Chapter 6 (1/2)
Chapter 6 — Saviour!
Li Zheng's Appearance!
Edited by Planetes
Once again, Ling Xiaolu managed to escape from the tiger's den. However, he was regretful over that twenty million.
”My twenty million has flown away,” He said sadly.
”That's nothing. If you go back now, don't talk about twenty million, even two billion wouldn't be an issue.”
”I noticed that there's quite a bit of inflation in your game's economy. This is not good,” Ling Xiaolu condemned primly.
”Honestly speaking, your successful escape this time is all because he underestimated you. With the difference between your abilities, as long as he's prepared, he wouldn't have been hit.”
”Who cares about him? I only have to run away successfully. A cat has nine lives!”
”Also, I'd like to remind you. There are differences in the skills available to players and pets. You have to take note that when using your skills, you don't expose yourself.”
Ling Xiaolu had completely not thought about this point.
”What? Then didn't I just revealed my ident.i.ty?”
”You're still safe. Players also have a skill similar to the ice arrow, but the dig skill is a little riskier. However, the effect is quite similar to a skill called ”Drunk Warrior”, and so you somewhat can get away with it.”
”Oh, that's good, that's good.” Ling Xiaolu patted his chest, still a little uneasy.
”In any case, when you use any skills that only pets can access in the future, you need to remember to camouflage or disguise it.”
”I'll try my best. Anyway, should I go level up now?”
”There's no levels in this game. The rankings are according to the gear used, the combat abilities of pets, achievements and other various data. I'll suggest that you do the few quests for new players, they can help you understand the game better.”
The first quest was to learn how to use the screenshot and video capturing functions in the game.
”Using both hands, form a right angle with your thumb and index finger. Put them together to make a rectangle, and a viewfinder will appear on your interface.”
Ling Xiaolu followed the instructions. ”I see it.”
”When the viewfinder appears, it will automatically move and focus along with your line of sight. Blink once for a screenshot and blink twice to start recording a video. Blink once when you're capturing a video to pause the recording, and blink twice to stop it.”
The quest required him to take a screenshot.
”Can I take a photo of you?” Ling Xiaolu aimed the viewfinder at Ling Long.
A paw on its hip, another paw under its chin, Ling Long gave a seductive pose. ”Sure.”
With a poker-face, Ling Xiaolu turned his head away and silently took a shot of the scenery.
Ling Long shook its head and sighed, ”You could have partic.i.p.ated in the photography compet.i.tion for new players.”
”All these photos are taken according to what I see. What should I do to take a photo of myself?”
”Then it'll be my job.” Ling Long puffed up its chest proudly, ”Tap here once. Lightly… Lightly, I'm ticklish.”
A menu appeared next to Ling Long.
”What you see now are all the functions of a non-combative pet. It includes taking photos, videos, livestreaming, alarms, post delivery, etc.”
”I didn't think that you'll be able to do so many things.”
”They're actually things that your pet can do,” Ling Long said modestly. ”No matter whether I'm here or not, you can get it to perform all these actions.”
Ling Xiaolu selected the photo function, and a screen showing Ling Long's perspective appeared in front of his eyes.
”Instructions are the same as when you're using the viewfinder.”
Ling Xiaolu chose his most handsome angle, and pressed the shutter in satisfaction.”
”Now I can go enter the photography compet.i.tion for new players.”
”… There's no such compet.i.tion, I was only teasing you just now.”
Three minutes later, a photo of Ling Long crying after getting beaten up appeared in Ling Xiaolu's photo alb.u.m.
”Where can I see the photos and videos I've taken?” Ling Xiaolu asked as he rotated his wrist.
Shrinking into itself, Ling Long told him, ”Use any of your fingers and just swipe in front of your eyes from one corner to the other, and your photo alb.u.m will appear. Even when you're offline, you can still connect to your account and see the photos and videos in real life, just that…”
”Just that?”
”The account you're using now is a special account, and so according to your contract, you don't have the authority to see or use these photos and videos offline.”
Ling Xiaolu had nearly forgotten about the thing around his neck.
”Oh, it's fine. Anyway I also have no need for them too.”
When the first quest was completed, Ling Xiaolu gained five achievement points.
The second quest was to activate his personal homepage.
”Homepages can only be accessed in safe zones. There are 4 different modules with various functions.”
”The first module includes your gear showcase, your personal introduction, your clan, your shop, etc. Other players can also leave a message for you here, or send you gifts.”
”Mn. What about the second one?”
”The second one is a social network similar to Weibo. Any posts you put here are public, and the system will also automatically update it with important milestones you gain in the game.”
”The third is a private network for your friends. Only players whom you're friends with mutually can see it.”
”I understand. What's the last one?”
”That's your livestream page. Players can watch your livestream from there.”
”This is useless for me. I can't even wait to maintain my low profile, why would I livestream anything?”
Following the instructions in the quest, Ling Xiaolu activated his homepage. As a brand new noob, he had zero fans, zero friends, and no matter what he posted, no one would see it. Therefore, he did not think too much about it, and just uploaded the three photos he took just now. Completing his quest, he again received another five achievement points.
The third quest finally had something to do with combat.
”I have to collect 20 spider legs. Is there any use for this?”
”It's for alchemy. It's one of the commonly used low level ingredients in potion-making. As the level is too low, most experienced players are too lazy to collect them themselves. They would usually entrust it to new players, and everyone benefits.”
Ling Xiaolu just saw some spiders outside the county, and so he made his way back familiarly. There were many spiders here, and they were of quite a large size. People who had a phobia of bugs would probably not dare to come close, but fortunately Ling Xiaolu was not bothered by them.
He thought that the ugly bugs were easier to kill. If they were cute and adorable, most people would probably not bear to harm them.
Ling Xiaolu aimed at a spider, and shot an ice arrow at it.
The main function of the ice arrow was to reduce the speed of the target, and its damage was not very big. Luckily, the spiders were all low level, and after attacking for about half a minute, one finally died.
”It's best to choose a purely offensive single attack skill to kill monsters, like fireb.a.l.l.s or something like that,” Ling Long suggested.
”I don't plan on becoming a mage, I want to save the talent points and learn a.s.sa.s.sin-like skills.”
A dagger dropped for Ling Xiaolu. It was a normal item with no restrictions, and was in a very bad condition. All it was good for was to be sold.
”Why are you using that? It doesn't deal any damage,” Ling Long asked.
”Watch carefully.”
Ling Xiaolu randomly selected an unlucky spider. He jumped onto its back and stabbed it. The spider turned around, wanting to attack, but Ling Xiaolu agilely evaded it.
In this manner, he dodged and attacked beautifully, switching between forehand and backhand attacks, hitting from front, back, left and right. He moved like a ghost, dazzling others. Whoever who watched this would not dare blink, afraid that with one blink they would lose track of their target.
The damage numbers appearing on top of the spider's head was a series of ”1”s. At the last moment, Ling Xiaolu grabbed the dagger with both hands, thrusting it into the spider's head with a lot of strength. Using this momentum, he executed a beautiful forward flip, landing steadily on the ground two metres away.
Behind him, the spider who had received a fatal hit struggled and spat out its last thread of silk. Convulsing, it fell, and a glow emitted from its body.
Ling Long wanted to cheer, but he suddenly saw a white figure near the forest. No one knew when he had appeared, and no one knew how long he had been watching.
Ling Xiaolu also noticed that someone was spying the moment he landed and looked up. However, before he could see who it was, a flash occurred and no one was there.
Ling Xiaolu broke out in cold sweat. ”Did you see that?! It was just there?!”
”I did,” Ling Long cautiously flew over to him. It lowered its voice, afraid of exposing them, ”It was a player dressed in white, but he teleported away very quickly, so I didn't see his name clearly as well.”
Hearing that it was a player, Ling Xiaolu instead exhaled in relief. ”That scared me to death. I forgot that this was a game, and I thought it was a ghost.”
”You're really very swift, you're definitely suitable to develop towards agility.”
”What are the benefits?”
”With high agility, you can run faster, jump higher, and with a full set of suitable equipment and buff you can even teleport.”
”Doesn't that mean I'll be invincible?”
”Of course not. Becoming a fully agile player means that you have to neglect your health pool and strength. You won't be able to kill anyone easily, and you'll even be killed easily. Each type has its own pros and cons, and there's no type that is invincible.”
Ling Xiaolu chatted with Ling Long as he continued killing, and slaughtered half the spiders present.
”I've killed enough.” He picked up the last spider leg, and his inventory was also full.
”We'll return to the city to hand in the quest items, and I can also clear my inventory. I need to quickly earn some money to increase my inventory s.p.a.ce.”
Heading back with Ling Long, they only took a few steps before a signal in front shot up towards the sky.
”What is that? An event?”
The well-informed Ling Long was no longer calm, and it flipped and tumbled in midair.
”Something big is happening! Quick, look at what the global channel is saying!”