First Glimpse of the World

The moment Jian Shang finished speaking, the atmosphere changed. Silence fell over the scene.

"Arrogant! You think you—"

Wu Xu reacted the fastest. The handsome man, who had been warm and friendly just moments ago, darkened instantly and barked out a savage reprimand.

Ye Caiyun raised a hand, cutting Wu Xu off, and said calmly:

"You're right. I spoke carelessly. A man's ambitions are indeed difficult for women to understand."

As soon as she finished, everyone froze. Ye Caiyun discreetly shot Wu Xu a look.

"Jian Shang?! Great name! Is that your full name?"

Wu Xu immediately brightened up again. Warmly changing the subject, he saw Jian Shang nod and familiarly continued:

"That's not your real-world name, right? For Brother Jian Shang to choose a name like that, you must be a calm and steady person. Back then, my name was 'Did I Transmigrate?' Hahaha..."

"Heh..."

Thinking of what he had experienced earlier, Jian Shang could not help laughing dryly. He wondered whether this counted as a prank by the Forging the Sacred Court system, or perhaps a bad joke.

"Later, though, for the good of the group, I had no choice but to kill myself and start over with a proper name. What a pity—I rushed in as soon as I could, yet still entered a whole day later than everyone else! Tsk, tsk, tsk... This game is unbelievable. It's no different from reality, especially the feeling of suicide... Even now, thinking about it gives me the creeps!"

Jian Shang did not reply, but Wu Xu did not mind. He continued talking to himself. By the end, his face twitched several times. Clearly, suicide in the game had been an absolute nightmare.

Still, Wu Xu's words greatly reduced Jian Shang's wariness and sense of distance. It was as though the earlier unpleasantness had never happened. Coupled with his handsome, sunny appearance, Wu Xu truly was skilled at dealing with people.

"People really killed themselves over a name? Is Wu Xu your real-world name?"

Jian Shang did not doubt Wu Xu's words, but he still asked curiously. At the same time, he looked over the people before him, especially Ye Caiyun and Yun Feng.

As for the earlier unpleasantness, Jian Shang was not a petty man. Besides, he had deliberately provoked it himself, so he could not blame anyone else. Naturally, he did not care about it.

"There are plenty of players who killed themselves over names. All kinds of bizarre names exist. Many families were established only after people killed themselves and started over. Our young master is fairly democratic and tolerant, though, so he didn't force everyone to use the same name. Everyone chose what they liked! But suicide means deleting your character and restarting from scratch. And the feeling is no different from killing yourself in real life. It's terrifying, so you need to be careful! As for whether it's your real-world name, does that matter? Anything you can do in reality can be done here, and it feels exactly the same. You just can't force yourself on anyone!"

Wu Xu winked suggestively and gave the sort of look all men understood, drawing eye rolls from the women beside him. Yet Ye Caiyun, the central figure within Jian Shang's gaze, showed little reaction, as if she had not heard him.

"You misunderstood. That's not what I meant!"

Seeing Wu Xu's expression and eyes, Jian Shang knew exactly what he was thinking. He replied awkwardly.

"Men are all the same. Why bother—" Wu Xu said again, convinced of his own conclusion.

"Is this your first time entering Forging the Sacred Court? If so, since you arrived two days late, you probably didn't research any information about Forging the Sacred Court beforehand, did you?"

Before Wu Xu could finish, Ye Caiyun suddenly interrupted him with a question.

Jian Shang did not know why Ye Caiyun was asking, but he honestly nodded.

In truth, everyone loved beauty. Jian Shang was only somewhat stunned by Ye Caiyun's beauty and curious about her, with perhaps a tiny ulterior motive mixed in. He had no disrespectful thoughts, much less any lustful intent.

After all, public relations women in reality carried a somewhat worldly, vulgar air. Jian Shang did not know whether Ye Caiyun's temperament was caused by the game or whether she had always been like this in reality.

In reality, Jian Shang had been alone. It could be said that he was a failure when it came to relationships.

He still remembered what his girlfriend had said before leaving:

"If a woman has no charm, she shouldn't blame a man for being unfaithful. If a man has no ability, he shouldn't blame a woman for being practical! Men and women are equal!"

Whether those words were right or wrong could be set aside for now, but they had completely awakened Jian Shang!

This was reality. This was life!

"You just arrived, so you probably don't have anywhere to stay, right? Our group bought a large residence as a gathering place. How about we talk there? It isn't convenient to keep chatting here!"

When Jian Shang nodded, Ye Caiyun's eyes inexplicably lit up. Her smile became more natural, and she greeted him with greater enthusiasm.

"About that..."

Jian Shang hesitated. Ye Caiyun's intention to recruit him was obvious. Should he truly join the Golden Roc Group, or should he simply become an ordinary member and learn some basic knowledge about this world?

Still, Forging the Sacred Court had only been running for two days, yet the Golden Roc Group had already bought a large residence as a gathering place. Their influence, methods, and capabilities were clearly considerable.

One had to know that the official exchange platform between Earth Currency and in-game currency had not yet opened. Although governments around the world had promised that it would open eventually—and that was one of the main reasons Jian Shang had entered Forging the Sacred Court—it remained unavailable for the time being so as not to disrupt the early balance.

"We merely want to choose a better place to talk. We have no other intentions. Besides, you just entered Forging the Sacred Court, so there's nothing anyone could possibly covet from you. You need to learn more about this place, and the Golden Roc Group can help you with that as a gesture of goodwill. Don't assume players and NPCs are no different just because they appear identical. NPCs are actually quite hostile toward players. If we players don't unite, we simply won't be able to establish ourselves in this world!"

Seeing Jian Shang hesitate, Ye Caiyun's smile faded slightly as she offered sincere advice. Compared with Wu Xu's overfamiliar warmth, Ye Caiyun's straightforward manner was more reassuring.

"Don't worry! The Golden Roc Group is one of the leading major corporations in Hebei in reality. We have wealth, power, and an excellent reputation. Looking further ahead, we would never force anyone into anything and ruin our own standing. Just as Manager Ye said, it's merely a chance to build goodwill. When the time comes, you can stay or leave as you wish, and you'll get to learn more about this world. What's not to like?"

Following right after Ye Caiyun, Wu Xu warmly put an arm around Jian Shang's shoulders and spoke in quick succession.

It was only a casual gesture without any force behind it, perfectly measured. It conveyed warmth and familiarity without making anyone uncomfortable.

"Then, thank you."

Jian Shang thought it over and agreed readily.

Just as Ye Caiyun had said, he had only just entered Forging the Sacred Court and had nothing worth coveting. At worst, he could log out or kill himself and start over. Besides, he currently had nothing and knew nothing about this world. He needed a platform.

"Let's go!" Wu Xu was delighted.

"You all continue with the mission here. I'll take him back myself!"

Ye Caiyun suddenly waved her hand and said.

"Uh... Manager Ye thinks very highly of you. In these two days, Brother Jian Shang, you're the first person Manager Ye has personally taken back to the gathering place!"

Wu Xu paused in surprise, then bumped Yun Feng's shoulder familiarly and whispered in a suggestive tone.

Jian Shang felt embarrassed. He looked toward Ye Caiyun, only to find that she appeared not to have heard. She watched him calmly, waiting for him to set off.

This woman is not simple.

Jian Shang grew more vigilant and nodded toward Ye Caiyun.

"Let me first introduce this place. This is Ji Province, one of the Nine Provinces of the Great Qin Empire. We are in Lingqiu County, Dai Commandery, Ji Province. It is only town-level at present, but it will soon advance to small-city level. Once its population reaches ten thousand, it can be upgraded. At that time, its stone walls will be nearly a zhang high and three chi thick, and it can advance into—"

"Let me introduce the attribute panel..."

As Jian Shang followed Ye Caiyun toward the Golden Roc Group's so-called gathering place, Ye Caiyun indeed shared much valuable information along the way. She was warm without deliberately trying to get close, as though she truly only wanted to build goodwill. Jian Shang's favorable impression of both Ye Caiyun and the Golden Roc Group increased considerably.

It was worth mentioning that this world truly was no different from reality, except for miraculous elements such as system prompts, data-based descriptions, bonuses, and enhancements.

In the world of Forging the Sacred Court, currency was divided into Diamond Coins, gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins, with each denomination exchanged at a rate of one hundred to one. One copper coin could buy a steamed bun, while one silver coin could buy one hundred of them—just enough to cover an ordinary person's basic food expenses for a month. As for weapons, a few silver coins could buy a decent saber, spear, sword, or halberd rather than merely crude wooden spears and inferior swords. One could even buy respectable silk clothing.

As for the attribute panel:

Merit represented personal accomplishments, battle records, contributions, and so on. It also represented the number of soldiers a player could recruit. One point of merit could recruit one NPC follower. Without merit, no NPC would follow a player. Of course, NPCs required food and wages and needed to eat, so players had to bear those costs themselves.

Fruition Rank represented a person's grade and social tier. It was generally divided into nine grades and eighteen ranks, from the lowest, Ninth Rank, to the highest, First Rank. Each rank could increase abilities by ten percent. Those who possessed a royal capital could proclaim themselves kings and gain a two-hundred-percent increase. Above that were emperors, sovereigns, saints, and other ranks with even more terrifying bonuses.

Prestige represented a person's reputation, fame, charm, and so forth. The higher one's prestige, the more likely one was to attract the attention of NPCs, recruit NPCs, gain their favor, and gain advantages in trade, negotiations, and similar matters.

Command represented the scale of an army one could lead and the stability of one's control over it. The higher it was, the more troops one could command at peak efficiency, and the more capable one was of stabilizing morale when unexpected circumstances arose. Higher Command also strengthened the army. A soldier's overall combat strength equaled "the soldier's original martial strength multiplied by the commander's Command value as a percentage." Soldiers beyond a commander's command limit received no combat bonus at all and were more likely to rout or cause disorder.

Martial strength represented a person's original overall combat capability, including strength, agility, stamina, and other physical factors.

Intelligence represented an NPC's intellect, knowledge, and so on. It was the standard by which civil officials and strategists were judged. For players, however, it purely represented mana and had nothing to do with intellect. It affected the use of spells and skills. The higher the Intelligence value, the stronger the effects.

Politics represented a player's ability to handle government affairs and other matters, including execution, range of influence, and effectiveness.

The maximum values for the four primary attributes—Command, Martial strength, Intelligence, and Politics—were all one hundred. They could only be strengthened and increased by undertaking relevant tasks and achieving certain results. The higher the value, the harder it was to increase. For example, leading troops into battle or on marches could increase Command; practicing martial arts, killing with martial strength, or fighting could increase Martial strength; practicing spells could increase Intelligence; and handling government affairs could increase Politics.

Therefore, Forging the Sacred Court had no level system, using attributes directly in its place. Nor did it have a design where killing monsters granted levels. Players also had to explore many common rules on their own.