Players

"Ladies and gentlemen, a whole month! Do you know how I survived this month? What game needs a month of maintenance?!"

Liao Yunhuai looked around to confirm his location while muttering to himself to the Water Friends in the Live Broadcast Room.

Two months ago, he was just an ordinary Self-Media streamer, barely making ends meet with his monthly income. But everything changed the moment he successfully won the "Jianghu" activation code.

He had no idea why he never won the "buy one get one free" prize when buying soda, or why he had such bad luck with gacha pulls, never getting the guaranteed item. How did he manage to get this game's Closed Beta activation code, which was said to be one of only a thousand available worldwide? However, there was no denying that his fate had changed after he streamed this game, which he had previously only ever seen in novels.

"Oh, as you can see, we're still in front of the Ancestral Hall in Big Locust Tree Village. Although the number of participants for the second Closed Beta has increased to 10,000, it seems our starting point hasn't changed... Hmm, maybe I'm just lucky?"

While scanning the comments for answers to prominent questions, Liao Yunhuai walked towards the village entrance, drawing on his experience from the previous closed Closed Beta.

Why aren't the streamers accepting tasks?

A comment that clearly belonged to a newbie flashed by, but out of respect for the dazzling VIP effect on that comment, Liao Yunhuai immediately responded:

"This game is a bit like those in online game novels; its main focus is on realism. There aren't any daily quests or anything like that, and these NPCs are really cunning. You have to ask about the reward beforehand, otherwise you might end up working for nothing..."

As he spoke, he pulled out a few copper coins from his coarse cloth clothes and said:

"Money in this game is just as hard to earn as it is in real life. You only get five copper coins a day from farming, and one copper coin is almost enough to buy a steamed bun. You know, it costs five taels a month to become an apprentice at a martial arts school in the County Town! Hmm, you don't know how many copper coins one tael of silver is? One to a thousand, my friend!"

At this point, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he waved to the side, saying:

"Wu Sha! Wu Sha! Let's go hunting together!"

"Hey, you little sis! I'm called Five Kills!" The young man carrying a bow rolled his eyes at him, but out of respect for the Zu'an Person, he toned down his extremely vulgar and offensive language. Liao Yunhuai clearly didn't care; he simply shrugged and addressed the audience:

"The fastest way to make money, according to the big shots right now, is to hunt in the mountains. You can't mess with tigers, but you can sell a rabbit for twenty coins at the tavern. Hunting two hundred and fifty rabbits is enough to get a martial arts apprenticeship. What? Don't complain about the low quality! The owner won't accept rabbits that aren't good enough!"

"Are you coming or not!" Five Kills, who couldn't see Liao Yunhuai's live stream panel, impatiently shouted at him, who was telling a stand-up comedy routine. Just as Liao Yunhuai was about to reply, he heard a burst of piano music echoing in the air.

Although I'm not a music expert and can't really tell the difference between good and bad music, I still have a basic sense of whether something sounds good or bad.

Moreover, while I can't speak for other things, the Closed Beta testers in Big Locust Tree Village have definitely investigated every NPC in the village, but in the past month, they have never heard anyone playing the Erhu!

"A new NPC!"

Five Kills and Liao Yunhuai exchanged a glance and immediately followed the sound of the Erhu, soon finding the Thatched Hut that hadn't existed a month ago.

At this moment, many players who hadn't yet left the village rushed over, pointing and commenting on the young man sitting on the Stone Pier playing the Erhu.

"Why are you all just watching?" Upon seeing this, Five Kills immediately asked a familiar player. The player, upon hearing this, immediately whispered:

"Brother Night Rider tried to go up and talk to him, but he was bounced away by Air Wall when he was about five meters away!"

"Air Wall? This crappy game has Air Wall?" Even Five Kills was shocked. Logically speaking, it's normal for there to be Air Wall in the game, but the problem is that during the last Closed Beta, a pro player walked all the way from Big Locust Tree Village westward for more than 20 days without encountering Air Wall!

"Not necessarily. Maybe the NPC pushed him away with his True Qi? After all, it's common for hidden masters to be in the Beginner Village. Look at the aura of this guy playing the Erhu at full health; he's clearly a Martial World Myth master."

Hearing the player's words, Liao Yunhuai also focused his attention on the man playing the Erhu. He looked relatively young, at most twenty-eight or twenty-nine, with some stubble on his face and a hint of melancholy in his eyes. The visual impression was quite strong. If there was anything out of place, it was that the man was wearing a coarse cloth robe, and there were some wood chips on the ground next to him.

"Even if this isn't Martial Arts Master, it's still a hidden quest, right?" Liao Yunhuai thought to himself. However, it seemed that the players around him had the same idea. After all, they hadn't seen Air Wall in a month of playing the game. Now that they had one, whether it was the game mechanics or the NPC's behavior, it was definitely not an ordinary event.

Unless the game updates and introduces an Air Wall system.

Just as all sorts of strange comments were popping up in the live chat, clamoring for poisoning, becoming an apprentice, and taking off his pants, the man suddenly stopped what he was doing, nodded slightly, put the Erhu on a stand to the side, picked up another piece of wood, and began to whittle it.

The instant the music stopped, the Air Wall vanished. The player who had been standing against the Air Wall lost his balance and fell forward, landing squarely in front of the young man.

Feng Xue looked at the player who had given him a deep bow and was slightly speechless. He carefully sensed the [knowledge] flowing from them toward the two Tag [Martial World Myth] and [Senior Expert], and became more and more certain that they were real people.

"If only there were a fool like me right now," Feng Xue muttered to herself, pondering whether to help the young man up or continue her aloof act. But before she could make a move, she heard a loud shout—

"Hey! Take this!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a player who looked quite young jumped out from the crowd. He pushed off with his left foot and twisted his body. Although his movements were a bit rough, there was no doubt that he had received proper boxing training.

Watching his clumsy movements, Feng Xue felt a slight surge of joy. Judging from his novice-like technique, he was definitely not a trained martial artist in real life. And if it were a skill from a game, the fact that he could use it like this at least proved that the Game System probably didn't provide any skill-related assistance to the player.

If Game System exists.

Thoughts raced through her mind, but the player seemed to think she was terrified, and the force of his fist did not diminish, heading straight for Feng Xue's face. Feng Xue, who had wanted to test her skills on a fool, immediately frowned slightly, then stretched out her finger and flicked it lightly.

The player suddenly felt a lightness in their body, as the scenery on both sides rushed past rapidly. Waves of excruciating pain swept through their entire body, and at the same time, a voice slowly entered their ears—

"Whether it takes form or not, whether it conveys meaning or not, go practice some more."