Is the Beginner Village This Terrifying?

In the early morning, a faint mist shrouded the small town.

After a frantic period of repairing and disassembling, I had gone through almost all the electrical appliances and machinery in the town, finally accumulating over 21,000 experience points for my production skills.

Next, it was time to upgrade my Throwing Skill!

[Congratulations! Your skill [Throwing Skill] (C-rank) has been successfully upgraded to Level 4. Your attack power has greatly increased, and you have gained an additional 1 point of Strength!]

[Congratulations! Your skill [Throwing Skill] (C-rank) has been successfully upgraded to Level 7. Your attack power has greatly increased, and you have gained an additional 2 points of Strength!]

A total of 3 Strength points acquired.

At this moment, my attack power reached 7-14 points. With other players not venturing out to hunt monsters and level up, this should be considered top-tier stats for the current stage.

Just as the morning light pierced through the mist and poured into the town, I held my hand axe and looked towards the sunrise. Suddenly, I felt a wave of emotion. Logically, I should have woken up in my rented room by now, ready to head out for a delicious KFC breakfast...

Unfortunately, this is the wilderness, and such conveniences are nonexistent.

Just then, a ding sound echoed in my ears.

[Quest Triggered: [Clear the Shelter] (D-rank)! Quest Objective: Leave Winter Spring Town and clear the monsters around the town. Kill 20 Crested Snakes. Quest Reward: +5000 Character Experience!]

A D-rank quest, not bad!

A thought stirred within me. This must be one of the daily refreshed quests, right? And it's a beginner village quest, so the safety factor is relatively higher.

However, just a single hand axe is slightly insufficient.

So, I picked up a hammer from the storage room with an attack power of only 0-1. My base attack power is high enough that I don't rely on weapons, and after upgrading my Throwing Skill to Level 7, I can achieve near-perfect accuracy within ten steps. With two throwing weapons for successive throws, it should be enough.

Taking advantage of the mist, I left the town.

Outside the town, a cold wind rustled, and dense trees and wild grass covered the area.

Accompanied by a ding, the system notification bell rang.

[Notice: You have entered the wilderness. Do you wish to immediately switch to combat mode?]

Confirm!

As I confirmed the switch, my body suddenly felt heavier. A faint crimson outline appeared around me, and a full green health bar materialized above my head, along with the name "Shadow Chaser."

That's my game ID, a name I chose with my best friend, Fatty. We grew up together, as close as brothers, so we were always incredibly in sync with everything we did.

In the game, I am Shadow Chaser, and he is Chasing Light.

In reality, my name is Ding Han, and his is Yang Wei.

I wonder how Fatty is doing now. He didn't even make it into the top 10,000 during the beta test, clearly indicating average gaming talent. Now that we're in this 100% realistic game world, if anything were to happen to him... I can't even bear to think about it!

Therefore, I must get stronger quickly, truly make a name for myself in this Star Abyss world, find Fatty, and save his life!

"Hiss hiss..."

As I was lost in thought, a sound came from ahead, and a health bar popped out from behind a tree.

They've appeared, the quest target monsters!

[Crested Snake] (Normal)

Level: 2

Attack: 3-5

Defense: 0

Blood Essence: 120

Skill: Deadly Venom. Once attacked, you will suffer continuous damage.

Details: Crested Snakes are mutated creatures, extremely ferocious, and will bite anyone they see.

Here they come!

The Crested Snake's small eyes darted towards me, and it quickly slithered and twisted its body, moving towards me!

This is my first battle in Star Abyss, and I'm feeling a mix of nervousness and excitement. But with Level 7 Throwing Skill in hand, there's no reason to fear this Level 2 beast.

My body tensed, I aimed for its vulnerable spot, and suddenly threw the hand axe!

"Swish~~~"

The hand axe spun through the air. Just as expected, within ten steps, it hit its mark without fail. The axe blade sliced into the Crested Snake's neck with a "thwack," spraying blood. Immediately, a number, not too big, not too small, popped up.

"82!"

Although I don't know the damage formula in Star Abyss, dealing 82 damage with an attack power of 7-14 against a monster with 0 defense, plus the skill bonus from Throwing Skill, seems reasonable.

The next second, the hammer flew!

"69!"

A beautiful number appeared. It was dead!

[You have killed the monster [Crested Snake] and gained 300 Character Experience!]

The experience points are pretty good. At this rate, I should reach level 4 after finishing this novice village quest.

As for level 5, that's a turning point.

In the beta version, players awaken their Essence Furnace or Mental Power Furnace after reaching level 5, depending on their class. I chose the Super Warrior class, so I'll awaken the Essence Furnace. Once I have the furnace, my overall strength will greatly increase!

Slow and steady wins the race!

I walked forward and retrieved the axe and hammer from the Crested Snake's body. It's a shame nothing dropped.

I also don't know if there's such a thing as a "drop rate" in this 100% realistic Star Abyss world. If there is... the setting of monsters dropping equipment is actually quite abrupt.

I would get the answer to this question not long after.

"Hiss~~~"

With a sharp hiss, the fourth Crested Snake died under my hammer. At the same time, a golden light shot out from the Crested Snake's corpse and flew into my interdimensional storage space!

The interdimensional storage space is essentially the player's inventory, but it uses an interdimensional space mode.

"Zzzz~~~"

A faint light appeared before my eyes. I could easily see a cubic storage space with sides of 1 meter. Every player starts with the same storage space, 1m x 1m x 1m, which is quite fair.

At this moment, the first item appeared in my storage space. It was a fist-sized object, looking like a treasure chest, or perhaps some kind of crystal.

[Congratulations, you have killed the monster [Crested Snake] and obtained 300 character experience points, as well as: [Ability Crystal] x1. You can obtain loot by opening the Ability Crystal!]

So that's how it works...

I immediately understood. Monsters or BOSSes don't drop gold or items upon death, but they drop Ability Crystals, which grant corresponding rewards when opened.

This avoids the abruptness and awkwardness of monsters directly dropping loot.

"Hmm, that's quite reasonable~~~" (Self-deceiving doge meme)

The next moment, I confirmed that I wanted to open the Ability Crystal!

"Weng~~~"

The treasure chest began to shake. The next second, it emitted a faint light, and a grayish boot appeared before my eyes.

[Winter Spring Town Boots] (Quality: White)

Defense: 2

Equipment Requirement: None

Description: Boots commonly worn by residents of the Winter Spring Town area.

I was slightly delighted. I got an equipment drop! Although it's a piece of junk boot, it still adds 2 defense points. For me at this stage, it's definitely a good item. Moreover, it's a white-quality equipment, which is already quite good.

In Star Abyss, equipment tiers are clearly defined. The initial equipment tiers are: Gray, White/Common, Green/Excellent, Blue/Fine, Purple/Epic, Orange/Legendary, Cyan/Immortal, etc.

Of course, at my current stage, I can only hope to encounter gray and white equipment. Even green might be a luxury.

It took nearly half an hour of careful effort to finally kill 20 Crested Snakes in the forest.

The moment the 20th Crested Snake was killed, the quest was also completed.

[Congratulations on completing the quest [Clear the Shelter] (D-Class) and receiving the reward: Character Experience +5000!]

By now, I had gained quite a bit of experience.

I clicked the level-up button twice in succession, and two streams of golden light rained down, raising me to level 4.

All 6 attribute points I received were allocated to Strength, while the remaining 1 skill point was saved for a suitable opportunity to learn a skill. Of course, the first skill I'd prioritize learning is Basic Marksmanship. Only by mastering Basic Marksmanship can I have the ability to protect myself.

Feeling a bit tired, I returned to the village.

It was still the same small cabin. I decided to sleep first. I had been staying up for so long. Since I had already obtained the "achievement-like" skill Practice Makes Perfect, there was no need to push myself any further.

After forcing myself to swallow two biscuits made of earthworms and cockroaches, suppressing my disgust, and drinking a cup of water, I lay down on Aurelia's bed. The moment I closed my eyes, I fell into a deep sleep.

"Ding Han!"

In my dream, I heard Fatty's voice.

"What is this place? Holy crap!!!"

Fatty's voice was desperate, filled with despair.

"Ah?!"

I suddenly woke up from my dream, covered in sweat. Tiny droplets of sweat trickled down my chin.

What a terrifying dream.

I looked outside; night had already fallen. The Popeye-like beautiful girl Aurelia said she would be back in the morning, but now it was dusk. Perhaps she was delayed by something.

As I wondered, I faintly heard the roar of an engine. Immediately after, the ground of the small town began to tremble!

"Boom~~~"

A deafening sound illuminated the night.

A single cannonball had destroyed the building in the center of town!

The intense impact instantly shattered the remaining shards of glass on the windows, and gunshots immediately followed from outside.

"You bastards from the Undercurrent, I'll fight you to the death!"

Grandpa George rushed out with a hunting rifle, but his body was pierced by a burst of bullets almost instantly.

Through the flickering shadows, a war vehicle charged into the town, followed by more than ten figures armed with submachine guns closing in, heading straight for the sheriff's small room where I was.

'Damn it!'

I was drenched in sweat. Was the difficulty of the newbie village already maxed out?

Were those people outside really the Undercurrent, one of the main villain organizations in Star Abyss?

Avenging Grandpa George was impossible now; I had to save myself first.

I suddenly smashed open the back window, and after passing through, I agilely flipped to my feet. As long as I escaped Winter Spring Town, the world was vast and boundless. Once I reached level 100 with a full set of divine gear, I would definitely return to avenge Grandpa George and Grandma Alice!

"Grandpa George, I will definitely avenge you. Rest in peace!"

I charged forward without looking back, but after only a few steps, "swish swish swish," more than a dozen dark muzzles pressed against my forehead...

"What the hell?"

Pain struck the back of my head, and I instantly lost consciousness.