In the sparse grove, a few rabbits nibbled on tender green grass. Cottony white clouds drifted across the azure sky, and the clear chirping of birds rang out now and then.
A small, thin figure stumbled through the jungle, carrying a corpse. He suddenly burst into the clearing, startling the nearby animals into scattering in every direction.
He dropped the corpse, and the air filled with the stench of blood. The man panted heavily and turned to run. Nearly a quarter of an hour later, he finally made it back to a small camp in the forest. His legs gave way, and he collapsed, utterly drained, onto the camp's ground.
The man's name was Zhou Ye. At that moment, he gazed up at the sky, bewilderment in his eyes and endless sorrow and uncertainty in his heart.
In his previous life, he had been an urban white-collar worker who enjoyed hiking in the wilderness during holidays. The route had been perfectly safe, so how had he somehow ended up transmigrating?
The person whose body he had transmigrated into and fused with was also named Zhou Ye.
This Zhou Ye was a farmer, only fourteen or fifteen years old. His parents had both died, leaving him alone at home, and he had never ventured far from his village.
This other world was much like an ancient feudal society. The authorities levied exorbitant taxes, the landlords oppressed the people in every way, and the poor at the bottom lived in hunger and cold. Like Zhou Ye, most commoners were malnourished. They could just about keep from starving to death, but they were all rather small and frail.
The only difference was that, according to the old folks in the village, the world beyond was even more terrifying. There were man-eating demon beasts, as well as martial masters who could shatter stone and cleave metal. Without a doubt, this had to be a high-martial world... right?
A little over a month ago, the authorities had conscripted laborers for corvée service. The commandery city needed a large workforce to dredge its waterways.
The commandery city where Zhou Ye lived had many industries, including several mines. It also traded in the pelts, materials, and herbs of demon beasts and wild animals from the surrounding mountains. These goods were shipped to every corner of the land through the city's docks, so the waterways had to be dredged regularly.
Unfortunately, Zhou Ye's name had been on the corvée list. He had been gathered together with several thousand other commoners.
But when they arrived at the site, Zhou Ye and a few others had been secretly singled out. A group of soldiers then escorted them into the mountains. Afterward, they built this camp in the forest and made Zhou Ye and the others cut trees and burn charcoal day and night.
The commandery city had a population of over a million. And weren't there mines that needed smelting, too? So firewood and charcoal were essential fuel.
What's more, most of the farmland and forests surrounding the city belonged to wealthy local families, who forbade outsiders from entering to gather firewood or hunt. They could only go to the distant mountain regions.
But those mountains held ferocious beasts, and powerful demon beasts even lurked in the deep mountains. That made gathering firewood and burning charcoal relatively dangerous. As a result, firewood and charcoal fetched high prices in the commandery city.
That was precisely why dredging waterways was the authorities' business, while the money earned from selling firewood and charcoal went into their own pockets.
There were so many commoners drafted for corvée labor, and they even had to bring their own rations. They were wretched laborers working for free. Why not pick a few to do some private work? So the officials in charge and the soldiers began colluding, and in the end, they dumped Zhou Ye and the others in the forest.
Of course, they wouldn't dare venture into the deep mountains. They stayed in the outer reaches of the mountainous region, where the danger was relatively low.
And so, for over a month, Zhou Ye and the others had worked from morning till night under the soldiers' whip, already burning and hauling several batches of charcoal down the mountain.
It had to be said, it was indeed a little dangerous. They had encountered ferocious beasts several times, but with their numbers on their side, they had always managed to drive the beasts away without anyone coming to harm.
But no one had expected them to provoke a whole herd of wild boars this time. The boars charged wildly through their ranks, and neither the soldiers nor the laborers like Zhou Ye could withstand the herd's headlong assault. Some died; the rest fled.
The original owner of the body must have died in the chaos, which ultimately led to Zhou Ye transmigrating into it...
Panting heavily, Zhou Ye slowly sat up from the ground. To his delight, his transmigration perk had arrived right on time. A virtual panel had appeared before his eyes:
[Zhou Ye (Ordinary Person): 14] Constitution: -3 Comprehension: +3 [Basic Attributes] Health: (30/80 — Extremely Weak) Strength: -3 Agility: -2 Physique: -3 Spirit: +4 Charm: -2 [Manuals] [Martial Techniques] Basic Chopping (Unranked): Not Started (0/10) Free Attribute Points: 5 Note: Starter Pack Received. Free Attribute Points: 5
Zhou Ye was fairly familiar with this kind of stat-based body. He studied it carefully.
For an ordinary person, the average value was generally 10. A difference of plus or minus 2 was considered normal, simply marking the difference between being stronger and weaker.
But this body had been malnourished for a long time, and he was still young and hadn't finished growing. That was why most of the negative values were so high.
The standouts were Comprehension +3 and Spirit +4. It was probably because two souls had fused together, resulting in such high values.
Constitution and Comprehension were crucial attributes. If he wanted to increase either, it would cost all 5 free attribute points to add a single point. The other attributes were basic, and 1 free attribute point could raise any of them by 1. As for Health, 1 free attribute point raised its maximum by 10.
Of course, aside from spending free attribute points, his basic attributes could also increase slowly if he got proper nutrition, exercised, or continued to grow.
His Health was rather low, too. He was in a constant state of poor health. Below 50, he was considered weak; below 30, he was extremely weak. Below 10, he would be at death's door and would more or less lose the ability to move.
As for the martial technique, Basic Chopping, it had probably appeared because he had spent the past few days chopping trees and firewood... The technique might be unranked, but at least it was a martial technique.
It even had a progress bar, so there was a good chance that once he proved himself, the progress would carry over forever, with no bottlenecks. As long as he kept working hard, he was sure to succeed in the end.
Of course, the most pressing matter now was survival. He had to spend his free attribute points first.
Zhou Ye thought it over for a while. These first points were important, and the worst thing he could do was spread them evenly. That would leave him wanting to do everything but unable to do anything well.
He certainly didn't need Charm. Out here in the wilderness, he wasn't going to make a living off his looks. Spirit... wasn't necessary either. He didn't know what it was for yet.
Health and Physique were out, too. It wasn't that they were unimportant; it was just that their starting values were too low. After adding 5 points, he'd still be a weakling.
That left only Strength and Agility.
But if he put all 5 points into Strength, it would only become +2. He'd go from a rather weak ordinary person to a rather strong ordinary person, but he'd still be ordinary. If he ran into a ferocious beast or a demon beast, he could still be killed in an instant.
In that case, Agility it was. No matter what, Agility +3 would put him beyond the ordinary-person range. He might not be able to fight back, but at least he'd have a chance to run.
With that in mind, Zhou Ye raised Agility by 1 without hesitation, then another 1, and then another...
Before long, Agility: +3.
Before you continue