Chapter 5: Open-Air Mine

Three days later

Silvermoon City

Open-Air Mine

Coordinates: −1013, 2405

The Open-Air Mine was a popular map in Silvermoon City because the monsters in the area were in the range of Level 35 to Level 45, which was exactly what was needed for mainstream players to power-level.

Moreover, there was a high probability of the monsters dropping ores, specifically some high-class ores. Whether they were sold to players or to the system shops, high-class ores fetched decent prices. As such, if one were to continuously power-level in this area, one would be able to both level-up and earn credits, neither of which could be neglected.

Wearing armor that consisted of a camouflage combat uniform, Feng Luo crouched on a two-meter high boulder. He placed the M110 in front of him and looked through the scope, aiming at a Mutant Dog not far away from him.

Approximately 150 meters away from Feng Luo’s position, the odd-looking greenish-black dog rolled around on the ground of the mine, using its two front paws to dig at something it was eating. It had lost some of its fur. Drool flowed continuously from its mouth, and its eyes were blood-red.

The Mutant Dog was a Level-35 monster. It was considered a “mutant” monster that had been affected by radiation after the war, and it had extremely quick speed and high-velocity attacks; however, it had a relatively weak defense.

Monsters in the Open-Air Mine dropped valuable items, and they also gave a wealth of experience, so the strength of the monsters was naturally abnormal. The monsters here did not just have high attacks, but most had amazing defense, too. But the defense of the Mutant Dog was fairly average. If it received a critical hit from a bullet fired by the M110, given Feng Luo’s S-Grade talent of 100 percent increase in lethal damage, there was a high probability for it to be an instant kill.

However, this Mutant Dog’s movement speed was extremely fast, and it also had high vigilance. As soon as it was attacked, it would quickly run away or counter. Feng Luo needed to take the opportunity to kill it with one shot.

Temperature: 31 degrees

Humidity: 45%

Wind speed: 3 m/s

The personal computer terminal connected to the scope of the sniper rifle displayed a few rows of simple environmental information so that he could adjust some of the parameters to ensure the accuracy of his shot.

In War, the personal terminal was a vital piece of equipment. It stored most of the more common monsters’ information, as well as the regional maps of some of the already explored areas. It also had the function of communication, positioning, and receiving missions, among other functions. A player’s personal terminal was delivered entirely by the Federation.

The backdrop of War was a setting in which human civilization had developed to the space era; however, a crisis had occurred around 100 years prior. The human survivors on the planet had discovered lost technology left behind amid the rubble and ruins, and they had established a new civilization. After 30 years, they had created a unified federal government. However, the planet still featured countless varieties of organisms, uncontrolled mechanical beings, and multiple underground research facilities, military bases, experimental facilities, and various other forbidden areas left behind by civilizations from centuries before.

The mission of the players was to accept the commission of the federal government to explore these ruins and forbidden areas, discovering lost technology while exterminating the monsters that roamed these places. As such, the federal government had created a personal terminal for every player to make it easier for the players to complete their tasks.

“Good opportunity!” whispered Feng Luo.

After he finished adjusting the parameters, he noticed that the Mutant Dog seemed to have finished eating. It raised its head to look around, so Feng Luo took the chance and decisively pulled the trigger of the M110.

The trigger pushed by the index finger spurred movements of the rifle’s hammer to hit the thimble that struck the primer of the armor-piercing bullet. The primer exploded, igniting the smokeless gunpowder within the armor-piercing bullet. The explosion of the smokeless gunpowder then forced the gas within the bullet to expand several thousand times, and the expansion pushed the 7.62mm armor-piercing bullet to spin and exit through the rifle barrel at a speed of around 800 m/s. All of this happened in the short span of 0.2 seconds!

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Pang!

150 meters away, the Level-35 Mutant Dog that had just raised its head was hit in the left eye by the armor-piercing bullet. A bright red row of damage numbers appeared overtop of its head.

−3545!

It immediately dropped on the ground.

The red damage number signified that the shot had hit a vital spot, producing lethal damage with a super high bonus. Thanks to Feng Luo’s S-Grade “Lethal” talent effect, the damage of that hit had been doubled. As such, the Level-35 Mutant Dog’s HP had been completely emptied in a single hit.

Damage in War could be separated into four types. White meant normal damage, yellow meant weak-point damage, red meant lethal damage, and gold meant a critical hit.

For example, when an attack struck the defensive equipment of an opponent without piercing through a player’s defense, the damage delivered would be normal damage. When an attack hit an area not protected by any protective gear—or perhaps a point of attack that had already lost most of its defense capability (over 50 percent)—then the damage would be the yellow-colored weak-point damage, which carried a certain amount of bonus damage. In a situation where a player’s defenses had been completely broken, attacks to three key areas—namely, the top of the head, the throat, and the heart—would produce the high damage bonus of lethal damage.

As for the gold-colored critical hit, it would not appear in situations when players attacked each other; it only appeared when players faced monsters, and there was a low probability of it occurring. When it was triggered, the final damage output would be increased by two to ten times. It was the equivalent of a “lucky hit” in other games!

After Feng Luo killed the Mutant Dog, a system message flashed by on the corner of his field-of-view interface.

Killed one Mutant Dog. Obtained 65 experience points!

And after the Mutant Dog died, a brown ore and several tiny gray energy crystal pieces the size of fingernails dropped.

Energy crystals were the same as gold coins dropped by monsters in normal games, and in the game, the federal government exchanged credits for these crystals at a one-to-one ratio. This type of energy crystal piece had the lowest value. The selling price offered by the system was one credit each.

F-grade energy crystals were called gray crystals due to their dull grey color, and their value was 10 credits each. E-grade energy crystals were called white crystals due to their grayish-white color, and their value was 100 credits each; the D-grade silver crystals were valued at 1,000 credits each, while a C-grade diamond crystal was worth 10,000 credits each.

As for energy crystals that were B-grade and above, due to their relatively bigger size, they were widely used but rare. Under normal circumstances, they would not be used in currency circulation.

The ratio of credits to star coins fluctuated around a ratio of ten to one. That meant that this Mutant Dog had earned Feng Luo a few cents and a piece of pretty low-quality ore. It wasn’t bad. At least he hadn’t wasted his armor-piercing bullet, which cost three credits.

Just as Feng Luo prepared to put away his sniper rifle and head over to collect the dropped items of the Mutant Dog, in his field of vision through his scope, he saw the sudden appearance of a greenish-black Mutant Dog that was at least double the size of the previous one. It was in the mine pit on the opposite side. This was a Giant Mutant Dog that was almost two meters in length. It had a pair of blood-red eyes, and both of its canine teeth looked like white daggers. It rushed to the side of the Mutant Dog that had just been killed and sniffed at it. It immediately raised its head and howled in anger.

Level 40 Elite-Grade Mutant Dog

HP: 10,500

High attack power, fast movement speed!

The information relayed from the scope briefly stunned Feng Luo. After that, the Mutant Dog used God-knows-what method to lock onto his direction. Two bloody red eyes filled with hate stared straight at him.

“Oh, f*ck… An Elite monster!”

The M110 in Feng Luo’s hands trembled a little.