Absolute Survival Game

Xiao Jie stared at the stout, dark-skinned man in front of him in astonishment. He had seen this fellow earlier that morning while looking for equipment, silently hammering away in the room. He had assumed the man was just an NPC; there was absolutely no way to tell he was a player.

The key was that this guy had chosen such a generic name, allowing him to blend perfectly into the local aesthetic.

He glanced at the name floating above the man's head, then looked at his own.

Wang Kai (Blacksmith Apprentice) Level: 1.

Hidden Moon Follows Wind (Woodcutter) Level: 1.

"You're actually a player?"

"Yeah, surprised you? Hahahaha." The stout man burst into laughter.

"A bit, I'll admit. But since we're both players, could you do me a favor? I've just started and don't have much money, so, you see..."

"Hold on, this is a small business. Repairing gear has costs, you know. If you're short on cash, how about this? I'll sell you some game currency. I'm a professional gold farmer."

Xiao Jie was surprised. He'd run into a peer.

But wait—people were selling gold in a death game like this? That was truly unexpected.

Although he had originally planned to grind for money in this game, ever since he learned the truth about it, his only thought had been "gaining power." He hadn't expected anyone to be farming gold here.

Xiao Jie asked tentatively, "What's the rate?"

Wang Kai replied, "One to ten. How about that? Pretty cheap, right?"

One to ten? Xiao Jie thought. That wasn't expensive. One thousand copper coins would only be a hundred yuan. While that rate would be considered a rip-off in other games, in a game like Old Earth, it was an absolute steal.

"Then let me try it out with a thousand coins first. At one to ten, that's a hundred yuan, right?"

Wang Kai looked at Xiao Jie, speechless. "What kind of dream world are you living in? The rate is 1 copper coin to 10 RMB. If you want a thousand copper coins, that's ten thousand yuan."

Even as a veteran gamer, Xiao Jie was taken aback.

"Wen" was the lowest currency in this game, equivalent to copper coins in World of Warcraft.

1,000 Wen equaled one tael of silver, and ten taels of silver equaled one tael of gold.

By that calculation, a single tael of silver cost ten thousand yuan, and a tael of gold cost a hundred thousand. That was more expensive than real-world gold, which only went for about thirty thousand per tael.

Liu Qiang had said the currency in this game was valuable and that grinding was a promising path; it seemed he hadn't been lying.

"Well? You buying or not? Give me a straight answer, I'm a busy man."

"Forget it. That price is a bit absurd. Here's fifty Wen—just fix my blade."

Xiao Jie still had a few tens of thousands in his account, and if he went all-in, he could trade for a few thousand Wen. But he wasn't prepared to gamble everything. Considering he intended to devote himself entirely to Old Earth for the foreseeable future without any real-world income, those few tens of thousands were his living expenses for the next two years. He couldn't squander them.

Of course, the main reason was that this game clearly wasn't a mindless hack-and-slash where you could just throw money at gear to become invincible.

Since he didn't plan on leaving the village, there was little point in dumping money into equipment. Furthermore, game designers usually built a self-consistent economic ecosystem, often involving hidden details that couldn't be discovered without actually playing and exploring.

Players had to do certain things to trigger specific events, which would then lead them to the game's true mechanics. Firewood chopping, for instance, was likely one of those things.

Drawing on years of gaming experience, Xiao Jie had a hunch that the woodcutting job had more to it than met the eye.

If he bought gold and solved everything with money, he might miss out on rewards he was meant to earn, which would be a net loss.

Besides, Wang Kai wasn't going anywhere. If he ever really needed to buy gold, he could just find him again.

Watching Wang Kai swing his hammer to repair the blade, Xiao Jie used the wait time to chat and fish for useful information.

"How long have you been playing this game?"

Clang—clang—clang!

"Three years."

"Three years?"

Xiao Jie found it hard to believe. Three years meant he'd been playing since the servers opened. He was a veteran, so how could he still be level one? It wasn't like this game allowed for alt characters.

"But you're only level one?"

"Yeah, that's because I've never left this village and I've never fought a monster, so naturally, I couldn't level up."

Clang—clang—clang!

"My philosophy is simple: as long as I don't leave the village, I won't die. As long as I don't fight monsters, I won't face danger. So, ever since I entered this game, I haven't stepped a foot outside."

Clang—clang—clang!

Xiao Jie watched Wang Kai swing his blacksmith's hammer, momentarily at a loss for words.

"Three years without leaving the village? What have you been doing all this time?"

"Farming, chopping wood, fishing, mining—whatever makes money, I do it. But blacksmithing is the most profitable. It's a manufacturing industry with a markup. I spent two years mining just to save up enough to apprentice as a smith, but it was worth every penny.

"Now, I spend my days mining and smithing. I sell the weapons I forge to the village shop—an iron sword for 100 Wen, a spear for 90. After costs, I clear at least ten thousand Wen a month. With the exchange rate at one to ten, I'm making over a hundred thousand a month. That's way faster than manual labor in the real world. It's a high-paying job, plain and simple."

Wang Kai's tone was quite smug.

Xiao Jie was stunned. Damn, there are people like this? Playing a game that offered supreme power, yet choosing to grind like a laborer instead of leveling up?

"You know the secret of this game, don't you?" he asked tentatively.

"You mean to say that skills from the game can be brought into reality? Heh, of course I know that."

"Then why do you..."

"Because I'm afraid of death, and because I know my own limits. Do you know how many players have appeared in this village over the years? Based on my observations, at least one or two hundred players have come and gone in the last three years or so. But now, counting you and me, there are at most three or five players left in the entire village. The rest, nine times out of ten, died in some corner out there. Many of them never returned after leaving the village for the first time. Sigh, but that was their own choice; no one else to blame."

Xiao Jie certainly knew that, according to Officer Li, the one-year mortality rate was 78%. In other words, eight out of ten players didn't survive the year.

Imagining the wilderness outside the village, littered with the corpses and remains of fallen players, Xiao Jie couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

Wang Kai continued, "Of course, not everyone kicked the bucket. Some have done quite well; I know a few. My own achievements can't compare to those experts who have made a name for themselves out there, but it's still better than those players who died. I can make money, and there's absolutely no risk."

"Little brother, take my advice: stop obsessing over power, spells, or becoming some immortal god. The prerequisite is that you have to be alive to enjoy it. Instead of risking your life, it's better to forge iron or move bricks in the village. Making over a hundred thousand a month is better than gambling with your life out there."

Xiao Jie couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration. It is easy to say that a person should know their own limits, but how many can actually do it?

To be able to stay in the village for three years without leaving—this dark-skinned, chubby man's self-control was definitely that of a top-tier powerhouse. Being able to resist the temptation of power and keep his heart steady was truly rare.

Yet, he still couldn't help but say, "But with so much money, you could easily get a set of top-tier beginner gear, start by fighting the weakest monsters, and slowly grow stronger before challenging tougher ones. Wouldn't that be safe too? You'd still gain power, just a bit slower."

Wang Kai laughed instantly. "Heh, everyone who died out there probably thought the same thing. This game is different from typical games; nothing is absolutely safe. You think weak monsters aren't dangerous? There are no non-dangerous monsters in this game. Even a few wild dogs can threaten an expert."

"A single mistake and you're done for."

"Besides, even among low-level monsters, special elite units often appear. Even experts inevitably have times when they flip their cars."

"If you really want to be safe, the only foolproof method is to never leave the village. As long as I don't take risks, I won't die."

"How about you join me? I happen to be short a mining supplier. You mine for me, and I'll buy from you at a premium. I guarantee you'll make over thirty thousand a month, and over a hundred thousand a month after three years."

Xiao Jie shook his head. If not for Han Luo's death, perhaps he really could have chosen to do that. But now, he had to become stronger. Only by becoming stronger would he have a chance to take revenge.

Moreover, deep down, his thirst for extraordinary power made it impossible for him to be content with hiding in the village and moving bricks.

"No thanks, I have my own plans."

"Heh, then I won't force you. Here, this is your Firewood Knife; it's been repaired."