Deep in the night, inside an old cabin.
Mu Yuan sat in front of the computer, looking at the game scene that was eerily familiar but not quite as realistic, lost in thought for a long time.
This seems to be just a game?
Indeed, what showed before his eyes was nothing more than an ordinary game scene, but both the clues he'd dug up earlier and the illusion he'd just experienced told Mu Yuan that he was in trouble.
Good news, he'd obtained a key to the supernatural world.
Bad news, his life might soon be over.
"Don't panic, panicking won't help."
"Since a supernatural power exists in this world, the real world might not be safer. It's a good thing that I now have a chance to touch the supernatural... if you think optimistically, maybe in the future I can physically enter this vast world, become a great lord, live in a magnificent palace, and enjoy a life of luxury."
Mu Yuan forced himself to remain calm.
After he finished daydreaming, he looked again into the game. The whole village was very broken down, and it seemed to have been abandoned for a long time.
There were some robust trees scattered around, and further off, there seemed to be a forest, but it was covered in a dull gray fog, making it hard to see clearly.
When Mu Yuan dragged the map to a further location, all he saw was pitch black.
The unknown, dangerous darkness.
In the center of the broken village, suddenly, tiny star-like lights began to fall. These lights, like meteors or paintbrushes, sketched, intertwined, and condensed, slowly forming and manifesting an altar.
An altar marked with mysterious array patterns, about two and a half meters in diameter.
Above the altar, the remaining starlight gathered into a human figure. Even though it was seen from a top-down perspective and it was a game character, Mu Yuan immediately recognized that it was him.
It was his presence in the game world, on the Eternal Continent, a tether that, once snuffed out, would mean his own demise.
At this point, the game screen lit up with scorching hot fonts, appearing one after another.
"Randomizing..."
"Notice: You have received a batch of initial troops—Little Skeletons ×10."
—
"Little Skeleton (unnamed)"
"Grade: Ordinary★"
"Level: Level 1 of Stage 0"
"Skills: None"
"Talents: None"
"Introduction: A common type of undead. Although weak, it's cost-effective and adept at evil mob fighting tactics."
As the prompt faded, the mysterious array patterns on the altar began to glow. The space started to ripple, and one after another, skeletons holding rusty knives walked out from the altar.
They crowded together, even pushing off the figure that represented Mu Yuan from the altar.
The appearance of the Little Skeletons was just as Mu Yuan had imagined.
Their bones were gray-black, their bodies thin, and their walk had a slight stoop. Apart from a worn weapon, they didn't have any other equipment, only a ragged garment that barely covered their bodies.
Typical cannon fodder soldier type—small skeletons.
At the corner of Mu Yuan's mouth twitched. Ignoring their terrifying appearance, he thought he could take on two of these Little Skeletons himself!
"Starting with a broken village and a couple of crippled-level soldiers, no wonder they say this game is tough. You could die at any time… Anyone would easily die under these conditions!"
"Apparently, the initial troops that other players randomly get aren't much better either. There are militia, goblins, even slimes. Compared to those, Little Skeletons aren't that bad."
Apart from being slow, badly equipped, lacking intelligence, and having poor offense and defense, Little Skeletons actually had many advantages, like this and that.
As for these ten Little Skeletons, Mu Yuan couldn't make out any differences for now.
He looked outside the village at the area shrouded in thick fog, but for the time being, he didn't dare send his skeletons out.
He only had ten initial troops; he couldn't afford to lose a single one.
But if they didn't venture out and take a chance, sooner or later, the game would end.
"This game doesn't provide any guiding tips, but since it's a game… or rather a world possessing supernatural power, there must be ways to level up."
"The grade of the Little Skeletons is Ordinary★, just like goblins and slimes. According to gaming logic, the grade might not be able to be improved, but the troop level should be easy enough to level up, right?"
"I need to figure out how to level up the skeletons or how to recruit more of them. Both of these methods could effectively boost the defensive power of my territory."
The problem was that Mu Yuan didn't know anything about all this.
No matter, he might be able to find answers on the secret forum where he'd gathered a lot of the information moments ago.
After giving the Little Skeletons the command to 'hold steady and clean up the village,' he switched back to the secret forum and began browsing more carefully.
By now, it was certain that many 'game players' were on this forum sharing their own experience and knowledge. Even the help-seeking posts contained numerous details.
This was the game guide.
Of course, there were also countless fabricated stories.
"I've already entered the game and have the real examples to compare, so of course, I can distinguish whether these posts are useful or made up."
There was one post, where the poster claimed he got the dragon soldier type in his random selection and was easily killing monsters and leveling up. However, he didn't write the process of entering the game correctly, outing his post as a fake.
The majority of players randomly received one-star troops which were worthless, and only a handful received two-star troops like spearmen, archers, or half-orcs.
Moreover, those with stronger troop types had fewer initial soldiers. One player who randomly got spearmen commented that he only started with six soldiers, while players who began with Little Skeletons or goblins all started with ten troops.