Chapter 4: Necessary Sacrifice
After much thought, Li Wen decided to start with his eyes. Of course, he wasn’t going to sacrifice both, but only one.
This way, although one eye would affect his vision, it wouldn’t hinder observation, and in “World Tree: Origin,” being one-eyed wasn’t just a debuff…
With that thought, Li Wen raised his dagger and stabbed it into his left eye, gouging out the entire eyeball with a scoop, and tossing it into the pool along with the nerves and blood.
It didn’t hurt much. The default pain sensitivity in “World Tree: Origin” was set to a very low value; even gouging out an eye only felt like being pricked by a needle.
As the eyeball fell into the pool, crimson spring water quickly gushed out, filling the entire pool.
Li Wen wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad thing until the game prompted him with [You have completed a “Sacrifice” (Constant)], which made him sigh in relief.
He silently opened his Boon panel. Among the three traits, a ball of light, brighter than blood, flashed.
What is this?
Before Li Wen could savor it, the ground beneath his feet vanished, and the entire church dissolved like a bubble. Li Wen was startled at first, then realized this was the final procedure.
Then, he fell freely like a meteorite, finally plunging into the World Tree.
*
What awaited Li Wen was a lengthy opening CG, primarily introducing the world view. Li Wen played it at double speed.
When the cinematic ended, Li Wen found himself lying in an unfamiliar forest. He touched his left eye; the eyeball was still there, and he could even open it normally, but he couldn’t see. It seemed that methods to restore vision using magic or other means might not be feasible.
“I wonder where I’ve spawned…”
Li Wen tried to get up. The girl’s body was much petite and frail. Not yet accustomed to his new body, Li Wen almost fell.
“From now on, at least in the game, I’m a female,” he… no, she muttered to herself.
Players of the human race would always spawn within human-controlled territories. This meant that even if Li Wen was in the forest, there would generally be towns or villages nearby. High-level monsters rarely appeared in areas with human activity; at most, some beasts might roam.
In the forest, besides beasts, the only other thing Li Wen needed to be wary of was other humans.
However, now wasn’t the time to consider these things. Before officially starting the game, she had some settings to adjust.
First of all…
“Character Panel.”
A blue light screen appeared before Li Wen’s eyes:
【Mephistopheles – Terra Human – Overall Level 0】
【Health 100% – Healthy】
【Class: None】
【Knowledge: Terra Language Lv1】
【Traits (4/5): Reverse in Shadow (Blue) – Nimble Hands (White) – Professional Pickpocket (White) – Necessary Sacrifice (Red)】
【Status: One-eyed (Hit rate reduced by 10% when using projectile weapons)】
【Experience Pool: 0】
【Necessary Sacrifice Lv1 (0%)】
【Trait – Growth (Red) – Special】
【As the black sheep said, “For every recipient there is a sacrifice, and for every sacrifice there is a recipient!”】
【Holding this trait, when you perform a sacrifice-type ritual, your blood is equivalent to a Flesh sacrifice of [Trait Level] tier; when you perform a ritual, providing additional Flesh sacrifice will increase the ritual success rate by [10% x Trait Level].】
“Necessary Sacrifice” was the trait Li Wen had exchanged for an eye at the Church of Sacrifice. Frankly, it was a very powerful trait, powerful because it was growth-oriented, and its abilities became stronger as the game progressed.
In terms of outcome, Li Wen’s sacrifice was completely worth it. But the problem was that this trait didn’t offer much improvement to her at the moment.
“It’s better to have it than not,” Li Wen’s mindset was quite stable.
“Custom Panel – Spellbook – Black – Floating – Invisible to others.”
As the command was issued, the character panel before Li Wen’s eyes instantly exploded, and light spots condensed into a black tome.
With a thought, the Spellbook disappeared and reappeared in her hand.
“This looks much better.”
The custom panel wasn’t just stylish; each page was editable, allowing players to freely record quest logs or view various panels.
Li Wen turned to the game settings page and found the pain sensitivity setting, directly increasing it to a hundred. Although the game boasted 100% realism, “World Tree: Origin” had a thoughtful default setting of the lowest pain sensitivity.
However, it was well-known that pain was a protective mechanism of the human body. The lower the sensitivity to pain, the more dulled one’s perception of danger. Li Wen could not tolerate this. Furthermore, habit was a terrible thing; many high-level players in her previous two lives had collapsed after crossing over due to their inability to withstand real pain feedback.
The ratio of “World Tree: Origin” to real-world time was 2:1. Li Wen entered the game at 9 AM, and the in-game time was daytime. This meant Li Wen didn’t have to leave the forest in the dark, and since beasts typically appeared at night, daytime was safer.
Li Wen wasn’t in a hurry to leave. After a bit of bouncing around to get used to her body, she picked up a suitable stick as a weapon and walked in a random direction. New players who logged into the game automatically received a set of civilian clothing that fit the world view. While not as comfortable as real-world clothes, they wouldn’t make her stand out as an anomaly.
Villages and towns were usually built next to water sources, a fact that held true in the game as in reality. This meant that if Li Wen found a river and followed it upstream or downstream, she would most likely find a human settlement.
“World Tree: Origin” was a game that prided itself on its realism, and there was no doubt about it, as this world was indeed a real world.
Although Li Wen had memories from her previous life, she didn’t dare to guarantee she could easily navigate the game. Her goal was to remain alive until she found civilization.
As for when she would find it, she could only leave it to fate.
Perhaps fate had heard Li Wen’s thoughts, or perhaps the super AI named Sophia in the game had already calculated it.
Li Wen hadn’t taken more than a few steps before she heard a sound.
The sound wasn’t of flowing water or footsteps, but the distinct sound of wheels rolling over solid ground.
Li Wen followed the sound. Gripping the wooden stick in her hand, she pushed through a patch of thick weeds. Before her appeared a muddy path that could barely be called a road, and a cart pulled by an animal, whether a cow or a donkey, she couldn’t tell.
—
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During the new book period, there should be one update per day, and future updates will be around this time. Finally, I ask for your continued reading for this new book, as it is very important for a new book. Thank you.
