On his way back, Wu Shaozhen thought it over and took off all his equipment. He put on his Newbie Cloth Armor and headed toward the village with his Wooden Sword in hand. He had no idea how much equipment the other players had found, but they definitely had less than he did. After all, he had been killing monsters above his level, and doing it efficiently. Better to keep a low profile. Getting mobbed by curious players would be trouble.
When he returned to the goat area, he saw countless players farming goats in groups of three to five. Sure enough, they were almost all wearing Newbie Cloth Armor and wielding Newbie Wooden Swords. Occasionally, he spotted someone with another piece of equipment, but they were few and far between. This game's drop rate really was pitiful. Good thing he had taken off his equipment before coming back, or he probably would have drawn a crowd. Wu Shaozhen kept moving and soon left the goat area.
After he left, a woman wearing a white face veil frowned as she watched him go.
That player... his speed seems different... the woman thought. Even if he put all his points into agility, everyone is only level 2. He shouldn't be that much faster.
"What is it, miss? Is there something wrong with that player?" Uncle Liu asked, looking in the same direction as his young mistress. By then, however, Wu Shaozhen had already disappeared from view.
"Nothing." The woman shook her head. Perhaps she was overthinking it.
Wu Shaozhen soon returned to the village. There were very few people left there now; everyone had gone out to kill monsters.
Let's see what quests I can pick up first, Wu Shaozhen thought. He ran straight toward the white-haired old man standing at the village entrance. This had to be the village chief.
"Hello, village chief. Is there anything I can help you with?" Wu Shaozhen asked politely.
"Adventurer, you are too weak to help me right now. Go see Granny Liu on the north side of the village and ask whether she needs your help," the village chief said.
Well, his level was too low to accept the quest. Wu Shaozhen eagerly hurried over to the north side of the village instead. Spotting an old woman sitting in a chair and basking in the sun, he quickly approached her.
"Hello, Granny Liu. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Oh, hello, adventurer. There is indeed something I need done. Lately, rabbits have been overrunning the area outside the village and eating all the radishes I planted. Could you help me kill those wretched rabbits?" the old woman asked.
Ding! Granny Liu has offered you a quest. Objective: kill Little White Rabbits on the grassland and bring 10 pieces of rabbit fur back to Granny Liu. Rewards: EXP +10, Copper Coins +10. Accept?
Uh, that's it? Can I say that's not worth my time? Wouldn't I be better off killing wolves instead? He rejected it without hesitation and quickly fled under Granny Liu's reproachful gaze.
Were quest rewards in this game really that low? Or was that just the lowest-level quest? Wu Shaozhen wandered around the Novice Village for a while, then spotted a farmer sitting outside his home, sighing miserably. That practically screamed quest giver. Wu Shaozhen hurried over and asked politely:
"Hello, sir. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Hello, adventurer. I have indeed run into some trouble lately. It's wonderful that you're willing to help me. Wild boars have been coming out of the forest and ruining my crops. Could you help me get rid of those wretched boars?" the farmer asked.
Ding! The farmer has offered you a quest. Objective: kill wild boars in the forest and bring 50 Wild Boar Tusks back to the farmer. Rewards: EXP +500, Copper Coins +200. Accept?
Ha, I've already got everything I need! Looking at the hundred-plus Wild Boar Tusks in his bag, Wu Shaozhen accepted without hesitation. He was just about to turn in the quest when he suddenly stopped. Holy shit, wouldn't turning this in level me up immediately? How would I keep farming my talent then? He hurriedly put away the Wild Boar Tusks he had been about to take out. That rotten old man is up to no good. He's trying to screw me out of my talent gains!
Forget it. There's no time limit on the quest anyway. I'll come back and turn it in once I can't farm my talent in the Novice Village anymore. Then I'll do all the other quests too. The EXP doesn't matter; it's the Copper Coin rewards I want.
With that decided, Wu Shaozhen turned and headed toward the potion shop. There was no point looking for other quests right now. Farming his talent was the priority.
At the potion shop, he checked the merchandise and saw that a Small Red Potion cost 20 Copper Coins. His face darkened. That expensive?
He had assumed the lowest-grade potions would cost one or two Copper Coins at most. With over two hundred Copper Coins, he should have been able to buy more than a hundred bottles easily. Now he could only afford ten.
"What a rip-off. An absolute rip-off!" Wu Shaozhen said with a sour expression. In the end, he gritted his teeth and bought ten bottles. Seeing only 16 Copper Coins left in his bag made his heart bleed. He had picked those coins up off the ground one by one!
He ran to the general store and sold his 81 spare Wild Boar Tusks. The quest only required 50, and he had 131, so he could only sell the extras. Each player could complete a given quest only once, unless it was part of a quest chain. After receiving 81 Copper Coins, he returned to the potion shop, bought four more bottles of red potion, and headed out of the village.
As he walked, Wu Shaozhen opened the chat channel. Honestly, he had been playing for several hours, but he had spent the whole time killing monsters and had never even looked at chat. He felt completely out of touch. It was time to see what everyone was talking about. At present, only the regional and private chat channels were available. He opened regional chat and found it buzzing with activity.
"Looking for a group to kill goats. Level 1 or above required, preferably full strength or full vitality builds."
"Need two full strength damage dealers to kill goats together."
"Can someone carry me through goats? Just reached level 1."
"Fuck, I got killed again! Thank god deaths don't cost levels before level 10, or I'd be back to killing rabbits. These goats hit way too hard."
Seeing that all the chatter was about killing goats, Wu Shaozhen shook his head. Luckily, his talent let him fight monsters above his level. Otherwise, he would probably be competing with everyone else for monsters right now.
"I heard a few groups of level 2 experts went to fight level 3 monsters, but they all came back pretty soon. Are level 3 monsters really that scary?"
"Of course they are. I specifically went to check the green snakes' stats. Their venom is disgusting. You can't farm them without potions, and the shop charges a fortune for those. The top players probably aren't planning to fight green snakes anymore."
Meanwhile, Jun Lin and the others had just retreated from the Bamboo Grove, all looking grim.
"Let's go back to farming goats. We're skipping the green snakes. Once we gain another level and get some equipment, we'll go straight to the level 4 crabs. Forget the green snakes," Jun Lin said.
"Yeah, fighting green snakes isn't worth it. They burn through too many potions," Nan Feng replied.
"Sigh. But doing that will only widen the gap between us and that player," Hao Ran said.
"Our talents are all geared toward the late game. We don't have much of an advantage early on, so there's no need to compete with him. His talent probably gives him a huge advantage in the early game, but that might not hold up later. Don't worry too much about it. With our abilities, overtaking him later won't be hard," Jun Lin said.
Wu Shaozhen soon returned to the wolf area. Looking at the 16 bottles of potion in his bag instantly boosted his confidence. He spent a few minutes luring out a wolf, then got straight to fighting.
Before you continue