Shylock's Request

To accommodate the vast player base, God's Domain allows players to play while they sleep. The game time differs from reality; 48 hours in-game is equivalent to one hour in reality, meaning one hour in the real world equals two hours in the game.

In the game, 48 hours constitute one day, consisting of 30 hours of daylight and 18 hours of night, following a very regular cycle.

Furthermore, the real-world night corresponds to the game's daytime, allowing the vast number of office workers to experience the joy of the game.

As soon as Shi Feng entered God's Domain, he first passed through a colorful tunnel and subsequently arrived at a solemn golden temple.

A palm-sized female angel, fluttering four pairs of snow-white wings, flew before Shi Feng.

"Hello, adventurer. Welcome to God's Domain. I am the navigation angel Gabriel, and I will explain the four major categories and twelve major classes of God's Domain so that you may choose your favorite."

With a wave of Gabriel's small hand, illustrated introductions for the twelve classes appeared before Shi Feng.

These twelve classes are divided into four major branches.

Warrior branch: Shield Warrior, Guardian Knight, Berserker.

Weapon branch: Swordsman, Assassin, Ranger.

Healing branch: Priest, Druid, Oracle.

Magic branch: Elementalist, Summoner, Cursist.

The Warrior branch focuses on defense and tanking monsters, the Weapon branch focuses on physical damage, the Healing branch focuses on recovery, and the Magic branch focuses on magical damage. Each class possesses a unique combat style, which is a major selling point of God's Domain.

In his previous life, Shi Feng chose the Swordsman from the Weapon branch and was hailed as the Magic Swordmaster.

Having invested so much into the Swordsman class, he naturally would not choose another. Without hesitation, he selected the Swordsman, a class he was intimately familiar with.

"Class selection complete. Please name your character."

"Ye Feng."

Shi Feng chose the same name as in his previous life.

"Naming successful. Would you like to adjust your facial appearance? The adjustment rate is 15%."

Shi Feng thought for a moment; not wanting to be too conspicuous, he chose the 15% adjustment. Although he wouldn't be as handsome as his real self, others would certainly not be able to tell it was him.

"Please select a birthplace in the Star-Moon Kingdom."

Suddenly, a map of the Star-Moon Kingdom appeared before Shi Feng, featuring dozens of cities.

The launch of God's Domain was synchronized globally. To accommodate hundreds of millions of players, the land of God's Domain was incredibly vast, comparable to two or three times the surface area of Earth. It contained a great number of countries, though the country was determined at the start based on the player's region and city. Players could only choose the city within their assigned country.

"White River City."

Shi Feng did not intend to choose any other city, opting directly for the one he was most familiar with: White River City.

White River City is the fifth-largest city in the Star-Moon Kingdom and an important hub in the eastern part of the kingdom. Many small studios prefer to develop here to avoid the conflicts of large guilds.

"City confirmed. The player will be randomly assigned to Red Leaf Town, under the jurisdiction of White River City. Teleportation in 3 seconds. I wish you a pleasant gaming experience."

Shi Feng then felt a blur before his eyes as he was teleported away.

Red Leaf Town featured a medieval architectural style, with houses scattered in an orderly fashion everywhere. The streets were filled with NPCs walking and interacting, making it feel as if he had arrived in another world.

Shi Feng was teleported in front of a church, dressed in gray novice leather armor with a novice sword hanging at his waist—the very image of a down-and-out swordsman.

As expected, I've come to Red Leaf Town. Shi Feng smiled slightly, looking at the familiar little town with full confidence.

At this moment, a large number of players were already wandering around, talking to NPCs and searching for quest clues. A small number of players were heading straight out of town to kill monsters in the wild, each one full of determination, wishing they could split their time in two.

Ignoring the other players, Shi Feng gently flicked his finger, and his player attribute panel appeared.

Character: Ye Feng (Human)

Kingdom: Star-Moon

Title: None

Class: Swordsman

Level: 0

HP: 100/100

Attack Power: 13

Defense: 4

Attack Speed: 3

Movement Speed: 4

Attributes: Strength 5, Agility 3, Endurance 4, Intelligence 2, Spirit 2.

Free Attribute Points: 4

Weapon Mastery: One-handed Sword Mastery +5 (Apprentice level, increases one-handed sword damage by 5%), Two-handed Sword Mastery +5 (Apprentice level, increases two-handed sword damage by 5%)

Free Mastery Points: 0

Class Attributes:

Swordsman Attribute 1: Sword Mastery +5

Swordsman Attribute 2: Gain 8 free mastery points every five levels.

Swordsman Attribute 3: Sword-type skill proficiency increased by 50%.

Skill: Slash, action-type, requires sword, adds 8 damage, cooldown 5 seconds, skill level 1 (proficiency 0/300).

Equipment: Swordsman Leather Armor (Gray Trash), durability 10/10, defense 2, equipment level 0. Practice One-Handed Novice Sword (Gray Trash), durability 15/15, attack 3, equipment requirement 3 strength, equipment level 0.

The backpack contains ten pieces of bread and ten bags of water. Eating bread restores 10 HP per second, and drinking water restores 10 MP per second, both lasting for ten seconds.

All Swordsman players start with the same base attributes; the only difference lies in the choice of free attribute points.

Every time a player levels up, they receive 4 free attribute points. As levels increase, the way these are added varies, forming one's own unique style.

Strength increases physical attack power and weight capacity, Agility increases attack speed and movement speed, Stamina increases HP and stamina, Intelligence increases magic attack power and MP, and Spirit increases mana regeneration speed and healing amount. Each class has different priorities.

The Swordsman is a physical damage class. Most people prioritize Strength. The Shi Feng of the past also made this choice: 2 points in Strength, 1 in Stamina, and 1 in Agility—a very standard and mediocre choice.

However, in this life, Shi Feng does not intend to add points that way.

Shi Feng clicked the plus sign for Agility without hesitation, adding all 4 points to it. His Agility instantly rose to 7, his attack speed became 4, and his movement speed became 5.

This method of adding points is something even Assassins, who are known for their Agility, wouldn't do. In the early stages, people definitely prioritize damage, adding more Strength to level up faster.

Unfortunately, Shi Feng does not think so.

In the early stages of God's Domain, for melee classes, Agility is the best choice. This is a secret discovered only a few weeks after the launch of God's Domain. Once discovered, it made countless melee players beat their chests and cough up blood in regret for their reckless early-game point allocation.

After adding the attribute points, Shi Feng looked around.

In just a short while, a large crowd of players had teleported in. The small central plaza was filled with green diamond markers—all players—completely covering the yellow NPC markers, making it difficult to even find an NPC.

Beep, beep, beep!

Shi Feng's voice communication rang. He checked the name: Black Cloud Covering the Sun. It was Heizi calling.

"Brother Feng, I chose Curse Master and teleported to Falling Moon Town. Where are you?" Heizi was very excited to have entered God's Domain and couldn't wait to show off his skills.

"I'm in Red Leaf Town, not too far from Falling Moon Town. Come to Red Leaf Town, and I'll take you to level up," Shi Feng said.

"Brother Feng, are you crazy? Do you know how far Falling Moon Town is from Red Leaf Town? The map shows it will take me 7 hours to get there. If I go, I'll fall way behind other players. Let's just level up separately and meet up in White River City once we hit level 10." Heizi was so angry he almost coughed up blood. Earning 16,000 credits in ten days was already crazy enough; he wasn't about to waste 7 hours instead of leveling up like a madman in God's Domain.

"Don't worry, just come over. You'll make up for the wasted time very quickly," Shi Feng said calmly.

Hearing the confidence in Shi Feng's tone, Heizi asked excitedly, "Brother Feng, do you have information provided by a beta tester?"

Before God's Domain launched, many people were invited to test it. These people were called beta testers. They could be said to hold first-hand information about God's Domain. Although God's Domain would undergo changes, what the beta testers knew was certainly much more than what ordinary players knew.

"What do you think? Anyway, hurry up and come over," Shi Feng said with a mysteriously feigned smile.

Once Heizi heard this, he was thrilled, knowing that Shi Feng must have reliable information, otherwise he wouldn't speak like that. "Alright, Brother Feng, wait for me. I'm heading over now."

After hanging up with Heizi, Shi Feng walked toward a dim alley in the small town.

There were hundreds of NPCs in Red Leaf Town, but only a few dozen actually gave quests, and there were only five hidden quests. There was only one unique quest, and a unique quest is one-of-a-kind; once completed, it is gone forever.

This unique quest in Red Leaf Town was only discovered two months after the launch of God's Domain. At the time, it caused a sensation throughout White River City. Because the quest was unique, the lucky player posted the walkthrough to show off, making many players envious. Unfortunately, the quest was already gone, and no one else could do it.

In this life, Shi Feng naturally would not let this unique quest slip by.

Shi Feng arrived at the dim alley, which was filled with beggars in tattered clothes. Seeing Shi Feng walk over, they swarmed him like hungry wolves seeing meat, begging for food.

A player had once given these beggars plenty of food, but the beggars then asked for more items, which became increasingly expensive and rare. That player actually agreed to all of them, satisfying over a dozen of the beggars' requests, but unfortunately, the beggars gave nothing in return. It nearly drove that player to death from anger and became a laughingstock.

"Get lost, all of you!"

Shi Feng shouted, drawing his novice sword. The beggars, who had no ability to resist, retreated and hid to the side.

As the beggars scattered, Shi Feng walked to a corner where a beggar was lying—a down-and-out middle-aged man. He was no different from the other beggars, except for the fact that he was the only one who hadn't begged for food, showing great dignity.

"Sir, do you need any help?" Shi Feng looked at the man and asked in a formulaic tone.

"Could you give me some food? I haven't eaten in five days," the beggar said.

Shi Feng smiled slightly and said sternly, "I'm sorry, sir, but I cannot fulfill your request."

If a normal person heard this, they would likely be furious, but the beggar just sighed and said nothing more.

"However, if you are willing to pay the corresponding price, I can give you the food you need," Shi Feng said.

The beggar looked up at Shi Feng with anticipation in his eyes. "If I had money, I would certainly be willing to pay the cost, but I have nothing now. If... if you are willing to help me, I will pay a sufficient price. Are you willing to help me?"

"May I ask what you want me to do?" Shi Feng asked.

The beggar said with utmost seriousness, "Please help me kill Cross, the mayor of Red Leaf Town."

Although Red Leaf Town was a small town, the mayor was a level 15 elite, and he was guarded by level 25 guards. Furthermore, killing an NPC would result in being wanted by the NPCs. Killing the mayor was undoubtedly a crazy move. No player would believe this was a quest; it was simply sending players to their deaths, and no one would agree to such a trap of a request.

"Fine, I accept," Shi Feng said without hesitation, smiling as he agreed.

System: Accepted unique quest "Shylock's Request".

Quest Content: Kill the mayor of Red Leaf Town, Cross, and deliver the Mayor's Badge to Shylock. Player level must not exceed 10.

After accepting the quest, Shi Feng turned and walked toward the town hall where the mayor was located.