...
Returning to the village entrance with the rabbit head, this time without Wo Hei Qie Ne's generous coin-tossing, Shen Mu had no choice but to dutifully queue up, while also waiting for the cooldown of Begging to reset.
While killing rabbits, Shen Mu used Begging twice. The first attempt failed, so he waited four hours and used it again, then he obtained a… rabbit head!
So, ten rabbits, eleven heads—perfectly reasonable!
After a successful Begging, the cooldown was reduced by 90%, meaning he only needed to wait a little over ten minutes before he could once again beg for Village Chief's mercy, which was quite resilient.
After queuing for more than twenty minutes, Shen Mu finally stood before Wang Fugui. He didn't rush to hand in the quest but instead pitifully called out, "Village Chief, please have pity on a homeless Handsome like me!"
"Oh, how pitiful! Then I'll give you this piece of equipment!" Wang Fugui, still wearing his benevolent expression, pulled out a piece of equipment and handed it to Shen Mu.
"Ding! You used Begging on Village Chief Wang Fugui. Begging was successful. You obtained a piece of equipment. Wang Fugui's favorability +10!"
Shen Mu quickly checked his inventory, and a few black lines appeared on his forehead. This time, the Village Chief gave him a piece of equipment: a Newbie Wristguard.
Damn, is the Village Chief's family also out of supplies? Did they run out after just one successful Begging?
Sighing, Shen Mu had no choice but to submit the quest. His level immediately rose to 2, and he was only a dozen experience points away from leveling up again. He also gained ten free attribute points.
Players receive five free attribute points for every level gained, which they can allocate to any attribute they choose. However, generally, attribute allocation should be based on the character's class attribute growth.
The effect of Shen Mu increasing his Agility attribute would certainly far exceed the effect of increasing his Charm attribute. With ten attribute points, he allocated them to Strength and Agility at a 1:1 ratio. Strength increased by 5 points, but Agility increased by 6 points!
This was the advantage brought by class attribute growth!
"Young man, you are truly excellent! I have a letter here; please take it to Li Widow at the west end of the village!"
Wang Fugui took out a letter and handed it to Shen Mu, and the system's voice rang out:
"Ding! You have triggered the quest: Mysterious Letter. Do you accept?"
"Accept!"
Mysterious Letter (E+): A mysterious letter written by Village Chief Wang Fugui to Li Widow, which you need to help deliver.
Quest Reward: Experience +200, Copper Coins +25, Village Chief Favorability +1.
Quest Time Limit: None; Level Requirement: 2; Class Requirement: None.
Failure Penalty: Village Chief Favorability -2, Village Chief's Wife Favorability +1.
Quest Description: This is truly just an ordinary letter!
After accepting the quest, Shen Mu was pushed out. He leisurely walked behind the tree, and the moment his figure disappeared, he stealthily extended his mischievous little hand.
"Ding! Stealing failed!"
Damn, it seems the Village Chief is truly poor!
After failing to Steal again, Shen Mu cursed the Village Chief in his heart, then found his only friend:
"Hei Xiong, are you there?"
"Get lost! You're Hei Xiong! Your whole family is Hei Xiong!" Wo Hei Qie Ne still cared about Shen Mu and immediately replied to the message.
"Stop messing around! I have something serious to talk about!"
"Spit it out!"
His friend was still being temperamental, but Shen Mu didn't mind. He quickly asked, "What exactly is my sister-in-law's temper like?"
..."You dog! Get lost!"
Then Shen Mu's messages were blocked, and he couldn't help but sigh, "Young people are so impatient~"
The reason Shen Mu wanted to inquire about his sister-in-law's temper was because he suspected that this letter delivery quest might be a multi-branch quest.
Besides Li Widow, he could also give the letter to the Village Chief's wife. After all, this quest was about a letter written by the Village Chief to Li Widow; there absolutely had to be something fishy about it!
Perhaps it was a family drama!
Sister-in-law's home has a prairie!
I must tell my sister-in-law about his behavior. This is for the sake of the Village Chief's family, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the Newbie Wristguard he gave me!
Nothing!
As for the quest failure penalty... choosing between the Village Chief's and sister-in-law's favorability, I'd definitely choose the latter!
Looking at the map, Shen Mu found the location of the Village Chief's house. He didn't know the Village Chief's wife's name yet, so he decided to go to the Village Chief's house first.
The Village Chief's house was in the south of the village, not far from the entrance. Shen Mu jogged along, and in no time, he had covered half the distance, but the once bustling street suddenly became quiet. There were still many players behind him, but the area ahead was completely empty.
Strange... why is there no one here?
"Hehe, another unlucky guy has arrived. Looking at the way he walks, it must be his first time here. There's another joke to watch!"
"Should we warn him?"
"Why warn him? As a Newbie, he must experience this. This is to let him know the dangers of society in advance so he won't be deceived after leaving Newbie Village!"
"What you said makes so much sense. You truly are a senior!"
"Shh! Be quiet, don't let him hear us!"
"Hehe, another victim has appeared!"
A cacophony of chatter broke out. Shen Mu, confused, looked back, and everyone's expressions immediately became harmless, though the smiles on their faces couldn't be hidden.
What unlucky guy?
I am favored by the Goddess; they definitely aren't talking about me!
Shen Mu shook his head and confidently took a step forward. Then he couldn't move. He looked down at his right leg and saw a disheveled, ragged person holding onto his ankle.
"Oh dear~ Kind sir, please have pity on me! I haven't eaten for days and I'm starving! Please, give me some money!"
Shen Mu: ???
Is this a... Beggar?
Oh my, someone's muscling in on my territory!!
But before Shen Mu could react, his left leg was also grabbed by someone, with the same attire and the same words:
"Kind sir~ Please have pity on me! I haven't eaten for a long time~ Please, give me some money!"
I'm done for! I'm surrounded by Beggars!
A burst of laughter immediately erupted behind Shen Mu, and one voice was exceptionally loud and sounded familiar:
"Haha, serves you right! You dog, you deserve to die!"
The two Beggars held onto his legs tightly, and Shen Mu couldn't move at all. Helpless, he had no choice but to take out two copper coins and hand them over. To his surprise, the Beggar on the right disdainfully yelled:
"One copper coin? Are you trying to fob off a Beggar?!"
"Then how much do you want?"
"Without fifteen copper coins, you won't leave!"
"That's fifteen per person!"
When Shen Mu heard what the two said, his eyes turned red. Wasn't this bullying an honest person?!
He knew that he only had a total of thirty copper coins on him right now, and they wanted to take all of them?
"Why do they only want fifteen from him? That's not fair!"
"Yeah! There's something shady going on!"
"Is there a possibility... that he only has thirty copper coins?"
"Ah? So he's a poor guy!"
Shen Mu's face flushed, and he could only admit defeat, taking out all his copper coins. After the two Beggars got the copper coins, they finally released Shen Mu's legs, and the one on the left smiled and said:
"Kind sir, you are so kind!"
The two were about to leave with their bowls, but Shen Mu smiled strangely, reached out and grabbed one of them, and said mournfully:
"Oh dear~ Kind sir! Please have pity on a penniless person like me!"
The two Beggars froze. The one Shen Mu had used Begging on immediately turned around and said indignantly, "Are you even human? You want to take things from a Beggar?"
"If you don't give it, I'll ask for it every time I see you!"
The Beggar's body trembled. He turned back, wanting to ask his good brother for his opinion, but he only saw a retreating figure. He grumbled grumpily:
"Meeting you is my bad luck. I'll just give you one thing!"
"Ding! You used Begging on Beggar Lu Renjia. Begging was successful. You obtained a special item. Lu Renjia's Favorability -10!"
A broken bowl with a chip fell into his inventory. Shen Mu didn't rush to check it. He waved to the many players behind him and said, "Goodbye, everyone!"
After Shen Mu left for a while, the players immediately erupted into chatter, many of them surprised:
"Did he just threaten that Beggar?"
"He seemed to have asked that Beggar for something!"
"Can the game be played like this?"
"Could this be the correct way to trigger the plot?"
"Posture? Isn't it method?"
"How about we try it too?"
Everyone discussed endlessly. Then a figure emerged from the crowd, a calm smile on his face. He found the Beggar who looked indignant.
"Oh dear, kind sir~ Please have pity on me..."
Wo Hei Qie Ne, looking at the Beggar clutching his thigh, cried out loudly with tears streaming down his face:
"Holy crap! I have two gold coins on me! You damn dog, I'm not done with you!"
Many players collectively retreated more than ten steps, their faces filled with sympathy. These two Beggars only wanted money... no matter how many gold coins one had, they had to give all of them, otherwise, they couldn't leave!
"He's really rich! Carrying two gold coins around!"
"Isn't he that unlucky guy who throws coins around?"
"It's him? Then never mind!"
"Bro, stop crying! Hurry up and hand over the money, then try to see if you can trigger the plot!"
Someone reminded Wo Hei Qie Ne. The latter immediately wiped away his tears, took out the gold coins, and the two Beggars happily took the gold coins and turned to leave.
Wo Hei Qie Ne took a deep breath, grabbed one of the Beggars, and imitating Shen Mu's tone, said, "Oh dear..."
But before he could finish speaking, the Beggar threw Wo Hei Qie Ne aside and angrily said:
"You even want a Beggar's things? Are you even human?!"
Wo Hei Qie Ne was slightly stunned, then suddenly looked up and shouted, "Holy crap! My reputation has been completely deducted! The system says I bullied a Newbie Village Beggar, and my experience and gold coin gains will be halved for three days!"
Many players' legs went weak, almost kneeling, and many others directly moved away from Wo Hei Qie Ne, fearing he would pass his bad luck to them.
"Why can that person use Begging in reverse?"
"It should be a special skill!"
"It could also be a special class!"
"So he's a hidden master!"
Shen Mu at this moment didn't know that he had unknowingly become a master!