It's just a game, is it really necessary to make it so hardcore?

Chapter 35: 35. It's Just a Game, Is It Really Necessary to Make it This Hardcore?

Brother Wu Miao was ecstatic upon learning he'd received an in-game physical reward for his review of the Game Helmet. He wondered what the developers would actually give him.

A cool mount?

Or perhaps a rare collectible, or even a costume like the one from the closed beta reward?

It was like a shiny treasure chest or a box of chocolates with varied flavors placed before him, but he wouldn't know what was inside until he opened it.

This feeling of anticipation was the most tantalizing.

This imagination continued until Murphy pulled a sheathed Oak Hunting Sword from his Psionic Pocket and handed it to him.

"Damn! An equipment reward! How boring."

Brother Wu Miao deflated instantly.

It wasn't that special equipment was bad, but he was a game veteran. Everyone was still in the novice stage, having just accessed the Player Interface and not even started the formal path of fighting monsters to level up.

No matter how good the equipment given by the NPC was now, it would be discarded once their levels increased.

In such a situation, even the best Divine Sword in the village wouldn't be as good as a permanent costume.

However, the disappointment only lasted for a moment. The NPC had given it to him, so could he really return it?

"You seem a bit disappointed?"

Murphy noticed the change in Brother Wu Miao's expression. He shook his head, adopted a mysterious demeanor, and lowered his voice to speak to his Little Player:

"You'd better take a good look at this sword."

"Huh?"

Brother Wu Miao blinked.

Prompted by the NPC, he began to examine the hunting sword with its oak crossguard. Then, he felt a sense of familiarity. After a few seconds, he exclaimed:

"Isn't this the weapon of that Gray-Haired Demon Hunteress from before? I remember it could ignite flames?"

"Yes, this is a replica of a blessed Holy Blade from the Old Church, a weapon of Faith. Only Avalon Believers can use it and activate its special abilities."

Murphy said persuasively:

"Perhaps from this sword, you can uncover some of the secrets of the legendary Deities. However, as you can see, I am a Vampire, a born sinner. No Deity's gaze will fall upon us.

Therefore, I can only choose someone like you, my Warrior, who is both brave, wise, and curious, to seek its mysteries in my stead."

Murphy clutched the Core Computing Orb in his hand.

As soon as he finished speaking, the Computing Orb around Brother Wu Miao's neck emitted a light chime. He lowered his head to activate his Player Interface and saw a notification:

[Special · Hidden Quest Triggered!
Quest Name: Shadow of the Old Church
Quest Description: The Vampire Ravenor Murphy Lasombra from Cadman City captured a replica Sacred Relic from the Old Church in battle. This mysterious Night Living Being, shouldering a significant Mission, is interested in the legendary Deities.
He hopes you can start with this rare Holy Blade replica and help him investigate the secrets of the Natural Old Church and Deity Avalon.
Quest Reward: Unknown
Mission Deadline: No time limit.
Record this quest? Yes/No]

"Heh, this is more like it! I like this."

Seeing the familiar quest trigger and description, Brother Wu Miao grinned. Before the quest panel was available, he always had to follow NPC instructions. It was realistic, but it felt like something was missing from the gaming experience.

Now that the quest function was online, that familiar feeling instantly returned.

He immediately chose to accept the quest and, with a practiced Blood Vulture Salute, bowed to Murphy:

"As you command, my Lord. Your Will is my Direction. I will do my best to uncover the secrets of this Holy Blade and that damned Deity for you—"

"Hush!"

The audacious Little Player's careless words startled Murphy.

He quickly reached out and placed his hand on Brother Wu Miao's forehead, saying:

"Do not be so disrespectful, my Warrior. Deities exist in this world, and your disrespect might bring you Misfortune! Avalon Believers are spread across the continent, and they will not allow a God-insulter to roam free."

"Uh, thank you for the reminder, my Lord."

Brother Wu Miao replied immediately, but inwardly, he was dismissive.

No matter how powerful the game's gods were, could they strike down his real-world self with lightning?

He'd curse if he wanted to. What could that Avalon do to him?

Born under the red flag, he had been a firm Atheist since childhood.

Brother Wu Miao held the gifted Holy Blade in his hand. As he turned to leave, he heard Murphy remind him:

"The Computing Orb you are holding has a translation function. With it, you can converse with my Assistant and Servants. When you have free time, you might want to greet them and see if they have any Troubles they need your help with.

The journey back to Cadman City will take two to three days. Perhaps you can learn Swordsmanship from my loyal Maxim?"

"This is an action prompt."

Brother Wu Miao's heart stirred.

It seemed the development team had added the newbie guide. He decided to follow the NPC's prompt and get acquainted with other NPCs, and see if he could activate any more quests.

While Brother Wu Miao was trying his luck with quests in the caravan, the other little players were gathered, discussing the attributes and character specialties they had just seen on the player interface.

"I just calculated it, although our initial attributes are all different, the total sum is 30!"

Electronic Succubus Old Qu, one of Brother Wu Miao's Four Great Vajras, chewed on a blade of grass and said to the others:

"There's a special note under the attribute card saying these attributes are based on the scan of our original physical fitness by the game helmet, so there's no such thing as random character card generation.

From what I've observed, the initial character specialties are also listed based on reality. My specialty is 'Gunslinger,' which reduces the hit penalty for ranged attacks and increases reload speed.

This is clearly a marksman talent.

What about you guys?"

"Che Che's specialty is that a certain part of his body is particularly long!"

Invincible Tyrannosaurus Cheche, one of the Dormitory Six Brothers, immediately chimed in with a lewd joke. He was met with unanimous ridicule from the other brothers.

They hadn't seen anything particularly long about him when he was hit by the Aluba just now.

"Tch, boring. Fine, Cheche's character specialty is 'Optimistic,' which reduces the duration of various negative status effects. It's clearly a divine skill!

So, Cheche, am I truly the Chosen One who has developed harmoniously in all aspects of moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education?"

This university student, who liked to play pranks and always referred to himself in the third person, waved his hand with a smug look. The others then shared their character specialties and unanimously agreed that the specialties were listed quite accurately.

For example, "Duo Dao Le San Wu Dou," whose hobby could be guessed from his name, had the specialty [Enduring Stamina]. And the esteemed dorm leader, Leading Big Pigeon, had the specialty [Mystic].

The most bizarre was "Meow Meow Shark," one of the Dormitory Six Brothers.

His specialty was [Pet Expert], which increased the favorability of various animals towards him, but it only applied to small and medium-sized animals.

These almost all corresponded to certain lifestyle habits or preferred settings of these little players. Since they were all positive specialties, no one complained that they were not good, until the sports student Niu Niu, who had not participated in the discussion, spoke last, shocking everyone.

"Damn! Niu Niu, why do you have two character specialties?"

A Cha's exclamation immediately drew everyone's attention. Niu Niu was also a bit confused. He scratched his head and said, "I can understand [Master Athlete]. After all, I exercise all day and am better at sports than you otaku, which is normal. But I don't know how I got the second specialty, [Fist Master]. Maybe it's because I'm good at boxing?"

"What kind of boxing?"

Cheche slyly leaned in and asked, "The XXN Mizong Fist you practice online?"

"Get lost. It's proper boxing, fist techniques, understand?"

Niu Niu pushed Cheche away and explained with a serious fist, "I professionally train Sanshou. It's mainly a family tradition. I started practicing in junior high school and represented the school in competitions in high school. To win awards, I also practiced some miscellaneous routines, like Tai Chi and Krav Maga.

Perhaps that's why I have this specialty?"

"Holy crap! Sanshou Brother, no wonder you're so fierce in fights!"

Everyone was amazed. They finally understood Niu Niu's exceptionally high combat power in the game, realizing he was a professional.

"Hey, brothers, what are you guys talking about? You seem so happy?"

During their conversation, Brother Wu Miao finally returned. Seeing the Oak Hunting Sword he proudly wore at his waist, the other players knew that this scoundrel must have bribed the NPC in secret.

"Did the official directly reward you with a weapon?"

San Wudou looked enviously at the weapon in Brother Wu Miao's arms. The simple and grand oak crossguard clearly indicated it was no ordinary item. He complained, "Aren't you afraid it will affect the balance?"

"Affect balance my ass, it's a quest item! You can tell by using your item appraisal function."

Brother Wu Miao sat down beside him with a sigh and said, "Although the quality is high, it can't unleash its true power without the support of a faith system. This is a hidden quest rewarded by our NPC, asking me to investigate the Old Church and Avalon's faith. And although this sword looks cool, it's not as good as your plain gear when used.

I just took it to learn swordsmanship from that white-haired NPC Maxim, but he warned me that a novice like me shouldn't use weapons that require special techniques, lest I cut my own finger.

Damn!

Being looked down upon by an NPC in a game is too much. But I've already found out!"

He told the other players, "The white-haired NPC Maxim in the caravan is responsible for teaching the Blood Vulture Swordsmanship. You can buy some food and daily necessities from the red-haired NPC Mirian with money, such as tents, torches, and sewing kits.

I went to the female merchant's shop and saw she was also selling guns, which were the ones we scavenged earlier and resold to us. She's really ripping us off!

But she said she maintained those firearms, so she's not completely ripping us off.

There are two coffins in the second carriage.

They should be the Young Miss and her servant that we rescued. They don't appear during the day. According to the Vampire Lifestyle Rules, they might appear at night.

I estimate the Young Miss might teach us some basic psionic techniques, which is magic."

The game doesn't have such strict class and skill divisions. I saw that our NPC is a Swordsman but can also cast Dark Orbs. I guess formal class changes and such might be after Level 10."

"Awesome! As expected of Electronic Succubus Brother Wu Miao, you managed to organize all this information in just one round. I'll post on the forum and get some rewards."

Happy Stick said with a grin. Before Brother Wu Miao could reply, a sound of bells was heard. The players turned their heads and saw the Red-Haired NPC Mirian standing on the top of the carriage, vigorously shaking her handbell, signaling them to depart.

"Quick, keep up."

Brother Wu Miao patted his butt and stood up, saying:

"I just heard from the NPC that it will take us three days to return to Cadman City. He said he would arrange two carriages for us to rest in at the next village.

Maxim will be teaching the Blood Vulture Swordsmanship during dinner time, so we can just show up then.

We only have 6 hours of free game time each day now, so we need to allocate it well. I suggest we split into four groups to ensure there are always players online with the caravan. If a random quest pops up, just shout in the group chat.

I estimate that after three days, when we return to Cadman City, we'll be able to explore freely."

"Tch, this game being too realistic isn't always a good thing."

San Wudou next to him couldn't help but complain:

"In other games, this travel process could be skipped with ESC, but here we have to follow the NPC for three days."

"That's not what I'm worried about."

Happy Stick, who was nimbly climbing onto the carriage, looked at the incredibly realistic scenery around him and sighed, saying:

"Even the travel process is simulated so realistically. When it comes to learning skills, it's going to be tough. Learning a set of swordsmanship isn't as simple as you all think."

Niu Niu nodded vigorously beside him. As a Sports Student, he understood this all too well.

"Didn't they say swordsmanship and sword moves are just for show?"

Xiang La Gugu Ji poked his head out and said. Happy Stick immediately curled his lips:

"If you've ever seen people who practice Hema, you wouldn't say such foolish things. From now on, if anyone tells you that, just use the Great Windmill Sword Technique to hit them in the face! Listen to your brother's advice, don't waste your breath arguing with idiots online. You present facts and reason, and they'll deny it all with a simple 'I think'."

"Right, it exists in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad, so how could it be fake?"

Niu Niu also patted Gugu Ji's shoulder and said:

"You also saw how our NPC fights with a sword. It's not something you can just swing around wildly. Honestly, I'm quite interested in this game content.

I want to see just how realistic this game can be!

To be honest, I don't believe the development team could actually hire a group of real combat swordsmanship masters to do the motion capture."

The eager Sports Student rubbed his hands together, his face full of anticipation.

Several hours later, at the campsite during dinner, Niu Niu, after being disarmed for the seventh time with his Swift Sword and facing Maxim's contemptuous gaze, felt his wrists go numb and was on the verge of tears.

Holy crap!

These NPCs are serious!

The little bit of flashy sword moves he learned were nothing in front of them. It's just a game, there's no need to be this hardcore, man.

Ps:

Thanks to "Frostfang Claw" brother for the Alliance Leader reward. The extra chapters will be counted towards the on-shelf burst updates! Thank you, brother.