Arlo's figure suddenly appeared in Dream Space. Breathing in the fresh air, he laughed out loud, "Money! Here I come!"
"Master, you scared me," Caiyi suddenly appeared above Arlo's head, making herself comfortable in his hair.Arlo chuckled, "Sorry, Caiyi, I'm just too excited.""Did something good happen to you, Master?" Caiyi asked."Something like that! But let's not talk about it. Caiyi, now that I'm at level 3, isn't it time to switch to tougher monsters? I'm tired of killing sheep. Are there any cows, pigs, or something else nearby?" Arlo asked."Hmm... no," Caiyi said as she flew up for a quick look around before returning to her perch. "At your current level, you can only kill monsters below level 5. Wild cows and pigs are all level 10 or higher. You won't be able to handle them.""Ah, I see. Never mind then," Arlo said, not too concerned. With over 200 sheep already in stock, he figured he had enough to sell for a while. Plus, the sheep he'd killed earlier had respawned, so there was no risk of running out of mutton anytime soon."Are there any other monsters nearby that suit my level?" Arlo asked."Head west, Master. There's a small river where you can find turtles to hunt," Caiyi suggested."Turtles?" Arlo's mouth watered at the thought.Turtles, or softshell turtles, fetch high prices in the real world—around 40 for farmed ones and 150 for wild ones. Since the Dream Space turtles were clearly wild, their value would be immense."Wow, turtles! My beloved, here I come!" Arlo laughed maniacally and dashed toward the west.After about ten minutes, Arlo stopped in his tracks, staring at a massive river that stretched as far as the eye could see. His face froze. "Caiyi, is this the 'small river' you mentioned?""It is a small river!" Caiyi replied matter-of-factly as she danced above the water. "There are lots of turtles in here, but you'll need to learn how to swim first.""Can't the turtles come ashore?" Arlo asked, three black lines forming on his face."Of course they can," Caiyi replied. "But they're all in the river right now, hunting fish. If you wait five or six hours..."Arlo fell back on the ground, smiling bitterly. "Forget it. I'll hunt something else."Switching targets, Arlo encountered level-4 cactus monsters. Armed with his double-handed goat horn weapons, he took down a cactus monster in just three hits. However, the spikes it launched hurt so much that tears streamed down his face. Fortunately, in this world, his body was digitized. Once the cactus monster was killed, the spikes disappeared automatically.The drop rate for cactus monsters remained disappointingly low, but they dropped a decent amount of money. Each kill earned him 8, and the high payout kept him enduring the pain of their spikes.After killing his 100th cactus monster, Arlo finally leveled up to level 4. At the same time, the cactus monster dropped the second piece of equipment he'd ever gotten.Cactus Spine (Qty: 1): A throwing weapon that deals 50 points of damage upon impact.Arlo was almost in tears. "This is trash!"Caiyi sighed. "Master, you should be grateful for any equipment drops. At least you earned 800!""If it weren't for the money, I'd have switched monsters long ago," Arlo said, wiping away his tears. He pocketed the cactus spine and asked, "Caiyi, let's find another monster. These cactus monsters are driving me nuts.""Alright," Caiyi said, flying up to scout the area. Before long, she returned with news. "Master, 500 meters ahead, there's a group of level-4 cat demons.""Cat demons?" Arlo ran in the indicated direction and soon spotted the creatures.They looked just like cats, except they had wings on their backs and were about the size of small dogs."These... these are cat demons?" Arlo hesitated. They were so cute that he felt reluctant to attack them."Yes, Master. These cat demons are fast and strong attackers, but their defense is very weak. If you're careful, they're not hard to defeat. Plus, their drop rate is much higher than other monsters," Caiyi said, adding a tempting detail to encourage Arlo."High drop rate?" That did the trick. Arlo raised his goat horns and charged at the nearest cat demon."What the—! It can fly!" The cat demon, caught off guard, took a blow from Arlo's horn but immediately soared into the air. Its menacing eyes glared down at him."Come on! Fight me!" Arlo taunted, knowing he couldn't reach it while it was airborne.The cat demon took the bait. Furious at the provocation, it let out a series of screeches and dove at Arlo, claws extended. Thanks to his quick reflexes, Arlo dodged its attack and countered with a swift strike, slashing the demon's belly open. Blood spilled everywhere as the creature crashed to the ground, dead."Disgusting," Arlo muttered, feeling queasy despite his experience with butchery.Caiyi screamed, "So scary! Master, let's not hunt cat demons anymore. Let's find something else!"