Chapter 53: Hunter's Mark

Qin Yuan's gaze narrowed, and the runes at the tip of his staff rapidly coalesced.

Blink!

With a flash of his figure, he dodged the incoming strike.

Landing a dozen meters away, Qin Yuan hurled the holy water potion he had long prepared straight at the enemy.

The charging Pumpkin Lord instinctively raised its weapon to parry.

Upon impact, the glass vial shattered and exploded instantly.

Some of the potion splattered onto the weapon, while a considerable amount splashed directly across the Pumpkin Lord's body.

A few stray droplets even landed on its pumpkin head.

Then, an astonishing sight unfolded.

Wherever the holy water touched, pure white flames instantly flared up.

"......"

The intense agony brought the Pumpkin Lord's charge to an abrupt halt, leaving it frozen in place, convulsing in torment.

The malevolently smiling pumpkin head from moments before was now twisted into an expression of sheer horror.

Qin Yuan naturally would not let such a golden opportunity slip away.

Spell after spell was unleashed upon the creature.

His target was precisely that pumpkin head.

Fire Butterfly!

Lesser Fireball!

Even Feather, hovering nearby, joined in with a rapid succession of Soul Blades, striking every single vital point.

Under the relentless bombardment, upon reaching a certain critical threshold, the monster's skull finally cracked open.

Yellowish fluids spewed in all directions.

Fortunately, due to the distance, none of it splashed onto Qin Yuan.

"Is it over just like that?"

Watching the fallen monster, Qin Yuan found it somewhat hard to believe.

Everything had gone far too smoothly!

Of course, this success was inseparable from the aid of the holy water potion and Feather's soul-based attacks, both of which had inflicted devastating staggers.

[Prompt: You have obtained fifty Pumpkin Candles. Your current total is eighty-seven.]

[Prompt: You have obtained three Pumpkin Essences. Your current total is four.]

As the system prompt chimed,

Qin Yuan's heart leaped with joy as he readied himself to seek out his next target.

Suddenly, an abrupt anomaly occurred.

The Meteor Staff in his hand began to tremble faintly.

This was triggered by the passive effect of its blue-tier affix, which served as an early warning system in times of danger.

The next second, a flurry of rapid footsteps echoed near his ear.

Qin Yuan whipped his head around, a sudden jolt of terror gripping his heart.

A warrior player wielding a spear was sprinting fiercely toward him with a sinister glint in his eyes.

The distance between them was less than twenty meters at that moment.

For a charging warrior player, crossing that gap would take barely over a second.

Just moments before, both he and Feather had focused almost entirely on the Pumpkin Lord, leaving their blind spots unguarded.

Unwittingly, this person had managed to close in on them.

And judging by the look of it, the newcomer was certainly harboring malicious intent.

With no time to ponder why this player was attacking him, Qin Yuan instinctively attempted to cast Blink to put some distance between them.

However, the distance was simply too short!

There was no time left!

Before the runes could even fully form, the player's spear thrust forward viciously, aiming straight for his chest.

The formidable physical conditioning granted by the warrior class made his movements exceptionally swift.

The entire motion was completed in the blink of an eye.

At this critical juncture, despite the slight constitution boost granted by the Sacred Vein Fruit, Qin Yuan could only twist his body marginally in a desperate bid to shield his vital organs.

The next instant.

The razor-sharp spear pierced directly through his left shoulder.

Flesh and blood splattered!

Realizing his first strike had not been fatal, the player yanked the spear back, preparing to thrust again.

Fuelled by a frantic surge of adrenaline, Qin Yuan managed to temporarily suppress the agonizing pain.

The spell casting in his hand remained uninterrupted.

Blink!

The magical radiance inscribed itself into reality, sweeping his body away in an instant.

This time, the distance reached the absolute limit of twenty meters.

Landing heavily on the ground, Qin Yuan cast a cold glare at the player. With no leisure to tend to his wound, a crimson-red rune rapidly formed.

Simultaneously, he began retreating to widen the gap.

Since the other party was determined to kill him,

Qin Yuan naturally had no intention of holding back.

The lightning-fast exchange had not escaped Feather's notice. The moment the cooldown on Soul Blade ended, the owl flapped its wings, dispatching a translucent blade of soul energy flying swiftly toward the assailant.

The spear-wielding player keenly sensed the incoming attack from above. His exceptional physical prowess allowed him to execute a fluid roll, narrowly dodging the blow.

And then.

He crashed head-on into the incoming Fire Butterfly!

The sounds of successive explosions echoed through the air.

Yet, the player did not die instantly.

Though he looked thoroughly battered, soaked in blood, and even missing an eye, he still retained a shred of fighting capacity.

The next moment, his legs coiled like springs, and with gritted teeth, he lunged forward once more.

However, the Fire Butterflies that had detonated against his legs noticeably hindered his movement speed.

"I didn't provoke you..."

Qin Yuan immediately unleashed a pre-charged Wall of Frost, erecting it right in front of him.

High above, Feather sent another Soul Blade flying.

The injuries to his legs deprived the warrior player of the agile reflexes he had shown moments earlier.

Instantly, the razor-sharp blade sliced clean across his neck.

Blood spurted wildly as his head was cleanly severed from his body.

Only then did the system prompts ring out.

[You have killed an unknown player (LV5).]

[Detected that this player was the holder of the "Hunter's Mark."]

[Hunter's Mark (Twisted Forest Dream-exclusive item): An item sold by the Carriage Merchant. This item periodically marks surrounding players and reveals their locations. Killing a player while holding this item allows you to plunder all of their Pumpkin Candles and Pumpkin Essences. As a trade-off, upon death, the mark holder will likewise drop all of their collected Pumpkin Candles and Essences.]

As the player died, both his equipment and corpse slowly dissolved into nothingness.

Following that, a large cluster of Pumpkin Candles detached itself from his remains and flowed directly into Qin Yuan's body.

[Prompt: You have obtained thirty-two Pumpkin Candles. Your current total is one hundred and nineteen.]

[Prompt: You have obtained three Pumpkin Essences. Your current total is seven.]

"Hunter's Mark?"

Reading the system notification, Qin Yuan fell into deep thought.

As long as one held this mark, killing other players allowed them to plunder candles and essences.

So that was why this player had ambushed him?

Before he could ponder further, a sharp, searing pain suddenly flared from his left shoulder.

As the adrenaline wore off, the reality of the wound that had been suppressed moments ago finally hit him.

"Hiss..."

Qin Yuan's facial muscles twitched uncontrollably.

Gritting his teeth and enduring the agony, he dug into his inventory, fished out a healing potion, and drank a portion of it.

The remainder he poured directly over the wound.

As he felt a gentle, restorative warmth begin to seep into his flesh, the bleeding gradually subsided and the throbbing pain eased.

He had to admit, the alchemical potions of this world truly offered miraculous efficacy. Even the most rudimentary healing potion outperformed many top-tier pharmaceuticals in both pain relief and cellular regeneration.

Regrettably, the prerequisite for using them was the activation of a vocational system, rendering ordinary people in the real world unable to benefit from them.

Otherwise, wealthy elites would undoubtedly fight tooth and nail to acquire them.

Feather fluttered down anxiously, peering with concern at the injury on his shoulder.

"How is the situation?"

Qin Yuan flexed his arm slightly. Fortunately, the wound was on his left shoulder, which did not heavily interfere with his spellcasting. As long as he avoided violent movements with his left arm that might tear the stitches, it was entirely manageable.

"Don't worry, the problem isn't too severe. People always say warrior players hold the upper hand in the early stages; I hadn't truly experienced it until now, but it turns out to be entirely true..."

Recalling the events of a moment ago, Qin Yuan felt a lingering sense of awe.

Once a mage was cornered in close quarters by a warrior, much like what had just happened, the reaction window was terrifyingly narrow.

They would instantly plunge into a massive disadvantage.

Such were the inherent limitations of their classes.

Yet, if the two combatants managed to keep their distance and fight in an open environment, the battle would immediately shift into the mage's domain of absolute advantage.

"I'll need to be much more careful next time..."

"And remain far more vigilant toward other players."

After resting in place for a good while, Qin Yuan resumed his monster-grinding routine.

Though the shoulder wound still posed a minor hindrance, relying on Feather to supplement his damage output meant it was ultimately a non-issue.

Another two hours slipped away.

[Prompt: You have obtained three Pumpkin Candles. Your current total is one hundred and forty-two.]

At that moment, Feather suddenly descended from the sky, bringing with it some welcome news.

"There's a carriage with a glowing lantern up ahead. That should be the Carriage Merchant you mentioned."

"Really?" Qin Yuan's eyes lit up. Guided by the owl, he advanced a short distance through the dim, amber glow, catching his very first glimpse of the Carriage Merchant's true appearance.

It was an entity draped in a pitch-black cloak, hovering suspended in mid-air like a phantom, with only a glowing pumpkin head exposed.

Sensing someone approaching, its gaze shifted slightly before it spoke in a chilling, hollow tone:

"Take what you need, see for yourself."

The Eye of Revelation supplied a stream of deeper information.

[Pumpkin Dream Spirit: A creature born of the ancient Pumpkin Dream (now the Twisted Dream). Following the complete devourment of the "Pumpkin Lord" by wandering souls, it has been reduced to a soul-less puppet.]