Chapter Thirty-Nine: Killing the Old Black Man

The black old man was a close-combat Dreamer, wielding a heavy-backed broadsword with a fierce flourish. Working in concert with the nimble gang leader, Lo, they jointly besieged the Double Dragon brothers. The white girl, on the other hand, stood empty-handed at the side, her abilities unknown.

Wang Ling gripped his refined iron battle axe and charged toward the fray. When he was about twenty-five meters away, the white girl suddenly launched an attack: a throwing knife flew from her hand, hurtling toward him.

This was a common mob skill.

So-called mob skills are abilities that might drop after defeating ordinary enemies like “Broomhead”—things such as Heavy Punch, Super Kick, Thrust, Charge, Flying Kick, Sliding Tackle, and the like—none particularly powerful. The white girl's “Throwing Knife” was precisely this sort of skill.

Mob skills are commonly found across many world scenarios, but skill books themselves are not easy to come by. For instance, in this world, Wang Ling and Hei Zi had killed plenty of “Dark Fighters” in the nightclub, but gained nothing for their trouble.

Not only mob skills—after killing Williams, only a strengthening potion dropped; after killing Big Sister Linda, just a badge. The absence of skill books pointed to a low drop rate in these world scenarios—this was one reason why even an E-rank skill book fetched between two and six thousand currency points on the free market.

When Wang Ling had done his beginner quests, the Hammer Turtle in Mario World, in theory, could drop a “Throwing Hammer” skill book, yet after killing many, he hadn’t gotten a single one.

The girl’s “Throwing Knife” was a skill obtained in the GBA version of Final Fight, from red-clad knife-wielding thugs.

Though the throwing knife was fast, it was still much slower than a bullet. Firearms, while extremely practical for beginner Dreamers, were rare. Even in worlds centered on guns—like Contra on FC or Metal Slug on GBA—most firearms were plot items and couldn’t be brought out.

What’s more, not every gun has infinite ammo; sometimes bullets are even harder to come by than the guns themselves.

A gun without bullets isn’t even as useful as a dagger!

So, the throwing knife counts as a decent mob skill—after all, it allows for ranged attacks, and since it’s a skill, it consumes mental power to use, with no need to carry a huge stockpile of knives.

As the throwing knife shot toward him, Wang Ling tilted his head and narrowly avoided it; it flashed past his face. He swiftly stowed his iron battle axe and drew his white-iron musket.

To protect low-level Dreamers who had yet to develop and prevent them from being ambushed, Dream Badges alert the wearer when another Dreamer enters a one-kilometer radius. The white girl was on guard as Wang Ling approached; when she saw he had a gun, and that it glimmered faintly with a red light, she was shocked and quickly pulled out a small round shield to cover herself.

She was just in time. The next instant, with a thunderous gunshot, a lead bullet struck the shield, leaving a small dent with a resounding clang.

The old black man was startled as well. He’d assumed his companion’s ranged attack would be enough to keep this lone Dreamer at bay—never expecting the opponent would have a gun, and a red-glowing elite weapon at that! Dreamers with such high-level gear were far beyond his ability to handle.

He had survived four mainline quests, always choosing the safest routes, and so had not reaped great rewards; his abilities were mediocre. Now, seeing the white-iron musket, he abandoned his attack on the Double Dragon brothers and turned to flee.

The white girl, seeing her companion run, panicked and fled as well. The white-iron musket had a one-minute cooldown between shots; unable to fire again so soon, Wang Ling put it away, gripped his axe, and chased after the two.

With his sprint skill, the gap between Wang Ling and the fleeing pair closed rapidly. At this point, the old man suddenly grabbed the girl's shoulder and yanked her violently to the ground!

The white girl, thrown down, let out a despairing scream. Her hand flashed with steel, and a throwing knife embedded itself in the old man's backside. He grunted, but did not pause, continuing his desperate dash.

Clearly, the old man intended to use his companion’s life as a shield against Wang Ling. Disgusted by this, Wang Ling ignored the fallen girl and pursued the old man closely.

The two of them raced through the alleys of Chinatown, one after the other. When the distance shrank to just five meters, the old man, unable to shake his pursuer, suddenly stopped and turned.

Wang Ling immediately halted his sprint. As the heavy broadsword hacked toward him, he raised his axe to block. Blade met axe in a shower of sparks. The old man, who had survived several main quests and specialized in strength, had a distinct advantage in power.

The refined iron battle axe was knocked aside by the broadsword, and the old man, delighted, activated a mob skill called “Cleave.” Gripping his sword, he hacked down, the blade biting into flesh, then yanked it fiercely, ripping open his opponent’s chest in a spray of blood—a gruesome sight.

With a shrill scream, the victim clutched at the gushing wound and collapsed. But rather than joy, the old man was filled with rage, for the one who fell was not Wang Ling, but a white youth with spiky hair and a black vest.

Broomhead!

This was the “Dark Fighter Summon” skill attached to the pseudo-Seven-Colored Dream Equipment, “Linda’s Wish.” In the moment of danger, Wang Ling had retreated while consuming fifteen mental points to activate the skill.

Broomhead materialized in front of him, taking the brunt of the savage blow. Simultaneously, a Thug and a Hippie appeared—one flung his arms wide to bear-hug the blade directly; the other tackled the old man around the waist.

Wang Ling’s white-iron musket was still on cooldown. He had intended to save his Fire Bullet skill for the gang leader, Lo. But then it occurred to him: if he killed the leader himself, would the higher-ups among the Dark Fighters dispatch two commanders, making escape even harder?

With this in mind, Wang Ling didn’t hesitate. He switched from axe to musket; a flash of red, and a crimson bullet shot from the barrel.

He was extremely close to the old man, and with two Dark Fighters restraining him, there was no chance of missing. The shot struck the old man's head squarely, exploding through his brow. Flames burst forth, engulfing Thug and Hippie alike, and even Wang Ling himself was caught in the blaze.

He hastily retreated, beating out the flames on his clothes. Looking at the old man—though he hardly needed to—he knew the black man was dead. After all, the white-iron musket’s base damage was already high, and the Fire Bullet skill was devastating. A direct hit to the head was a fatal strike to a weak point. Unlike Bai Feng, this man had no protective energy—how could he survive?

As the flames died down, Wang Ling saw the old man had been charred black. At that moment, his Dream Badge issued a prompt:

“You have killed Dreamer number 9755. Your kill count increases by 1. This person has killed three other Dreamers; with a kill count of 3, the chance of item drop upon death increases. You may choose one of the following three rewards:

One: Obtain 53% of the opponent’s currency points, attribute points, and skill points.

Two: A 53% chance to acquire one piece of the opponent’s equipment.

Three: You may randomly draw from three slots in the opponent’s storage pouch; stackable items count as one, and an empty slot yields nothing.”

The old man’s kill count was nothing compared to that of Hei Zi from Indonesia, and the reward had dropped accordingly. With just a 53% chance, Wang Ling quickly ruled out the second option. After brief consideration, he chose the first.

The old man was not particularly strong, and likely had nothing valuable. Besides, with only three random slots, even if there was something good, the odds of drawing it were slim. If he picked empty slots, he would regret it bitterly.

Broke as he was, Wang Ling desperately needed currency points. Choosing the first option would at least provide some relief. The badge’s prompt soon gave him a pleasant surprise:

“You have received 9,861 currency points, 0 attribute points, 0 skill points.”

“So the old man had used up all his attribute and skill points, but had stashed away this much currency!”

What Wang Ling didn’t know was that Dreamer 9755 had been saving up to buy a decent piece of armor in the free market.

The three summoned Dark Fighters—Broomhead, who was killed, and Thug and Hippie, who were burned along with the old man—would all respawn after an hour, so Wang Ling was unconcerned.

There was no time to rest; Wang Ling hurried back along the path of the chase. The white girl, naturally, had taken advantage of the chaos to escape.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, the arrival of Wang Long, a minor boss-level figure, had boosted the morale of the Double Fist Dojo disciples, who proceeded to wipe out most of the Dark Fighter mobs. However, for this mission to destroy the dojo, the white girl and the old black man had persuaded the elite leader Lo to help.

Due to earlier attacks on the Dark Fighters, the cautious and cowardly Lo had brought along some elite mobs: elite Broomheads who could somersault and flying kick, elite Thugs with combo punches, elite Hippies who could throw flaming firebombs!

The elite mobs didn’t have high mental stats, and their skill usage was limited. Now, at a disadvantage, they all unleashed their abilities. Several dojo students were sent flying by combo punches or flying kicks, coughing up blood as they fell. Five elite Hippies hurled one red, cannoncracker-like firebomb after another, turning the area around Wang Long into a sea of flames.