Before crossing over, Wayne was a veteran player of Monster Hunter. Furthermore, the Blue Garuga was merely the first novice-level boss encountered in the starting village—a test for beginners equivalent to a kindergarten graduation standard.
Moreover, this was a virtual enhanced version. Movement, positioning, slashing, and defending were all controlled by the brain's consciousness, making it far faster and more efficient than using a mouse, keyboard, or controller.
The reason Dughan couldn't beat it was mostly due to his unfamiliarity with the game mechanics; he was still trying to fight monsters using his techniques as a town guard.
However, Wayne's attention wasn't on that right now.
At the moment, it wasn't just the residents of Goldshire watching. Some passing merchants and explorers, seeing such a crowd gathered here, followed their curiosity to investigate. Upon seeing Wayne's screen, their feet seemed to be cast in concrete, refusing to budge.
Consequently, the crowd grew larger and larger. This meant that the name of his "Goldshire Gaming Club" was finally spreading.
Though Dughan was still a bit unwilling, as the Marshal and Wayne's senior, he had to honor his word.
"Fine, I know when I'm beaten. Three... three members, right? I'll go ask around..." After speaking, Dughan left somewhat dejectedly. As the military commander of a town with thousands of people, it wasn't appropriate for him to linger here anyway.
As soon as Dughan left, Farley, the innkeeper, spoke up: "Little Wayne, how about I try this novel contraption of yours?"
Wayne pointed to Rule 2 on the wooden board: "5 Gold for membership, 1 Gold per hour."
Farley: "Can't you just give me one chance to experience it?"
Wayne sighed. In the world he came from, a "try before you buy" approach was a basic marketing tactic. However, the vending machine clearly stipulated that there were to be no discounts, promotions, or free trials, and the punishment for active violations was severe. He had no choice.
At that moment, someone who had been watching through the window from the back of the crowd spoke: "I'll try it."
She pushed through the crowd into the room, pulled out 7 gold coins, placed them on the table, and sat in the chair.
Everyone was shocked by this lavish gesture and bold aura. Pulling out 7 gold coins at once was several months' worth of living expenses for a family of four.
This 25-year-old woman, who was quite beautiful with a glamorous face and a mature, "big sister" voice, was a mysterious and tough character. She frequently appeared at the Lion's Pride Inn, her black hair tied in a braid, wearing a black leather armor jacket with two daggers often tucked into her waist.
Aside from interacting with low-level rogues who were just beginning their adventures and teaching them skills according to the Rogue Intelligence Network's pricing, no one knew what else this solitary resident of Goldshire did. Even her hometown and whether she had family remained a mystery.
Occasionally, drunken travelers would try to take liberties with this beautiful and curvaceous girl, only to be taken down in two or three moves. Once, three drunken dwarves rushed her at once; one was struck in the waist by her fist and collapsed paralyzed, another was hit in the throat with a wine glass and left gasping for air, and the last—who was attempting to chant a healing spell—was kicked directly in the mouth, losing two teeth. Seeing her charging with her fists, he had no choice but to beg for mercy.
For such a person to suddenly walk in and drop gold coins without a word was truly unexpected to everyone.
But even someone like Farley, who dared to joke with Dughan, didn't dare to make light of Corrine. The other acquaintances in Goldshire were even more cautious.
When she walked into the room, people made way for her not just because she was tough, but because she was a member of the Rogue Intelligence Network.
Although in the World of Warcraft, rogues registered with the guild are distinct from the immoral petty thieves who steal chickens and dogs—and are strictly bound by the guild and Alliance laws—they were still rogues, even if they were "good" ones.
A rogue's greatest ability was the skill known as "Stealth." Once stealthed, they could blend into their surroundings, making them completely invisible to anyone at a certain distance. With this ability, a rogue could sneak into target locations, obtain key items, or even take lives without anyone being the wiser.
Although rogues had once tried to change their class name to the more prestigious "Assassin"—and some magical places felt the word "Rogue" would corrupt children and make them want to steal when they grew up, insisting on calling them "Stalkers"—the vast majority of people still called them Rogues.
As the saying goes, "Better to be robbed by a thief than to be watched by one." Someone as wealthy as Farley was especially unwilling to provoke such a figure.
Wayne didn't care about any of that. Clear prices, honest business—it was the same for whoever came.
"Alright, 5 gold for membership, 2 gold for 2 hours. It's 12:20 now, you can play until 14:20." As he spoke, he put the goggles on the seated Corrine and introduced the basic controls. Under his guidance, Corrine began Monster Hunter G.
The crowd continued to watch curiously, looking back and forth between the images appearing on the screen and Corrine, who sat motionless in her chair wearing the goggles.
Perhaps because she had just watched Wayne kill the Blue Garuga, Corrine's learning curve was significantly faster than Dughan's. Before long, she accepted the quest to slay the Blue Garuga.
Corrine actually had an ulterior motive.
Besides being a class trainer sent by the guild to Goldshire to teach low-level adventurers—much like the mage trainer Zardimar—she had an identity unknown to outsiders: she was a secret agent for SI:7, the Stormwind intelligence agency.
SI:7, the clear copy of Earth's MI:6, could be considered one of the oldest existing organizations on Azeroth. Many years ago, when the ruling powers of Stormwind found that many things could not be achieved through public or legal means, they proactively contacted a group of notorious but highly capable thieves imprisoned in Stormwind Stockade. They promised that if they carried out actions under the kingdom's orders, their crimes would be pardoned.
From that moment on, SI:7, operating in the shadows, was established. Today, the vast majority of SI:7 members were still rogues, but unlike when they first joined the Alliance, they were now a formal official agency—though they still operated underground.
The members within the organization were divided into five levels, represented by the five fingers. Aside from the "Thumb" of the leadership, the other four fingers represented different ranks and were sent all over the world to execute missions of varying difficulty.
Corrine belonged to the fourth level, the "Ring Finger." She operated publicly as a rogue trainer, but her actual responsibility was to collect various types of information in and around Goldshire, reading and memorizing intelligence. They usually didn't need to steal directly; they were more often tasked with keeping watch and providing cover for the "Index" or "Middle" fingers during missions.
And now, she had developed an interest in this unprecedented "game." With such a thing appearing south of the capital, Stormwind City, there was no way she could miss investigating it.
While holding her sword and shield against the Blue Garuga, using the dodging and maneuvering she was already skilled at to contend with it, she also tried her best to investigate exactly how this game functioned.
She discovered that her rogue skills could not be used in the game. All she could do was dodge and slash. Wayne introduced her to several combos for the sword and shield; although it was a virtual enhanced version where one could attack freely, triggering specific combos still provided a damage bonus.
As someone skilled in dual-wielding daggers, she wasn't very proficient with the sword and shield.
Even though she had just watched Wayne kill the Blue Garuga without taking a hit, Corrine soon met the same fate as Dughan. Once the Blue Garuga used its screech to summon three smaller Blue Velociprey, she was surrounded and mauled to death, falling to the ground.
Seeing Corrine die a bloody and tragic death on the screen, the onlookers immediately let out cries of terror. A few women even covered their eyes, not daring to look.
"She's dead?" "Did she really die in there?" "How terrifying!"
Even Corrine herself asked, "Am I... dead?"
Wayne seemed completely unsurprised by the crowd's reaction. "You only died in the game. Otherwise, how could you still be talking to me?"
Immediately, the screen flickered, and a flatbed cart pushed by Felynes appeared. They placed Corrine's "corpse" on the cart and pushed it back to the camp, where Corrine stood up again.
The crowd erupted in gasps once more. "Oh! How miraculous! You can be resurrected after dying!" "It's true, look! You can't die!" "She was covered in wounds and bleeding so much just now, and yet she can come back to life?!" "If I had the money, I'd want to play too!"
Standing up again in the game, Corrine couldn't help but look down at her torso and limbs. Indeed, they were perfectly intact.
She couldn't help but think: This is too miraculous. Death is the thing most feared by everyone who engages in combat, yet here, one can return from the dead.
As an agent, she rarely took action personally. However, as a mid-level rogue, she cherished the feeling of sneaking behind an opponent, gripping her daggers, delivering a lethal blow with an Ambush, and then quietly vanishing into the shadows. If it weren't for her work, she would prefer to explore everywhere, see the wild beasts and monsters of various lands, and even dreamed of fighting a terrifying demon.
And now, this game could actually satisfy her desires!
She raised her sword and shield again. This time, following Wayne's advice, she brought Flash Bombs. Thinking she was fully prepared, she charged at the Blue Garuga once more.
Three minutes later, she was pushed back to camp by the Felyne cart again...
A look of disbelief and frustration appeared on Corrine's face. She was annoyed: I clearly just watched Wayne kill it once. All that dodging, positioning, and slashing looked so easy, so simple. Why isn't it working for me?!
Wayne, standing nearby, was all too familiar with this situation. In the terms of his old world, this was a classic case of "Easy to watch, hard to play"
However, he still had to encourage his players. If they were driven away by anger, how would he make money? Wayne suggested she switch to the Dual Blades, which she would be more familiar with.
Corrine accepted the suggestion but then asked a question that surprised Wayne: "This game... has no sense of pain?"
In the game, she could perceive smells, heat, and cold. Even when gathering herbs during a quest, her fingertips felt the slimy sensation of digging into the soil. Yet, when she was attacked by the raptor, there was no sensation of pain.
Wayne: "There is... are you sure... you want to turn it on?"
Corrine's goggles-clad head nodded. Wayne thought to himself, Heh, she's in for a treat.
He then walked to the side of the screen and tapped it a few times. New interfaces and characters continuously appeared. This was a common sight to Wayne, but it left the onlookers stunned. In Azeroth, only very senior Archmagi could write characters directly onto scrolls using magic. The legendary Inscriptionists required all sorts of special inks to write on scrolls.
Wayne set the pain synchronization to "Low," then told her she could continue.
I don't feel anything yet... Corrine thought.
This time, she swapped her weapon for Dual Blades, brought her Flash Bombs again, and rushed out of the camp toward the marsh where the Blue Garuga was located.
Upon reaching the marsh, she first circled behind the Blue Garuga. Unfortunately, in the game world, she couldn't perform a rogue's proudest "Stealth" skill; she only bent low and moved with quiet steps to minimize noise.
She approached slowly from the tail, and once close enough, she let out a flurry of slashes!
The Blue Garuga, caught off balance, fell to the ground wailing as Corrine's Dual Blades danced, sending flesh and blood flying.
It was clear that Corrine was much more agile and proficient with the Dual Blades than she had been with the sword and shield.
However, she was too impatient. She wanted to finish off the Blue Garuga right from the opening ambush. But with the power of the starter Dual Blades in her hands, there was no way she could kill this introductory boss so quickly.
The Blue Garuga got up and performed a tail swipe. Corrine, who was too greedy for damage and refused to dodge, was struck in the chest and sent flying backward.
At that moment, Corrine understood. In reality, her body felt no pain at all.
This is too incredible... she thought.
If it were an Illusion spell, it would only show phantoms. But something like this that can attach real senses is truly unheard of.
She began to seriously suspect that the Wayne before her was definitely not just the nephew of an ordinary blacksmith. There must be someone behind this shop. At the very least, the artisan who created this gaming equipment must be a miraculous Grandmaster.
But she didn't know that the scream she let out after the intense pain had come from her physical body sitting in the chair. She thought it was only her in-game self shouting, so she didn't see the strange looks from the surrounding crowd.
Corrine kept the goggles on and continued the game.
Even though she had been knocked a fair distance away, the Blue Garuga was already closing in, pouncing toward her. Corrine rolled to the side to dodge. Just as she stood up, the Blue Garuga's tail swipe arrived again, hitting her in the chest once more and sending her flying again.
Two consecutive screams of agony attracted many people passing by on the road outside to squeeze in and watch. Although some female onlookers found it frightening, many of the male onlookers became inexplicably excited.
"What's happening? What's going on inside?" "They say they're playing a game." "What kind of game makes those sounds?" "It sounds like someone is being tortured..." "Shh, be quiet, or we won't be able to hear."
Corrine quickly scrambled back and sheathed her blades. Under Wayne's guidance, she drank an Emergency Potion to recover health.
Wayne: "You can't rush this. You have to learn to position and dodge, then find the right opportunity to strike."
Corrine now realized Wayne was right. She drew her blades again and approached the Blue Garuga once more.
Dodge, two slashes, dodge, two more slashes. Although she was still occasionally scratched by the Blue Garuga's claws and let out cries of pain, even the non-combatants in the crowd could see that Corrine was being hit less and less frequently, and the intervals between hits were becoming longer.
This disappointed the onlookers in the outer circle who couldn't see the screen inside. The "unh, unh, unh" moans gradually decreased, causing the drool at the corners of their mouths to stop flowing.
However, the more it was like this, the more it stirred people's desire to peek.