Chapter 13
Cao Renqi gave a sly chuckle, his slightly lecherous expression filled with fantasies about the future.
At that moment, the other players on the beach were also discussing things animatedly.
"What a realistic feeling! I love it, I love it!"
"What are we supposed to do now? Why aren't there any prompts at all? Don't we even have a tutorial NPC?"
"Damn! Why can't these pants come off? Let me try taking them off another way..."
"Can we hurry up? In war, speed is crucial!"
Just then, a hunched old man with graying hair and a face full of wrinkles slowly ambled over from the north. A huge crowd of players surged toward him, surrounding the fisherman-like old man and firing questions at him from all sides.
"Old man, is there anything you need help with?"
"Old man, do you have any hints for us?"
"You old geezer, can you help me take off my pants?"
"Old man..."
Standing at the edge of the crowd, Cao Renqi took advantage of the commotion and secretly used Detection on the fisherman-looking old man.
[Based on your level and attributes, you obtained the following information] [??—Fisherman from the Flower Country] (Light Red) [Level: 1] [Attributes: Strength 3, Agility 4, Stamina 4, Intelligence 6, Charm 3, Luck 1] [Skills: Fishing, ?] [Danger Level: Medium]
Players possessed the Detection function, which allowed them to see through an NPC's information and abilities to a certain extent. However, if the level gap was too large, some information would be missing.
The greater the gap, the more information would be missing.
The color of an NPC's name represented their attitude. Green meant Friendly, yellow meant Neutral, and red meant Hostile. The danger level represented the approximate difference in strength between the player and the target.
Because they were both level 1, Cao Renqi successfully observed most of the NPC's information.
"I thought he was a fisherman, but I never expected him to actually be a fisherman... But can someone tell me why this level 1 fisherman's attributes are so much higher than mine?"
Cao Renqi turned around, opened his information panel, and looked at his six attributes with an expression that questioned the meaning of life.
Strength 1, Agility 1, Stamina 1, Intelligence 1, Charm 1, Luck 1.
A true six-sided warrior, balanced beyond belief. Every single value was 1!
Cao Renqi complained, "Even a level 1 fisherman has a medium danger level? This game is way too difficult! Fortunately, fighting monsters and leveling up isn't my hobby..."
At the same time, quite a few players also detected the fisherman's attributes and couldn't help muttering.
"What the heck? This old man's attributes are way too high!"
"With that appearance, he has 3 points of Charm? Aren't I way more handsome than him?"
"Why does he have 6 points of Intelligence? Could he be some kind of monster that gained sentience?"
The players' expressions gradually became dangerous.
The old fisherman suddenly let out a cry of alarm and fled from the crowd on all fours. Despite his "high" Strength of 3, not a single player managed to grab him.
"Oh no! Oh no!" the old fisherman shouted as he ran. "A huge group of Pirates is coming!"
"Pirates? He's talking about... us?"
"No way! What's with the beginner guide running away on the spot?"
The high-level players were instantly bewildered, falling into a brief state of chaos.
Although this Full-Dive VR Game was a version none of them had ever experienced before, and the game company had been evasive and unwilling to provide any solid information, they had all seen plenty of ups and downs and wouldn't be easily shocked.
But what was this old man, who looked exactly like the village chief of a beginner's village, running away for?
And before leaving, he had even framed them as Pirates?
This might be a game, but what the hell was this NPC playing at?
[23. Chapter Twenty-Three: A Newbie's First Experience]
Not long afterward, the old fisherman returned to the beach with an unfamiliar man.
The newcomer was tall and powerfully built. He had a head of messy orange hair, and his muscular upper body was bare. A simple green cape hung over his back, with an enormous battle-axe strapped behind it—an axe nearly as tall as a person.
"Wow! He's so tall!"
"He has to be at least three meters tall, right?"
"Those muscles! I'm sold! I'm ready!"
"Is this even a human? Is he wearing muscle armor?"
The players were stunned.
The tall, muscular man removed the battle-axe from his back and slammed it down in front of him, sending countless grains of sand flying.
He swept a contemptuous glance over the so-called "Pirates" before him and shouted, "I am Jixiang, a squad leader of the Three Treasures Navy! You Drifters from overseas, if you want to eat your fill, then find yourselves proper jobs! Our Flower Country has no use for useless trash!"
After a pause, Jixiang continued, "Just look at how short you all are. You probably don't have much strength either, so you can't become combatants. Then go honestly work the fields and grow crops. The docks also need laborers to carry packages and load and unload goods. In short, in the Flower Country, as long as you're hardworking, you won't starve..."
According to Jixiang of the Three Treasures—
Ahem!
According to Jixiang, the squad leader of the Three Treasures Navy, the players gained a rough understanding of the situation.
The temporary [Drifter] identity the game gave them was not a profession but a symbol of status. If they wanted to gain recognition from the local natives, they would at least need to obtain [Commoner] status.
In the Flower Country, everyone had their own occupation. The local ruling force was known as the "Navy," ranked sequentially from the [First Treasure] to the [Eighth Treasure].
Besides that, the various parts of the Flower Country also needed a large amount of labor. Applying for those jobs should unlock the corresponding Secondary Professions, such as [Farmer].
After organizing their thoughts, the players immediately became somewhat indignant.
They had gone to great lengths to secure this precious closed-beta opportunity in order to obtain game information ahead of time and establish an advantage—not to farm, carry sandbags, and perform hard labor!
Among the crowd, a guild player looked at Jixiang and asked respectfully, "Lord Jixiang, can we join the Three Treasures Navy?"
At that, Jixiang immediately burst out laughing. "With those puny bodies of yours, you still want to join the Three Treasures Navy?"
He gently rotated his wrist and effortlessly tossed the enormous battle-axe, nearly as tall as a person, in front of the crowd. The iron axe head, as large as a door panel, gleamed with a cold light. With a hiss, it plunged straight into the ground.
Jixiang announced to everyone, "Come and try. Whoever can pull out my axe, I'll make an exception and let him join my squad!"
Looking at the enormous battle-axe before them, most of the players appeared eager to try.
Things they couldn't accomplish in real life could easily be done in a game with the help of attributes, levels, and so on. That was one of the game's greatest appeals.
And if someone really managed to lift this axe and successfully join that "Three Treasures Navy," wouldn't they obtain their main profession right at the start of the game and instantly leave the other players behind?
The high-level players looked at one another, their eyes filled with provocation.
"I'm taking this main profession first!"
"You bunch of losers, just wait and see what I can do!"
Before long, a group of people lay sprawled across the ground, all of them players who had failed to lift the axe. If anyone had seen their system panels, they would have discovered that their Stamina values were nearly depleted.
Jixiang shook his head and said, "I told you not to set your sights too high. You Drifters should honestly go live peaceful lives. A combat profession really isn't suitable for you."
Apparently sensing the players' unwilling resentment, Jixiang added, "See that forest over there? If anyone still isn't afraid of dying, go into the mountains and try hunting! Hunting in the mountains is safer than going out to sea and catching fish."
The players gazed into the distance. A vast expanse of deep green suddenly appeared in their vision. Layer upon layer of lush mountains stretched out ahead, while pure white clouds and chilly mist coiled among them, making the place resemble the Mortal World's paradise. It was even more beautiful than the five-star tourist destinations in real life, while the other online games they had played before were nowhere close.
"It's so beautiful!"
"A place this beautiful can't possibly be that dangerous, right?"
A group of skeptical players immediately charged toward the mountains. Just a few minutes later, only a small handful returned, dejected.
"These wild monsters are way too strong! I can't even see their levels, and one of their legs is thicker than me!"
"Exactly! When it charged over, it was like being run over by a tank! I don't have an F key!"
"There isn't even a forced damage deduction function. One-star review!"
"The guys who died sent messages back! Holy crap! Not only do you lose experience when you die, but the resurrection time is half an hour, and it keeps stacking? You can only die five times during the one-week game period? What the hell are we supposed to do with this game?"
Seeing the miserable fate of those who had gone monster hunting, the more rational players immediately abandoned the idea of leveling up through combat in the short term. At low levels, they were better off honestly running quests and earning experience.
The old fisherman, who had accidentally caused the misunderstanding earlier, had now become extremely popular. A huge group of players surrounded him, asking him to teach them the [Fishing] skill.
"Didn't Jixiang just say that hunting in the mountains is safer than catching fish at sea?" a player asked in confusion.
"You heard him too. He said catching fish 'out at sea,'" another player beside him said confidently. "I'll just fish from the shore. How dangerous could that be?"
The others chimed in one after another.
"Exactly, exactly!"
"There's nothing left to fear now."
Just then, a small Sea King that was hunting suddenly emerged from the nearby ocean.
Dozens of meters tall, it leaped out of the water with a strange fish several meters long clamped between its interlocking teeth. Countless waves splashed up as an aura of savagery radiated from its entire body.
The beach fell into deathly silence.
After a long while, a player finally said in a hollow voice, "I think working on land is safer after all."
"Exactly! Exactly! There's no way I'm going out to sea. Not in this lifetime!"
"How about we go check out the nearby town? This place is way too remote, and there aren't many quests to do."
Amid the crowd, the nearly invisible Cao Renqi heard this and nodded furiously. He had actually wanted to enter the city and take a look long ago, but he hadn't dared to go alone. The difficulty of the wilderness in this lousy game far exceeded his expectations, and only following the main group made him feel somewhat at ease.
The players immediately left the old fisherman behind and headed noisily toward the nearby town.
About half an hour later, the players arrived at the town entrance. After a simple inspection by the guards at the city gate, they formally entered the town.
"Although surviving in the wilderness is pretty difficult in this game, it really does feel incredibly realistic!" the players exclaimed as they looked around the town. "It's like we've actually traveled back to ancient times! With this architectural style and this level of detail, isn't it far better than Hengdian?"
"Honestly, everyone in this world is so huge!"
"Yeah, and everything else is bigger too!"
"Brother, I have no idea what you're talking about, but you seem kind of suspicious."
"Speaking of which, when the game company developed this game, did they not consider the average height of people in the real world? There are so many tall people here. It's kind of scary..."
"We're just playing a game, bro!"
After a burst of chatter, the players who had poured into the town quickly scattered, vanishing into the passing crowds like drops of water merging into the sea.
Based on the information they had gathered earlier, "Pirate King" was clearly a game with an extremely high degree of freedom. If they wanted to establish an advantage early and pull ahead of the others, they couldn't waste even a moment of their precious closed-beta time.
Compared with the professional high-level players who were rushing to pioneer quests, Cao Renqi seemed far less conspicuous.
As a casual player lucky enough to draw a closed-beta spot, Cao Renqi naturally wasn't going to rush off to complete quests and earn money. He had entered the game to experience life and enjoy himself!
"Wow, that girl is so pretty!"
"That blonde girl is so cute!"
"..."
"I, Cao Renqi, would rather starve to death or be beaten to death by a monster than go do quests for money!"
After wandering aimlessly around town for most of the day, Cao Renqi arrived at the docks, where he helped the old fisherman hawk his catch.
[24. Chapter Twenty-Four: Arriving in the Flower Country]
Ohara.
Ever since he received the notification that the closed beta of the system panel had officially begun, Adrian had been considering how to make contact with the beta players.
Fortunately, the [Player Forum] had opened alongside the closed beta!
Unfortunately, after secretly browsing the game forum for a while, Adrian discovered that although quite a few players had descended throughout the West Blue, there wasn't a single one on Ohara Island. It was quite the disappointment.
He had even been hoping the leeks... he meant, the players, would come knocking on his door!
With nothing else to do, Adrian continued scrolling through the forum.
"Everyone, come look! I found another huge treasure by the seaside!" This was posted by someone who had gone beachcombing after entering the game.