Twenty miles out of St. Laurent City was a dense forest, the perfect place for newbies to gain experience.
There were only two mobs here, orcs and gray wolves.
The wolves roamed everywhere while the orcs only stuck to their camps. Whenever an attack happened, they’d call out for help. Although gray wolves didn’t do the same, they’d run away at low health.
Zheng Lin easily cleared a path for Ye Li. With his level and blue gear, he could one shot the level 10 monsters en mass.
Going deeper as they were, Ye Li couldn’t fight back the question, “Where are we going?”
“The orc camp to the east.”
“The level 25 area?” Ye Li jerked.
Zheng Lin nodded.
Ye Li paled, “We have blue gear now, but the level is too high for us. It’s too dangerous.”
“Don’t worry, I’m here.”
Zheng Lin hacked a level 11 orc warrior with his steel axe, killed before it could call for help.
“Roar~, kill them all!”
Just as the level 11 orc warrior fell, shouts came from afar, revealing five orc warriors running towards them.
They happened to be nearby when the orc was killed and caught their attention.
The five orc warriors attacked together, scaring Ye Li into running, but Zheng Lin grabbed hold of her.
Whoosh~
Then, Zheng Lin and Ye Li just vanished.
Zheng Lin used his gift on both of them.
The five orcs then arrived, roaring. They saw their tribesman killed and walked over.
“Relax, my Invisibility can handle two people. As long as you’re near me, you’ll be safe.”
Whoosh~
The two reappeared.
Ye Li was deathly pale.
This world was like a game, Ye Li knew that, but this was not a game world. One slip and she’d be dead.
Every player of this world had stats. When one died, half of it were deducted. If one’s stats hit 1 and died again, they were gone for good.
With such a harsh penalty, a player needed to die three times to hit 1 in stats, where the next death would be permanent.
Who wouldn’t be scared at this point?
Ye Li pulled on him, “Zheng Lin, I-I don’t want to go. C-can’t we just go back? I am yours now. I will do anything you ask, but please let’s not go further.”
“No, we have to.” Zheng Lin was firm.
“Do you know why I choose you?”
“Why?”
“Because you’re a woman, and a beauty too.”
Zheng Lin pointed ahead, “The orc east camp has a boss called Abandoned Wife. When she fights men, she will go berserk. But if there’s a pretty girl around, she will feel inferior and her stats will drop by 10% instead.
“I am taking you to kill the boss.”
Zheng Lin said, “I didn’t pick you because I like you. You look quite pretty but your beauty has no effect on me.”
Ye Li was frozen.
Zheng Lin just kept on walking. The roars coming from afar had Ye Li jerk awake and rushed to catch up.
The only way to keep her life in was to follow Zheng Lin.
“Roar~, kill the intruders!”
Two dozen level 15 orc warriors charged over, but Zheng Lin had the both of them turn invisible.
To her shock, Ye Li found that in this state, the orc warriors phased through them.
This wasn’t mere invisibility, but becoming ethereal!
With Zheng Lin’s gift, regardless of how many orcs they encountered, the two escaped unharmed, hidden from sight or touch.
In another part, Li Mo also ventured into the Forest of Ruin, but found himself in danger.
This place was a newbie area, the difference was the monsters here were hostile. Once a player got in range, they would attack on sight.
Unlike the monsters in games, in this word the treacherous gray wolves would jump from the bushes or they’d gang up on the player then attack from the back. While orcs would roar the instant they spotted him.
Li Mo went in with the misguided impression this place was a game like any other. The result? He got his ass chomped down by a gray wolf. Lucky for him he had high stats and the two bites merely chipped his health. He swished around and hacked the wolf until it escaped from having low health.
“Roar~”
Then two orcs came. Li Mo got rid of one when a dozen showed up and surrounded him.
If not for his high stats, he’d be long dead.
Hum~
This was where stats showed their superiority.
Li Mo stood still as he attacked. His health dropped all the time, but slowly. While he needed 3-4 hits to drop an orc.
He was lucky this was the edge of the forest where the orcs were average. If he had been surrounded by a dozen orc warriors, the situation would’ve played out differently.
Five minutes and a dozen bleeding orcs on the ground later, Li Mo’s level hit 5 while also gaining plenty of stats, courtesy of his gift.
Li Mo was in white gear but based on stats alone, he was no different from a level 20 player in full blue gear.
‘A level 10 gift sure is strong.’
Li Mo sighed.
Looting the orcs, he only got some beast bones.
‘If I can’t take the gear from the bodies, does that mean it drops?’
‘And exactly how low is the drop chance?’
Li Mo shook his head at the corpses.
Going further in, he did it this time with caution.
When a gray wolf jumped him, Li Mo’s swing of the sword killed it on the spot.
A level 8 gray wolf insta-kill!
Ding!
A white light came from the body.
Li Mo picked it up.
[Wolf Bone Necklace (White)
Physical damage: +1-2]