Game Experience

Under Wang Damang's urging, a few friends from the team put on their helmets with the intent to prove him wrong, selected the Battle Online icon, and clicked enter.

Then they fell into the same shock Wang Damang had experienced before.

The near-realistic scenes completely stunned them. After choosing their preferred classes, they also received the beginner quests Lu Wu had set up.

"Hiss!"

"Hiss!"

"Hiss!"

"Terrifying beyond words!"

A series of gasps rang out as they stared at the clothes on their bodies and the scenery around them, all frozen in momentary stupor.

"Holy crap, this game is insane. Which company dropped this bombshell? They're about to sweep the gaming world!"

"This is seriously next-level. I feel like those ten thousand gold coins are as good as gone! I'm even kind of tempted to quit my current game and play this one."

After a round of chatter, they eagerly prepared to team up and explore the game.

But at that moment, Wang Damang sat in front of his computer, staring at the chat group, and typed a line:

"So much for that five-minute 'prove him wrong' thing? It's almost ten minutes now—where are you guys?"

"Twenty minutes, you bastards. Are you that hooked?"

"Thirty minutes now. Couldn't you at least wait for me to do the main quest together? Remember, I'm the one who recommended this game to you."

Thinking about his one-and-a-half-hour respawn cooldown, Wang Damang was filled with resentment, even tempted to stab the developer who'd designed that feature.

Meanwhile, the dozen or so players in the game were excitedly ganging up on two stray Wandering Souls:

Chen Ziyu: "Brothers, let me have these two. I've already killed eight—I'll finish the quest first and boost the team's strength."

Wang Chao: "Screw off. I've only got three. Ever heard of balance? Doing this, you deserve to be drowned in a pig cage."

Xu Qiqi: "I'm the only girl on the team. Big brothers, let me have them?"

The group stared blankly. Right now, they only wanted to get stronger, completely immune to charm.

The team fell into an argument over those two Wandering Souls.

In the end, the strongest player, Chen Ziyu, got his way with the two Wandering Souls. Two black lines rose from the dying monsters and drilled into his body.

His experience bar began to jump.

Ding, congratulations on leveling up. Gain Strength +2.

Ding, congratulations on completing the quest. Gain 5 Soul Coins.

According to Bei Li's setup, every time a Player killed a monster, the monster's soul force split into three streams.

Sixty percent became the Player's experience for enhancement, ten percent turned into Soul Coins stored in the Player's inventory, and the remaining thirty percent was siphoned by the artifact into Lu Wu's personal currency.

Over the past half hour, the Players had killed thirty Wandering Souls, each worth 3 points, netting Lu Wu 27 Soul Coins, with 5 given as a quest reward to Chen Ziyu.

Lu Wu didn't mind the expense. As the Players grew stronger and killed higher-level lifeforms, his profits would only increase.

"Holy crap, I can actually feel my strength increasing!" Chen Ziyu stared at his body in disbelief.

Xu Qiqi: "Brother Yu? What do you mean? Isn't leveling up and getting stronger normal?"

Chen Ziyu paused for a moment. "This game is terrifying. In other games, when you level up, even if your stats go up, you don't feel any change in your body—you just see higher damage numbers when fighting. But in this game, leveling up actually makes your body feel stronger. It's unbelievable!"

Xueli: "No way, that's insane. So we can actually experience what it's like to be a superhuman in this game?"

Chen Ziyu nodded. "I think it's really possible. Experiencing power you could never have in real life, inside a game—it's just incredible."

"Hiss!"

"Hiss!"

"Hiss!"

"Terrifying beyond words!"

Wang Chao couldn't help blurting out, "Enough talk. I'm leveling up first next time."

"Screw off!" the group shouted in unison.

While searching for monsters, Chen Ziyu opened the shop to see what he could buy.

Level 1 Shop

Level 2 Shop (Unlocks at Level 20)

Level 3 Shop (Unlocks at Level 40)

Several options appeared.

Chen Ziyu tapped on the Level 1 Shop, and a shop interface materialized before him.

Healing Potion: Restores HP after injury. Price: 1 Soul Coin.

Mana Restoring Potion: Restores mana consumed by mages after casting. Price: 1 Soul Coin.

Ogre's Wooden Club (Level 1 White Weapon), +2 Strength, costs 8 Soul Coins

Beginner's Magic Wand (Level 1 White Weapon), +2 Spirit, costs 9 Soul Coins

Staring at the several pages of shop items, Chen Ziyu's eyes burned with desire. He also noticed that mage items in the shop were noticeably pricier than those for other classes, which made him glad he'd chosen Berserker.

Glancing at the 14 Soul Coins in his inventory, Chen Ziyu gritted his teeth and chose to buy the Ogre's Wooden Club.

Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, a white wooden club materialized in the air, then was firmly grasped in Chen Ziyu's hand. A warm current surged from the club into his body, and he could clearly feel his strength grow.

Seeing the envy in the eyes around him, Chen Ziyu burst into laughter.

Meanwhile, Lu Wu and Bei Li, who were secretly observing them, also laughed. Every item players bought from the shop was listed at a 30% markup over the cost of crafting a divine artifact.

In other words, whenever a player made a purchase, Lu Wu could skim a cut of the profit. The more they bought, the more he earned.