Lin Maoxian heard the vendor's words and thought, No one's a fool. If people revealed everything they could do, how would they get by afterward? If they ran into other Adventurers in a story world, and all their abilities were known, they'd definitely be targeted. It was only normal to keep some things hidden. Fools who held nothing back never lived long.
"Do you know who joined those two teams? Did Walker eventually join the Celestial Team?" Since the vendor seemed so talkative, Lin Maoxian asked another question.
"Of course Walker joined the Celestial Team. Like Phantom said, hardly anyone's a fool. Everyone can see what's going on; they just don't call anyone out. As for who joined those two teams, you've got it wrong. There weren't two, but three. Someone else came along and started a team, too. There sure are a lot of rich people!" The vendor sighed as he spoke. It really was a dog-eat-dog world. All the Source Points he'd worked so hard to earn were only enough for someone else to buy that Black Iron Token—not to mention that person must have had a huge pile left over to spend on enhancements.
Lin Maoxian ignored the vendor's sigh. Hearing that someone else had started a team, he asked in surprise, "Someone else started a team? Who was it? What team did he create?"
"He didn't give his name, either. He just told everyone to call him Beast King. His team's called the Beast King Team. People are picking such arrogant nicknames these days. I wish someone would teach them a lesson and knock them down a peg." The vendor spoke with envy.
"Beast King and the Beast King Team! There sure are a lot of impressive people around. Do you know who they recruited?" Lin Maoxian marveled at how many capable people there were. He didn't take the envy in the vendor's voice to heart. If someone else had earned several times what he had in a world, he'd probably feel jealous, too. It was only human nature. But capable people used that envy as motivation to improve, while those with no ability spent all day envying others instead of striving to get ahead.
"I do, actually. Every time they recruited someone, they announced the new member's nickname. Besides Walker, the Celestial Team also recruited Jiana, Felt, and Thunder God. The Heavenly Demon Team recruited Shenluo, Flying Snow, Tianmengye, and Killer. The Beast King Team's lineup is the most interesting: Lion King, Tiger King, Leopard Head, and Wolf King. It certainly suits their team name. Though I think Beast King must've told them to pick those names in secret. Otherwise, how could it be such a perfect match?" The vendor rattled off everything he knew in one breath.
Lin Maoxian also thought Beast King must have told his team members to choose those names. Still, it showed that Beast King was quite capable. It seemed the Space was going to get lively. After learning about the teams, Lin Maoxian chatted with the vendor a little longer and shared some things he knew. When he felt it was about time, he said goodbye and returned to his Private Space to wait for the Space to summon him to its next world.
Not long after returning to the Space, Lin Maoxian received a prompt: "Adventurer No. 258 will enter the story world Three Kingdoms World in five minutes. Please prepare."
Lin Maoxian felt relieved when he heard that his next adventure would take place in the Three Kingdoms. There were plenty of legendary figures and mighty generals in that era, but the Space probably wouldn't assign him a mission to kill any of them yet. With his abilities, he shouldn't have trouble completing his mission. If he got sent to a modern-day mission involving gunfights, though, even a low-level thug with a gun would make him keep his head down and stay out of trouble. He might not be anything special in the Three Kingdoms world, either, but surely even the ordinary soldiers there weren't that powerful.
Five minutes later.
"Time's up. Adventurer 258 is about to enter the story world. Would you like to use your talent ability [Adventure]?"
"Use [Adventure]."
"Adventurer 258 has used the talent ability [Adventure]. The difficulty of the Adventurer's Trial Mission has increased. The final completion reward bonus is 100%!"
"Setting: Three Kingdoms World"
"Difficulty: Easy (D-rank)—The Adventurer has used a talent ability, increasing the difficulty. Current difficulty: Normal (C-rank)."
"Pain reduction: 40%; current pain reduction: 20%."
"Additional enhancement to personal abilities: 50%; current enhancement: 25%."
"Current exploration progress: 0.00%."
"You will automatically learn the relevant language and be able to communicate fluently with people in this world. You will forget it after leaving this world."
"Accepted missions: 1"
"Main Mission One: [Choice of Faction]. Reward for completion: 500 Source Points. No penalty for failure."
"Mission objective: Reach the gathering place of a faction and join it within seventy-two hours."
"Main Mission Two: Unlocked after completing Main Mission One."
"Mission hint: Your Choice of Faction will determine which main missions become available afterward. Please choose carefully."
"Mission hint: This isn't very difficult. Just ask someone what major events are happening in the world, and you'll know how to choose."
"Hint: You can earn the following achievements in this world, including its extended worlds."
"First Blood: You must learn how to kill. In this chaotic age, killing is a good way to protect yourself. You must kill a target in a one-on-one fight."
"Serial Killer: 'Killing one person is a crime; killing ten thousand makes you a hero, and killing a million makes you a hero among heroes!' You may not be able to become a hero, but if you kill a hundred people, you'll have killed them in droves."
"Official Rank: You can earn an official rank in a faction by receiving a corresponding story character's reward. Different titles have different effects."
"..."
"You do not have sufficient clearance to inspect other achievements. Please explore on your own."
"Unlock a corresponding title by earning its achievement."
"Every Adventurer can have multiple titles, but can equip only one at a time. Titles come with various special effects. In most cases, you cannot change your title after entering combat."
"Warning: From the moment you accept a mission, you may be exposed to great danger. Death in the Space is real death. But great risks also bring great opportunities. Adventurers must not reveal the existence of the Space to any story character, whether voluntarily or involuntarily."
"Additional information: This is a peaceful setting. Adventurers will not drop any items when killed. The digital character information module has also been activated. You can check your personal attributes at any time through your Space Mark. Your appearance has been specially altered and will automatically return to normal when you return to the real world. You can also adjust your appearance in the Space. If you have questions, silently ask them in your mind and check through your Space Mark. You will receive an answer if you have sufficient clearance."
After listening to the Space's introduction, Lin Maoxian called up his attributes to take a look: Strength: 15; Agility: 15; Stamina: 15; Intelligence: 20; Charm: 12.5; Perception: 15; Willpower: 15. All his attributes had increased by a quarter. He tested out his body. Fortunately, the increase this time wasn't too great. His movements felt a little awkward, but he could still control them. He was sure he'd get used to it after some time.
"Adventurer teleporting..."
Before he could react, Lin Maoxian suddenly lost consciousness.
When Lin Maoxian woke up, he found himself in a wooden hut. The room was completely bare. The bed he was lying on was the only piece of furniture. Drawing on his experience from the previous world, he waited in the hut for a while to see what the Space would arrange.
After waiting for a while and nothing happened, Lin Maoxian had no choice but to leave the hut.
Outside, he spotted a large wooden sign not far away. A thought crossed his mind, and he walked over to take a look.
In front of the sign, he saw a notice carved into the wood. It said, in essence, that a man named Zhang Jiao had rebelled in Julu with his two younger brothers. Since everyone in their ranks wore yellow cloth around their heads, they were called the Yellow Turban Army. A force of theirs had gathered outside Pingyang County and was preparing to attack the city. The imperial court had issued a recruitment order, calling on every subject of the Han to enlist. The court would generously reward anyone who distinguished himself.
After reading the gist of the notice, Lin Maoxian knew he had a way to complete Main Mission One. All he had to do was join the Han army or the Yellow Turban Army outside the city. But since Main Mission One would affect the main missions that followed, he needed to choose carefully. Lin Maoxian leaned toward joining the Han army. The Yellow Turban Army was doomed to fail, and if he ever entered the Three Kingdoms world again, he'd have a hard time getting by—people might hunt him down wherever he went. There was no need to rush, though. He'd follow the route marked on the sign and head to Pingyang County first.
Following the route marked on the sign, Lin Maoxian set off. After walking for about twenty minutes, he suddenly heard someone shouting up ahead. Though he didn't know what was happening, he went to take a look. Maybe there'd be a mission or something.
As he approached the source of the noise, Lin Maoxian carefully concealed himself and crept forward.
An old man in his fifties was kneeling on the ground, shouting loudly. Several men with yellow cloth tied around their heads stood around him.
Looking at the men wearing yellow headbands, Lin Maoxian's eyes narrowed. He used his glasses' Probe skill on them and received the following information:
Yellow Turban Soldier: Li San Strength: 8; Agility: 6; Stamina: 6; Intelligence: 3; Charm: 2; Perception: 4; Willpower: 5 Skill: Fanaticism—When the target enters a state of fanaticism, Strength, Agility, and Stamina each increase by 3 points, while Intelligence decreases by 3 points. This skill can only be activated by special characters and cannot be used freely.
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