Monster collectors on the cross-platform

"Little Huo, this is too precious, I can't accept it."

“It’s alright, Aunt Maggie, it’s not worth much.” Despite Huo’s insistence, Aunt Maggie accepted it.

"Alright then, I'll give these bracelets to your wife when you get married."

Aunt Maggie was clearly a bit stubborn about this, but Huo just smiled and didn't take it to heart. With the help of the internet, he figured it would be difficult for him to get married in this world.

After helping Aunt Maggie prepare dinner, Valentine and Lawrence returned home in the sunset before the sun went down.

"Hey, Huo Huan, you actually know how to come see me!" Lawrence jogged over to Huo Huan, punched him on the shoulder, and complained loudly.

"Huo is back. How's work? Is it going smoothly?"

"Not bad, Uncle Valentine. Apart from the lower salary, it's quite easy."

"If you're willing, I can arrange for you to work in the factory. I'm currently a team leader on Line 3, and I can give you some easier work."

"No need, Uncle Valentine, my current job is fine." She smiled and declined Valentine's offer. She had to grind in the game every day, and working in the factory would not only be time-consuming, but also involve too many people and could easily cause trouble.

"You lot, aren't you coming over for dinner?" Aunt Maggie interrupted Valentine, who was about to say something, with her hands on her hips.

At the dinner table, the couple, who hadn't eaten together in a long time, surprisingly drank a bit too much, and with their faces flushed, they started rambling on and on.

They said it's convenient for a family to live together, and that it's easier to find a suitable marriage partner while working in a factory, unlike those who guard a cemetery and rarely see anyone all year.

Huo remained silent, simply burying his head in his food. Only after his uncle Valentine, who had drunk too much, was helped back to his room by Aunt Maggie did Huo quietly breathe a sigh of relief.

That evening, Lawrence began to recount his amusing experiences at the factory, from when he first entered the factory to his coworker Jimmy, and from his first paycheck to Riley in the bakery.

Huo listened quietly and noticed that the name Riley kept appearing in Lawrence's conversation.

"Lawrence, do you like Riley?" Huo suddenly asked while Lawrence was speaking.

“Yes, that’s right,” Lawrence paused for a moment, then said firmly, “I went to the factory to save money so I could marry her. Riley has already promised me that she will marry me as long as I save enough money.”

As the night deepened, Lawrence's voice grew softer and softer after a long day of work, until only a faint snore remained.

"Goodnight, Lawrence," Huo whispered as he watched Lawrence drift off to sleep, then closed his eyes and fell asleep as well.

The next morning, the rooster's crowing woke Huo Huan. Since becoming a player, Huo Huan's sleep quality had improved dramatically, and just 5 or 6 hours of rest could provide him with energy for the whole day.

I got up quietly and went downstairs, where Aunt Maggie was already preparing breakfast.

"You're up so early, Huo Huan? Why didn't you sleep a little longer?" Aunt Maggie was a little surprised to see Huo Huan up so early.

"I'm used to it," Huo said, and went over to help Aunt Maggie.

As the sun climbed completely over the mountain, the streets began to bustle with activity, and Lawrence, yawning, came down from upstairs.

"I'm done eating." After quickly finishing his breakfast, Lawrence, who had a whole day free since the factory was closed, grabbed Huo and prepared to go out.

"Riley!" Lawrence led Huo through a maze of turns to a bakery and waved to a girl inside.

Riley was clearly pleasantly surprised to see Lawrence. She quickly told her parents and ran out.

"Riley, this is my brother, Huo Huan," Lawrence said casually, patting Huo Huan on the shoulder as he introduced him to Riley.

"Hello, Ho, I'm Riley," the girl said with a big smile, but her eyes kept wandering over Lawrence.

Riley has a typical European face, with long golden hair braided into pigtails. She wears simple and clean clothes. Her looks aren't top-tier, but she exudes youthful energy and vitality.

The couple, deeply in love, were inseparable, and the original trio walking side by side became two in front of one and one behind.

Lawrence chatted and laughed with Riley as they walked, while Huo, trailing behind, inexplicably felt a kick.

Fortunately, Lawrence still remembered that he had a brother and didn't forget to buy three servings of snacks.

The three chatted and laughed all the way to the center of the town, where a large group of people, hired by the mayor at a high price, were setting up a temporary stage.

According to the rumors, the performance was scheduled for the afternoon. Some townspeople said that the performers had arrived yesterday and were staying at the mayor's estate, but they were sitting in a car and no one saw what they looked like.

After wandering around for a while and finding nothing of interest, Huo, not wanting to be subjected to any more PDA, made up an excuse to leave.

Compared to a mundane life, grinding through dungeons is definitely more fun.

I quickly cleared the goblin dungeon three times today, but apart from a piece of trash gray equipment, I got nothing else. I still feel like the drop rate in the dungeons is too low. Maybe the website wants to promote secondary professions.

Looking at my less than 1000 Zongwang coins, the idea of ​​getting a secondary job popped into my head again.

I just don't know what kind of secondary job would suit me. Ideally, it would be related to my main job, but Huo hasn't found any secondary jobs that are related to his main job yet.

The idea of ​​becoming a deputy lingered in Huo's mind for a while, but he eventually put it aside for the time being. It was almost noon, so he decided to have lunch first.

Back at Aunt Maggie's house, Lawrence had already returned. After dinner, with nothing else to do, Huo chatted in the group chat for a while, waiting for the concert to begin.

When it was almost time, Huo and Aunt Maggie's family went to the town center together.

The streets were unusually lively today, filled with townspeople who had come to see the celebrities.

The performance started soon, and after a few people went on stage to warm up the audience, the main performer finally took the stage.

The first word that popped into Huo's mind when he saw it was: exquisite.

There is no other word but "exquisite." The girl on stage had exceptionally fair skin and wore a white tutu, looking as exquisite as a porcelain doll.

The girl on stage listened to the barely suppressed gasps of the townspeople below and a satisfied smile appeared on her lips.

After looking around, the girl parted her red lips slightly, and a clear and melodious voice came from her mouth.

Is this a song? Huo was still a little puzzled. The girl's singing was like a melodious recitation of poetry. Although her voice was pleasant, Huo didn't like it.

Soon, the song performance ended, and the girl stepped off the stage. Sharp-eyed Huo immediately spotted Mayor Will Rosent at the back of the stage, fawning over the girl.

Huo knew perfectly well that inviting celebrities to the public was a pretense; the real purpose of our dear mayor was to pick up girls.

Chapter 16 Team Formation

The performance ended not long after it began, and the townspeople around were talking about the girl who had taken the stage. The men were amazed by her appearance, and the women admired her gorgeous clothes. Clearly, the girl who had become the subject of much discussion recently was the star.

After watching a boring performance, Huo quickly said goodbye to the Valentine family and returned to the gravedigger's hut along the dirt road.

Instead of taking a break, Huo opened the chat channel for the Kobolds dungeon to see if anyone wanted to team up for the Inferno difficulty dungeon. With Huo's current strength, soloing it was still too difficult; finding a few teammates would make things much easier.

[Online Professional Merchant - Qiqi]: Buying all kinds of ores at high prices, DM me if you're selling.

[Orange Brother]: Running through Hell difficulty, need one more tank (four players needed).++++

[Sunshine Boy]: Orange is still looking for the tank.

[Orange Brother]: Don't even mention it. I did recruit a tank last time, but I didn't expect it to be level 5 already. It leveled up to 6 after only a few runs.

[Jin Li]: Orange Brothers, do you need a tank? Do you think I'm up to the task?

Orange, who desperately needed a tank, immediately brightened up and sent a team invitation.

In the squad channel:

[Scholar]: Awesome, Orange, you found another tank.

[Delicious Mushrooms]: Great, we have a main tank again! I'm a priest, call me if you get hurt.

[I don't like copying books]: Bro, are you free? How about we play a game now?

[Jin Li]: Okay, wait a few minutes.

Huo also opened Qiqi's private chat.

[Jin Li]: Qi Qi, do you have any full-body fire-resistant armor?

[Online Professional Businessman - Qiqi]: Some bosses, please see which one you need.

Qiqi sent over dozens of pictures of full-body armor sets all at once. The cheapest was a white set that only increased fire resistance, while the most expensive was an orange set that offered various bonuses in addition to fire resistance.

Huo was very envious of the orange equipment, but unfortunately, he couldn't afford it at all. After looking around for a while, Huo chose a pure black full-body armor.

Name: Dark Steel Full Body Armor (Blue)

Type: Full Body Armor

Weight: 50 kg

Effects: Basic Fire Resistance, Toughness Rune, Levitation Rune

Description: A full-body armor made of dark steel, with good defensive capabilities. The armor is engraved with fire resistance magic runes, toughness magic runes, and levitation magic runes. After wearing it, fire resistance +1 and constitution +1 (only effective for constitution not greater than 19). Due to the engraving of levitation magic runes, the actual weight of the armor is only 5kg.

After Huo Huan paid 300 Zongwang coins, a set of all-black armor with a slightly ferocious look appeared in front of him. In addition to the reasonable price, the appearance of the armor greatly improved Huo Huan's evaluation of it. After all, strength is only temporary, but coolness is a lifelong matter.

After putting on his armor, Huo stood in front of the full-length mirror he had just bought for a while, admiring himself. The armor looked very cool, but it seemed a bit out of place when paired with his original shield and axe.

I bought a bottle of black spray paint from Qiqi and dyed the originally silver-white axe and shield black, which made them look much better.

After exchanging greetings in the team chat, Huo selected the instance to officially enter.

"Brother, the armor is pretty good." As soon as they entered the dungeon, a girl with short black hair curiously touched Huo Huan's armor.

"Orange, you've been stealing someone else's armor again. If you like armor so much, why don't you wear one yourself?" The words were spoken to a somewhat slender man with long hair. Judging from his attire, he was probably a mage. "Hello, I am Bu Ai Tiao Shu, a mage, currently level 4."

"I'm Junzichi, a level 5 priest. Nice to meet you." The speaker was a middle-aged man wearing glasses. However, judging from his suit, Huo really couldn't see any connection between him and a priest.

"Scholar, Level 4 Sniper, welcome to the team," a young man wearing a T-shirt and jeans, who looked like a high school student, said with a smile.

"I am Jin Li, a level 3 warrior, specializing in defense."

"I'm Orange, a level 5 assassin. Now that everyone's here, let's get started!" Orange brandished her dagger and charged into the cave.

This time, all of Huo's teammates were human, or at least they looked human, Huo thought to himself as he followed them into the mine.

The mine was cramped and dark. Behind Huo Huan, the copyist lightly waved his staff, and a white ball of light floated out from the top of the staff, landing above Huo Huan and illuminating the entire passage.

Huo continued walking forward, and after turning a corner, he saw the corpses of two kobolds lying inside the tunnel.

Orange was very fast, silently eliminating all the scattered kobolds along the way, and marking all the traps in the tunnel.

Huo was carrying his shield and hurrying along when he was stopped by the copyist before entering the excavation area.

"Wait a minute," Chao Shu pulled Huo Huan back, raised his staff and chanted a spell. A pale white light flashed at the tip of the staff and then disappeared without a trace. "Alright, let's go in."

The excavation area only had kobold miners and overseers, but no kobold warlocks. The kobolds' weapons alone could not break through Huo Huan's defense. However, Huo Huan did not forget his role. Instead of running into the monster horde to unleash his full power, he stood in front of his teammates and firmly blocked the monsters.

With Huo still blocking the way, those behind could attack with peace of mind.

The calligrapher's staff flew, spraying out streams of acid that evenly covered each kobold.

The scholar spread his arms, and dozens of bright silver dots surrounded him. After circling around him several times, they shot out with a whooshing sound, each silver dot hitting the kobold's head precisely.

Orange kept emerging from the shadows, and each time it appeared, it took the life of a dog.