Updated: 2014-02-10
Back in the village, Lin Zheng once again stood before the Village Chief. This time, there were no opportunistic players around him, so it seemed the Village Chief had a lot more peace and quiet.
“Oh! It’s you, young man, have you found my glasses?” The Village Chief recognized Lin Zheng at a glance. His eyesight was so good, what did he need glasses for? Could he have been lying? Lin Zheng secretly grumbled to himself; otherwise, why hadn’t they dropped after so long? Of course, he only thought this to himself, politely saying, “Not yet. The crows there are too formidable. I plan to go look again after I’ve advanced!”
“Haha! Yes, those damned thieves are quite formidable, you must be careful! Hmm! I haven’t seen you in a while, and you’ve grown quite a bit! If you want to progress further, this old man can give you some pointers!”
“First Advancement mission triggered. Please choose the direction you wish to grow in!” After the prompt, an interface appeared before Lin Zheng, listing all the Archer’s First Advancement professions and their descriptions.
The Divine Archer is a pure long-range damage dealer, the highest single-target damage dealer among all professions, and also has the greatest attack range. The Musketeer has a higher attack frequency and faster attack speed, the best among all professions, as it’s just a matter of pulling a trigger. The Trap Hunter, as the name suggests, specializes in setting traps to control enemies, making them incredibly effective against bosses! The Swordfighter, however, is quite special. While the other three professions primarily rely on long-range shooting, the Swordfighter barely uses a bow and arrow, relying instead on close-quarters combat. The profession Lin Zheng chose was the Swordfighter. As for why, well! It wasn’t because he had any particular insights or anything; after all, he was just a novice player. He was purely looking for something fresh, and the information said this profession was great for both one-on-one and group fights! So, Lin Zheng chose this profession without much thought.
Lin Zheng selected Swordfighter on the interface, and the Old Village Chief immediately said, “Oh—! You wish to become a powerful Swordfighter! I understand!”
“The martial arts of the Swordfighter are a combat style developed by Archers to cope with sudden close-quarters combat. To become an excellent Swordfighter, you must not only have superb archery skills but also a strong pair of legs to quickly repel enemies who get close. Go practice in the Green Tree Forest. When you’ve kicked down three trees, come back, and I will give you the next step of instructions!”
“Accept Swordfighter First Advancement mission. Mission objective — Kick down three trees in the Green Tree Forest!”
You’ve got to be kidding me! Kick down three trees? Lin Zheng’s mouth twitched. If an ordinary person were to kick a tree trunk, they’d surely break a bone in no time. Only in a game could there be such a ridiculous mission! Forget it, since he accepted it, he might as well go kick some trees quickly and try to complete the First Advancement before going to sleep!
Upon arriving at the Green Tree Forest again, Lin Zheng noticed that the number of people hadn’t really decreased! There were so many night owls. Looking around, hey! There really were others like him who came to kick trees. Look at that guy kicking, his face was contorted in pain, it must hurt! This mission was truly a trap. You know, although the pain system could be adjusted down, it couldn’t be completely eliminated. The pain caused by a high-difficulty action like kicking a tree was definitely not small; even at its lowest setting, it would still make an ordinary person grimace. Some might say, “Idiot, wouldn’t it hurt less with the sole of your foot!” Please, that would be a stomp, not a kick, and the mission system wouldn’t recognize it!
Lin Zheng chose a relatively small tree to start the mission, but it was still as thick as a bowl, so kicking it down wouldn’t be easy. He kicked the tree trunk with one foot, “Wham!” -60. At the same time, the tree’s health was displayed: 10,000 HP. He would need to kick almost 200 times to kick down one tree, and three trees would be 600 times! Lin Zheng was speechless. Was this training for Shaolin Tan Tui?! He estimated that this first stage alone would make many people give up on this profession! Well, he had to kick!
Lin Zheng’s speed was relatively fast. Well, perhaps it should be said he was relatively pain-resistant. On average, he kicked about three times every two seconds. Even so, it still took him seven minutes to complete the mission objective. Looking at the comrades who were still kicking trees with pained expressions, Lin Zheng cast a sympathetic glance at them, then limped back to the village himself. The numbness in his right foot couldn’t be eliminated instantly, even in the game! He heartily despised the person who designed this mission.
“Oh! You’re back so soon, young man! Very good! Very impressive! You are the fastest person I’ve ever seen to complete this trial!” The Old Village Chief said with a smile, and at the same time, Lin Zheng heard a prompt:
“First Advancement mission, first stage completed. Completion time: seven minutes and twelve seconds. Mission completion rating: S-rank. Received an additional item reward. Please check your inventory!”
Lin Zheng’s eyes lit up. It wasn’t for nothing that he kicked so fast! There was actually an additional item reward! He quickly opened his inventory to check, and a gift package lay quietly inside the clean inventory. What good things could be inside? As Lin Zheng was filled with anticipation, the Old Village Chief spoke again: “Great strength is an essential quality for every warrior, and a Swordfighter must not only possess great strength but also have quick reaction abilities! Go defeat the Big Crows in the cornfield to train your reaction abilities! When you defeat 100 Big Crows, come back, and I will give you the next step of instructions!”
It was killing crows again. Lin Zheng was furious whenever he heard the word “crow” now, but it was also good. He could do both missions at once. He just hoped these 100 Big Crows would drop the glasses! It was already past two o’clock; he needed to finish the First Advancement mission quickly and go to sleep!
Arriving at the cornfield, Lin Zheng didn’t immediately start killing crows. Instead, he eagerly took out the gift package from his inventory. This gift package was bright red and looked delightful!
S-rank Evaluation Gift Package: 100% chance to obtain a Silver item, a small chance to obtain an item of Silver rank or higher.
It really was a good item! Lin Zheng was ecstatic. If he got a weapon, even if it was just Silver, it would be like a divine artifact at this stage! He impatiently clicked open the gift package. As a flash of white light appeared and disappeared, the gift package in Lin Zheng’s hand vanished, turning into—a box?
Lin Zheng scratched his head, thinking, whose equipment is a box?! He suddenly remembered that the gift package’s description said “item,” not necessarily “equipment.” Looking at the pitch-black small box, he couldn’t help but feel a little dejected. He had thought he could get a god-tier weapon, but he had been happy for nothing. Depressed as he was, Lin Zheng still checked what the box was. He saw that the box was square, about a foot long and two inches wide, black and without any special decorations, truly very ordinary.
Nameless Treasure Box (Fake): A failed imitation of a treasure box, but it still possesses magical power. Placing equipment inside the treasure box can fuse it with the equipment (only for equipment below Level 10). Epic item.
You’ve got to be kidding me?! An Epic item?! Lin Zheng’s eyes widened instantly. This was the legendary highest-grade item! While Lin Zheng was excited, he also felt a bit of a headache. It could only be used for equipment below Level 10. What good equipment could there be below Level 10?! Seriously, this thing was a living white elephant! Lin Zheng really wanted to ask the system, “Did you miss a 0? Level 10, what use is Level 10?!”
After crying for a while, Lin Zheng pulled out his beginner’s dagger. He had no choice; this was the only piece of equipment he had on him! Cloth armor? Forget it! Even if Lin Zheng wanted to, the box wouldn’t fit it, and besides, Lin Zheng didn’t plan on running around naked! He opened the treasure box, and surprisingly, the inside was also very ordinary, completely empty. So, Lin Zheng didn’t hesitate to put the dagger inside, and with a “snap!”, he closed it. As soon as it closed, the box emitted a faint purple light, and then the box disappeared, leaving behind the dagger, which seemed unchanged. This scene looked completely unreliable! After muttering to himself for a while, Lin Zheng clicked to check its attributes—
Beginner’s Dagger: Level Requirement 1
Physical Attack 326-350, Magic Attack 326-350
Transcendent Level 1: Basic Attack +10%
Spirit Gathering Level 1: Restores 50 HP and 20 MP per second
Sealing Tendons and Severing Veins: Attacked target cannot restore HP for 10 seconds
Self-Taught: Skill proficiency gain +10
Armor Piercing: Ignores all armor effects
Sentient: Automatically absorbs 20% of the owner’s experience for growth
Bound, Never Wears Out
“Holy crap!” Lin Zheng directly yelled out, causing nearby players to turn their heads. Lin Zheng was so excited! He was initially a bit dejected for not getting a Silver item, but he never expected such a powerful piece of equipment to appear! Looking at its base attack, it was at least on par with a Level 10 Gold item, and the additional attributes were even more incredibly powerful. The only thing that made Lin Zheng a little pained was the Sentient attribute, which would consume 20% of his experience. However, it could still grow, and although he didn’t know how it would grow, this made Lin Zheng feel a little better. In short, this was undoubtedly a divine artifact at this stage! After equipping it, Lin Zheng’s attributes soared!
Yi Ping Daoist (Archer)
Level 10
Strength: 31
Intelligence: 1
Stamina: 20
Agility: 1
Spirit: 1
Physical Attack: 494-504
Magic Attack: 328-356
Physical Defense: 117
Magic Defense: 2
HP: 1000
MP: 100
504 attack! Lin Zheng really wanted to laugh up to the sky. He estimated that few people could compare to him at this stage! He picked up the dagger and rushed towards a Level 10 crow. He dealt 480 damage with one hit. Lin Zheng secretly exclaimed how satisfying it was! He then finished off the crow with another hit and moved on to the second one. With this formidable dagger, Lin Zheng finished killing 100 crows in less than 10 minutes. Although he still hadn’t gotten the glasses, Lin Zheng was still very happy to go back to the Village Chief to turn in the mission.
“Young man, I truly must look at you in a new light. I didn’t expect you to complete the second stage of the trial so quickly!” The Old Village Chief said, looking at the returning Lin Zheng with great surprise.
“First Advancement mission, second stage completed. Completion time: 8 minutes and 48 seconds. Times hit: 5. Mission completion rating: SS-rank. Obtained one SS-rank Evaluation Medal!”
Evaluation Medal? What is that? Lin Zheng suppressed the urge to open his inventory and quietly waited for the third and final stage of the First Advancement mission. Who knew that at this moment, he suddenly heard a prompt: “Item mission not completed for a long time, overlapping with new mission!”