A few minutes later, Riley was walking with a smirk on his face.
In just a short span of time, he had sold out everything he put out. Every potion, every piece of equipment—it was all gone, snapped up by the players who had surrounded his stall like moths to a flame.
Now, he held over thirteen silver coins in his storage ring. A small fortune, considering that was equal to thousands of dollars in the real world.
His name was now quite popular within the village.
Even as he walked, Riley could hear players mumbling about him, however, he ignored all of them.
He simply kept walking, not even glancing at the players.
As for his destination, it was the southern gate.
That was where the famous dire wolves roamed, another monster which was known to give early players trouble.
They were larger, aggressive, and more dangerous compared to most monsters in the novice continent.
But Riley wasn't just going there to hunt dire wolves.
His goal was different.
Unbeknownst to the players currently, there was a secret area hidden within that part of the map.
An area that wasn't meant to be discovered for at least another three days.
In his past life, it had been uncovered by a rookie player who stumbled upon it completely by accident.
The player had gone in alone and died while exploring it.
After dying, he then went on one of the forums to explain the dangers behind that area, as well as how difficult it was to defeat the monsters there.
His warning had gone unnoticed at first, but a few beta players decided to try it out themselves, only to find out he was saying the truth.
But unlike the other player, they managed to clear the secret area, and even fulfilled the quest attached to it.
However, Riley wasn't going here just to hunt monsters.
There was actually a lot more attached to that secret area than the players knew, a fact which would later be revealed years after.
The area was actually related to demons, and was a crucial part of how they managed to easily invade earth.
Though the existence of demons didn't get known until later in the game, during the exploration of the first city, they had actually been active in the game from the very beginning.
Their plan had always been to take over earth, and conquer it, just like they had did so many other worlds.
Riley's face squeezed into a frown when he remembered this, and he subconsciously clenched his hands into fists.
'Demons… don't worry, I won't let you have your way this time.' He thought.
[You have entered the area of Dire Wolves!]
A notification suddenly appeared in front of him, and Riley let out a light sigh.
Compared to the Spiked Rats area, the dire wolves area was a large forest, filled with tall trees and bushes.
'Dire wolves huh…' Riley thought, slowly pulling out his daggers.
Unlike when he walked through the spiked rats area, and Burus' treasure was warding off the monsters, there was nothing like that this time, so he had to be more careful.
"Aghhh!!" A loud scream suddenly echoed from the side.
Riley's head snapped toward the source of the noise, just in time to see a player burst out from the trees.
His leather armor was scratched and torn, his breathing frantic as he sprinted forward without looking back.
"Help! Somebody help me!"
The bush behind him rustled violently, and a second later, a massive, gray-white wolf exploded out of it with terrifying speed.
Its paws slammed into the earth with a heavy thud, propelling its powerful body forward like a missile.
The player screamed again, pure panic in his voice—but it was already too late.
With a single leap, the wolf pounced.
Crunch!
Its massive jaws clamped down on the player's neck and head in one swift, brutal motion. There was a wet, sickening sound, and then the player's body collapsed.
Tiny white particles scattered into the air where the player once stood, and he was instantly logged out of the game.
Riley's gaze sharpened.
He didn't waste a second.
His feet pushed off the forest floor as he leapt backwards, instantly putting distance between himself and the monstrous wolf.
The monster snarled, its head snapping toward him. Over its head, a few translucent floated in the air.
[Dire Wolf]
[Level: 6]
[H/P: 90]
It stood a little over a meter tall, its gray-white fur thick and coarse.
Two long, sharp fangs jutted from its jaws, still glistening with the lingering white particles of the player's death.
The Dire Wolf didn't even glance at the remnant white dots drifting through the air, its blood-red eyes locking onto Riley.
Then, it snarled low.
And charged.
Riley didn't hesitate.
His fingers twitched and a whisper passed his lips. "Stealth."
His body shimmered and vanished from sight, blending into the forest around him. His steps became near-silent as he darted forward—not away, but toward the wolf.
However, that didn't seem to deter the wolf, as it kept on charging forward, sniffing the air as it did so.
Dire wolves were fast and strong, and unlike the spiked rats, they had keen senses and instincts, making them more dangerous.
'It's nose sure is sharp, but dire wolves still have some weaknesses…' Riley thought, keeping his body low, while holding his daggers in reverse grip.
His movements were fast, fluid, practiced.
Riley didn't give it time to react, he swiftly closed in on the monster and slashed a dagger at the wolf's forelimb.
But the moment the blade came within striking distance, the wolf suddenly turned.
Growl!
It whirled with unnatural speed, growling loudly as it lashed out with one of its claws.
The slash missed, but just barely—Riley twisted mid-motion and tumbled to the side, skidding across the dirt before popping back to his feet.
"It caught me." Riley thought, a wry smirk plastered on his face.
Growl!
The wolf growled, crouching slightly with its legs bent and tail raised up.
Riley's eyes narrowed at this, and his lips curled into a faint smirk.
'It's going to use it.' He thought.