After bidding farewell to Shana and leaving the Adventurer's Guild, Li Mingyou headed straight out of the village.
With a suitable weapon in hand and the leather armor bought by Shana, it was time to start leveling up.
Although reaching level 10 within a month wasn't much of a challenge for Li Mingyou, he was no longer playing a single-player game. If he progressed slowly, some resources or Easter eggs he knew about might be snatched up by others.
This was unacceptable to him. He had played through so many playthroughs; if he couldn't even outdo the newbies, where would his pride go?
Passing through the protective barrier of the beginner's village, he entered a flat terrain, with a dense forest visible not far away—the Novice Forest.
According to Li Mingyou's memory, this forest was divided into three zones: the outer zone, the dense forest zone, and the core zone.
The monsters in these zones varied in strength. In the outer zone, one could usually find level 1-3 monsters.
Shortly after leaving the village entrance, he saw several smears of blood on the ground, and three bodies lay scattered in disarray, their deaths quite gruesome.
These were likely the unlucky trio who had died here.
Not far from those three bodies, there were more bloodstains, as if there had been a struggle.
It seemed that while Li Mingyou was preparing in the village, other players had already started forming groups to hunt monsters.
Opening the chat channel, he indeed saw many messages about player deaths. Just one hour after the world of the instance had opened, over twenty people had died among the thousand players in the beginner's village, indicating its high difficulty!
Li Mingyou gripped his longsword tightly, feeling somewhat nervous.
Though experienced, he had only ever played games before. Now he was in a real world where there was no resurrection, no second chances. One wrong move could mean certain death.
Continuing forward, at the edge of the Novice Forest, he encountered his first target.
[Flame Chicken]
Level: 1
Status: Health: 140/140 Magic: 90/90
Attributes: Strength: 15; Agility: 11; Constitution: 14; Spirit: 9
Rating: None
Combat Power: 2
It was the Flame Chicken! The three players had fallen to this creature. Although both were level 1, the Flame Chicken's attributes were significantly higher than those of the players.
Li Mingyou hid behind a large tree, gripping his sword tightly, holding his breath, ready to strike.
The system's basic scan could only detect the basic information about the Flame Chicken, but Li Mingyou knew all the hidden details.
For example, the Flame Chicken's skill—sing and dance... oh wait, no, it was Flame Charge.
A chicken over half a meter tall covered in flames charging at you—scary, right? Not to mention that this chicken's base attributes were superior to yours, stronger and faster. It was no wonder the previous three had flipped their cars.
It was because of this skill that the Flame Chicken's combat power was assessed as 2.
The system's assessment of combat power was generally accurate.
The Flame Chicken was currently facing away from him. Li Mingyou maintained a certain distance, carefully observing the surroundings. After confirming there were no other monsters nearby, he charged forward and stabbed the chicken's rear end. With lower base attributes and being ambushed, the Flame Chicken was hit immediately, showing a number above its head.
-18!
The Flame Chicken instantly flared up, furiously, turning around to swipe at Li Mingyou.
Li Mingyou intentionally didn't dodge; the claw hit his thigh, also showing a number.
-0!
"Can you believe this, bro? Didn't have breakfast or what?"
Li Mingyou couldn't help but laugh. In the world of "Infinite Dungeon," without equipment, attack power equaled strength attributes, and defense was half of constitution, meaning two points of constitution added one point of defense.
Li Mingyou's constitution was 20, giving him 10 points of defense. Coupled with the 10 points from the adventurer's leather armor, his defense reached 20 points. The Flame Chicken's strength attribute was 15, its attack power also 15, so it couldn't break through his defense at all.
If it were an average newbie with five or even lower defense points, a single claw from the Flame Chicken would deal over ten damage points. But when you swing at the Flame Chicken and only deal two or three damage points each time, it's impossible to win.
Clearly, with Li Mingyou's current attributes, dealing with this Flame Chicken was very easy.
There was no need to dodge. He just kept hacking at the Flame Chicken, which couldn't break his defense at all. After a few moves, the Flame Chicken was nearly done for.
Realizing that its opponent was not easy to handle, the Flame Chicken suddenly let out a loud crow and charged at Li Mingyou wrapped in flames.
This was the Flame Chicken's signature move, Flame Charge. Li Mingyou wouldn't take it head-on. Although the Flame Chicken's regular attacks couldn't hurt him, this skill dealt magical damage, unaffected by defense. If hit, it would be quite troublesome.
He quickly retreated, dodging to the side effortlessly, and with a backhanded thrust, he stabbed the Flame Chicken through the throat from the side, showing a larger number.
-37!
"Infinite Dungeon" was not a world solely defined by stats. Moves could be dodged, and hitting vital spots caused more damage, so combat skills were equally important.
That thrust depleted the Flame Chicken's already low health to zero, instantly dropping it lifeless to the ground.
[Killed a level 1 Flame Chicken, gained 2 experience points!]
Li Mingyou felt a warm stream flow through his body, cozy and comfortable.
Looking at his panel, the experience points had turned to 2/10. Just four more kills and he would reach level 2.
Li Mingyou sheathed his sword and put the Flame Chicken's corpse into his inventory. Monster corpses could be sold back in the village for money, though not much, it was better than nothing.
Having done all that, Li Mingyou continued forward, stepping into the Novice Forest.
The moment he stepped into the Novice Forest, several messages popped up in his mind again.
[System Alert: Player Li Mingyou has entered a new area—Outer Zone of Novice Forest]
[System Alert: You have unlocked the achievement—Chicken Hunter, all attributes +2, damage to Flame Chicken +10%, damage from Flame Chicken -10%.]
[System Alert: You have unlocked the achievement—Rabbit Slayer, all attributes +2, damage to Swift Hare +10%, damage from Swift Hare -10%.]
[System Alert: You have unlocked the achievement—Dog Nemesis, all attributes +2, damage to Frost Fang Dog +10%, damage from Frost Fang Dog -10%.]
[System Alert: You have unlocked the achievement—Cat's Fury, all attributes +2, damage to Shadow Cat +10%, damage from Shadow Cat -10%.]
[System Alert: You have unlocked the achievement—Tortoise Tears, all attributes +2, damage to Water Arrow Tortoise +10%, damage from Water Arrow Tortoise -10%.]
[System Alert: You have unlocked the achievement—Novice Elite, all attributes +5, reputation +1!]