Forward, the number of players finally decreased sharply until no player could be seen anymore. This is the territory of level five monsters. Since level five, most monsters have gained the attribute of initiating attacks. However, for the initial stages of the game, this is a forbidden area where ordinary players dare not set foot. Level three is already the upper limit they can accept—of course, this is only true for ordinary players.
Alex took a step forward, about to enter the territory of these monsters, when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a flickering figure from the corner of his eye. He turned to look and was surprised to find a person sitting not far from his right hand under a low tree. She sat against the tree, her body thin and shriveled, her face as dry as tree bark, and her whole body seemed to have merged with the tree, making Alex not notice her just now. An emaciated old woman... an NPC in this world? Alex approached her.
"Can I help you?" Alex asked as he stepped forward, forcing a slightly distorted and kindly smile on his face. If his question were to be more straightforward, it would be: "Do you have any quests? Hand them all over."
His words paused for a moment. He noticed the old woman's legs... those legs, sitting motionless on the ground, exposed parts presenting a grayish color... petrification... Two words flashed quickly in Alex's mind. "The core of this world's energy—Eternal Moment of Destiny—has disappeared, I don't know where it went. Without the power of the Eternal Moment of Destiny, the sealing power of the Tower of Destiny finally dissipated, and all eight demon kings escaped. The overflowing demonic energy also began to affect all the land, even the gentlest animals became ferocious... Adventurer from another world, could you help me gather ten wolf eyes? I need them... but I am sealed here and cannot leave. Would you be willing to help me?"
"Ding... The sealed old woman asks for your help in collecting ten wolf eyes. Quest attributes: Normal, Quest deadline: None, Quest reward: Unknown."
"Accept." Alex chose to accept without hesitation. Although this was a normal task, the word "unknown" in the quest reward made him more interested. In the early stages of this beginner phase, such mysterious words theoretically should not appear. Since they did, it meant that there might be some secrets hidden within. This was the keen sense he had cultivated over the years of his gaming career.
"Ding... You have accepted the quest 'Request of the Sealed Old Woman'..."
"Can you tell me why your legs look like this?" Alex didn't immediately leave to search for the wolves' whereabouts, but crouched down and asked kindly. If the word "unknown" in the quest description had piqued his interest a little, then the title of this unnamed old lady definitely piqued his interest a lot. In the world of "Destiny," all creatures have independent thoughts. And with his charisma attribute maxed out at an extreme 10 points, he believed that there should be something to be found from this old lady.
"Young man, just go, there are some things that are better off not knowing." The old woman replied coldly.
"Well... if you're not able to move, how about I carry you to the beginner village?" Alex hesitated for a moment and said.
"My body cannot leave this place, thank you for your kindness. You should go."
"Alright." Alex gave up. "Where is the nearest wolf pack recently?"
"Up ahead."
"Okay, I'll be back with what you need."
With a farewell, Alex glanced around and continued walking deeper into the area. At this moment, the weather in the "Destiny" world was obviously spring. A warm breeze gently brushed against him. Since he officially entered the game world, he had never experienced killing level zero monsters to level up. Every time he started, it would be shocking to kill level five monsters, or even higher. Because only then could he avoid the large crowd of players and enjoy the quietness alone.
Northern Hill, the territory of level 5 wolves.
Wolves: Level 5, HP: 170. A kind of animal with a relatively cruel temperament, they like to live in groups and will actively attack humans who approach.
For a level 0, wearing nothing but beginner's clothes and facing level 5 monsters alone, in almost all virtual games, this was essentially no different from seeking death. However, this rule only applied to ordinary players.
Due to the absence of other players stepping into this area, the wolves here were relatively densely distributed. They roamed aimlessly, paying no attention to Alex outside their territory. Alex took a few steps forward, testing the hatred range of these wolves, then picked up a stone from the ground, flicked his wrist, and threw it at the nearest wolf.
-1.
The stone hit the wolf's head, causing a vivid red damage number to float up. The quiet wolf was immediately disturbed, its eyes flickering with a faint bloodlust, and it rushed towards Alex, howling loudly, its teeth bared, and swiftly advancing towards Alex's direction.
The wolf's movement speed was very fast, at least 1.5 times that of the basic movement speed of players. However, this wolf's howl was not just an angry one. With its howl, two other wolves were alerted and simultaneously rushed towards Alex with the first one.
Three! Watching the three wolves closing in on him from front and back, Alex didn't choose to immediately leave the wolf territory to escape. Instead, he narrowed his eyes, slowly raised the beginner's short sword in his hand...
Swish!
A fierce wind carrying a raging aura came towards him. Alex's eyes remained calm until the moment when the sharp wolf teeth were about to touch his waist. His body suddenly shifted slightly to the side, avoiding the wolf by a small margin, almost brushing past his body. The larger the evasion range, the greater the time and inertia used for evasion. Controlling it to achieve a perfect dodge was not as simple as it seemed.
The first wolf missed its pounce, and another gust of wind followed immediately. Alex didn't look ahead, but his body suddenly straightened up, his upper and lower body almost forming a right angle, and at the same time, his right hand holding the beginner's sword lightly lifted...
Chirp! -15!
The second wolf's body leaped over Alex's upper body, also missing its attack, and the beginner's sword lifted by Alex left a straight trail on its belly, bringing up a blood-red number. In any game, wolves were typical high attack and high-speed but low defense creatures, which was one of the reasons why Alex directly killed wolves. If he were facing bear-like monsters with the same level, which had low speed, low attack frequency, but high defense, although it would be much easier to deal with, it would be almost impossible to break through their defense.
The third wolf followed closely behind the second one, Alex's upper body straightened up halfway, using his left foot as a pivot to rotate slightly with a slight twist force, and the third wolf brushed past him. Alex then turned around, took a few steps forward, and stabbed his beginner's sword forward, hitting the second wolf that was about to fall down, with two consecutive attacks, bringing up two damage numbers.
The attacks of the three wolves, before and after, did not add up to two seconds in total. They were not simultaneous attacks, but they came in succession, all of which were smoothly dodged by Alex, and his body only shifted to the left by one position, from facing forward to facing sideways.