Player IGN: Wolf of the Grassland
Cultivation: Mortal
Physique: Mortal
Wealth: 1000 Orbes
Vitality: 0.7
Endurance: 1.4
Strength: 0.8
Stamina: 0.7
Speed: 0.7
Spirit: 1.9
Ignoring the player ign, there were no changes in his stats other than his wealth which now had 1000 Orbes in it.
"So the currency here is called Orbes and I got 1000 from the newbie gift." Mark mumbled upon checking his player information. He then inspected the other things he got from the newbie gift.
[Ordinary Shirt]
+ 0.1 Cold Resistance
+ 0.1 Heat Resistance
[Ordinary Pants]
+ 0.1 Cold Resistance
+ 0.1 Heat Resistance
[Ordinary Shoes]
+ 0.1 Cold Resistance
+ 0.1 Heat Resistance
[Ordinary Sword]
+ 0.5 Damage
[Ordinary Cultivation Manual]
+ 1 Qi every hour of cultivation
[Coarse Bread]
- An ordinary piece of bread. It can satiate hunger.
[Ordinary Storage Bag]
- It has a small space inside that can store 10 items.
Mark equipped the items and he kept the cultivation manual and coarse bread inside the storage bag. He then checked his player information.
It was still the same, but there were three new additional attributes.
Cold Resistance: 0.3
Heat Resistance: 0.3
Damage: 0.5
After checking his stats, Mark found out that he was no longer inside that empty white space. He was now in the middle of a forest, surrounded by tall trees and dense shrubbery. He searched for the little fairy, Victoria, but she was nowhere to be found. "Where am I?" He uttered in shock.
He could feel the wind blowing on his skin. He also felt the warmth coming from the scattered light that was filtered by the leaves of the trees. The unique smell of the forest entered his nose, making him feel refreshed and relaxed. "What a wonderful feeling!" He exclaimed.
Mark touched the trunk of a tree and the grass. It felt no different than reality! "So this is what 100% realism feels like. No wonder this game gained worldwide popularity and recognition."
According to the data on the website of Ethereal Inc., there were over 500 million people who preordered the gaming headgear of Ethereal World Online. This was the most number of preorders received by a virtual game! With the current world population of 8.5 billion people, that was about 5.8%!
Mark navigated the forest aimlessly. He didn't have a map so he could only walk around and search for a trail that would lead him out of the forest. He studied this game for months and he knew that Ethereal was a world filled with dangerous mystical creatures and powerful people. Encountering them in his current state would be risky.
ROAR!
A loud roar of a beast suddenly echoed in the forest. Mark was alarmed and he quickly looked for a place to hide. "How unlucky! Why did I have to encounter a mystical beast on my first day of logging in? Tsk!" He clicked his tongue while lamenting his trashy luck. Mystical beasts were creatures that could control Qi, making them more powerful than ordinary animals. Mark read some information about mystical beasts in the official forum posted by Ethereal Inc., so he knew a few things about them.
Soon, he found a hole in the trunk of a tall tree. His eyes lit up and he quickly made his way towards the tree. The hole was half the size of an adult male so he had to crouch to enter the hole. "I should stay here for the time being." He mumbled to himself.
With nothing else to do, he decided to take out the cultivation manual. "So how do I use this thing?"
He opened the manual and started reading it. Suddenly, a prompt appeared in front of him.
[You have learned the Ordinary Cultivation Method!]
+ 1 Qi every hour of cultivation (must be in lotus position)
Seeing this, Mark sat in a lotus position.
Not long later, he felt an invisible energy slowly moving through his body. He closed his eyes and focused on sensing this energy. 'This must be Qi flowing inside my body.' He thought.
He didn't know how he did it, but he could feel the formless and invisible Qi slowly gathering in his body. It was like the Qi was attracted to him, like a magnet to metal.
+ 1 Qi
A prompt appeared in front of him, but Mark didn't notice this since he was fully focused on absorbing Qi.
+ 1 Qi
+ 1 Qi
+1 Qi
A few hours passed and Mark only opened his eyes when he felt a sudden wave of hunger. He immediately grabbed one coarse bread from his storage bag and devoured it. After eating one bread, he still felt hungry so he ate another piece. "That feels better." He uttered in satisfaction after eating the second bread. Now, he only had three pieces of coarse bread left in his storage bag.
Mark noticed that the temperature was getting hotter. He guessed that it was already in the middle of the day. "How long did I cultivate?" He was surprised. He then checked his player information.
Player IGN: Wolf of the Grassland
Cultivation: Mortal
Physique: Mortal
Qi: 6/10
Wealth: 1000 Orbes
Vitality: 0.7
Endurance: 1.4
Strength: 0.8
Stamina: 07
Speed: 0.7
Spirit: 1.9
Cold Resistance: 0.3
Heat Resistance: 0.3
Damage: 0.5
Mark noticed that a new attribute was added to his player information. "The manual says that I can get 1 Qi every hour of cultivation. That means I have been cultivating for 6 hours. What would happen if my Qi reaches 10 points?" He had the sudden urge to cultivate again, but Mark knew that it wasn't a good idea. Time passes faster when cultivating and the forest would be dangerous at night since he could no longer see his surroundings. He had to get out of this place as soon as possible.
Mark crawled out of the hole. "So where do I go now?" He muttered as he looked around. Since he didn't know where he was, he randomly selected a path.
As he walked through the forest, he encountered a small creature that looked like a rat. The only difference was that it was as big as a dog. Furthermore, the creature didn't seem to be afraid of him.
Mark gulped nervously when he noticed the creature staring back at him. He pulled out his sword and prepared himself for a sneak attack.
The creature emitted a low growl the moment he pulled out his sword. In its point of view, it was a sign of aggression.
Mark could see the change in the creature's behavior. Its fur was bristled as it slowly made its way towards him.
Mark took a deep breath as he adjusted his posture. This fight was inevitable so he had to be ready.
Suddenly, the creature made a quick pounce, brandishing its sharp claws across his face.
Mark felt a chill in his spine and he quickly raised his sword to parry its claw. By some miracle, he felt that he had stabbed the creature.
Grr!!
The big rat had a wound on its belly, but it didn't seem to be deep enough to cause any serious damage. It only made the creature more aggressive.
When Mark saw that his sword could penetrate its skin, he became less afraid. He took a step forward and cleaved his sword in a swift downward motion.
As if taken by surprise, the big rat failed to dodge. Mark's sword managed to cut through the creature's body, leaving a deep gush over its neck.
The big rat whimpered and it still managed to run a few meters before it fell into the ground.
Mark heaved a sigh of relief. He walked towards the corpse of the big rat and poked its body using the tip of his sword.
It showed no signs of movement. Mark poked it a few more times and when he felt like it was finally dead, he took a closer look at it.
[Big Rat Carcass]
- The corpse of a big rat. It can be eaten and its fur can be used to make ordinary clothes.
When Mark saw the description that it could be eaten, he felt the urge to vomit. He would never eat this creature no matter how hungry he was. However, he still decided to put the carcass inside his storage bag.
Mark continued to search for an exit. Along the way, he encountered more creatures, but after his experience with the big rat, he found out that they would only show aggression if he pulled out his sword or if he was very close to them. He didn't want unnecessary trouble so he didn't provoke those creatures. Mark also discovered some wild fruits. He picked up the edible ones. With the three pieces of coarse bread and the wild fruits, he didn't have to worry about getting hungry for the rest of the day.
Finally, after walking for almost three hours, he saw the end of the forest. "I'm out!" He laughed heartily as soon as he walked out of the forest. There was a village nearby surrounded by earthen walls. Seeing this, Mark quickly made his way to the village.