Chapter 120: A+ Pet Egg

Taking advantage of the brief moment when the boss was stretching and at its most relaxed, Lu Kuan launched himself like a bullet fired from a chamber. Without a backward glance, he dove headlong into the cave entrance just inches away.

"Sizzle..."

The Flame Wyvern immediately sensed something was amiss. Turning its head, it caught sight of Lu Kuan’s back as he scrambled into the cave. It let out a furious roar, its massive jaws gaping wide. The folds of skin around its neck instantly flared out, and a torrent of red flames swept across the cave entrance.

"BOOM!"

Lu Kuan didn't need to look back to know what had happened. The scorching air rushed at his back almost instantly. He felt a searing heat on his backside and the back of his head as a string of "-10" and "-11" damage indicators flashed across his vision.

*Screw it, all or nothing!*

Lu Kuan exerted every ounce of strength he had. Using the shockwave from the boss’s breath attack to propel him, he gained a burst of speed. Just as the flames were about to lick at his heels, he threw himself forward in a desperate leap!

He landed on something incredibly soft, likely a thick bed of plant leaves, though the stench was foul enough to make him gag.

There was no time to dwell on it. Lu Kuan scanned his surroundings rapidly. The vast space was littered with the bones and remains of various beasts.

In the southwest corner of the cave, several snow-white wyvern eggs, each the size of a watermelon, lay quietly among the grass, emitting a faint, maddening white glow.

At that moment, Lu Kuan’s buff had only four or five seconds remaining.

*Faster, faster, go faster!*

Lu Kuan shouted internally. He dropped a Vine Trap at his feet without even checking if it would work, and without breaking stride, he charged toward the nest and reached out to grab the eggs.

"ROAR!"

In less than two seconds, the Flame Wyvern boss had reached him. Seeing this petty thief daring to touch its offspring, the boss flew into a frenzy. As it lunged, it unleashed another torrent of flame directly at Lu Kuan.

In an instant, fire engulfed everything!

The plants in the nest turned yellow and ignited; animal remains were charred to a crisp. Only the eggs remained unscathed, as the boss's offspring were immune to their parent's breath.

When the flames subsided, Lu Kuan was nowhere to be seen. The boss flapped its massive wings, landed on the nest, and looked down. Two of the eggs were missing.

"ROAR~"

The earth-shattering roar echoed throughout the underground tunnels, startling the birds and beasts near Red Rock Mountain, sending them fleeing far from the wyvern's lair.

Lu Kuan didn't even know if he had succeeded, because the moment his hands touched the eggs, he had been instantly killed.

His vision went dark, then brightened, and he found himself back at the character selection screen. A string of system notifications popped up:

"System Prompt: You were too close to the Flame Wyvern's breath range. You took 13 points of fire damage."
"...You took 20 points of fire damage."
"..."
"You were hit by the Flame Wyvern's breath attack. You took 1200 points of fire damage (Overkill: 990 points)."
"You have died."
"You have lost 30% of your current level's experience. Current total experience: Level 13, 77/2329."
"Please select: Respawn at your currently bound resurrection point?"

Lu Kuan chose to respawn. With a melodic chime, light flickered before his eyes, and countless white lines of code coalesced into towering buildings and a bustling crowd.

A few seconds later, Lu Kuan appeared at the resurrection point at the east gate of Lava Fortress. The first thing he did was open his inventory.

His two bags, previously packed with parchment, were now more than half empty—the result of death drops. That was the downside of being killed by a field boss; the drop rate for items was significantly higher than in PvP.

But Lu Kuan had no time to worry about that. In the corner of one bag, two snow-white pet eggs lay quietly, their purple labels denoting their rare, high quality.

"Pet Egg (Relic Grade)"
"Hatching: Incubate at the stables for 24 hours to obtain the pet 'Flame Wyvern'."
"Pet Rank: A+"
"Hatchings remaining: 1"
"Mutation probability: 1%"

"It's still here! Thank god it didn't drop! Hahahaha!"

Seeing the egg’s attributes, Lu Kuan felt his heart surge. He couldn't help but put his hands on his hips and laugh toward the sky!

However, Lu Kuan looked rather wretched. Most of his gear was basic starter equipment; his shirt was tattered, and there were two long, jagged rips on his shoulders. He looked quite the vagabond.

The booming laughter and his disheveled appearance successfully drew the attention of nearby players, making Lu Kuan the center of attention at the resurrection point.

Lu Kuan didn't care. He strode toward the city center while sending screenshots of the pet egg's attributes to Qian Duoduo and Heaven’s Eternal Gloom.

The two eggs had similar stats, differing only in mutation probability—2% and 1%—which was negligible.

Once a pet mutated, it was guaranteed to gain a talent skill and had a small chance to increase its rank. It was a "dream" attribute that relied entirely on luck.

Heaven’s Eternal Gloom was the fastest to respond. Just seconds after Lu Kuan sent the message, the guild leader replied with his usual brief, domineering style:

"I'll buy it!"

"Hehe, no rush," Lu Kuan chuckled, replying, "I definitely want to trade in the real world this time. No one in the game has that many gold coins. As for the price, we can discuss it slowly in a bit."

Lu Kuan was telling the truth. Players were still low-level; even a massive guild like Dark Heaven probably only had a total treasury of around ten thousand gold. Even with real-world currency conversions, it wouldn't be enough to buy the pet eggs.

Heaven’s Eternal Gloom was decisive. "No problem. See you at the tavern in a bit."

They agreed on a time. Lu Kuan headed straight for the tavern, and Heaven’s Eternal Gloom returned to the city from his leveling map. Five minutes later, the two met in a private room at a tavern.

The moment they saw Lu Kuan, Heaven’s Eternal Gloom and his companions looked bewildered, their expressions caught between wanting to laugh and not daring to. Lu Kuan felt a wave of frustration.

"Go ahead and laugh. I just respawned from a death," Lu Kuan said helplessly.

"Haha! That death was worth it! Totally worth it!"

Heaven’s Eternal Gloom clapped his hands in amusement. He couldn't wait to reach the table, looking at Lu Kuan expectantly. "Quick, let me see the goods."

Without needing to be urged, Lu Kuan placed the watermelon-sized pet egg on the table and displayed its attributes to everyone.

The eyes of the men across from him lit up as if they were looking at a legendary beauty. Heaven’s Eternal Gloom, sitting closest, couldn't help but gently stroke the shell of the egg with both hands, scrutinizing the attribute text over and over again.

As if sensing someone outside, the interior of the egg pulsed with a faint red light, then dimmed, repeating the cycle as if something inside were breathing.