Chapter 22: Yunshui City
“Zanny Bro!? It’s really you!” Zimei joyfully jumped onto him.
Sigh, Zane silently put his phone away. This girl wouldn’t believe him unless he sent her a message to confirm.
“It’s me for sure,” Zane said.
“You have no idea how tired I am leveling up alone. Nangong and Snowy aren’t in this Beginner Village. I struggled to buy a helmet at noon, and I’ve been leveling up ever since,” Zimei complained, then sharply pointed at Starry and asked, “Who is she?”
“She’s… someone I met while grinding monsters today. She’s much stronger than me, so I teamed up with her for experience,” Zane thought for a moment and replied.
“Hello, I’m Starry, just call me Starry,” Zane controlled Starry to walk over.
“Zanny’s cousin, just call me Zimei. Since you’re Zanny Bro’s friend, that makes you my friend too!” Zimei extended her right hand.
Starry politely shook it.
…
“By the way, Zanny Bro, why did you change your ID?” Zimei tilted her head in confusion.
“I got sniped for my name… I had no choice but to use this one. Were those people from earlier your teammates?”
“Yeah, we all just entered the game this afternoon. Solo grinding was really tough, so we figured it would be better to team up. We gathered five people and after grinding for a while, we got to know each other,” Zimei recalled. “We found that boss earlier and thought if we couldn’t beat it, we’d run… unfortunately, we wiped… Luckily, Zanny Bro, you were here. Otherwise, I would have dropped to level 5.”
“No wonder I heard someone yelling for help…”
“That wasn’t me!” Zimei hurriedly said.
“I never said it was you…” It wasn’t necessary to expose her; he’d let it slide.
By the way, after defeating the poison spider, he was already level 10, but there was no announcement. It seemed only the top three could receive rewards.
“Zimei, I need to go change my job first. Let’s add each other as friends, then after I reach level 10 and change my job, we can level up together.”
“Okay, I will work hard! You have to take me with you then!” Zimei nodded.
“By the way, take this. That boss dropped a piece of equipment,” Zane took out a dark green longsword.
Poison Blade:
Rarity: Black Iron Equipment
Required Level: 9
Attack Power: 12-15
Special Trait: Attacks inflict poison effects, reducing the target’s defense by 5 points, and decreasing their health by 11 points per second for 3 seconds (maximum 1 stack).
Description: Extremely poisonous sword.
The attack power wasn’t outstanding; it could only be considered mediocre among Black Iron Equipment. However, the unique trait greatly increased the weapon’s value.
The poison damage was a minor aspect; the most powerful factor was the defense reduction effect. With this sword, he believed most monsters could be broken through defensively, greatly enhancing team output, and they could even attempt to challenge higher-level monsters.
“A Black Iron sword for me?” Zimei shook her head. Although her understanding of the game wasn’t deep, she knew the weapon’s worth. If auctioned online, it could easily fetch several thousand.
“I can’t accept it. Zanny Bro, you soloed that boss; you should keep it for yourself.”
“I already have a weapon, look,” Zane sent the attributes of the Radiant Iron Sword.
“This is just a blue weapon, it can’t compare to the Poison Blade… Plus, I’m only level 6 right now, even if I had it, it wouldn’t be of much use, and if I accidentally died and dropped it, I would feel very guilty,” Zimei insisted.
“…Then how about the Radiant Iron Sword? It’s a weapon I switched out; it’s probably not going to be that useful for me for long. Having a weapon would significantly boost your leveling efficiency,” Zane said.
Zimei wanted to say something more.
“Stop refusing,” Zane waved his hand. “Getting to level 10 quickly is the greatest help you can give me.”
“Okay!” Zimei accepted the Radiant Iron Sword.
…
Continuing on as the Village Chief instructed, they found many players had already reached level 9. It seemed everyone was working hard. If it weren’t for having Starry as a cheat, he would be grinding solo as well.
Passing through a narrow forest path, the shimmering six-pointed star teleportation array appeared.
He couldn’t help but feel a bit sentimental. He never expected to be ahead of most players.
New map, here I come!
Starry and Zane stepped into the teleportation array together, transforming into silver light and vanishing.
…
Beginner Village No. 00085.
“Have you found out who this first-place player is?” a grim male voice asked.
“No… this person is too low-key. I suspect he’s one of the top free players deliberately hiding his ID. But…” the person shifted his tone.
“Go on.”
“The second player to reach level 10 is涓涓细流, she’s also quite capable, so it’s not surprising. But this third place… this Endless Sea, while also a top free player, feels out of place compared to the previous ones.”
“Keep a close watch on his movements.”
“Understood.”
“Wait, there’s more!”
“What is it, Boss?”
“Support me, damn it, I’m about to be poisoned to death!”
“…”
…
System Notification: New faction ‘Light Camp’ opened.
System Notification: New map ‘Twilight City’ opened.
System Notification: New map ‘Huawucheng’ opened.
System Notification: New map ‘Qianyan City’ opened.
System Notification: New map ‘Holy Ash City’ opened.
System Notification: New map ‘Yunshui City’ opened.
“Brother Shiu, which of the five new cities should I pick?” Zane shouted from his room.
“Choose… you’re already level 10, huh?!”
“Yeah, is leveling up that hard?” Zane retorted.
“…” Brother Shiu gritted his teeth, and could only say gloomily, “Pick any one you want… I’ll join you later.”
“Okay.”
If he was just picking randomly… then Yunshui City, because it sounds a bit artistic.
Do you confirm to teleport to Yunshui City?
Confirm!
“Swish”
Yunshui City is one of the five frontline towns where the two major factions clash.
Light shone on the simple buildings; the streets were bright and spacious. Children in simple clothes played and laughed on the streets, and the passing people and vehicles were filled with a lively atmosphere. The number of NPCs here was at least a hundred times that of the Beginner Village!
Guards patrolled the town, and seeing the uniform ??? information, it was easy to imagine that once a player with a red name appeared, they would have no power to resist before them.
Hmm… let’s go change jobs!
Since the mentors of each profession all had their own matters to attend to, they were unlikely to be in the same location. To help adventurers build up strength more quickly, the empire set up dedicated job guidance offices in the five frontline towns.
It is said that the guiding NPCs inside will help you choose a suitable profession based on your needs.
Of course, it’s just a rumor; there are very few players who have reached level 10.
The job guidance office is right next to the teleport point and is very noticeable.
Zane and Starry walked in together.
