Chapter Two: An Unexpected Gain

Chapter 2: An Unexpected Gain

Stepping out of the village, Lin Zheng was astonished. Everywhere he looked, hunters were chasing rabbits, armed with a wild assortment of weapons. He checked his own pack: a fairly well-crafted dagger, a simple cloth garment, and nothing else.

Newbie Dagger: Physical Attack 30-55, Magic Attack 30-55, Bound, Indestructible
Newbie Cloth Garment: Physical Defense 22, Bound, Indestructible

Equipped, his basic stats read:

Yi Ping Daoist (Archer)
Level 1
Strength: 4
Intelligence: 1
Stamina: 2
Agility: 1
Energy: 1
Physical Attack: 39-73
Magic Attack: 33-60
Physical Defense: 30
Magic Defense: 2
Health: 100
Mana: 100

Glancing at his skills, he found only one before the first job advancement:
Throwing: Level 1, Proficiency 0/100. Throws weapons at enemies, increasing physical attack by 10% but reducing accuracy by 20%. Range: 1-20 meters.

It was a rather useless skill. Throwing a weapon meant it wouldn’t come back, so how could he continue fighting without a weapon? Lin Zheng grumbled inwardly while watching others battle monsters—soon realizing his ignorance. All newbie weapons were bound. In the world of Phantom Spirit II, bound equipment never truly left your possession unless sold or destroyed. Thrown weapons would automatically return after the attack. Didn’t he see all those dagger-wielders becoming little flying knives? Lin Zheng smiled—this was convenient and thoughtful toward new players. Excellent! Time to try it out on a rabbit.

A level 3 rabbit happened to appear right in front of Lin Zheng. No problem—it was just a rabbit. He stepped forward, kicked it high into the air for 53 damage, then threw his dagger with a perfect hit for 65 damage. Two quick steps forward, catching the returning dagger, he leapt and pinned the rabbit to the ground, delivering a fatal blow of 120 damage. Quite a dramatic finish!

Admittedly, Lin Zheng was showing off a bit, but when a few Jurassic carnivores stared at him in astonishment, he quickly fled, startled.

Opening the map, Lin Zheng grew confident in his skills and decided to seek stronger monsters. He was at Rabbit Slope; a short distance away was the Green Forest, home to level 4-12 creatures. That should be suitable. Running quickly, he arrived to find quite a crowd, all busily fighting giant fat rats.

He pressed on, hoping to encounter more formidable foes. However, after encountering an agile level 8 monkey, he became frustrated. The monkey was hard to hit, and he couldn’t land blows either. The level gap was too great; most attacks were dodged, and his damage barely broke through defenses. Fighting was too inefficient. Disheartened, he retreated to hunt rats again.

After over an hour of killing rats, Lin Zheng reached level 6 and considered moving on. Suddenly, someone shouted, “Boss spawned! Boss spawned!!”

Boss? Lin Zheng perked up and followed the crowd rushing toward the noise. Why shout about a boss? Wouldn’t it be better to kill it quietly himself? But the truth was clear—everyone was in newbie gear, and soloing a boss of equal level was impossible. They had to call for help. The shout drew dozens of people in an instant. Lin Zheng weaved through the crowd to the front lines and saw the boss—a level 8 giant rat leader, a bronze-tier boss. Because so many players attacked it simultaneously, the boss’s health plummeted rapidly and was nearly depleted within moments. Truly, the power of the masses was formidable. Lin Zheng felt a small thrill but kept his focus, striking the boss several times without hesitation.

The boss’s health was around 8,000—no wonder it was about to die in under two minutes. Though its attacks were few, it had already instantly killed many newbies. If Lin Zheng hadn’t been agile, he might have been forced to return to the village for free.

His eyes fixed on the ground, ready to snatch any loot. In this game, boss drops were unprotected—first come, first served. Finally, the giant rat leader squeaked in defeat and collapsed. Though a minor boss, it was still a first kill, and it dropped a large bounty of copper coins—a spectacular sight! Lin Zheng had no time to admire it. Grabbing an item, he was immediately pushed out of the crowd. Such was the chaos of a group fight; no room for greed. He comforted himself and left, secretly disdainful of the scramble. Once the crowd dispersed, he examined his loot.

Stolen Pipe: The village chief’s pipe, a quest item that might yield a reward.

Lin Zheng’s eyes widened in frustration. Several items had dropped, and even if all were white-grade gear, they would be far better than his newbie equipment. Yet he ended up with a mere pipe! A reward? How much money could a newbie quest possibly give? He was tempted to toss it aside but decided even a tiny gain was better than none. He put the pipe away and ran back to the village.

At the village entrance, Lin Zheng found the village chief surrounded by several players eagerly talking—undoubtedly trying to trigger a hidden quest to gain some advantage. Judging by the chief’s relaxed demeanor, those players were likely to be disappointed. Ignoring the schemers, Lin Zheng stepped forward and presented the pipe under their curious gazes.

“Village Chief, isn’t this your pipe?” Lin Zheng asked.

The chief, previously indifferent, opened his eyes in surprise. “Oh! That’s my pipe! I lost it days ago. Thank you for finding it, young man!” He gratefully accepted the pipe, and Lin Zheng heard a prompt: “Quest ‘Stolen Pipe’ completed. Earned 500 experience and 1 gold coin!”

Lin Zheng’s face lit up. One gold coin was a substantial reward for a newbie. After nearly two hours of monster hunting, he hadn’t even earned a single silver coin.

The chief wiped the pipe’s mouthpiece, lit it, and to everyone’s amazement, smoke came out with a satisfying puff. The nearby players gaped in disbelief. Lin Zheng, still thrilled, barely noticed until he realized how quickly the old man was puffing away. Just as he thought of continuing monster hunting, the chief spoke.

“Young man, could you please help me find my glasses too? I lost them in the cornfield a couple of days ago, and now I can barely see. Don’t worry, if you find them, I’ll reward you handsomely!”

Ah, a follow-up quest! Better than boring monster slaying. And this old man sounded quite wealthy. Lin Zheng accepted the task.

“No problem. Leave it to me!”

“That’s wonderful! I lost them in the cornfield. Please look for them there. I hope those damned crows haven’t taken them!”

“Quest accepted: ‘Lost Glasses.’ Retrieve the village chief’s glasses from the crows in the cornfield. Difficulty: D.”

“Cursed crows,” Lin Zheng muttered with a wry glance at the chief. If the glasses really had been taken by crows, hunting those birds should yield the item. Without wasting time, Lin Zheng opened his map and, under the envious and jealous eyes of several nearby players, sprinted toward the cornfield.