"Lily, this is Ferris, the village's finest blacksmith."
"That's because I'm the only blacksmith in the village, hahaha!"
Ferris let out a hearty laugh, his rough voice a bit overwhelming for Lily.
"Ferris, it's about time for us to head out. If Helena comes looking for me, tell her I'm not around and that I'm not interested in her proposal."
"Got it. I really don't get you. Helena's such a fine girl. Why don't you just give in?"
Ferris waved them off, watching as John left.
"Lily, what kind of tasks have you done before? Do you have any experience hunting bloodwolves?"
Stepping out of the blacksmith shop, John handed Lily a beautifully crafted bone dagger.
"Um... I've only done bug-catching and seeding tasks. I've never hunted a bloodwolf before..."
"No worries. Hunting bloodwolves isn't too difficult. You're at a limited level now, but it'll get much easier as you level up. Take this bone dagger. It's just a common weapon, but its sharpness is +10, much better than a crude iron dagger."
"No, no, I can't take it. This must be expensive, right?"
"Ferris gave it to me for free, so just take it. I have another one."
John patted the dagger on his waist, gesturing for Lily to accept it.
Seeing this, Lily couldn't help but feel tempted.
After all, the crude starting weapon was really hard to use, not only blunt but also about to break.
This bone dagger would be a perfect replacement.
"Thank you, John."
"You're welcome. Do you need to prepare anything else before we leave the village?"
"No, I'm ready."
"Then let's head out."
...
On the path to the forest, John had walked this route at least thirty times in just two days, and by now, it was as familiar as the back of his hand.
But before John and Lily reached the bloodwolf territory, they encountered an uninvited guest.
A head of fiery red hair came into view, so bold, so proud. Who else could it be but Helena?
"What a coincidence, didn't expect to see you here, John."
"Helena, you're level ten already? Congratulations, you'll soon be the first player to complete the class change request, and you might even get a special reward."
"John, what have you decided about my proposal?"
"I'm not interested, thank you for the offer, but I'm used to working alone."
"Working alone? And what about her?" Helena frowned and gazed at Lily with a hint of hostility.
"John, you should understand that teaming up with me has countless benefits. We could always be the ones at the very top of the pyramid. Doesn't that tempt you at all?"
"In fact... not at all."
John tugged at the corner of his mouth and smiled. "Even without you, I can still stand at the top of the pyramid. Besides, I don't like bowing to others. Would you be willing to give up the captain's spot if you invited me to join?"
Hearing this, Helena fell silent, saying nothing.
The power of the captain is too tempting, including but not limited to the right to decide the distribution of dungeon loot, the right to choose dungeons, and more.
With Helena's proud personality, how could she willingly take a subordinate position?
"You see, you're not willing to give up the captain's power, so there's nothing more to discuss. But as fellow players struggling to survive in this world, I still wish you well.
Lily, let's keep moving."
With that, John moved around Helena and set off with Lily.
It wasn't until Helena and the others had completely disappeared from sight that Lily poked John's shoulder and asked, "John, is your relationship with Helena really bad?"
"Why would it be? We're both newcomers here, and I haven't even interacted with her."
"In that case, why did you reject her proposal? I just checked the leaderboard, and she's number one! If you worked with Helena, you could probably leave the beginner's village soon. Maybe you two could become the best players! By the way, John, what level are you now, and why can't I see your level?"
"It's a bit complicated to explain... but you could say that I don't really like domineering girls." With that, John smiled and patted Lily on the head.
At this, Lily blushed deeply and lowered her eyes.
She didn't say much more and obediently followed behind John.
...
Not long after, the two finally reached the bloodwolves' territory.
After one last check of the quest information, John turned to Lily.
"Nervous?"
"A little bit... John, I've always had a question. If our characters die in [Apocalypse], can we still return to the real world?"
"Dead means dead. Whether in the real world or this one, death means the end."
"H-How could that be? But this place is so dangerous!"
Lily's face went pale, and her voice quivered slightly.
She had thought that even if she accidentally died in [Apocalypse], there would at least be a chance to start over.
But now, it seemed she had been too naive.
"Isn't the real world just as dangerous? At least here, we have the chance to grow stronger.
I understand how you feel. After going through such a big change and then diving right into another game of blood and flesh, it's hard to accept. But this is our only chance to survive."
As he spoke, John casually flicked his hand, sending out more than a dozen iron throwing knives that pierced deeply into the bloodwolves' flesh, repeatedly triggering the [Hermes Dice] attack checks.
After leveling up, John had 24 points in [Wisdom], which was enough to deal 144 points of magic damage.
Watching John with such ease, Lily swallowed in surprise.
"So impressive..."
The continuous notifications of experience gain echoed in her ears, and in less than thirty minutes, Lily was stunned to find that her level had risen to level 5.
Judging by the look of it, John still had no intention of stopping!
"There are only thirty minutes left. We can't waste time here. Lily, take the bloodwolf fangs to the blacksmith. Listen carefully to what I'm about to say. After logging off, you..."
Before he could finish, John's voice abruptly stopped.
To be precise, he disappeared completely from Lily's sight.
"John, John! Where are you? How did you disappear?"
"...Damn, is it forced logout time already?"
Earth, Riverside suburbs.
John rubbed his brow, feeling the hunger and exhaustion in his body, and couldn't help but sigh.
In the early stages of the game, since characters' stats hadn't been significantly boosted yet, small improvements couldn't make much of a difference in the real world.
So, to protect players, there would be a forced logout every seventy-two hours to replenish the body with essential nutrients, with an interval ranging from thirty minutes to an hour.
John initially forgot to keep track of time and thought he had about half an hour left.
But on second thought, as Player 001, he had logged in earlier than everyone else, so he accepted it.
A wave of hunger washed over him, and John had to struggle to crawl out of his makeshift tent.
He opened two cans, and without caring about the congealed white fat, he gulped them down.
"I wonder how Lily is doing. Will she manage to collect all the bloodwolf fangs and bring them back to the blacksmith shop? There are at least forty bloodwolf fangs there, which can complete four missions—800 experience points. It would be a waste not to use them."
After scraping the last bit of oil from the can and popping it into his mouth, John rubbed his stomach with satisfaction.
In this food-scarce state, even a little bit of fat provided him with the energy to survive; he couldn't afford to be picky.
Perhaps it was because he had put all his points into [Wisdom], but John felt his mind was much sharper now, and many originally vague memories were becoming clearer.
"I think I overheard Lily mention once that she followed her parents to live in nearby city from a young age..."
After pondering for a moment, John stood up and fished out a map from among his belongings, carefully examining it.
He finally identified nearby city's location on the map.
Estimating the distance on the map, the two cities were about a thousand kilometers apart as the crow flies.
But in this world of ruins and remnants, monsters and mayhem, this distance was at least three times greater.
"Sure enough, with my current strength, it's still quite difficult to survive under the sun again in the real world..."