"I should be able to enter Martial Entry-Level One after I kill two more monsters!" Cao Hong looked at his attributes. The progress bar of his main cultivation technique was almost full.
He had not even leveled up once even though he had spent more than a day playing the game. This made him feel that the leveling system's speed was the slowest of all the other games he had played in the past.
However, he had fallen deeply in love with the game's world. His passion stemmed from everything in the world being incredibly realistic.
Other than the fact that players could respawn infinitely, everything else was no different from the real world.
That included their names.
There were no nicknames in this game. Everyone entered this game with their real names.
That meant that a person would be called whatever their real name was in the game.
Cao Hong had played many games in the past and had garnered a vast amount of experience. Thus, he had searched for the training hall and sought out a teacher the moment he entered the game.
He was confident that not more than ten players from Starter Village #10021 would reach Martial Entry-Level One faster than he did.
It had to be made known.
Just the players in Starter Village #10021 alone numbered in the tens of thousands.
However, the difficulty level of this game was high.
Because this world was too similar to the real world, the monsters they fought in the game were more challenging to deal with than monsters they previously fought in other games.
Many players continuously explored the surroundings, but they had only managed to understand a ten-mile-radius around Starter Village #10021.
They had no way of going any further.
Cao Hong squatted down and took out a short dagger from his equipment panel. He then harvested the dead deer in front of him.
This game didn't have the function to collect loot bound to a key.
Other than equipment that would actively appear when a monster was killed, the players had to personally harvest any material they needed from the wild monsters' bodies.
Cao Hong decided on an attacking strategy before he entered the wilderness.
He knew which parts of the wild deer were worth money and which areas were not.
He spent a great deal of effort and harvested most of the valuable parts of the wild deer.
Cao Hong wanted to continue harvesting the meat from the wild deer, but it suddenly disappeared.
He knew the disappearing deer meant time was up.
There was another aspect of the game he didn't like. The monster's respawn rate was too fast.
The system didn't care whether or not the player was done looting the corpse. The corpse would disappear once the time was up--it wouldn't stay for an additional second.
"But, I could probably get a nice sum of copper coins if I took the deer back and sold the parts!" Cao Hong had a satisfied expression when he looked at the material in his bag.
A few dozen copper coins were enough for him to purchase a decent weapon.
The steel sword he had purchased to explore the wilderness only cost him 30 copper coins.
Cao Hong stood up and looked at the color of the sky. He arrived at an estimate.
"It's only noon now. It shouldn't be too hard for me to kill two more monsters. It looks like I'll be able to reach Martial Entry-Level One today!"
The wilderness was much more dangerous at night.
Even though players could respawn an infinite number of times, they had to pay the price every time they respawned.
Cao Hong didn't wish to regress to his original level now that he was about to reach Martial Entry-Level One.
…
A steel sword was pulled back. A jet of fresh blood flew into the air.
A wild deer that was half the height of a man slumped onto the ground, motionless.
Cao Hong's body trembled slightly. He had a comfortable smile on his face.
Martial Entry-Level One!
Cao Hong had spent nearly two days attempting to finally surpass the first hurdle. His progress was now in front of most of the other players.
Cao Hong intended to return to the village after he looted his spoils of war.
He didn't want to act recklessly even though he had already leveled up.
Just as Cao Hong was about to turn to leave, he saw a human figure out of the corner of his eye.
The figure was wielding a large blade and dressed in tattered clothes.
That was a humanoid NPC!
Cao Hong reacted immediately.
He had roamed in the wilderness for a long time and had mostly encountered wild monsters like wild beasts. This was the first time he saw a humanoid NPC like the one in front of him.
The other party had a weapon in his hands. His expression looked fierce.
If this had been half an hour ago, Cao Hong would have prioritized retreat.
However, now that he had reached Martial Entry-Level One, the boost in his abilities gave him confidence and encouraged him.
Furthermore, the humanoid monster in front of him didn't look too powerful.
"The humanoid NPC might drop several good items when I kill it," Cao Hong deliberated. He looked toward the humanoid NPC in front of him and walked over slowly.
The other party seemed to notice him. The NPC raised the large blade in his hands and shouted as he charged toward Cao Hong.
"It's good that you're approaching me!" Cao Hong secretly thought to himself. He immediately got into his battle position and was prepared to duel with the humanoid NPC in front of him.
But, without giving Cao Hong a chance to display his skills, he saw countless humanoid monsters swarm out from around him.
One, two… ten… 20!
There was a horde of them. The humanoid monsters instantly surrounded Cao Hong.
Cao Hong's expression turned deathly gray. He nearly lost grip of the steel sword in his hand.
He didn't expect the one-on-one he envisioned to instantly become a group beating.
Cao Hong swallowed with difficulty when he saw the shining large blades and his enemies' fierce gazes.
Run!
That was Cao Hong's first reaction.
But, he was already surrounded. He hadn't managed to take a few steps forward before he was knocked to the ground by the flurry of blades.
The intense, realistic pain made him turn pale.
He couldn't even scream pathetically when countless large blades obscured his vision.
"F***..." Cao Hong could only have that thought before his vision faded to darkness.
White light scattered into the surroundings in the next instant.
There was only a steel sword left where he had been.
Qin Shujian walked forward. Beside him, Zhao Shanlin picked up the steel sword and handed it over to Qin Shujian.
"Stronghold Chieftain, this was an item dropped by the Outlander."
"Yes!" Qin Shujian looked at the attributes of the steel sword after he received it from Zhao Shanlin. It was no different from the large blades that the ordinary Mountain Bandits held. He then tossed the sword over to a Mountain Bandit who was still using a wooden rod as a weapon.
"Relay my orders, kill any Outlanders who step two miles out of Starter Village #10021."
"Yes!"
Zhao Shanlin immediately relayed the order.
He then expanded his search of the wilderness with the rest of the Mountain Bandits.
Even though he didn't know why Qin Shujian wanted to kill all of the Outlanders, he didn't have the thought to probe any further.
Since he had already joined the Liangshan Stronghold, Zhao Shanlin knew what to ask and what not to ask.
Moreover, in his eyes, even though the Outlanders looked about the same as them.
There were ultimately some differences between their races.
This made him involuntarily think about something Zheng Fang had told him in the past.
If the other party were not of the same race as them, they must have different thoughts as them.
Thus, it was alright to kill them.
When Zhao Shanlin and the rest of the Mountain Bandits spread out into the wilderness, there was only Qin Shujian left at the original position.
He was satisfied when he saw that Zhao Shanlin always kept a respectful look toward him.
He didn't have to think too much about some matters.
It was enough that Zhao Shanlin was obedient and proved useful for him.