Lin Yi continued walking out of the beginner village, silently planning his next leveling route.
Half an hour later, he discovered a dense forest.
The trees were tall and lush, and sunlight spilled through the gaps in their leaves, casting dappled light and shadow on the ground.
Lin Yi cautiously entered the forest, the chirping of insects filling his ears.
Suddenly, a patch of grass caught his eye.
Green caterpillars crawled thickly through the grass. Each was about a finger long, its body covered in fine fuzz, looking rather disgusting.
Lin Yi activated his talent, [Eye of Illusion Breaking], and soon saw the caterpillars' stats.
[Green Caterpillar] Type: Caterpillar Grade: B Level: 1 HP: 50 Combat power: 1 Skill: Critical Hit (A): Charges for 2 seconds, then launches a rapid, fierce attack, ignoring combat power to deal 10 true damage. Description: A bug you can kill with ease, but don't let them gang up on you, or you might die an ugly death! (Literally.)
Lin Yi smiled faintly. Although these caterpillars were low-level, their sheer numbers made them perfect for leveling.
The only thing he needed to watch out for was getting hit by their charged Critical Hit.
After all, he was currently level 1 with only ten HP, leaving him absolutely no margin for error!
A single death would cost him fifty years of lifespan!
But as an expert who had immersed himself in micromanagement in his previous life, Lin Yi wasn't afraid at all!
He tightened his grip on his A-grade longsword and slowly approached the caterpillars.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Lin Yi swung his longsword, attacking the caterpillars in the forest.
The caterpillars had 50 HP, so Lin Yi needed six sword strikes to kill each one.
Whenever a caterpillar charged up, he calculated the corresponding two seconds and prepared to dodge in advance.
Green streaks darted through the forest, but Lin Yi deftly dodged them every time.
Green blood splattered, and caterpillar corpses slowly piled up on the ground.
[Killed [Green Caterpillar]. Congratulations, you gained 3 seconds of lifespan and 1 EXP.] [Killed [Green Caterpillar]. Congratulations, you gained 3 seconds of lifespan and 1 EXP.]
System notifications kept ringing in Lin Yi's mind, and his EXP rapidly increased.
As Lin Yi slaughtered the caterpillars, he sensed the changes in the strength within his body.
Swish!
Another sword strike!
The tenth caterpillar was slain!
But at that very moment, a caterpillar outside Lin Yi's field of view slammed into his back!
A sharp pain shot through him!
Lin Yi's expression darkened, and he sighed in sudden realization.
"I noticed you, but my movement speed was too low!"
"Can skill really not make up for stats after all?"
But then he froze for a moment and muttered to himself.
"Huh? I'm not dead?"
He opened his status panel and checked his stats again.
Level up! Character: Return to Zero Race: Human Level: 2 Class: Warrior Lifespan: 100 years Talents: Eye of Illusion Breaking (S), Zero's Charm (ZZZZ) Reputation: 0 Combat power: 100 HP: 100 MP: 100 Attack speed: 0.7 attacks/s Movement speed: 1.2 m/s Pets: None Items: A-grade longsword, A-grade cloth shirt, A-grade cloth trousers, A-grade straw sandals Faction: None
Lin Yi had risen from level 1 to level 2, and his combat power had increased from 10 to 100.
His HP had also risen from 10 to 100!
Lin Yi stilled his longsword and took a deep breath, feeling the power surging within him.
Slightly puzzled, he closed the status panel.
"Because the beginner village map is too small, movement speed is heavily suppressed..."
"I remember destruction effects only became possible after reaching a million combat power, but this EXP bar is a little ridiculous..."
"Still, there are some quests in the beginner village that reward percentage-based EXP. They'll be enough to get me to level ten!"
"After level ten, I'll be invincible once I leave the village!"
Lin Yi watched the caterpillars still densely packed throughout the forest, flickering and leaping about, a glint flashing in his eyes.
Keep going!
[Killed [Green Caterpillar]. Congratulations, you gained 3 seconds of lifespan and 1 EXP.] [Killed [Green Caterpillar]. Congratulations, you gained 3 seconds of lifespan and 1 EXP.]
Now each sword strike really did kill a caterpillar!
Green blood splattered, and caterpillar corpses piled up like mountains on the ground.
Time slowly passed, and Lin Yi's EXP steadily climbed.
Level up! [Killed [Green Caterpillar]. Congratulations, you gained 3 seconds of lifespan and 1 EXP.]
"No."
"It's still too little EXP!"
Lin Yi shook his head with a chuckle, slowly put away his longsword, and continued deeper into the forest.
His current 1,000 combat power was already enough to protect himself among ordinary people.
But Lin Yi's goal wasn't merely to protect himself. It was...
To reach the pinnacle!
As he ventured deeper, his surroundings grew darker, the trees grew taller, and their increasingly dense branches and leaves blocked out almost the entire sky.
Lin Yi walked cautiously through the forest, strange sounds reaching his ears.
He knew stronger monsters must be lurking in this forest, but rather than fear, he was filled with anticipation.
"Roar!"
Suddenly, Lin Yi heard a low roar up ahead.
He quickly ducked behind a large tree and quietly peeked out to observe the situation ahead.
In a clearing not far away, a huge wild boar was lowering its head to gnaw on grass roots.
The boar was massive, covered in thick bristles, with sharp tusks that made it look exceptionally ferocious.
Lin Yi activated his talent, [Eye of Illusion Breaking], again and soon saw the boar's stats.
[Rampaging Wild Boar] Type: Wild boar Grade: B Level: 3 HP: 200 Combat power: 50 Skill: Little Flying Arrow Nainuo (D-grade): Upon death, fires an arrow that is guaranteed to hit, dealing 10 HP of true damage to its killer. Description: Want a shot of true damage, too?
Lin Yi frowned slightly. This Rampaging Wild Boar had only 50 combat power, but it also had only 200 HP.
Although it looked weak, its skill could deal 10 HP of true damage!
What an underrated skill!
Although Lin Yi currently had only 1,000 combat power, getting hit would still deal just 10 damage.
No matter how high Lin Yi's combat power became, its attack would still inflict 10 points of guaranteed damage!
In "Zero Game," true damage ignored combat power and defense!
Still... let's see how much EXP you give!
Swish!
Lin Yi tightened his grip on his longsword and slowly approached the Rampaging Wild Boar.
Of course, it was because he was afraid!
Lin Yi was afraid the boar would trigger the [Fear of Battle] status. If it fled, he couldn't catch it at his current speed!
When he was only three meters from the Rampaging Wild Boar, he suddenly leaped up, thrusting his longsword toward its neck like lightning.
Swish!
The longsword pierced the boar's neck with unerring accuracy, and blood gushed out.
The Rampaging Wild Boar let out a piercing scream and collapsed, struggling wildly on the ground.
Three seconds later, the Rampaging Wild Boar's struggles gradually weakened. Finally, it fell limply to the ground, twitched a few times, and went still.
[Killed [Rampaging Wild Boar]. Congratulations, you gained 10 seconds of lifespan and 2 EXP.] [Hit by an arrow. Lost 10 HP!]
"So stingy! How boring!"
Lin Yi pulled out his longsword and left with a disgruntled expression.
He now needed 1,000 EXP to level up, and he had no interest in matching wits and strength with this stingy boar.
Now, he was going to find monsters that gave more EXP!