Chapter 3: Die-Hard Party

  In the blink of an eye, seven or eight days passed, and Zhang Yang took his graduation certificate and went home to wait. He also bought a gaming headset on the way back. Now that everything is ready, he's just waiting for "Shen Ji" to go live. According to the official website, "Shen Ji" will be launched globally on the 30th of this month.

  "Bang! Bang! Bang!" The sound of knocking on the door rang out.

  Zhang Yang's family wasn't without a doorbell, but that thing was still an old product from over ten years ago and had been out of order for several years.

  "Who is it?" Zhang Yang walked to the door and looked out through the peephole.

  A big fat man stood at the door, sweating profusely, constantly fanning himself with his hand.

  Seeing this familiar figure, Zhang Yang couldn't help but get excited, quickly opening the door and laughing: "Hàn Pàngzi, long time no see!"

  Han Guang was startled by Zhang Yang's enthusiasm and couldn't help but laugh and scold: "Fatty doesn't owe you money, what's the point of being so excited? Hey hey hey, you little brat, are you going to become gay or something?"

  Han Guang was a sworn brother of Zhang Yang since they wore open-crotch pants together, and the two went through elementary school, junior high school, and high school together, fighting their way to friendship. However, Zhang Yang later went to college, while Han Guang entered society ahead of time, but this did not affect the friendship between the two. But, Zhang Yang clearly remembered that a year later, Han Guang was seriously injured in a street fight and died before being sent to the hospital!

  At that time, this matter had a great impact on Zhang Yang, and for more than half a year, he did not show a smile!

  This life, no matter what, can't let this fat guy have an accident again! Zhang Yang made a vow in his heart, but on his face, he revealed a calm smile, making himself look like nothing was wrong, and said: "Today isn't a rest day, why did you come to my place?"

  Subconsciously, Zhang Yang didn't want anyone to know what had happened to him, going back five years... Firstly, it sounded too unbelievable, secondly, if exposed, he would likely be caught and studied like a lab rat, so it's better to keep it buried in his heart forever!

  Han Guang curled his lips and said, "Take a break, I quit my job! That damn manager is an animal, all day long taking advantage of female employees. Yesterday, I caught him harassing a new female colleague in the rest room, I couldn't help it, I beat him up... Then, both me and that female colleague were fired!"

  Zhang Yang shook his head and said, "Did that female colleague blame you for dragging her down, saying you're a dog who can't even catch a mouse?"

  "What the...! How did you guess it?" Han Guang exclaimed, "Is that woman's brain kicked by a donkey? I helped her out of kindness, but she blamed me instead. If I hadn't intervened, that damned manager would have..."

  Zhang Yang smiled in his heart. This was not a guess, but something that Han Guang had personally told him about in his past life! Zhang Yang patted his shoulder and said, "This is the damn world!"

  Han Guang sighed and said, "You're right, this world is too damn messed up!"

  Two people entered the house, and Han Guang casually took out a bottle of beer from the refrigerator, opened it with his teeth, and gulped it down in big mouthfuls. In just three or two mouthfuls, he finished off the whole bottle, wiped his mouth, and said: "Refreshing!"

  Zhang Yang sat down opposite him and said, "Then what kind of job are you planning to find again?"

  "I came here today just to tell you this!" Han Guang said mysteriously, "Have you heard of 'The Divine Sign'?"

  "Is it that 'Miracle' that's advertised on TV every day?" Zhang Yang said with a smile.

  Han Guang immediately became spirited and said, "That's right, it's that 'Miracle'! I heard from a relative who sells gaming headsets that many people play this game and can make a fortune from it!"

  "Oh, how to get rich?" Zhang Yang vaguely remembered that in his previous life, Han Guang also used this set of words to persuade him to play "Divine Traces" together. As a result, he was always lacking in interest. Now thinking about it, if he had listened to Han Guang's persuasion back then and entered "Divine Traces" on the first day of opening, perhaps there wouldn't have been the subsequent regrets!

  Han Guang had a confident look on his face and said, "My relative has some connections. He told me that when the game reaches level 20, they will open up the exchange service for gold coins and real money. As long as we can get enough gold coins, there's no need to worry about getting rich."

  "Alright, I was going to play this game anyway!" Zhang Yang smiled and nodded in agreement. He had countless ways to make money in his mind, and with just a casual tip-off to Fatso, he could make him rich overnight. For friends, of course, he wouldn't hold back.

  Han Guang was overjoyed and said, "We two brothers will work together with one heart, our benefits will be as sharp as a knife, we'll definitely be able to overcome all obstacles and be invincible! Ah, right, Xiao Yangzi, if we make a lot of money, how should we spend it? Shouldn't we buy dozens of bikini beauties and fill the whole house for Brother Pang to enjoy?"

  "Get out, you rascal!" Zhang Yang said with feigned anger.

  Han Guang's eyes were hazy, his mouth curled up in a sly smile, revealing two rows of pearly white teeth. This chubby kid had always dreamed of building the greatest empire in history - especially after reading the manga "King of ***".

  "By the way—" Zhang Yang said casually, "What race and occupation are you planning to choose?"

  "Spirit tribe, thief!" Han Guang replied without hesitation, apparently having some knowledge of this game, otherwise he wouldn't have casually mentioned these two terms.

  Zhang Yang didn't know what profession Han Guang had chosen in his previous life, but playing a thief... Zhang Yang said: "I advise you to change your profession, hmm, playing a hunter should be more suitable for you!"

  "Why?" Han Guang asked in puzzlement.

  "Because of your careless personality, you're not suitable for a rogue that requires positioning! Not just rogues, melee professions aren't suitable for you either! You should just play a hunter, yeah, a beastmaster hunter, with pets taking the aggro in front, you can just stand still and shoot, much safer and more reliable! And it's not bad for dungeons either, decent damage output and has 'feign death' to clear threat, what a great tool for exploration!" Zhang Yang said.

  Han Guang thought for a moment and couldn't help but nod his head, feeling that Zhang Yang's words were extremely reasonable! He looked at Zhang Yang and said: "I didn't expect you to know so much!"

  Zhang Yang smiled slightly and found an excuse: "Since we decided to play, I checked the data. This is all from what I saw on the forum!"

  "Oh——" The simple-minded fatty immediately believed Zhang Yang, "Then I'll try switching to a Hunter!"

  "After your character reaches level 5, try buying a few bottles of Port wine and then give the wine to an NPC named 'Old Wine Swain'."

  "Why?"

  "I saw from the data that the NPC will release a hidden profession task for the Hunter series!" Zhang Yang made an excuse.

  "Really?" Han Guang was skeptical.

  "Have I ever cheated you?" Zhang Yang asked.

  "Often!"

  "Damn it, this time is real, believe me!" Zhang Yang's fists were itching, wanting to hit someone.

  He also remembered that a hidden task above level 100 had a BUG when it was completed, and at that time, not only the hunter who completed the task but also a teammate next to him got the final reward - a Phoenix Divine Beast!

  The phoenix not only has super strong attack power, but can also be ridden. Sitting on the fiery phoenix, its wind-attracting degree is absolutely against-the-heavens level! When those two summon the phoenix in the main city, many players are enchanted and infatuated!

  Unfortunately, the hidden task is unique and no other players can get the Phoenix God Beast except for those two! Moreover, non-hunter professions can only use mounts in the wild, and cannot summon them in instances, arenas, and other places where mounts are not allowed, so the impact is not great. Therefore, the game company did not take back the hunter's friend's phoenix, and just let it go like that.

  This time, it's his turn and Han Piaozi to take down the wind-reversing divine pet! The hunter and his teammates were all Koreans back then, anyway Zhang Yang had never liked Koreans, so he just took it.

  "Alright, I'll trust you again!" Han Guang accepted Zhang Yang's opinion once more. "By the way, have you bought a gaming helmet?"

  "I've already bought it, just waiting for the server to open!"

  "Hey, let's go to the wine house across the street and have a few drinks! Brother tells you, there's a new one over there, she's really beautiful, seems to be interested in Fat Brother too, every time we go there she bats her eyelashes at me!"

  "Go! You always say that!"

  "You little brat, you actually doubt my charm! By the way, what profession do you play?"

  "You'll know when the time comes!"

  "Cut it out, whatever you're doing, be careful not to get struck by lightning!"

  ……

  It's been several days again, and the last day of June has arrived as scheduled.

  At 8:45 this morning, "Miracle" will be globally synchronized to open, allowing players to register accounts and create game characters. At 9 o'clock, the servers of the world's eight major regions will start simultaneously, marking the official entry of this cross-era epic masterpiece into people's lives!

  As soon as the gaming helmet was put on, a slight electric current stimulated the cerebral cortex for an instant, bringing an indescribable feeling. Zhang Yang waited quietly, but only three or four minutes later, his eyes suddenly lit up and familiar sounds rang in his ears.

  "Enter the world of 'Miracle'!"

  "Generating game account for you, please wait!"

  "We are binding your game account with your brain waves and identity information. This game account has uniqueness, every time you log in to the game, without needing you to enter your account password, the system will scan your brain waves and automatically match this game account!"

  "Please note that each person can only have one game character at a time! The old character must be deleted before creating a new one! For every new character created, it cannot be deleted within three days and no new character can be created within fifteen days!"

  "Account created successfully! Come to the continent of Norlanda, brave warrior, the alliance needs your participation!" A soft and melodious female voice echoed in his ears, and a familiar scene appeared before Zhang Yang's eyes: countless demons, undead or descending from the sky, or crawling out of the ground, launched a fierce attack on a lone human city!

  The grand background of "Miracle" is the story of humans, elves, beastmen and dwarves jointly resisting the invasion of undead and demons. Zhang Yang had seen the opening scene countless times and immediately chose to skip it, coming to the character creation interface.

  "Please select your ethnicity!" The system's soft and melodious female voice said.

  "Human!"

  "Race, human, confirmed! A gentle female voice continued, "Please select your occupation!"

  "Warrior!"

  "Profession, Warrior, Confirmed! Please choose your profession branch!"

  Each profession has branches, such as warriors having Berserkers and Shield Warriors.

  "Shield Warrior!" Zhang Yang revealed a hint of nostalgic smile.

  He chose the Shield Warrior in his previous life, and this time he still chose the same profession. It's not just because he likes this profession, but also because he understands it best. Each profession has a large number of related hidden tasks, which are unique and rewarding. Due to professional reasons, Zhang Yang naturally understood the hidden tasks of warriors the most clearly, so he made such a choice.

  "Occupational branch, Shield Warrior, confirmed!" A gentle female voice continued, "Please enter your game name!"

  "Fight back!"

  "Name, Warai, Decide!"

  The system's voice paused for a moment, and the scene in front of Zhang Yang changed to reveal a figure that looked very similar to him. A soft female voice spoke again: "This is a character model based on your physiological characteristics. You can modify the facial features from here!"

  His body shape couldn't be changed, but Zhang Yang had always been particular about exercising. At 180 cm tall, his physique was impeccable! He thought for a moment and made some slight adjustments to his facial features. It wasn't that he looked better or worse, just that people who knew him would find it hard to recognize him at first glance.

  After doing all this, Zhang Yang clicked "Confirm".

  "Character creation is complete, please wait patiently for the server to open! You can view the explanations of various character attributes during this period to get a better gaming experience! Wish you a happy game!"

  A character interface appeared in front of Zhang Yang, the character he had just created was wearing a set of tattered equipment, with a short sword at his waist and no shield - Zhang Yang knew that he would have to wait until the character reached level 5 and completed the profession task before getting a black iron quality shield.

  Now he has three pieces of equipment on him.

  Worn Breastplate (White, Cuirass)

  Armor: +1

  Required level: 0

  Tattered Greaves (White, Armor)

  Armor: +1

  Required level: 0

  Newbie Short Sword (White, One-handed sword)

  Attack: 1-3

  Attack interval: 2 seconds

  Required level: 0

  Attack interval refers to the frequency at which a wielded weapon performs a normal attack. Dagger-type weapons have the shortest attack interval, followed by one-handed and ranged weapons, with two-handed weapons being the slowest.

  White-quality equipment is also called whiteboard gear, which adds nothing but armor. The attack power of the weapon is even weaker. Above the whiteboard gear is black iron, followed by bronze, silver, gold, purple gold, mysterious spirit, phantom spirit, earth sacred, heaven sacred, and divine artifact, a total of nine levels to satisfy players' pursuit of "stronger".

  The specific properties of Zhang Yang are as follows:

  Player: Zhan Yu

  Level: 0

  Health: 50/50

  Anger value: 0/100

  Armor: 2

  Physical Strength: 0

  Strength: 4

  Agile: 1

  Intelligence: 0

  Spirit: 0

  Lucky: 0

  Melee Damage: 5-8

  Attack interval: 2 seconds

  Remote damage: None

  Physical strength, power, agility, intelligence and spirit are the five basic attributes of a character.

  Vitality: Increases a character's health, with each point of vitality increasing their maximum health by 10 points.

  Strength: Increases character's physical damage, every two points of strength increases one point of attack power.

  Agility: Increases character's movement speed and physical critical strike chance. For rogues and hunters, agility also increases skill damage.

  Intelligence: Increases the character's spell damage, maximum magic value and spell critical strike rate. Each point of intelligence increases spell damage by one point, and each point of intelligence adds ten points to the maximum magic value.

  Spirit: Reduces the casting time of characters and accelerates the recovery of magic values.

  Luck is a special attribute that cannot be enhanced through equipment, and can only be rewarded by the system after completing certain mainline tasks or high-difficulty hidden tasks. This attribute has many uses, such as causing the player's attack to have a chance to deal triple damage, known as Lucky Strike.

  Every newborn character has a total of five points in the five basic attributes. Because warriors do not need spirit and intelligence, these two attributes are zero, and the values are allocated to strength and agility.

  Rage value is a profession-specific attribute for Warriors. In non-combat states, the Warrior's rage value is 0. When engaged in combat, the Warrior gains a small amount of rage every second. Normal attacks grant a certain amount of rage based on damage dealt and character level, while using skills generally consumes rage, known as venting rage.