The Underlying Logic of Herding Sheep

Hoo—hoo—hoo!

Xiao Jie adjusted his breathing as he ran. Twelve minutes had passed; compared to yesterday, when he was panting after only a few minutes, his endurance had undoubtedly improved significantly.

The effects of allocating those attribute points were truly immediate. He had added the points that afternoon, and by evening, he could already feel the changes.

He could sense that his physical fitness had improved in every aspect. Although the increase in each individual stat wasn't massive, the cumulative effect was quite noticeable.

It was a pity that human physical conditioning had a limit, and the further one went, the harder it was to improve. His base attributes being below average was likely due to his lack of exercise. If he could have trained for a few months first, he could have at least raised his physique, strength, and endurance by a point or two. That would have made the stat points much more cost-effective, potentially even allowing him to break through the limits of an ordinary human.

But there was no helping it; he couldn't just leave his points unallocated while playing the game.

So, such thoughts were merely wishful thinking.

It didn't matter much, though. In reality, no matter how hard one trained, gaining even a point or two was incredibly difficult, and gaining three or four would likely require massive amounts of training and time.

Yet in the game, one only needed to level up once or twice to gain attribute points that could comprehensively improve one's entire physique. It was no wonder this game drove so many people to risk their lives to keep playing.

This feeling of rapidly becoming stronger was truly intoxicating.

He had to achieve Sudden Enlightenment in Taming as soon as possible. Once he had a pet, he could leave the village to kill monsters and level up relatively safely. If he could just reach level eight or ten, the attribute points alone would be enough to turn him into a "superhuman."

Hoo—hoo! Xiao Jie finally stopped running. His 10 points of endurance weren't enough to keep him going like a marathon runner.

Xiao Jie looked around and realized he had run a full circle around the park's small hill, arriving once again at the spot where he had encountered the Black Cat last night.

Huh, that Black Cat again.

He peered into the darkness. A large black cat with green eyes was lying on the stone steps, watching him with curiosity.

As he looked at the cat, a piece of information suddenly appeared in Xiao Jie's mind—

[Cat: A chordate animal of the order Carnivora, family Felidae, genus Felis. Cats are small in size, with coat colors ranging from blue-gray to brownish-yellow. They have slender bodies, with a body length of 0.3-0.5 meters...]

Uh... this must be the effect of Beast Lore.

Strange.

Xiao Jie knew very well that cats usually lived in close proximity to humans, especially stray cats in the city, which relied on human feeding or scavenging through trash cans for food.

This place was in the middle of nowhere; what was a cat doing out here?

Moreover, it had neither a collar nor a pet tag, so it should have been a stray.

However, Xiao Jie didn't dwell on it. It was just a cat, after all...

He waved at the Black Cat and headed back the way he came.

Back home, Xiao Jie took a hot shower. It had been a long time since he had exercised so freely, and after working up a sweat, he felt refreshed from head to toe.

Sitting in front of his computer, Xiao Jie sipped an iced cola while taking stock of today's gains.

His harvest today was quite substantial: he had obtained a magical artifact, earned two hundred copper coins, learned Beast Lore, and increased his reputation in Ginkgo Village. Unfortunately, he hadn't achieved Sudden Enlightenment, which was his biggest regret.

He only had five days left; he had to hurry.

Herding sheep had seemed simple enough, but now it appeared he needed to ask someone for advice to be safe.

Thus, Xiao Jie logged into the [Boundless Sea of Knowledge] forum once again.

He posted a request for help in the daily Q&A section, offering a bounty of 100 big ones.

[Consultation: Does anyone know the tricks to herding sheep? If I have fifty sheep, how should I herd them to be the most efficient while ensuring none get lost? I'm looking for tips that involve the underlying logic, preferably.]

Soon, replies began to trickle in.

[Whoa, brother, have you gone to the countryside to return to a simple life? First Firewood Chopping, now herding sheep.]

[What do you mean by "underlying logic"? I haven't read much, so I don't get it. Explain it to me.]

[What underlying logic could there be for herding sheep? Just drive them to the pasture and let them eat grass, that's it.]

[There are actually some tricks to herding. If you want to talk about underlying logic, I don't know if this counts—the key to herding is to identify the Lead Sheep. Sheep are social animals; every flock has a leader. Generally speaking, the flock follows the leader. If you try to manage them one by one, you'll be exhausted. The simplest way to herd is to find the Lead Sheep and just keep an eye on it. As long as the Lead Sheep is there, the others won't run around, and even if they wander off a bit, they'll eventually come back.]

Huh? The Lead Sheep—that was a point he hadn't noticed before.

Xiao Jie thought to himself that there was indeed knowledge in everything. He would have to observe carefully when he herded the sheep tomorrow.

He only had five days left. If he still couldn't achieve Sudden Enlightenment tomorrow, he would have to change his strategy. He needed to achieve as many enlightenments as possible before the buff expired; stubbornly sticking to herding might not be the wisest choice.

The next day, Xiao Jie entered the game early.

He couldn't wait to reach the Livestock Pen and find Old Yang.

Old Yang (Shepherd): "Oh my, young people these days are so diligent, coming to pick up work so early! Come, come, here is the Shepherd's Whip. Take it, take it. Be careful not to let the sheep get lost; if they do, your wages will be deducted."

Xiao Jie drove the flock to the pasture. This time, he didn't focus too much on the energetic sheep, but instead searched the flock for the Lead Sheep.

He examined them one by one, observing their size and features.

After such careful observation, he really did discover some details.

The sheep in the flock clearly had a distinction between male and female. The rams had larger horns and were slightly bigger in size, while the ewes had smaller, more delicate horns.

Furthermore, the lambs liked to stay around the ewes, while the ewes all followed a sturdy, robust ram.

A dozen ewes, a dozen lambs, and this sturdy ram formed a cohesive unit, while the remaining rams were scattered around the perimeter of the flock.

That's right, this sturdy ram must be the Lead Sheep.

As Xiao Jie observed the distribution of the flock, the previously chaotic scene suddenly became clear and logical.

Whether the answers he found online were effective or not, he would know once he gave it a try.

This time, Xiao Jie did not frequently drive the flock; he let the rams on the periphery eat their fill, making no move to corral them even as they wandered about, with a few even reaching the edge of the hillside.

To his pleasant surprise, the goats did not continue to stray; as soon as they heard the Lead Sheep's bleat, they hurried back to the vicinity of the flock.

In this way, the flock gathered and dispersed, looking quite chaotic, yet not a single goat actually ran off.

And every time he did drive the flock, these goats would cluster around the Lead Sheep and move together.

Xiao Jie finally set his mind at ease. Herding was much simpler now; there was no need to constantly drive them around, as he only had to keep an eye on the Lead Sheep's position.

Sometimes, when the flock had finished grazing the nearby grass, the Lead Sheep would bleat and lead the flock to a new pasture on its own. Xiao Jie didn't have to do a thing; this herding job was practically automated, requiring him only to watch from the sidelines.

An hour passed quickly. Xiao Jie hadn't moved much during the second half of the session, and when the time was up, the system notification finally chimed.

[System Notification: Your "Enlightenment" state has been triggered; you have gained a "Sudden Enlightenment"!]

He finally succeeded! Xiao Jie was overjoyed. He hoped this Sudden Enlightenment would be for Taming!

He tapped the golden icon in the center of the screen.