Concealing Oneself

Against their methods, he decided to do his best to protect himself.

First, he needed a simple disguise; second, he had to find a cave to evade pursuit from the air.

He immediately set his next game goal: learning the "Disguise Art."

He could learn it under the guise of being a guard. As a guard, he would often need to conceal himself and protect his target from the shadows.

So it was perfectly reasonable for him to study the "Disguise Art."

In fact, the Fourth Elder might even take the initiative to teach him.

Thinking this, Gao Linzhi wandered through the mountains and soon found a mountain stream.

It was very secluded, with dense trees and vines that blocked out the sky.

Looking down from above and all around, all he could see was a vast expanse of forest and vines, along with thick fog—the bottom was invisible at a glance.

One had to climb down the cliff to enter.

This was clearly an excellent hiding spot.

Though it was a dead end, even if the enemy cornered him here, Gao Linzhi could quickly escape into the game as a last resort.

It was currently winter, and the mountain stream was filled with withered grass and shrubs, with occasional patches of green.

Gao Linzhi recalled the wilderness survival videos he had watched and decided to survive here in the wild.

He now had many advantages for wilderness survival.

He could easily access survival supplies from the game world.

He had a game data panel, could revive an unlimited number of times, and was already game-datafied, so he didn't have to worry about fatal wilderness issues like illness, poisoning, disability, or injury.

Then, in the mountain stream, he found a relatively flat slope.

There were many rocks, with withered grass and shrubs stubbornly growing from the crevices.

He planned to cut wood and use the rocks and timber to build a simple wooden shed as a temporary settlement.

To that end, he entered the game again and brought back many construction tools from the Fourth Elder's home.

These included an axe, a saw, rope, and more.

The Fourth Elder didn't even ask what he needed them for; he just gave him a knowing look.

Clearly, the Fourth Elder was perceptive and understood at a glance.

As long as Gao Linzhi fulfilled the Guard Contract, that was all that mattered.

After a full day of hard work, he finally built a simple shed.

This axe was indeed a game item—cutting wood with it was easy and effortless.

Aside from the axe, he didn't borrow anything else, to avoid arousing suspicion.

The same went for food; he took some from the Fourth Elder's home.

And so, Gao Linzhi easily survived in this mountain stream.

The next morning.

Gao Linzhi tidied up his temporary shelter and entered the game again.

He was just about to find the Fourth Elder to learn the Disguise Art.

Before he could speak, the Fourth Elder said:

"You all practice the skills you've learned first. In two days, I'll teach you a Disguise Art. Use it to change your identities and hide in the village, so you won't be targeted in secret again."

Gao Linzhi was naturally pleased; this saved him from having to ask.

His current goal was simple: kill more monsters, accumulate more experience, and use that experience to level up the Basic Skills he had just learned.

At this moment, his attribute panel was as follows:

[Physique: 5]

[Spirit: 7]

[Level 1]

[Experience: 40/100]

[Skills: Heavenly Sight, Earthly Hearing, Person-Judging Art (Incomplete) (0/100), Basic Fists and Feet (0/100), Basic Parrying (0/100), Basic Lightness Skill (0/100).]

With a thought, he decided, "Invest all experience into Basic Lightness Skill."

[Basic Lightness Skill proficiency increased to (40/100).]

He moved his body and found it a bit more agile.

Then he went to find the Fourth Elder.

At this time, the Fourth Elder was again sitting in the village center in front of the courtyard, dozing in a recliner.

"Fourth Elder, I want to kill monsters and gain experience," Gao Linzhi said directly, without any nonsense.

"You're a village guard, so you don't need to rush leveling up like the other Descenders."

"You'd better learn a few skills first, then go kill monsters. Invest your experience into various skills, and use skill upgrades to boost your attributes, rather than hurrying to raise your level."

"You don't need to worry about personal safety—the village will guarantee it." The Fourth Elder opened his eyes and looked at him.

Clearly, the Fourth Elder had mistakenly assumed that Gao Linzhi was in trouble in reality, urgently needing to level up, gain attribute points, and strengthen himself to confront that trouble.

Gao Linzhi also knew that the Fourth Elder's words came from genuine goodwill toward him.

After all, their interests aligned—a well-developed guard with strong attributes would be far more valuable to the village.

But what the other didn't know was that he had already reached the Beginner level in four skills.

"I've already reached Beginner in one skill." Gao Linzhi said directly.

"Alright then, take this token and find the patrol team at the city wall." The Fourth Elder's eyes lit up with delight, and he continued, "Tell them I said this: if they capture any monsters, they're all yours to kill. Afterwards, have them report the expenses to the village."

He straightened up, pulled a bamboo token from his chest, and handed it to Gao Linzhi.

Gao Linzhi took it and saw the character "Kill" on the front and "Monster" on the back.

Simple and straightforward.

Gao Linzhi nodded: "Thank you, Fourth Elder."

"No need—this is what you deserve. Work hard." The Fourth Elder added a couple more words.

"Yes."

Gao Linzhi then took the token and once again went to the village's stone wall, where he found the patrol team.

He spotted the busy Patrol Captain, Zheng Dong, and showed him the token.

The village had four patrol teams, rotating day and night shifts.

One team patrolled during the day, while three teams took turns at night. Every so often, the four teams would swap their day and night schedules.

This showed just how dangerous the nights were.

And Zheng Dong was the captain of the fourth team.

"Alright, since it's a token from the Fourth Elder, any monsters we catch are yours to kill."

"But you only have the right to kill them—any items you drop still belong to us." Zheng Dong explained.

"I understand that." Gao Linzhi naturally had no objections.

He wasn't lifting a finger, yet he was getting free experience.

Although only players could drop items, which seemed a bit unfair, the problem was that, for now, the village didn't find players particularly valuable.

If there were only one or two players in the village, then naturally the village would be begging them.

But with dozens of players in the village now, most were still in their development phase.

Players needed to rely on the village to survive.

And the village, at this point, didn't rely on the players.

In comparison, the Corporate Players were currently more valuable to the village—because they were controlled by their corporations and could risk their lives to clear monsters.

So Gao Linzhi followed the patrol team as they dealt with monsters.

After a morning passed, the patrol team cleared out the Monsters that had appeared nearby, and Gao Linzhi smoothly obtained 300 experience points.

He poured all of it into Basic Lightness Skill.

This brought Basic Lightness Skill directly to level 3 (40/100).

For him, this was obviously good news.