Shi Feng headed toward the town hall. The streets were packed with people.
The narrow streets were full of players. It was like a crowded market, with everyone trying to wheedle quests out of NPCs.
Unfortunately, quests in God's Domain weren't so easy to get. The main reason was that the NPCs were highly intelligent. They spoke to players one at a time, and players had to choose their words carefully. Otherwise, an NPC might simply ignore them. On top of that, players were packed together, all vying for the same quests. Even getting an ordinary quest that seemed easy to find was incredibly difficult.
In the short time since God's Domain had opened, not a single player in Red Leaf Town had managed to pick up an ordinary quest.
By comparison, Shi Feng had a huge advantage as a reborn player. He'd not only obtained a quest, but a unique one. Although it was a bit of a pain, the rewards were extremely generous. Even the top players a month after God's Domain launched would drool over the reward for this unique quest.
As a reborn player, Shi Feng had once led thousands of people in the Shadow Studio and established ten city-states. He knew far more about God's Domain than the average professional player, especially when it came to leveling guides and ways to make money. That knowledge was essential to making a studio of thousands stronger.
Now that he had a second chance at life and was playing God's Domain again, Shi Feng intended to use all that knowledge to build up a massive advantage and lay a solid foundation for the future. Naturally, he wouldn't waste hours on the street fighting for an ordinary quest like an average player. Nor would he be like some professional players who relied on their skill to hunt monsters in the wild. At this point, there were probably more players than monsters out there.
Shi Feng's plan was to avoid the crowds, which was why he'd chosen a particularly difficult unique quest.
However, completing it would cost money, and Shi Feng didn't have enough.
At the start, every player received 10 copper. It wasn't enough to buy weapons or armor, but it could buy some food and drink to deal with low health and mana.
When he arrived at the town hall, a small, two-story building, he saw players lined up in a long queue. There were well over a hundred of them.
In any game, mayors and village chiefs were obvious sources of quests. Naturally, players weren't going to pass them up.
"Hey, newcomer. If you don't want to make everyone hate you, get in line." A stocky, honest-looking male warrior midway down the queue raised a hand and pointed to the spot several people behind him.
"I'm not here to pick up a quest," Shi Feng said casually, glancing at the long queue outside the town hall.
Compared to other places where players could get quests, this line was actually quite orderly and moved at a decent pace. It was slow, but at least people were managing to get quests.
The warrior eyed Shi Feng warily. Everyone was desperate to get a quest, so who would believe that someone had come here and wasn't interested?
"I'm really not here for a quest." Seeing the warrior's hostile look, Shi Feng realized he thought he was about to cut in line. He smiled. "But I suggest you try somewhere else. You'll be wasting your time if you wait here."
"How can it be a waste of time? A few people have already come out with quests." The warrior saw that Shi Feng wasn't trying to cut in and relaxed. He'd been in line for over ten minutes and didn't want anyone jumping ahead of him. Still, Shi Feng sounded so sure that he was curious why the wait would be a waste.
Shi Feng smiled but didn't explain. Instead, he changed the subject. "You seem like a decent guy, so I'll point you in the right direction. Hunting monsters in the wild is a better use of your time."
"No way. There are too many people competing for monsters out there. It's better here." The warrior shook his head. He wasn't stupid. The wilderness had to be packed with players, and with his skill, he probably wouldn't be able to get a single monster. He was better off waiting here.
"You're just looking in the wrong place. Go somewhere with fewer monsters, and no one will compete with you. Compared to the crowds in monster-dense areas, the leveling speed there is several times faster. The monsters respawn slowly, too, so one person can handle them with ease," Shi Feng said with a smile.
"Is there really a place like that?"
The warrior perked up at the thought. He was very interested. Waiting for a quest would take at least another hour, and all he'd get was experience and a tiny bit of money. If he could grind monsters for an hour without anyone bothering him, he'd surely get much more experience than from a quest.
"Of course. If you want to visit such a prime spot, I'll give you a discount: 20 copper. You can earn more than just experience in a day's grinding. The materials alone should bring in over 40 copper, and if you're lucky enough to get equipment, you'll make a fortune." Shi Feng leaned closer and spoke in a low voice.
"Are you sure you're not trying to fool me?" The warrior studied Shi Feng, uncertain. A spot like that would give him a big lead over other players, but 20 copper was no small sum. Monsters in God's Domain rarely dropped money or equipment, so copper was precious.
"If you don't believe me, you can pay 10 copper upfront and check out the place first. If it's real, you can pay me the other 10. I'm only telling you because you seem like a decent guy. If you don't believe me, forget it." Shi Feng turned and walked away.
If Shi Feng weren't short on money, he wouldn't be doing this. He could always find another way to make some.
Shi Feng had only taken a few steps when the warrior grabbed him.
"Hold on, expert! Let's talk this out. It's just a 10-copper deposit. Here, take it. I trust you won't cheat me." The honest-looking warrior smiled and decisively traded Shi Feng 10 copper.
"You've got a good attitude, so I'll give you a decent spot. It's a little out of the way, but there's a level 0 spellcasting Green-Skinned Goblin there. It has low defense, respawns quickly, and has a good chance of dropping money. It's a great place for a Berserker to hunt." Shi Feng was pleased to receive the 10 copper and gave him a good grinding spot.
Seeing how familiar Shi Feng was with wild monsters—even knowing which little monsters dropped more money—the warrior finally relaxed. He hadn't expected to get so lucky and meet an expert in God's Domain. And not just any expert: Shi Feng might even be a beta tester. The thought made him even more excited.
"Big Brother Expert, do you know where I can get a Berserker skill book? I only have one skill at the start, so it's really hard to kill monsters." The warrior felt even closer to Shi Feng now and already thought of him as a big brother.
"If you want to know, that'll be two silver coins." Shi Feng chuckled. He wasn't going to hand over such valuable information for free just because of a few words.
The warrior's face went pale at the mention of two silver. That was 200 copper—not even an ordinary guild had that much money.
"Expert, let's add each other as friends. I'm Lonely As Snow. Once I've saved up enough, I can get in touch with you." The warrior sent Shi Feng a friend request.
"Sure," Shi Feng agreed.
"Big Brother Expert, I'm off to hunt monsters, then. As soon as I've saved up the remaining 10 copper, I'll send it to you." Lonely As Snow cheerfully said goodbye, left the long queue, and hurried toward the grinding spot.
With some money in hand, Shi Feng headed for the fruit stand beside the town hall.
"Boss, how much is this tomato?" Shi Feng asked, picking up a bright red tomato.
Fruit and vegetables could help players recover health and mana, and they tasted good, but their recovery effects were poor. Most players wouldn't buy them, especially when money was so tight early on. Buying fruit and vegetables was practically a shameful waste.
"Two copper each."
"I'll take ten."
Shi Feng paid 20 copper. After picking up the ten tomatoes, he entered the town hall.
"Hey, newcomer! Get in line. Can't you see everyone else is waiting?"
"Swordsman, what do you think you're doing? Do you know how many people are waiting behind you?"
The players in line were furious at Shi Feng for approaching the mayor. They all began to berate him. If attacking other players in town didn't get them locked up, they would've already taken him down.
"Sorry, I'm really not here to pick up a quest. I just want to take a look." Shi Feng smiled at the players, then turned his attention to the fat, big-headed mayor, Cross.
Cross, friendly, Level 15 Elite, HP 2400/2400, MP 1500/1500. No player at this stage could beat him. Not even a whole raid could do it.
Shi Feng then took out a bright red tomato and began to eat it.
"What is he doing?"
"Damn, that's so wasteful! He's eating a tomato. Those cost two copper each!"
The players didn't understand what Shi Feng was up to. Had he come into the town hall to eat a tomato just to show off how rich he was?
Halfway through eating it, Shi Feng threw the tomato at Mayor Cross's face.
The tomato hit Cross dead on. Bright red liquid splattered and streamed down his face.
System: Cross's favorability toward you has decreased by 100 points.
Shi Feng wasn't satisfied. He took another tomato from his bag and threw it at Cross.
"You hypocrite! You fat bloodsucker! You're not fit to be mayor!"
Shi Feng hurled tomatoes and cursed as Cross's favorability kept dropping. Cross was soon covered in red, dripping tomato juice. Combined with his furious expression, he looked ridiculous.
But no one in the town hall laughed. The place was utterly silent. The players stared at Shi Feng, mouths hanging open in shock.
God's Domain had been open for only 20 minutes, and a player had dared to attack an NPC—and not just any NPC, but the boss of a beginner zone, the mayor of a town!
The guy was insane! Wasn't he afraid of being locked up until the end of time?
Didn't he want to keep living in Red Leaf Town?
You couldn't go around taking out your anger on society like this!
Just as the players expected the guards to arrest Shi Feng or the mayor to fly into a rage and kill him, neither happened.
The crowd didn't know that insulting an NPC didn't count as an attack. The guards and Cross wouldn't attack Shi Feng for it, but his actions would make the NPCs hate him—and he could forget about getting quests from them in the future.
When Shi Feng hurled the last tomato at Cross, Cross's favorability toward him fell to Hostile. His level display changed to a question mark, and the yellow marker turned bright red.
"You damn pest! I'll send you straight to hell!"
Mayor Cross, now marked in bright red, roared and charged at Shi Feng.