After weighing the pros and cons, Lu You resisted the temptation to enter the dungeon and decided to buy potions and leave the city to level up. He planned to reach level 10 and learn the powerful skill "Ice Arrow" first, aiming for the 'Nightmare' or even 'Hell' difficulty dungeons for the best cost-effectiveness.
Lu You initially wanted to continue farming leopards and black bears but found his previous leveling spot occupied by two level 10 mages with significantly strong gear. One mage used Fireball, and the other used Lightning; together, they could take down the tough black bears in just three rounds. As a mere level 8 Hunter, Lu You stood no chance against them.
"Sigh, at this level, I could go for the Drunkard's hidden quest!" A sudden idea struck Lu You, cursing himself for being so fixated on dungeons that he almost forgot about the hidden quest.
The Drunkard's hidden quest in Thunder City was a straightforward hunting task that offered massive experience. Not only could it easily take him to level 10, but it also rewarded a rare (green) item corresponding to his class – quite significant in the early stages of the game.
Just as Lu You turned to leave, a cold voice from behind said, "That's right, scram."
It was the mage named 'Cloud,' holding a staff that emitted faint purple lightning – a special effect only seen on rare blue equipment. The higher the equipment quality, the more pronounced the effect.
Lu You frowned at this arrogant behavior, not having encountered such people in a long time. Just because of a piece of blue gear, did he need to act like this?
"What are you looking at? I told you to scram, got a problem?" Cloud said coldly.
"I'll remember you," Lu You replied with a cold smile, regretting that he wasn't yet level 10 to engage in player-versus-player combat (PK); otherwise, he wouldn't mind teaching Cloud a lesson.
"Go on, then," Cloud gestured elegantly.
With a flash, Lu You disappeared from the spot.
As a young man with the heart of an adult, Lu You didn't dwell on such petty incidents. He soon forgot about it and used the teleportation array in the newbie village to reach Thunder City.
He navigated the streets to find NPC Drunkard Chen Han, tucked away in a corner. Lu You persistently clicked on his head, and Chen Han responded with various phrases.
"Stop bothering me!" "What's wrong with you!" "Go away!" "I just want to quietly be a drunkard!" "I don't have any quests for you!" "Ah, you're driving me crazy!" "Help! Someone! Harassment!" "..."
After 37 attempts, a giant golden question mark finally appeared above Chen Han's head.
System Prompt: Drunkard Chen Han needs you to kill 10 bats, 10 monkeys, and 10 crabs. Quest Reward: 4500 experience points, 1 hunter's bow.
With a snap of his fingers, Lu You grinned and headed towards the poisonous bat spawn point.
After one and a half hours and cleverly teaming up in the crowded area, Lu You managed to kill 30 creatures. Upon completing the task, his character flashed twice with white light. As expected, the massive 4500 experience points boosted him from 8th level with 30% experience straight to 10th level with 3%!
Equipping the level 10 green bow given by the system and allocating one skill point to Flame Arrow, Lu You looked at his character stats panel with a hint of pride. Reaching level 10 in five hours was quite an achievement.
Character Name: Choosing a Name is Really Hard Ahh! Level: 10 Strength: 22 (Increases physical attack, a small amount of health, and a small amount of defense) Magic Power: 64 (Increases magical attack, a small amount of mana, and a small amount of magical defense) Agility: 23 (Increases critical hit rate, critical damage, and a small amount of movement speed) Stamina: 16 (Increases health, a small amount of defense, and magical defense)
Unassigned Points: 0 (5 points gained upon character leveling up)
Unspent Skill Points: 0 (1 point per level after level 10)
Health Points: 277
Mana Points: 470
Learned Skills: Swamp Trap lv1, Fire Arrow lv2.
Skill Name: Fire Arrow lv2
Skill Description: A hunter-specific skill, consumes 10 mana points, inflicts 50 (0.5 Magic Power) damage on an enemy, with a 25% chance of burning the enemy for 3 seconds, reducing their maximum health by 2%~10% each second. Cooldown time: 5 seconds.
Next…
"Hmm, I wonder if that arrogant guy is still around." Lu You pinched his chin, feeling it was necessary to check back at the newbie village.
…
At the edge of the forest.
Gazing at the body that disintegrated into pieces not far away, Yun Duan’s lips curved slightly, elegantly wielding his staff.
The name Yun Duan was already blood-stained, but he didn't care.
The weak should be trampled by the strong, in reality, and in the game.
Listening to the dying screams of the weak, Yun Duan felt an indescribable pleasure.
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Suddenly, a figure approached from a distance towards the forest.
Yun Duan looked up, vaguely seeing a level 10 hunter with a long name.
"Is it really that hard to pick a name?"
Yun Duan muttered, suddenly feeling the name was familiar, probably seen somewhere.
"Oh, it's him."
Yun Duan remembered, an hour ago, he and his friend 'Endless Years' encountered this hunter while leveling up by hunting leopards here. But at that time, he was only level 8, how did he level up to 10 in just an hour and a half? Is leveling up that fast even possible?
Surprised, Yun Duan guessed Lu You's purpose for coming here, shaking his head, young people are really impatient. Just reached level 10 and rushing to die, do you think my title of 'Black Poppy Elite' is just for show?
Strike first, let you taste the power of my level 3 Lightning Magic!
Yun Duan gripped his staff, and as the hunter entered the maximum attack range, his arm shook!
Lightning Magic!
Boom!
Violet lightning struck from the sky, blasting a huge hole in the ground, but to Yun Duan's surprise, the hunter had anticipated his move and shifted away earlier.
"Quick reflexes!"
Yun Duan's pupils narrowed, he quickly reacted, seeing the hunter skillfully draw the bowstring, a flash of fire!
System prompt: "You are attacked by the player ‘Is it really that hard to pick a name?’, health reduced by 87, you are suffering ‘burning’ damage, health decreasing by 18, 11, 14……"
"Hmph!"
Yun Duan, as a member of the Black Poppy Elite, was naturally not ordinary. He immediately pulled out a health potion and drank it, making a feint to the left, calmly beginning to gather a second Lightning Magic.
But…
Another arrow whistled through the air, hitting Yun Duan squarely in the chest. Mages naturally have low health and weak defenses, and this arrow caused his slowly recovering health bar to hit rock bottom!
"Not good!" Yun Duan was shocked, retreating rapidly, raising his staff!
But he never got the chance to strike back, as Lu You's third arrow, as if guided, directly turned him into a corpse.
The Sanctuary has severe penalties for malicious killings, not only deducting 20%~100% of the current level's experience but also depending on the number of kills, dropping one's own equipment. Yun Duan, having killed seven or eight players before Lu You showed up, had already reached the level of a 3rd-degree murderer, his rare blue staff inevitably dropped, along with a pile of health and mana potions.
Lu You jogged over to pick up the staff, checking its properties, and immediately smiled brightly.
Thunder Staff (Level 10, Rare): Magic Attack Power 46~71, Magic +4, Stamina +3, Lightning Magic Level +1.
The game has only been open for less than 30 hours, and a level 10 blue staff like this that boosts skill levels is worth at least 5 silver coins!
No!
Definitely worth more than 5 silver coins!
No mage would be dumb enough to sell this kind of equipment in the early stages of the game that significantly boosts leveling speed!
"You... you..." Yun Duan was furious.
Lu You could remain silent even when scolded, let alone now when he was the victor, he turned around nonchalantly and left.
...
Thunder City, East Gate, dozens of members of the Black Poppy Guild gathered.
"The staff exploded?" Dark One looked at Yun Duan displeasedly. "What's wrong with you, kid? I trusted you so much, and lent you the guild's rare staff for leveling!"
Yun Duan, with a bitter face, pleaded, "I'm sorry, big brother, I was too careless, didn't expect that hunter to be so skilled!" Yun Duan always had a cold and aloof demeanor in front of strangers, but in front of Dark One, who taught him PK skills hands-on, he now looked like a child who had made a mistake.
"Sigh, it's my fault too. If I hadn't gone to dinner, Ah Yun wouldn't have died..." Mage Endless Years sighed.
"Nonsense, don't blame everything on yourself, self-blame also has limits, you know?" Dark One glared at Endless Years, then turned to Yun Duan. "This is good, teaches you a lesson. Don't think you're the boss just because you're the eldest or the strongest. There are plenty of people with better skills than you. Consider that staff your tuition fee. Deduct it from your contributions when the guild starts activities."
"Okay, got it," Yun Duan hung his head.
"Now go, go level up! Remember, no provoking, focus on leveling up in the early stages of the game! Let's aim to pass the Nightmare Valley tomorrow." Dark One's voice was rough and commanding, with a leadership aura.
"Yes, boss!" "Got it, Black Brother!" "Heh heh, understood!" The members of the Black Poppy Guild responded one after another.
"Hey, big brother? Are we just going to leave it at that?" Yun Duan caught up.
"What do you want? Clearly, you provoked them first." Dark One said impatiently.
Yun Duan was speechless. "I..."
"Don't fucking waste words, hurry up and go level up with the group!"
"Yes, yes!"
Watching the members leave in a mighty procession, Dark One opened the friend request panel and entered 'Is it really that hard to pick a name?', the system showed that there was indeed such a player, but this player was currently offline.
"Yun Duan's performance in our guild is top-notch, how could he be defeated without even touching the opponent's edge, it's really unbelievable. The staff that increases the level of Lightning Magic by 1 isn't particularly good, but we still have to try, see if we can get it back..." Dark One scratched his head, but he didn't care, everything would have to wait until that hunter logged in.
Dark One walked leisurely towards the city gates.
Many players saw this burly warrior and couldn't help but exclaim, their envious eyes turning green.
My god!
Level 15 warrior, how did he train?
...
Rental house, the fluorescent lamp illuminated the living room as bright as daylight.
Lu You gulped down his food, at fifteen or sixteen, it was a time of growth, and his appetite was quite good.
"Slow down, don't choke," Lu Yanyan chuckled.
Lu You also smiled, "I was hungry."
"Then eat more, there's plenty of food."
"I know."
After hastily finishing dinner, Lu You began to tidy up the clothes he was going to sell. At this moment, his mother, who was washing dishes in the kitchen, said, "Xiaoyu, don't go out tonight, stay at home and study well. I can manage on my own."
Lu You shook his head, "I'll go with you. It's too much for you to carry all this stuff alone, and besides, I've been at home all day, feeling bored."
After a moment of silence, suddenly, sobbing came from the kitchen.
"What's wrong?" Lu You quickly lifted the door curtain and saw his mother wiping tears in a flurry. Lu Yanyan smiled through her tears, "Xiaoyu... you... have grown up, and become sensible, I can hardly recognize you anymore."
"People always have to grow up, is this kind of change not good?" Lu You said.
"Of course it's good." Lu Yanyan hugged her son tightly, tears falling down her cheeks like pearls, dripping onto Lu You.