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[Ding! Congratulations! You reached Level 8!]

After Liu Ye reached another level, the steps to climb seemed higher and higher. They killed the rest of the Masked Bandits yet he had not even filled half of the experience bar. He could already imagine the insane grinding needed to climb in the higher levels.

[Name: Grind God]

[Level: 8] [SP: 0]

[Exp: 2500/5500]

[HP: 180/180] [HP Regen: 1]

[MP: 70/70] [MP Regen: 1]

[Strength: 1]

[Intelligence: 7]

[Vitality: 1]

[Dexterity: 9]

[Wisdom: 1]

[Luck: 1]

[Physical Power: 10]

[Elemental Power: 40]

[Physical Defense: 20]

[Elemental Defense: 0]

[Elements: Water 92%]

[Arts: Waterbending]

[Abilities: Small Water Whips, Ice Projectile, Water Manipulation]

Level 6 needed 2,300 experience, Level 7 needed 3,700, and now he needed 5,500. He wouldn't be surprised if he needed a whole 10,000 experience to reach Level 10.

"Great job! Now that the camp is cleared, all we need to do is find the Bandit Leader and finish the rest of his men. We can finally eradicate this plague from our land!" Vice-leader Marco called out excitedly when the last Masked Bandit fell. "Are you ready to depart?"

Liu Ye didn't reply right away and checked his inventory instead. He only had twenty-seven Small Mana Potions and six of medium size. Even though he received another 10 Mana after adding a point to Intelligence, that wasn't enough for him. If he required one potion to kill each small bandit, Liu Ye definitely needed to stock more for the Bandit Leader.

"I'm low on Mana Potions so I will return to the village to buy more. How about you wait for me?" Liu Ye questioned casually but Vice-leader Marco shook his head.

"It's not a good idea since the mountains are in this area. How about you return to the village and I will wait for you by the gate?" Vice-leader Marco proposed. "I still need to finish here so you should return first."

Liu Ye already expected that answer.

He was sure Players had already reached the Red Zone. Once he left, the entire camp of Masked Bandits would definitely respawn so other players could also farm experience. In his case, the Quest already registered his kills as it showed 30% progress.

"Alright, see you—" Liu Ye paused in the middle of his goodbyes, suddenly hearing voices outside.

"Hello? Is anyone here?"

Just as he was thinking about other players, his thoughts came true. It had already been almost ten hours since the game started so it wasn't much of a surprise.

Liu Ye looked outside of the window to check the situation and saw three players walking cautiously inside the Bandit Camp. When he spotted a familiar figure, Liu Ye couldn't help but purse his lips.

That man was really unlucky to meet Liu Ye again.

[Flaming King - Lvl. 6]

"Man, someone already cleared the whole camp before us. Damn it, now we have to wait till they respawn," Flaming King cursed as he sat down on a small boulder next to the small river.

"But I don't see any corpses lying around," his buddy pointed out as he looked at the desolate camp.

"It's because they disappear once you kill them," Flaming King replied like a big brother of the group. "Let's hope no other players come over to steal our experience. If they do, let's pretend we are friendly before killing them right after. The Red Zone should allow Player Killing, and maybe, we can even get loot."

Flaming King's companions immediately got excited as they chuckled to each other, not realizing there was one more person who got inspired with their idea.

'I guess it's best if they are humbled sooner than later,' Liu Ye thought as he approached Vice-leader Marco again.

"Can you wait ten minutes for me? I think I found a way to get my potions faster. We might just go to the mountains right away."

———

"Damn, why does it take so long? It has been five minutes already yet we can't see any bandits," Player Flaming King cursed in annoyance. "How can the respawn rate take so much time? The Masked Bandits outside probably respawned already."

"Should we check? I doubt anyone can get past us if we just stay outside the entrance and lure the Masked Bandits to us," his buddy proposed to which all of them nodded.

"Let's go," Flaming King commanded, but he only managed to make a few steps before one of his buddies screamed.

He turned rapidly, only to see the other player getting pulled into the small river.

"Aaaaaaaa! Help me!" The man swung his arms in fear as he struggled to swim back to the riverbank. "My leg! It's pulling my—"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence, his words replaced by bubbles as soon as he got pulled underwater.

"What the fuck?!" Flaming King cursed as he stepped back, alarmed and confused by the situation. Aside from the bandits, were there also underwater monsters in this quest?

His buddy resurfaced again while gasping for breath.

"Help! I'm drowning!"

He was only able to call for help once before he was pulled underwater again.

"Quick! Get in the water and help him!" Flaming King called out urgently. "Aren't you working as a lifeguard in real life?!"

The other two guys with him finally snapped out from their daze and their instincts kicked in. They jumped towards the river, but just as their feet were about to step on the water, the surface rippled and formed into two arms that wrapped around their ankles and pulled them into the deeper ends as well.

Flaming King could only watch in horror as air bubbles rose to the surface. After a minute, there were no more bubbles left and the small river calmed again.

He quickly glanced at his profile while staying away from the small river and saw his friends' HP at 0. He was already familiar with this process as he himself died twice before.

They respawned a few seconds later with their levels dropping to Level 5.

<<What the hell happened?>>

Flaming King questioned them in their group chat, only to see a scary message sent by one of his buddies.

<<Run! It was a PK!>>

His eyes widened at the thought of a Player killing them. When he looked at the small river again, he jumped back in fear, almost tripping over his legs.

A certain man he recognized too damn well was standing at the riverbank, staring at him.

It was the bastard that already caused him to get killed twice.

"W-Why are you here?!" Flaming King called out in panic as he stepped back, but the man in black Bandana walked forward, closing the distance between them. "Don't come near me!"

That man didn't speak a word in response, and instead, launched himself forward with three water whips hovering in the space around him.

"Fuck!" Flaming King cursed and ran away towards the exit, but his back was quickly smacked three times, knocking him to the ground.

-21

-21

-21

[HP: 17/80]

In just a second, he was down to 17 HP, already on the verge of dying. Again.

"What did I do to you?!" Flaming King howled in desperation as he looked at the man for the last time, but he only received a shrug.

"Wrong place, wrong time," the man replied as the Small Water Whip smacked him one last time, dealing a death blow.

[Ding! You were killed by Player Grind God. Your inventory dropped and you suffered from Red Zone Death Penalty.]

[Time to respawn: 5 seconds]