“Why are you asking, Artifact Master? Planning to chase them down? That’s ruthless! Haha.”

Had they already guessed his little scheme? They must be joking; there was no way he could admit it. How could he confess to something he’d only thought about and hadn’t acted upon?

“No, it’s not me. Don’t talk nonsense.” He denied it three times.

“Haha, you’re hilarious, boss.”

Ah, he’d only been playing for a few days and was already hailed as a big shot. If people knew he was just a nobody living in a rented apartment, they’d probably drop their glasses in shock.

Yes, he should consider moving to a better place now. He was, after all, a millionaire in-game. Living in a single studio apartment was really selling himself short.

Once things stabilized in the game, he’d make arrangements to move.

“Since the Heaven and Earth Guild has withdrawn from Dangyang City, let’s ignore them for now. Everyone, focus on leveling up. Blade, tally up those from our side who were killed earlier. For each death, award one thousand gold coins from the guild fund. I’ll arrange to inject more funds into the guild treasury.”

Wind and Clouds truly acted on a different level—what a real leader.

“Thank you, boss.”

“Ha, I was a bit bummed about losing a level, but this makes up for it. Taking two skills to the face wasn’t in vain.”

“Haha, the boss is generous.”

It had to be said, Wind and Clouds knew how to handle people. He didn’t reward based on kill-count, only on our side’s deaths.

This was a friendly way to do things.

After all, the top killers weren’t always the biggest contributors. Those who died more were either tanking damage or just weaker players.

These people needed encouragement and support.

The truly powerful, like Windblade, surely had high kill counts and rarely died.

But they didn’t need a bit of gold—they were already big shots and wouldn’t care for such petty change.

With this move, Wind and Clouds instantly won everyone’s loyalty. No wonder he had such a good reputation—he knew how to treat people.

The Heaven and Earth Guild matter was settled without Zhang Shan ever having to step in.

He could now peacefully continue his grind.

Just before midnight, Zhang Shan finally reached level 21—a bit slower than he’d expected.

He had overestimated himself a little, but it didn’t really matter.

He glanced at his experience bar—reaching level 22 would require 1.5 million experience, a 50% increase.

Still, it was within expectations. As always, the higher the level, the harder the climb. For now, he could still manage two levels a day.

Tomorrow, he’d probably have to grind for quite a while to get two levels.

Well, no point worrying about that now. Time to log off and sleep.

On the guild channel, Zhang Shan said, “Logging off for the night, everyone. Goodnight, all.” Then he logged out.

“That’s not like Artifact Master—no all-night grind tonight?”

“No point talking, he’s already gone.”

“If I were as strong as him, I’d go to bed early too.”

“Yeah, with that artifact, there’s no need to try so hard. He could coast and still nobody would catch up.”

“Don’t bother me—I’m going to be a beautiful monster-slaying man in peace.”

“Idiot.”

The chaos in the game no longer had anything to do with Zhang Shan. Not long after logging out, he was deep in dreamland.

The next morning at seven, he woke up early, went downstairs for breakfast, and resumed his grinding life.

He hadn’t returned to the city to log out last night, but instead found a seemingly safe spot and logged off.

If he’d returned to the city, it would’ve taken another half hour to run back—what a waste.

As soon as he logged in, Zhang Shan summoned his panda pet, wary of being swarmed by wolves—he’d need his pet to tank.

Hmm? Maybe he was overthinking it. Only a few wolves noticed him and rushed over—he was just being too cautious.

After clearing the surrounding wolves, Zhang Shan suddenly spotted a little wolf not far away.

Strange, what kind of wolf was this? If it were a boss, it would be bigger.

But this one was so small—it couldn’t be a boss.

Still, better to be careful. He approached slowly to observe from afar.

Little Wolf: Level 1.

Level 1?

Right, it was a level 1 monster—unmutated, and available for hunters to tame.

He already had a panda pet and couldn’t tame a second unless he abandoned his panda.

That was clearly impossible. Not only did his pet boast high attack and defense, that ten points of luck and the combo skill made it a perfect match.

He wouldn’t trade it, not even for a mythical beast.

But just because he didn’t want it didn’t mean others wouldn’t. Right now, very few hunters in-game had a useful pet.

Even Firecannon in their guild didn’t have one.

It was just too hard to find unmutated monsters, and those that were found were usually worthless as pets.

Firecannon had even posted a bounty in Dangyang City, offering 10,000 gold to anyone who would tip him off to an unmutated monster and let him tame it.

Yet, he still hadn’t managed to get a pet.

Scarcity of unmutated monsters was one reason. Another big factor was that as soon as these monsters spawned, someone would kill them out of habit.

That’s just how people are—if they can’t use it and neither can their friends, then why leave it alive?

He checked if Firecannon was online.

He was! Well, fortune favored him today.

He called Firecannon.

“Hey Cannon, what are you up to?”

“Leveling up, what else? Still not quite to level seventeen. Unlike you, rocketing to twenty-one.”

So sour.

“Did you learn Taming?”

“No, there haven’t been any monsters to tame, so I didn’t waste the skill points.”

“I just found a little wolf—level one, tameable. You didn’t forget to save skill points, did you?”

Zhang Shan shared his view with him.

“Holy crap, where is it? I’ll go buy the skill book right now. Keep an eye on that wolf—don’t let some idiot kill it.”

“Got it. But why didn’t you prepare the skill book in advance?”

“What for? The taming skill book is so cheap, nobody wants it. It’s always available at the auction house—less than a thousand gold.”

“What’s up with that? Is taming really so unpopular?”

“Of course! It takes up skill points, and the real problem is there are no monsters to tame. If you learn it, it just sits there uselessly.”

“Alright, hurry up. By the way, you should bring someone to help. Otherwise, you might not even make it here—there are lots of monsters on the way. Don’t get killed en route.”

“Geez, is it that serious? I’ll ask the boss to escort me. He’s well-geared; we should be fine.”

“Then you’d better hurry.”

“Already got the skill book—heading out now.”