Fireballs slammed into the Golden Slime King, and the boss's health continued to drop.

  CrimsonLotus was an extremely well?coordinated team. Several heavily armored knights took turns tanking the boss's attacks, stepping back to chug potions the second their health ran low, with perfect, seamless rotations.

  But players' gear in the early game was still far too shabby. Most only had a single piece of white?tier boots or rough leggings, and barely any had Defense above 20. Even with CrimsonLotus's flawless coordination, their melee players still got picked off by the boss one after another.

  To make matters worse, the boss's poison attack had a splash effect that drastically boosted its damage. Many CrimsonLotus players were killed outright by ranged poison before they could even get close to the boss.

  Even so, the boss's health kept falling steadily, and it was nearly empty. Kiriya was torn. Should he rush out to snatch the loot, or watch the boss that should have been his get taken by someone else?

  To be honest, CrimsonLotus's members did not have the malice of CorrodedCrown. The tacit understanding and camaraderie between them were obvious. They were no random mob. Kiriya actually liked them.

  But liking them was one thing. They had still indirectly stolen his boss.

  Just as Kiriya hesitated, something sudden and unexpected happened.

  A roar shook the entire wilderness. The dying Golden Slime King erupted in golden light, and its body swelled to nearly twice its size.

  CrimsonLotus_Lusk paled. "Watch out! The boss is going berserk!"

  CrimsonLotus_Ragnar cursed. "Just our luck, running into a berserk on our first boss kill!"

  In the blink of an eye, the Golden Slime King let out a deafening roar, and a golden shockwave crashed outward like a tidal wave.

  Sharp, piercing sounds rang out nonstop. Every CrimsonLotus player was hit by the shockwave, and 205 damage floated above nearly every head. Those with low health were killed instantly, and even the tanky players who had invested in Vitality lost a third of their health.

  It was not over. The boss roared again, and a second golden shockwave slammed into them.

  CrimsonLotus_Ragnar's face went pale. "Damn! We bit off way more than we could chew!"

  CrimsonLotus_Lusk also looked helpless. "If it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be. I told you looting other people's kills would come back to bite us."

  Two cries of pain rang out. CrimsonLotus_Lusk and CrimsonLotus_Kratos were both killed instantly.

  What followed was a one?sided massacre. After the fourth shockwave, every CrimsonLotus member was dead. But the Golden Slime King was still in a murderous frenzy, unleashing wave after wave of golden shockwaves without stopping. Kiriya lost count of how many there were from his hiding spot.

  Thankfully, Kiriya had stayed patient and hidden the entire time. The giant tree he was hiding behind blocked all damage for him. Even though he was just a short distance from the boss, he remained completely unharmed.

  In the distance, a huge crowd of players stared at the berserk boss from afar, but not one dared to step forward. Even a strong team like CrimsonLotus had been wiped out. Casual players had no wish to throw their lives away.

  Nearly ten minutes later, the boss finally stopped roaring, and the golden light around it faded abruptly.

  Perhaps because he was so close, a combat prompt sounded directly in Kiriya's ears.

  Ding!

  Combat Prompt: The Golden Slime King has exited its Berserk state and entered a Weakened State. Defense reduced by 50%!

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  Kiriya's heart surged with joy. This was his chance. The weakened state after Berserk was the perfect time to finish it off.

  He leaped out of the woods without hesitation. The Glimmering Battle Axe sliced down through the air, tearing straight through the Golden Slime King's body with a wet crunch.

  348!

  The massive damage over 300 points thrilled Kiriya. The weakened boss was practically defenseless. Even though its poison attacks were still fierce, Kiriya chugged a Medium Health Potion that restored 300 HP and pressed in for close?range damage.

  Players in the distance cried out in shock, and many sprinted over, shouting. "Where did this kid come from? Hurry up, or it'll be too late!"

  Amid the shouts, Kiriya yanked the axe back and slammed it into the boss's head again. The next second, the Golden Slime King's massive body collapsed with a thunderous crash.

  Ding!

  System Prompt: Congratulations! You have slain the boss Golden Slime King! Gained 50000 EXP, Reputation +300!

  The massive surge of experience shot Kiriya straight to Level 12. Beneath the boss's corpse, two pieces of equipment had clearly dropped.

  Kiriya stepped forward quickly and stuffed both pieces of gear into his inventory before the other players could arrive. He checked the corpse again and found nothing else besides coins.

  Scattered on the ground were several golden coins. They were gold coins. This boss had dropped gold coins outright.

  He counted them up. 12 gold coins total, plus a huge pile of silver coins. Many silver coins had fallen into the grass, and Kiriya picked them all up patiently, not wasting a single one.

  By the time he had picked up all 84 silver coins, the watching players had closed in, many eyeing him hostilely. Everyone knew that a first boss kill always dropped equipment.

  Kiriya glanced at the crowd. The highest level among them was only 8, and they still held rusted iron swords. He did not see these newbies as a threat at all.

  He raised the Glimmering Battle Axe and said calmly. "What, you want a piece of this too?"

  The players were intimidated by Kiriya's aura. Several hesitated, then shook their heads and left one after another.

  Just then, another group of players arrived. It was the CrimsonLotus members.

  They did not come in full force this time, only four people. Leading them were CrimsonLotus_Lusk and CrimsonLotus_Ragnar. One of the other two was a Level 10 Dark Mage with the ID CrimsonLotus_Elias.

  The one who caught Kiriya's eye most was the last player. She was a Level 10 Priest named Violet.

  Violet had long purple hair and wore a cream?white robe. Even though it was just ordinary white?tier gear, it highlighted her gentle temperament. She was extremely beautiful. She had less lively cuteness than Lina, but more mature elegance. She looked about twenty?four years old, with a completely different vibe from Lina's girlish charm.

  Kiriya's gaze lingered on Violet for two seconds before moving to the others. His calm composure surprised the CrimsonLotus group, and Violet's lips parted slightly in shock. She was amazed by how clear and sincere the young man's eyes were, with no hidden motives.

  CrimsonLotus_Lusk looked at the boss's corpse, which was fading into the ground, and smiled and shook his head. "Buddy, you took down this boss, didn't you?"

  Kiriya nodded and admitted it openly. "That's right. I landed the first hit, and the last one too."

  The sentence made it clear that he had not stolen the kill. He had finished off the weakened boss with his own skill.

  CrimsonLotus_Lusk was easygoing and laughed. "Then we have to congratulate you. Say, if the boss dropped any gear you can't use, would you sell it to us first? We'll pay double the market price."

  Kiriya eyed him suspiciously, and Lusk quickly added. "Forgot to introduce myself. I'm Lusk. These are my teammates, Ragnar, Elias, and Violet. We all moved to Eternal Art Online from other games, hoping to relive our old glory. Our team is called CrimsonLotus. We have over a hundred members right now, and the four of us are the core."

  Kiriya smiled. "So you don't know each other in real life?"

  Lusk laughed aloud. "We're all over the place, only keeping in touch by phone. Ragnar and I are in City D, Elias's in City H, and the beautiful Violet next to you lives in City S."

  "Oh? Same city as me?" Kiriya was slightly surprised.

  Violet also froze, glanced up at him, but said nothing more.

  Lusk clapped Kiriya on the shoulder. "Bro, taking down this boss between CorrodedCrown and CrimsonLotus proves your strength. Wanna be friends and fight together later? Oh, we still don't know your name."

  Kiriya realized he had been hiding his ID this whole time, looking all mysterious. He turned his name display on right away.

  "KiriyaNoir…" Lusk murmured the name once, then smiled. "Interesting name. Say, let's see what gear the boss dropped. It'll help you pick your class later. We'll pay top dollar for anything you don't need."

  At the same time, Lusk sent Kiriya a friend request, which Kiriya happily accepted. Ragnar and Elias added him next. Violet stood quietly off to the side, so Kiriya sent her a friend request on his own initiative. The girl looked up at him, her cheeks flushing slightly, and nodded to accept.

  Kiriya opened his inventory and checked the two dropped items: a longbow and a set of armor. He looked at the armor's stats first.

  [Wasteland Armor] Bronze · Armor

  Defense: 50

  Strength: +5

  Level Requirement: 14

  Unidentified

  Kiriya's heart jolted. The armor was still unidentified, yet its base stats were already this powerful. Once identified, its stats would surely be even better.

  The Bronze tier was far higher than Black Iron. This was most likely the first Bronze?tier equipment since Eternal Art Online launched.