Chapter Thirty-Five: The Mask of Izumo

"Alright, onto the second round!"

Diving back into the arena, this time he had barely found his footing when someone recognized him. With no other level 10 players present, what should have been a proper PvP match quickly turned into an impromptu fan meet-and-greet.

"If you have time, come watch my stream! My stream ID is drz02825!"

Slipping in a quick advertisement, Huang Yunshuo was teleported out.

"So what if you got the first dungeon clear? If we don't leave our mark today, you think the three of us can't beat you?"

Three level 10 players stood before him—one clad in Iron Shield chest armor, another in a noisy little Chicksuit set. Among regular players, they were already figures to be revered. But now, the three had formed an alliance, intent on preventing Huang Yunshuo from seizing both flags.

The other players made room, watching from the sidelines, chatting, recording videos, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.

"Is that so?"

Huang Yunshuo curled his lip. He needed to secure those 140 PvP points from seven rounds—no room for negotiation. Any fool who got in his way would be dealt with, plain and simple.

"Get him!"

The three exchanged glances and rushed forward shoulder to shoulder.

Huang Yunshuo couldn't help but laugh. These three fools were truly entertaining. His defense was 27—twenty-seven! Break through that? Not happening.

Clearly, their experience was lacking—they thought no one at this stage could break through another's defense at level 10. They had no idea how terrifying high offense and agility could be. Well, today, he'd let them taste true despair.

With lightning speed, Huang Yunshuo charged in, raised his shield to block one attack, sidestepped another, and then slashed at his opponent with his iron sword.

-18! -8!

-1!

-37!

-1! -1!

Surrounded by three, their attacks couldn't even scratch him. The one Huang Yunshuo targeted lost half his health in the blink of an eye.

"What the hell, how does he hit so hard? My defense is 22!"

That player tumbled away in disbelief, shouting. With 22 defense, he was losing nearly 20 health to a basic attack—just how high was this guy's offense?

Huang Yunshuo, fast and agile, danced among the trio with dazzling maneuvers, slipping behind them and landing two consecutive critical strikes to the back of the neck.

His opponent turned into a flash of white light; Huang Yunshuo spun to face the other two.

The three were utterly stunned by Huang Yunshuo’s onslaught. They couldn't harm him at all, while he could finish them off with a few blows. They couldn't even run. How was anyone supposed to play like this?

Their confidence was shattered after each had died twice.

But Huang Yunshuo had no intention of letting them off easy. What a joke—he loved PvP, and with these lower-level players, he had to seize the opportunity. It was rare to encounter such easy targets—no way he'd let them go.

In five minutes, Huang Yunshuo killed the three of them a combined twenty-three times before, satisfied at last, he was teleported out.

He spent 1,100 copper coins to buy two more dungeon runs. After using up all his attempts, he exchanged for three white equipment packs and ten bottles of mana recovery spray.

"Open!"

Choosing a white equipment pack, Huang Yunshuo opened it.

Cloud-link Gauntlets (White), Level 10

Strength: +5

Constitution: +3

He burst out laughing—his luck was off the charts! Not only could he equip the Cloud-link Gauntlets himself, he didn't even need to swap anything out since he hadn't had gauntlets before.

His strength jumped to 95, constitution to 32, and he now had 160 HP—a significant increase from when he fought the Gaggleclaw Projection.

"Open!"

Auspicious Cloud Breastplate (White), Level 10

Class requirement: Warrior

Defense: +12

Warrior-only, but with an instant +12 defense—4 points higher than the blacksmith shop's chestplate. Definitely a popular item.

"Open!"

Mask of Emergence (White) *Rare, Level 10

Class requirement: Archer

Attack: +6

Unique Passive Skill [Precision]: Normal attacks have +10% crit rate

"Dammit..."

Huang Yunshuo nearly spat blood. A direct boost of 6 attack? That's equivalent to 30 points of constitution, and it doesn’t even occupy the weapon slot.

Not to mention the 10% crit rate—an average of one double-damage hit every ten attacks, effectively a 10% damage boost. Lethal.

"Whoever wants this will have to pay through the nose."

He clenched his fist with determination, but just as he finished his harsh vow, a thought struck him.

If Dewy Dawn saw this, she would definitely buy it at any cost, wouldn't she?

Why not contact her?

It was far better to sell such a good item to someone he knew than a stranger, and Dewy Dawn was rich—he wouldn’t lose out.

Huang Yunshuo opened his private chat with Dewy Dawn, skipped the pleasantries, and sent her a screenshot.

"A piece of white gear you can use—one million credits."

In just five seconds, Dewy Dawn replied.

Huang Yunshuo responded, "[Expression: Cold]."

"Give me five minutes, I’ll go buy another run."

Dewy Dawn played five times and earned 40 PvP points, then immediately purchased her first paid attempt for 100 copper coins and entered.

Huang Yunshuo found a spot to idle, then logged onto the official Reforged Age forum to write a post.

"Auspicious Cloud Warrior Chestplate, 12 Defense, for Cloud-link Set—PvP pros, come quick!"

He posted an image of the Auspicious Cloud Breastplate, noting that he wasn’t interested in helmets, robes, or gauntlets, then browsed other threads.

"Worthless Level 10 Hotshot Gets Toyed with by Self-Proclaimed Noob in Capture the Flag"

Huang Yunshuo clicked in with interest and watched a five-minute full match video.

"This sneaky poster started recording from the very beginning, clearly planning to shame the guy afterward. I’d chop down any jerk like this if I saw them," Huang Yunshuo muttered.

The video featured a level 10 player with a temperament strikingly similar to Cold Gaze, swaggering around, provoking everyone.

The gist: "You losers just chat on the sidelines; I’m taking both flags myself."

Predictably, he was swarmed by nearly a thousand players.

The worst part was, unlike Huang Yunshuo’s match, many of his attackers were higher-level—dozens were over level 5.

Average players at level 5 didn’t dare fight Little Stone Turtles, so they farmed Chicks instead. The rewards were meager, but after enough kills, the copper coins added up.

With all the copper coins from PvE dungeons, many level 5 and above players had already started buying armor from the blacksmith.

So, although they were only level 5, their defense was usually over 10, and some level 7s and 8s had 20 defense.

This poor level 10’s attack was too low—he couldn’t even stay standing under the siege. As for the two flags, forget it—he died five times in one match, a truly miserable fate.

"Showing off only to get struck by lightning," Huang Yunshuo grinned.

He had to admit—Reforged Age’s newbie phase was really interesting. Armor was dirt cheap and ubiquitous, but there were never any weapons with bonus attack stats.

That meant all players had low offense but high defense—nobody could cut through anyone. Even a level 10 player often had to call a level 5 "daddy" when surrounded by a crowd.