The mountain was barren.
The grass was withered.
There weren't even many trees in the area. All there was, was a simple stronghold built out of wood.
This was a desolate mountain peak, even in the strictest sense of the word. Birds flying through were even unwilling to stay in the area for long.
"Sigh!" Qin Shujian was sitting on a large rock, bored stiff. Next to him was a large, chipped blade.
He wore a patched-up shirt and straw sandals that had holes on them.
Qin Shujian honestly looked more like a beggar than a bandit.
But, he was really a bandit.
No. More accurately, he was a Mountain Bandit.
Name: Qin Shujian
Identity: Ordinary Mountain Bandit
Affiliation: Liangshan Stronghold
Stage: Martial-Entry Level One
Cultivated Techniques: Bodyforge Manual Level One (Five Levels in Total) (Mortal Tier Low Grade)
Equipment: Chipped Large Blade, Tattered Shirt, Tattered Trousers, Tattered Straw Sandals
This was Qin Shujian's current attribute panel.
He thought that he had passed through to another world and became reborn when he first arrived in this world.
However, after he spent a day here and understood the situation, Qin Shujian finally realized that he had become an NPC in a game.
As for how he couldn't be sure.
That was because there was a timer at the lower right corner of his attribute panel that was constantly counting down.
"There are two days, 15 hours, 23 minutes, and 41 seconds until the Players descend onto this world."
"Sigh!" Qin Shujian let out another long sigh when he read that.
The Players were going to arrive.
No matter how he looked at it, his current status was that of a fodder NPC, who was stationed in a starter village.
He existed to provide new players with experience points.
Killed…Revived. Then killed again…Then revived again.
Qin Shujian suddenly remembered scenes of him playing games in the past.
He hadn't felt anything for the fodder NPCs back then. However, now that their identities have been changed, he deeply felt that sense of anguish.
Wait a moment!
Qin Shujian's expression suddenly turned rigid.
He seemed to have neglected something.
That was…
The identity of the body he was in currently was originally that of an NPC. However, he had now forcefully taken over the body and replaced its identity.
Since that was the case, whether or not he could revive after he was killed was unknown.
Qin Shujian suddenly had an epiphany when he thought about the matter and jumped off from the large rock.
"No… This won't do!"
"If I can't be revived, I'll be in huge trouble!"
"There is just a little more than two days left before the Players arrive. I can't sit around and wait to be killed."
Qin Shujian took a few deep breaths and looked at the countdown on his attribute panel. It felt as though he was looking at the countdown to his death.
It had been difficult for him to obtain a new life. Even if he had to be an NPC, it was better than completely vanishing from the world.
"Even if I have to be an NPC, I will never be a fodder NPC!"
Qin Shujian silently set a goal for himself.
He had to increase his level if he did not want to become a fodder NPC. He could only free himself from this awkward situation if he improved his strength.
This game did not have the leveling system that he was familiar with.
Instead, this game used a different classification of stages.
As for the Bodyforge Manual, Qin Shujian did manage to find the manual for that technique in his mind.
The manual he found only provided rough instructions for him to train his body. It required him to train consistently and for a long time. There was no way for him to achieve results within a short time.
But…
Qin Shujian had his own ideas.
Since this was a game, he should be able to level up by battling NPCs.
As for where he could go to fight NPCs?
Qin Shujian glanced at the people walking around him. He had a faint smile on his face.
He was in a nest of NPCs. He didn't have to search for them.
The only question that remained was...
Since he was also an NPC, would he obtain experience points or the equivalent of this game if he killed his brethren?
Qin Shujian bent over and picked up the large, chipped blade. He then walked toward a Mountain Bandit, who was dressed similarly to him.
At the same time, the attributes of that Mountain Bandit appeared in his mind.
Name: Zhang Ergou
Identity: Ordinary Mountain Bandit
Affiliation: Liangshan Stronghold
Stage: Martial-Entry Level One
Technique Cultivated: Bodyforge Manual Level One
Aside from their names, the Mountain Bandit was identical to Qin Shujian.
Qin Shujian didn't know if it was because of a special quality in this game or because he belonged to the same camp as the other Mountain Bandits.
Anyway, as long as Qin Shujian thought about it, he would be able to see the other party's attributes.
Even though the attributes he saw were not extremely complete, he could get a general idea.
The Mountain Bandit stood blankly at his original position when Qin Shujian approached him. His eyes looked to the distance, and he remained motionless, like a piece of wood.
Qin Shujian had tried interacting with these people in the past, but they never seemed to move.
Other than Qin Shujian's own body, the other Mountain Bandits were no different from the fodder NPCs he had seen in the past.
They did not know how to converse and seemed to have no intelligence.
They ate, rested, and patrolled the area at the same time every day. It was as if they carried out their actions based on their settings.
"Brother!" Qin Shujian patted the other party's shoulder.
Zhang Ergou turned back to glance at him, then rotated his head back to its original position.
"Groan…"
A large hand covered the Mountain Bandit's mouth, then forcefully tossed him toward a giant rock behind him.
Zhang Ergou's limbs struggled instinctively when he saw that his mouth and nose were being covered. His blank gaze seemed to have a shred of confusion. Qin Shujian's gaze became merciless. The blade in his hand suddenly moved.
It was a chipped blade, but it was unusually sharp.
The blade entered Zhang Ergou's flesh with a soft creak. Zhang Ergou's body was pierced through, and blood flowed down his chest.
A warm current rose and entered Qin Shujian's body through the large blade.
Thump!
Qin Shujian's legs turned limp as he staggered and fell onto the ground. His chest rose and fell intensely, and his face became visibly pale.
Qin Shujian had killed someone!
He had killed someone!
As he looked at Zhang Ergou, who died indignantly, and the blade that was dyed red from his blood--Qin Shujian found the bright red blood to be exceptionally jarring.
Qin Shujian did not expect the death of an NPC to be that realistic.
There was an instant where he mistakenly thought that he was not in a game and killed a real person, not an NPC.
Fortunately, Qin Shujian was not in shock for too long when Zhang Ergou's corpse slowly vanished from before his eyes.
He only left behind the large, chipped blade. The blade fell to the ground the moment it lost its support.
Thud!
A gentle thud rang out as the large blade fell to the ground. It shook Qin Shujian back to his senses.
He let out a long sigh when he witnessed the scene. His pale expression recovered a great deal.
"That's alright… Even though it's a little too realistic, at least my initial guess was right."
It was not that Qin Shujian did not dare to kill a human; however, there was no way that he could do it decisively and without any emotion.
He calmed his heart down. Qin Shujian only now remembered the warm current that had risen within him and immediately checked his attributes.
Name: Qin Shujian
Identity: Ordinary Mountain Bandit
Affiliation: Liangshan Stronghold
Stage: Martial-Entry Level One
Cultivated Techniques: Bodyforge Manual Level One (+) (Five Levels in Total) (Mortal Tier Low Grade)
Life Value: 1
Equipment: Large, Chipped Blade, Tattered Shirt, Tattered Trousers, Tattered Straw Sandals
The attribute panel was almost the same as before.
However, the difference was that there was now a panel for Life Value.
Also, there was a plus sign behind Bodyforge Manual Level One.
Qin Shujian could not help but have a thought when he saw the plus sign. He tapped on the sign gently with his consciousness.
He saw his one Life Value instantly become zero.
The words "Bodyforge Manual" in the cultivated techniques tab also started to contort. Then, a pulse of strength welled up in his body. There seemed to have been a delicate transformation.