Heading to Forest City

After dealing with Su Yu's matters, Su Jiang hurried back home.

He logged in quickly.

The newbie village was still crowded, but the high-level players had disappeared.

Most likely, they had leveled up to ten and headed to the main city.

Once you left the newbie village, you couldn't return. After all, it was just a place for new players to grow quickly and familiarize themselves with the game world's mechanics and rules.

Su Jiang approached the village chief and stated his purpose.

The village chief praised Su Jiang profusely, saying he would surely become a great adventurer.

Immediately after, Su Jiang was pulled into a mandatory plot sequence.

He knew this was an unskippable background story introduction, so he wasn't impatient and quietly waited for the scene to finish playing.

At this moment, an aged narration began.

"In the void between boundaries, in an era where nothing existed, a Deity slumbered peacefully..."

"One day, It awoke."

"It said: This world is too quiet..."

"RUMBLE—"

Heaven and earth split, stars evolved, continents appeared, and life awakened... The evolution only stopped when all divine power was exhausted.

The colossal body crashed down.

It transformed into the invisible rules that governed everything.

"The great Creator God's divine power was depleted, becoming nourishment for all Deities to grow!"

"The Deities' compassion, the Deities' mercy, the Deities' generosity did not foster goodness within these Deities. They were born amidst wickedness, polluting the world and attempting to overthrow the continent! Great Adventurers, please help us, help us resist the erosion of these Deities!"

The screen flashed images of the seven final bosses: [Fear], [Nightmare], [Pleasure], [Rage], [Justice], [Vengeance], and [Death].

With memories from his previous life, Su Jiang naturally knew that the existence of these bosses wasn't fake. After all, they were formed by the condensation of humanity's negative emotions in the "Meta World." Calling them final bosses wasn't wrong, and they were indeed scientific in nature.

It was just that modern technology couldn't reach this aspect and couldn't detect the strangeness of the "Meta World."

The "Meta World" itself had no consciousness. As the background introduced, perhaps before creating the "Meta World," there was a conscious entity. However, after creating the "Meta World," that conscious entity transformed into all the unfeeling operational rules.

Therefore, the "Meta World" had a bug: these seven bosses were invincible. As long as humans possessed negative emotions, they could not completely destroy these bosses.

The animation quickly reached its end. The seven Deities cast covetous glances at the human continent, and the adventurers who descended here bore the mission of saving this continent.

"The benevolent Deity transformed into the rules high above, restricting the wicked Deities so they cannot completely destroy humanity. But how can we be willing to live a life of subservience under the Deity's grace..."

"Adventurers, raise your weapons and fight back against Them!"

The aged narration concluded, marking the end of the background introduction.

The familiar system prompt sounded.

"Ding! Currently available cities are as follows, ..."

"Respected Adventurer, please choose the city you wish to travel to."

The system displayed a world map, with cities that could be visited shown in green and those that could not be visited in red.

The central and eastern parts of the world map were the gathering places for human development, where humans held power.

The northern part of the continent had a harsh climate, occupied by races like elves and orcs. In the seas, there were also Siren races...

The Deities' kin lived in the southern part of the world map, a vast expanse of scorched earth and volcanic areas. Besides that, they were adept at hiding underground and among other races.

Because of his Elite Adventurer's Badge, Su Jiang could choose to go to more places than ordinary players, including some cities located in dangerous zones.

"I choose the Carron Empire, the northern Forest City."

Su Jiang pondered. In his previous life, he had entered the game later. Most cities were teeming with players, and he had to compete for quests, experience, and materials. He was captured by a warlord shortly after leveling up.

Choosing now, he definitely wanted to select a city that most people couldn't access yet. The fewer players there were, the more resources he could obtain.

Furthermore, Su Jiang still had reputation with the Carron Empire, so he had to consider that.

Forest City was a border city in the northern part of the Carron Empire. Beyond the border lay the endless forest, posing a higher degree of danger. Elven races lived in the endless forest and occasionally came to this city for trade, hence the city's name, Forest City.

"Ding! Forest City is recommended for players level 30. Your current level is 12, which does not meet the recommended condition. However, you possess an Elite Adventurer's Badge and can travel to this city. Do you confirm traveling to Forest City?"

"Confirm!" Su Jiang nodded.

"Ding, traveling to Forest City. Scene transition in progress, please wait..."

Soon, the darkness before his eyes receded, and a city landscape adorned with blooming flowers appeared.

These were planted to attract elves to trade in the city frequently, as decreed by the city lord. Elves liked these things.

Su Jiang went directly to the Adventurer's Guild. Because his level was below 30, although he could enter the city, he needed to complete a quest to prove his strength to the Adventurer's Guild.

Don't you think a game having such complex settings is pointless?

But all the settings had their reasons.

Attempting tasks beyond one's capabilities due to insufficient strength will only burden the guild and other adventurers.

The Adventurer's Guild also needs to consider various factors. This rule is particularly relevant to later game content, as when the game begins to affect reality, injuries sustained within the game will manifest as identical wounds on one's physical body!

"Hello, I'm an adventurer who just arrived in this city. May I take on a quest?" Su Jiang found the Adventurer's Guild and asked the NPC at the front desk.

"Yes, of course," the attendant replied with a smile. After a pause, as if sensing the adventurer's lack of strength, she added, "Adventurer, your current strength is not yet sufficient for the solo quests here. You'll need to complete quests with other adventurers. Once you've earned recognition, we'll feel comfortable assigning solo quests to you."

"Ding! You have received a mandatory quest: [Escort Elemental Sprites]"

"Quest Description: Elemental Sprites often get lost in the forest and wander into human cities. To maintain good relations with the sprites, we need to safely escort these little spirits back."

"Quest Reward: 3000 experience points, 10 silver coins."

"Quest Failure: Your Elite Adventurer's Badge will be revoked."

"System Prompt: This is a mandatory quest. Abandoning it will be considered a failure, you will be expelled from Forest City, and your reputation with the Adventurer's Guild will decrease."

A series of system prompts sounded.

It's normal. To get ahead, you have to bear the pressure of getting ahead.

However, the penalty for this quest is indeed severe. The higher your level, the harder it is to obtain an Elite Badge.

When a level one Red-eyed Rabbit is enraged, its attributes increase tenfold. If monsters at the current level were to become enraged, who knows how much their attributes would inflate.