Chapter 6: A Strong Heart
After completing his homework, Jiang Fei quickly made his way to his bed at 10pm sharp. This time around, Jiang Fei got dressed up, made himself cozy, tucked himself into his bed, and shut his eyes.
“Alright! Time hit the hay! I mean — time to hit the game!” Excitedly, Jiang Fei reached out to the ring in his finger and rubbed it gently.
*Woosh*
After a flash of white light, Jiang Fei was sent into the game.
“Ah! My baby~ My preciousssss! I will be in your care today as well!” said Jiang Fei, grinning at the ring.
…
“Ding! You have eliminated Fork-Wielding Cat. Obtained 50 Experience Points!”
“Ding! Congratulations Player Verdure Glider for reaching Level 8! All Attributes +2!”
“Finally… I’ve leveled up. Man, the exp is brutal in this game…” Jiang Fei mumbled, sighing heavily. All the quests in Beginner’s Village had already been completed yesterday. Jiang Fei could only grind and kill monsters, gaining little exp at a time, hoping to level up. Truth be told, the monsters here were way too weak. In fact, any greenhorn player could effortlessly dispatch these monsters. Jiang Fei, on the other hand, was a veteran MMORPG player. But even the most experienced veterans struggled with the same old problem. Too many players, too little monsters. There was just too many players and too little monsters to go around for everyone.
“Hey! You there! This is our turf! Buzz off!”
As Jiang Fei allowed his momentum to take control of himself, someone roared at him. Three male players walked up to him, clearly wanting his advantageous position.
“Hm?”
Jiang Fei turned around, frowning. Due to the special function of the ring, Jiang Fei was unaffected by the system restriction of the game which protected a player’s privacy. Jiang Fei could see the names and Levels of the players, as clear as daylight. Their names were not exactly original or creative; Hungry Wolf, Venomous Wolf, and Vicious Wolf. He had heard of those names. They had created a small name for themselves as bullies. Even though they were Level 8 at that point, PvP was restricted in the Beginner’s Village. Jiang Fei had no reason whatsoever to fear them. However, things could get troublesome if those three decided to snatch his kills. It could severely hinder his progress.
“Hey brat! Know your place and get lost! We are the Tri-Wolf gang! Cross us, and things won’t end well for you!” barked Hungry Wolf. He seems to be their leader.
“What if I don’t know my place? What are you gonna do about it?” Jiang Fei taunted them. He did not intend to back off.
Even since Jiang Fei first started playing games, he had never allowed anyone to step on him. The boy had talent, albeit not the type to land him in any top 10 position. However, things have changed with this mystery ring! The top 10 position type of change! With the ring in his hands, Jiang Fei had grown far more confident in himself. His mindset… His courage… His heart… A strong man’s heart!
“Hoho… Little brat, who are you to act so snobbish here?” said Hungry Wolf, spitting at the ground, trying to imitate some western cowboy.
“Pfft.” Jiang Fei clicked his tongue coldly.
“Hey! Are you out of your mind? I guess you’ve lived long enough to die today!” Vicious Wolf yelled at Jiang Fei.
Jiang Fei glanced at Vicious Wolf coldly before turning to Hungry Wolf.
“You three best enjoy this moment while you still can. Friendly advice. Try not to leave Beginner’s Village so soon,” said Jiang Fei monotonously. His voice carried a tone so cold, that the trio felt a cold shiver down their spines.
“Jesus Christ. He’s just a kid! Why am I so afraid him!” Hungry Wolf thought to himself.
“Little brat. I don’t know what sort of conceited life you’ve led to this date, but you’ve finally ran out of luck when you met us! When you leave this Beginner’s Village, we will find you, and we will make sure that you start wishing for a simple death!” said Venomous Wolf.
At that moment, Hungry Wolf received a message. “Hungry Wolf, where in the hell are the three of you! Chief found a mini-boss here. Get your asses over here, quick!”
Hungry Wolf froze in his steps and quickly called out to his comrade. “Enough with this shit head. The chief is calling for us.”
“Hmph! You got away lucky this time kid. The next time we see your scrawny-ass face, we’ll bash it in! You best pray that we don’t meet outside the Beginner’s Village. We’ll kill you, and we’ll keep killing you!” Vicious Wolf said before dramatically wheeling around.
As they hurried away, Jiang Fei scoffed. With the ring in hand, he would be so far ahead of everyone, including those three wombats. Give it a little more time, and they would know who was prey and who was predator.
“Alright. Those guys are not worth dwelling on about! I only have one thing to do today! Level up!”
Jiang Fei’s goal of the day was fairly easy and straightforward. He wanted to achieve Level 10 before the day ended and leave Beginner’s Village.
…
“Ding! You have obtained Violent Tiger Refined Longsword!”
“Yes! Finally! Some decent equipment!”
Jiang Fei smiled from ear to ear when a weapon dropped out of a Fork-Wielding Cat.
Dawn Break was truly amazing. From the various sceneries, the replay value, the end-game content, the weapon’s designs, the immersion, it was all perfect! The only source of frustration would be the horribly low drop rate.
At the beginning stages of the game, almost all players in the Beginner’s Village would still be stuck with six White tier equipment obtained from quest rewards. Only a handful of luckier players might be walking about with superior, monster loot. Even so, they would still be of the White grade. Green grade was still practically non-existent!
Jiang Fei excitedly picked the longsword off the ground. It was a Green grade, a Fine weapon. Even with that cheat hack tool of a ring in his hands, he had only managed to farm four pieces of White tier equipment after two days! Farming would never be easy from here on out.
Fairly speaking, this was the part Jiang Fei was left out. If he had bought the real gaming pod to play Dawn Break legitimately, he would have obtained the game manual. That manual went into detail on how the game really worked. Equipment that could be farmed in the Beginner’s Village had a higher drop rate compared to the other regions. In fact, the overworld monsters would not even drop any equipment whatsoever. Equipment could only be found by killing bosses. Another way to gain equipment would be to rely on Professions!
Dawn Break had been dubbed as the second world. Besides the fantasy genre of the game, society, economy, and community were all closely based on the real world. Not all players liked to get their hands dirty by killing monsters. In the game, you could easily live out your life as a non-combatant. After reaching Level 10, players could become Chefs, Tailors, Blacksmiths, and Merchants even.
Sadly, legitimate options aside, what the real world considered illegal such as cheating, theft, robbery, and many other crimes were unrestrained in the game. It was a hostile world, and one needed to pay extra care as one attempted to make their mark.
Profession players could produce equipment on their own, but that required considerable advancement into their specialties. Any players below Level 10 would not yet be able to craft their own equipment. This was why equipment was so scarce in the Beginner’s Village.
Violet Tiger Refined Longsword (Two-Handed Sword, Fine)
Physical Attack +12
Strength: +2
Agility: +1
Level Requirement: 7
With the Human Race perk, this Level 7 Green grade longsword would provide a total of 14 Physical attack. +14 did not sound much, but it was far stronger compared to the +4 Physical Attack White grade Dagger that Jiang Fei currently wielded.
After equipping the Green grade weapon, Jiang Fei’s physical attack had increased by at least 30%. Suffice to say, he started killing the monsters at a similarly faster rate!
“Ding! You have killed Fork-Wielding Cat. Obtained 55 Experience Points!”
“Ding! You have killed Strawman. Obtained 40 Experience Points!”
…
“Ding! Congratulations to player Verdure Glider for reaching Level 9! All Attributes +2!”
Five hours into the game, Jiang Fei had gained a Level. He was only one more Level from graduating!
“Yes! It looks like reaching Level 10 would not be a problem!” Jiang Fei cooed.
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