Game Gold Farming!

[Spend a cumulative 30,000 gold and reach Noble Rank 8 to unlock Advanced Auto Mode, which can handle up to a hundred targets at once...]

Well, would you look at that—taking every opportunity to push people to spend. Exciting.

Just what you'd expect for an Ordinary Player.

Unfortunately, Gao Linzhi didn't have any money to spend right now.

He put away his bow and released the Corpse Vine!

The moment the green vine appeared, it burrowed underground. Hidden by the bushes and tall grass, no one noticed it.

"Eat quietly. Don't expose yourself."

He gave the Corpse Vine the order in his mind.

Then he turned and ran.

"Don't let him get away! Split into two groups and ride around him from both sides!"

"He must've completed some quest and gotten equipment of Green Quality or higher. That's why we can't break through his defense!"

"Trap him with ropes and nets, then kill him slowly. His gear will be ours!"

The Cavalry Leader was well-informed and had guessed the truth in an instant.

"The boss is right! We'll get a huge reward for taking his gear!"

The cavalrymen grew even more excited.

They split into two groups, remounted, and charged after Gao Linzhi from both sides, swinging lassos and pulling out fishing nets.

But then, in the very next instant, a horse suddenly let out a terrified whinny and skidded to a halt.

The rider swayed in the saddle. A moment later, he saw a gaping maw burst out of the grass!

"Something's wrong! There's a monster!"

He shouted instinctively, leaping off his horse to dodge.

Instead, he jumped straight into the gaping maw.

The next moment, with a gulp, he vanished.

[Your pet companion, Corpse Vine, devoured a player and gained the Recovery BUFF. After digestion, it will gain 5% of the target's EXP. Upgrading its quality can increase the proportion of EXP gained.]

Gao Linzhi couldn't help feeling delighted when he saw this.

His enemies, meanwhile, were horrified.

"How can a monster appear in broad daylight?" The cavalrymen were stunned.

A quick-witted rider immediately wheeled his horse around and fled!

In the game Skyfall, one piece of real-world wisdom still applied:

When you saw a monster, as long as you ran faster than your companions, you had a pretty good chance of surviving!

They'd been ruthlessly hunting their own kind just moments earlier. Now, faced with a terrifying other, they showed that they were nothing but bullies!

The Cavalry Leader didn't hesitate for even half a second. At the first shout, he yanked the reins, wheeled his horse around, and fled.

His horse was better, and soon he'd outpaced the other cavalrymen.

He had more experience: at this stage, players had only one way to deal with monsters—avoid them!

Behind him, the cavalrymen's screams rang out now and then!

He might make hundreds of thousands a month, but that wasn't worth risking his life for!

Gao Linzhi pretended to flee as well, while actually watching the bastards' fate on his Minimap.

Just a Level 1 Green pet, yet with its ability to burrow underground and its terrifying form, the Corpse Vine attacked without warning and chased more than a dozen fierce cavalrymen until they had nowhere to run, terrified of falling behind even by a single step.

Now this was the kind of treatment a big spender deserved!

If people bullied you when you didn't spend, and still bullied you after you spent, then what was the point of spending at all?

Of course, Gao Linzhi could tell that a Level 1 Corpse Vine wasn't all that powerful.

After devouring three people in a row, its attack frequency and movement speed had slowed considerably.

Some of the cavalrymen could now dodge its attacks and even counterattack, leaving a few wounds on its mottled green body.

But the Corpse Vine had too great an advantage. With the "Recovery" BUFF, the moment it was injured, it would burrow underground. It would reappear before long, its wounds already healed.

Devour corpses, recover from wounds.

Seeing this, the few cavalrymen who'd begun thinking of fighting back lost their nerve.

Against an opponent like this, the cavalrymen only had one life, and they weren't a proper army. There was no way they could hold out.

If these cavalrymen were true Fourth Catastrophe players, with the ability to revive endlessly, they could absolutely defeat this Corpse Vine.

After all, it was only Level 1.

By the time Gao Linzhi had run so far that the cavalrymen were out of sight, a game notification appeared.

[ Ding! Congratulations to the player and their pet for successfully defeating the enemy.]

[Your "Corpse Vine" devoured four enemies and is digesting them. Estimated time: 24 hours.]

[It can still fight before digestion is complete, but it cannot devour any new enemies. The "Gluttony" BUFF will be applied, reducing attack speed and movement speed.]

Increasing its level and Constitution would speed up digestion.

Clearly, this was a restriction the game had placed on players.

Sure enough, as long as you could run faster than your companions, even against an unstoppable opponent, you still had a good chance of surviving.

Gao Linzhi stopped.

Spending money really was great!

In his two lifetimes, this was his first time experiencing the perks of being a big spender!

In his previous life, he'd had relative freedom and could show off if he had money. He'd wanted to play games, but had no money.

In this life, everything was tightly controlled. He had plenty of money, but no desire to play games.

The company kept him under layers of pressure. Even if he could spend big and show off in the game, it was pointless.

Back in the real world, one manager could knock him right back down to size.

At that moment,

Gao Linzhi looked up. The sky was so blue, the clouds so white, the breeze so light.

Then he strode forward.

Before long, a game notification appeared:

[ Ding! Congratulations to the player for discovering East Wolf Village. A new game map has been unlocked.]

A large cluster of buildings appeared along the left edge of the Minimap, marked with the game icon "East Wolf Village." A string of NPC markers appeared as well.

"Great Elder," "Second Elder," "Third Elder," "Fourth Elder," "Patrol Team Leader"...

Following the Minimap's directions, he hurried forward.

Before long, he spotted a tall, long Stone Wall up ahead.

The wall stood over six meters high and was more than two meters thick, with an iron-plated wooden gate set in the middle.

Though it was daytime, the gate was still closed.

The Stone Wall curved away in both directions, forming an irregular circle.

Beneath the wall, not far away, was a busy worksite.

A group of young men and women with names floating over their heads were carrying stones. They seemed to be building a stone wall.

Their names were all different. It was obvious they were players too.

"Little Cat Fishing," "Ou Xiaohuang," "Little Chi Boss," "Little Shuo Assistant," "Ice Dance Snow Cherry"...

One after another, they were working hard, grunting with effort.

Some were breaking stones, some laying the wall, and others preparing the foundation. They worked efficiently and took their jobs seriously.

They were all drenched in sweat and panting with exhaustion.

Had they come to the game to do manual labor?

Gao Linzhi was puzzled.

Then he understood.

These players had only one life and couldn't spend money, so they naturally didn't dare fight monsters to gain EXP and level up. They had no choice but to haul bricks here to earn money.

They were probably hoping to use that money to hire NPCs to help them level up. After all, this was a real game world.