Chapter 001: A Clichéd Beginning

  Out of the horsewoman's hut, Feng Xiao noticed that 4 hours had passed in the game, but unfortunately his level was still at 0.

  "It should be that someone has already reached level 5, right?" Feng Xiao thought gloomily. First, he wasted more than two hours creating an account, then spent another two hours on two NPCs, only to receive a task that was impossible to complete. One step ahead, every step ahead, unfortunately, he had fallen far behind others from the very beginning.

  At this time, the number of players surrounding the NPC to receive tasks has decreased a lot. After all, there are 1 million new villages in the Huaxia district, with only a few thousand people in each new village, and it should have been rotated for 4 hours.

  Go pick up a few quests that don't require killing monsters and level up first. Run to the pharmacy with the least number of people.

  "Ding, Player Fengyun, there is an incoming call in reality, would you like to answer it?"

  "Connect."

  Using a game console also has another advantage that it can directly connect real-life phones through wireless radio waves emitted by the console in the game.

  "Boss, my 'Rebirth' ah, wooo~~~~" As soon as the call connected, Xiao Tian's wailing and howling came through the phone.

  Xiao Tian and Chen Bing are sworn brothers who know each other's true identities. However, their personalities are polar opposites - Xiao Tian is lively and loves to joke around, while Chen Bing is cold and icy, just like his name suggests.

  "Aren't you in some kind of devil training? How can you have time to make a call." Feng Xiao Yan asked, ignoring the other person's sobbing.

  "At mealtime, I stole a communicator, hehe... Boss, how's the game feeling? It must be very exciting, what level are you at now?"

  "Cough, cough, feels great, just like in real life. As for the level, you'll know when you get back, am I an ordinary person?!" Feng Xian covered up with a couple of coughs, wanting to let that kid know he was still at level 0, or else he'd be laughed to death.

  "Ah, you can't understand my sorrow. It's like when you try every means to get a beauty into bed but suddenly find yourself impotent. The ice block didn't say anything, but its face stinks... Ah!! Who the hell hit me with an ice block? What? Old Ye is here? Boss, let's not talk about it now. When we go back, we must bring us to dominate 'Rebirth'!"

  Hanging up the phone, Feng Xiao arrived at the Xinshou Village pharmacy, where the owner Wang was concocting medicine.

  "Hello Old Man Wang...... cough, Master Wang, is there anything I can help you with?"

  "It's Wind Soul, I've almost used up the medicinal herbs here, can you help me gather some back?" Wang Lao Tou looked at him and replied mechanically.

  "Ding, Wang Yao Shi has entrusted you with collecting 10 herbs, will you accept the task?"

  "Agreed."

  "Ding, you have accepted Wang Yao Shi's commission and learned 'Herbalism'."

  "Ding, due to your extremely high aptitude, you have grasped the essence of Herb Picking. Your Herb Picking skill has directly upgraded to Intermediate level. You have comprehended Intermediate Herb Picking."

  Herbalism: Intermediate 0 (%), can collect intermediate and below intermediate herbs.

  "Who would have thought that such a good thing would happen, and my skills would directly level up? It seems that the 50 points of wisdom weren't added in vain." Feng Xiao muttered to himself for a while, then turned around and ran towards the weapon shop.

  "Hello blacksmith, if you have a task, hurry up and hand it in!"

  "Oh, good wind soul, I've almost used up all the ore here. Can you help me dig some more back?"

  "Ding, Zhang Tie Smith has commissioned you to excavate 10 ordinary ore stones. Will you accept the task?"

  "Agreed."

  "Ding, you have accepted Zhang Tiejiang's commission and learned the 'Mining Technique', obtaining a low-grade mining pickaxe."

  "Ding, due to your extremely high comprehension, you have grasped the essence of mining techniques. Your mining technique has directly upgraded to intermediate level. You have comprehended intermediate mining technique."

  Mining Technique: Intermediate 0%, Mining Speed 10.50% chance to mine intermediate and below ores, 2% chance to mine high-grade ores, 0.0001% chance to mine spirit-level ores.

  Low-grade Mining Pickaxe: Digging speed +2, number of digs: 200 (damaged after exceeding 200).

  As expected, it directly rose to intermediate level. The 50 wisdom is indeed good.

  It turned out that the 50's understanding was not just "good", but compared to the ordinary player's 1-5 understanding, he was already a thorough and utter freak. For an ordinary person to upgrade their herbalism to intermediate level, even if they frequently collect herbs, it would take above level 30.

  "Hello Village Chief Grandpa, is there anything I can help with?"

  There are only a few NPCs in the novice village, including Wang Yao Shi, Zhang Tie Jiang, Ma Fu Ren, Guai Lao Tou, and the benevolent-looking village chief in front of you. At the same time, the village chief is also responsible for transporting players above level 10 to the city.

  "Hello, Wind Soul. I'm the village chief of Newbie Village, responsible for teaching you some basic life skills. Before accepting the task, please accept the skills I'll be imparting to you." The village chief's face was full of worry, seemingly troubled by something, and replied mechanically to Feng Xiao.

  "Ding, Player Wind Soul, the Village Chief of Newbie Village wants to teach you some basic survival skills. Will you accept?"

  "Agreed."

  "Ding, you have acquired the skill 'Gathering Technique'. Due to your extremely high aptitude, you have grasped the essence of Gathering Technique, and it has directly upgraded to Intermediate level. You have comprehended Intermediate Gathering Technique."

  "Ding, you have acquired the skill 'Capture Technique'. Due to your extremely high aptitude, you grasped the essence of Capture Technique and it directly upgraded to Intermediate level. You comprehended Intermediate Capture Technique."

  Gathering Skill: Auxiliary skill, consumes 20 magic, collects various materials and items from killed monsters.

  Capture Technique: Auxiliary skill, consumes 30 magic, certain probability of capturing monsters as pets.

  "Newbie Village West is being ravaged by wild cats, can you help me get rid of them?"

  "Ding, the village chief has entrusted you with killing 20 demonized wild cats. Will you accept the task?"

  "Uh... this... Village Chief, to be honest with you, I don't have any other flaws, it's just that my heart is too soft, and I've never killed a living thing. Can we change the task to something that doesn't involve killing small animals?" Feng Xiao said somewhat bashfully, while sharing his 0% information with the Village Chief.

  "Ah..." The village chief looked at Feng Xiao with a somewhat approving gaze and said, "It's rare to see young people like you who are so kind-hearted. Although being merciful to these demonized creatures is a bit naive, it also shows that your nature is good. Alright, I'll trouble you to go to the Sunset Slope north of Newbie Village to collect 10 stalks of sunflowers for me. The monsters along the way won't attack people on their own initiative. However, be careful..."

  Feng Xiao's old face rarely turned red, and after accepting the task, he immediately shouted "Village Chief Grandpa, see you later." He ran towards the north of Newbie Village. He decided to do the village chief's task first, because the medicinal herbs that Wang Yao Shi let him pick at Sunset Slope also grew there.

  "...don't go near the cave on Sunset Slope... Ah! Young man, I haven't finished speaking yet!"

  "Ah, nowadays young people are really impatient. Well, I guess they won't be as unlucky as me to run into that." The village chief sighed helplessly as he watched Feng Xiang disappear into the distance.

  Feng Xiao ran quickly towards the Sunset Slope, admiring the beautiful scenery along the way. Bees and butterflies flitted about, and a hundred flowers bloomed in vibrant colors. Feng Xiao felt as if he had entered a serene and pure natural paradise. Compared to the hustle and bustle of the city, Newbie Village was like a haven on earth.

  Along the way, you may occasionally see one or a group of cute monsters passing by, but as the village chief said, they do not actively attack people, and since there are fewer brushes, there aren't many people leveling up nearby.

  After running continuously for more than 20 minutes, Feng Xiao finally arrived at the Sunset Slope marked on the map. This was the territory of level 5 monster White Wolves, but strangely, these white wolves didn't attack people proactively. What's even stranger was that there wasn't anyone here to level up.

  Are most players already above level 5?

  No more thinking, Feng Xiao began to display his medicine collection skills, "brushing" and collecting the yang grass and herbs on the ground.