The grand plaza outside the Adventurer’s Hall was louder than a crowded market.

Dozens of players stood in front of a giant wooden bulletin board, their voices shouting over one another as they tried to put together raiding parties.

"Need a Level 6 Mage for the Goblin Caves! Equal split on copper drops!"

"Looking for a Priest with high mana recovery! Serious runs only!"

Asher walked toward the edge of the crowd, his steel vanguard sword catching the bright sunlight.

He still hadn’t bought a shirt from the Stream Shop, and the dark pink scar on his right arm from the Cave Stalker bite was fully visible.

The chat log in his vision was rolling at a steady pace. The viewer count had broken past 2,600.

[User_Tim99]: Look at all these players. They’re actually using gaming slang. This world really is just a giant live MMORPG.

[LootGoblin]: Hey streamer, check out the bounty board. Look for something that gives a high stat reward.

[NoobSlayer]: Wait, look at that group on the right. They’re laughing at your trousers, bro.

Asher followed the comment and turned his head slightly.

A few feet away, a four-man party wearing clean, polished iron chest pieces was staring at him.

The leader was a tall man with a heavy broadsword resting on his shoulder, a smirk cutting across his face.

His blue name tag floated clearly above his head: [Level 7 Swordsman - Iron_Vanguard_Gideon].

"Hey, beggar," Gideon called out, his voice loud enough to draw the attention of the surrounding players.

"Did you lose your shirt in the starter ditch, or are you trying to scare the monsters away with your ribs? If you’re that desperate for gear, I can give you five copper coins to sweep our guild stable."

His party members let out loud laughs, crossing their arms as they looked down at Asher.

Asher didn’t get angry. He didn’t even frown.

In his past gaming life, he had dealt with toxic players every single day.

A toxic player wasn’t a threat; they were a content source.

He looked directly at the floating camera drone, giving his viewers a subtle wink.

"Sorry, man," Asher said smoothly, turning his attention to Gideon. "I’m a bit busy today. I came here to pick up a real quest, not to do chores for low-level rankers."

The smirk instantly vanished from Gideon’s face.

His brow furrowed, and he took a step forward, the heavy iron boots clanking against the stone floor.

"Low-level? I’m an elite rookie member of the Iron Vanguard guild. We control the best hunting grounds outside the western walls. What’s your level anyway, trash?"

Asher didn’t hide his status.

He allowed his name and level tag to become visible to the public.

[Level 5 Vanguard - Chronos]

Gideon blinked, looking at the number, and then let out an even louder laugh.

"Level 5? You haven’t even unlocked your first active class skill yet, and you’re talking trash in the hub city? Alright, let’s make a bet, kid. You see that mercenary quest on the board?"

Gideon pointed a thick finger toward a large red parchment pinned to the center of the wooden board.

[Mercenary Quest: Iron-Tusk Boar Hunt]

[Objective: Collect 10 Iron-Tusk Boar Hides from the Oakhaven Suburbs.

Reward: 50 Silver Coins, +100 Guild Reputation.

Warning: Iron-Tusk Boars have high physical defense and are aggressive.]

"My party is heading out to farm those exact boars right now," Gideon sneered, leaning his face closer to Asher’s.

"If a Level 5 trash like you can collect ten hides before my squad does, I’ll drop my iron boots right here and hand them to you. But if we win, you have to kneel down and delete your character name live in front of the plaza. Deal?"

[MinMax_Andy]: DON’T TAKE IT! Iron-Tusk Boars have a high defense modifier. A level 5 character without armor will get stomped by their charging attack. They do blunt structural damage!

[LootGoblin]: Take the bet! Take the bet! We’ve got over 1,000 SP in the bank, streamer! Buy a shield and face-slap this clown!

[User_Tim99]: Look at the chat, everyone is getting hyped! The viewer count is jumping!

[Current Viewers: 3,100]

Asher looked at the text rolling across his vision, a sharp, cold smile forming on his face.

He didn’t need to buy a shield. He had Ironhide, a Rank S passive that gave him a permanent 300% defense boost.

A boar hitting him would be like a rubber ball bouncing off a stone wall.

"Sure," Asher said, ripping the red quest parchment off the board with his left hand.

"I like free boots. Don’t complain when you have to walk back to the city barefoot, Gideon."

"You’re dead meat, kid," Gideon growled, turning around and waving his hand to his party. "Move out! Don’t let this beggar even find a single track!"

The four-man squad rushed through the grand gates, their iron armor clanking loudly as they headed toward the grassy plains outside the walls.

Asher didn’t rush.

He walked calmly toward the gates, adjusting his steel vanguard sword over his shoulder.

"Alright, chat," Asher said aloud, his voice relaxed as he looked into the blue camera lens.

"We have our first official speed-run challenge. A Level 7 party versus a naked Level 5 Vanguard. I’m going to show you how a real pro farms a map."

He stepped past the shadow of the stone archway and into the vast, open plains of the Oakhaven suburbs.

The dirt road split into several paths winding through high green grass and clusters of dense forest.

In the distance, he could hear the deep, grunting sounds of wild beasts.

Asher activated [Shadow Perception].

Even though the sun was shining brightly, the passive trait sharpened his vision, highlighting the bent blades of grass and deep mud prints left by the wild animals.

He could see a trail of heavy, split-hoof tracks leading toward a small grove of oak trees on his left.

"Found them," Asher whispered.

He moved off the main road, entering the high grass.

Within a few minutes, he spotted his first target.

The beast was massive, about the size of a small pickup truck. Its skin was a dark, leathery gray, covered in thick bristles that looked like iron needles.

Two long, curved ivory tusks protruded from its lower jaw, gleaming with a sharp, dangerous edge.

[Monster Name: Iron-Tusk Boar (Level 6)]

[Health: 300 / 300]

[NoobSlayer]: Wow, that thing is huge. Look at the tusks!

[MinMax_Andy]: 300 HP but look at its armor layer. Normal physical attacks will lose 50% of their value unless you hit the soft underbelly. Streamer, you need a pierce strategy.

"Pierce?" Asher smiled, stepping out of the high grass and letting his bare chest show in the clearing. "Why pierce when you can just tank the hit?"

The moment his feet touched the open dirt, the Iron-Tusk Boar stopped rooting through the soil.

Its small, red eyes snapped toward Asher. It let out a deep, angry snort, shaking its massive head as steam escaped its nostrils.

It lowered its front shoulders, its heavy hooves tearing up the grass as it began to charge.

The ground literally vibrated under Asher’s feet as three tons of muscle and iron-like skin accelerated straight toward his chest.

[User_Tim99]: ACCELERATION! MOVE SIDEWAYS, STREAMER!

[GamerGuyX]: HE’S NOT MOVING! IS HE LAGGING?!

Asher stood perfectly still, his boots firmly planted in the soil.

He didn’t even raise his sword to guard. He just activated [Ironhide] internally, his baseline defense numbers skyrocketing in the system backend.

The boar closed the distance in a split second, its massive ivory tusks driving straight into Asher’s ribs with the force of a battering ram.

BANG!

A loud, metallic echo rang out through the grove, sounding like a sledgehammer hitting an anvil.

The massive beast’s forward momentum came to a sudden, violent halt.

Asher didn’t fly backward. He didn’t even cough.

He stood his ground, his charcoal-dense skin absorbing the entire kinetic impact. A small blue prompt popped up over his head.

[HP: 240 → 235 (Physical Damage Blocked by Ironhide)]

The Iron-Tusk Boar let out a confused, high-pitched squeal, its head shaking violently from the rebound shockwave.

Its tusks were stuck against Asher’s side, unable to pierce even a single millimeter of his flesh.

"My turn," Asher whispered.

With a clean, fluid motion, he raised his steel vanguard sword and drove the blade straight down into the back of the monster’s unprotected neck.