[Ding, you have entered Beginner Village #103.]
A flash of light appeared, and Johnnie felt the world spinning around him. The next moment, he found himself in the Beginner Village.
People were bustling all around, the noise of the crowd never ceasing.
"Gray Wooden Bow, +1 physical damage, Archer's artifact, only 1000 yuan. Online transfer, first come, first served."
"A level 1, level 3 Knight is offering to lead an upgrade group. 100 yuan per hour, guarantee you reach level 2 by the end of the day."
"Looking for a Priestess to form a party, plenty of healing power, any kind-hearted big brother out there?"
...
The market was alive with shouts, with items for sale and groups forming for leveling.
Johnnie looked around at the lively Beginner Village, feeling as though he had stepped into another world. It had been a long time since he had encountered such a bustling scene.
Each Beginner Village could accommodate up to 100,000 players. He was in Beginner Village #103, meaning that over ten million players had already entered the game.
As time went on, when the price of the Login Crystal decreased, more and more players would join once they realized the game's unique features.
In the end, with support from major officials, humanity would be forced to log into the game, with only special classes left to maintain the operations of the real world.
"I'll take the quest first." Johnnie wasn't in a rush to level up.
The old village chief in the Beginner Village had a quest available for every player: kill 100 goblins to earn a piece of first-tier gray-class equipment.
This was the primary source of early equipment for players.
There was also a hidden condition attached to this quest. If a player killed 200 goblins, the old village chief would reward them with a stat potion, which, when consumed, would grant 1 free attribute point.
While 1 attribute point might not seem like much, for a level 1 player, every level-up only granted 2 free attribute points.
This had been discovered in the previous life by a weak player who couldn't find a team to deal with the level 1, level 2 Goblin Elites. Bored, he ended up slaying over 200 goblins and stumbled upon the hidden reward.
He speculated that there was no limit to this reward.
However, the game rules stated that killing monsters below the player's level would not yield experience, so very few people ever discovered this hidden reward.
Even if they did, no one was willing to waste time trying to uncover it.
Johnnie quickly made his way to the old village chief.
Many players took the quest and hurriedly left.
"Young man, are you willing to protect the village and hunt down the monsters outside?" As Johnnie approached, before he could speak, the old village chief greeted him first.
This surprised the players waiting for their turn, and they all turned to look at him.
The old village chief was known for his cold demeanor. This was the first time they had ever seen him take the initiative to greet a player.
Johnnie, however, wasn't surprised. It must be due to his hidden class, Lucky Master.
He squeezed through the crowd and spoke up: "Village Chief, I am willing."
"Very good." The old village chief nodded with approval. "If you can kill 100 goblins, I'll reward you with a piece of gray equipment. If you can slay even more goblins, there will be additional rewards."
"Thank you, Village Chief." Johnnie expressed his gratitude, feeling the curious stares of the surrounding players. He quickly left.
Behind him, he could hear the murmurs of the crowd.
"What's this? A hidden quest?"
"Old man, do you have something against me? Why did you give him the quest and not me?"
"I want a hidden quest too."
...
The players gathered around the old village chief, arguing loudly.
"Quiet!" A sharp command rang out. The old village chief unleashed a powerful aura, and instantly, the area fell silent.
He coldly said, "It's the same quest. If you want to take it, line up properly. If not, get lost."
The players were displeased, but under the old village chief's oppressive aura, they reluctantly took the regular quest.
What they didn't know was that the old village chief wasn't lying; the quest they received was the same as the one Johnnie took.
The only difference was that they didn't receive the kind warning he had gotten.
At this point, Johnnie had already made his way outside the village, and the area was even more lively.
Many players had formed teams to hunt the lowest-level goblins.
Goblins were level 1, tier 1 monsters, but their total base stats reached 40, with strength exceeding 10 points, making them far too powerful for new players to handle.
To hunt goblins, you needed at least five players in a team: two melee knights or warriors, two ranged classes, and one healer. Only this combination could barely take down a single goblin.
A kill on a level 1 goblin only gave 1 experience point, which would be split among the five members of the team, showing just how difficult leveling up would be.
"Hey, handsome, want to join our team? We're short one melee class," a good-looking priestess, seeing Johnnie in his warrior gear, stepped forward to invite him.
"No thanks, I prefer to go solo." He declined and continued walking into the depths of the forest.
"What a jerk. A newbie with no idea of his place." A mage player from their team, seeing him reject the offer, mocked him.
"There's always one like him. After he gets wiped out by monsters a few times, he'll learn his lesson. Don't get mad, Yao." The archer, trying to comfort the priestess, spoke with an intention to flatter her.
"It's fine, we'll just find another melee class," the leading knight player said, unaffected.
The priestess was a little disappointed. She had invited Johnnie because she noticed his distinguished air and found him quite handsome, a rare sight among new players.
Johnnie didn't bother responding to their mockery.
He knew full well how strong goblins were. In his previous life, he too would have had to team up with others to deal with them.
But now, things were different. With the Blessing of Life, his four basic stats had each increased by 10 points, and his hidden stats had also grown by 10 points, including attack speed, critical hit rate, and other special attributes that were hard to increase.
Moreover, he had a 10% health regeneration per second, unaffected during combat. With his current strength, soloing a goblin was absolutely no problem.
He ventured deeper into the forest, where players were nowhere to be seen, only a few scattered goblins wandering around.
Johnnie found a lone goblin wandering in the woods, wielding a wooden sword. He swung his sword and charged directly at it.
Bang!
-14
A damage number floated above the goblin's head.
With 14 damage and the goblin's health slightly over 100, eight hits would be enough to take it down.
"Roar!"
The goblin, in pain, let out a roar and swung its wooden club towards Johnnie.
Johnnie sneered and, with a subtle shift of his feet, easily dodged the incoming attack.
His combat experience was rich, and the goblin's strength was nothing compared to his.
Bang!
-14
Another hit landed, swift and smooth, aided by an additional 10 points in attack speed.
In just a few breaths, the goblin let out a final wail and collapsed to the ground, dropping a piece of wooden armor.
From start to finish, not once did the goblin even manage to touch the hem of his clothes.
[Killed Level 1 Goblin, Experience +1]
A notification flashed, and he gained 1 experience point.
Leveling up in Horizon was a difficult task, especially later on. Even as the experience required for leveling increased, killing monsters of the same level still only rewarded 1 experience point, and killing lower-level monsters gave no rewards at all.
Leveling through monster hunting became increasingly slow. Players could earn double experience by killing monsters above their level, but it was almost impossible for ordinary players to do this. Even in a group, it was a challenge to defeat them, and the time wasted made it less efficient than hunting monsters of the same level.
"Loot drop." He curiously picked up the wooden armor and examined it.
[Novice Wooden Armor: Level 1 Gray Equipment, +1 Physical Defense]
It was the lowest-tier Level 1 equipment, but it was stronger than the broken wooden armor he had been wearing.
He equipped it directly, increasing his physical defense by 1 point.
Next, he sliced off the goblin's left ear. This was part of the village chief's quest item, which counted towards the total number of goblins slain.
"Let's keep going." He attracted another lone goblin, and with fluid movements, he swung his wooden sword and easily defeated it.
Once again, a piece of gray equipment dropped: a bracer, also adding +1 physical defense.
He equipped the bracer, bringing his physical defense up to 14.5 points. He felt confident that this would be enough to face a goblin squad.
The goblins dealt around 18 damage each, which he could easily tank.
This time, he intentionally attracted a group of four goblins.
Roar...
The goblins charged forward, swinging their wooden clubs.
Bang!
-3
Johnnie wasn't fast enough to dodge, and one goblin struck him, dealing 3 points of damage.
This was nothing to worry about.
"Pathetic." His confidence soared. With a swing of his wooden sword, he didn't even bother dodging, deciding to tank the goblin's attack.
-13
-14
...
Each swing of his sword hit the goblins, and damage numbers floated up above their heads. The goblins cried out in pain.
The four goblins were quickly slaughtered, and his health remained full.
On the ground, four pieces of equipment dropped, all of gray quality. One of them was a rusty iron sword, which he could use.
[Ding, you are being disturbed in real life. Please log off promptly.]
At that moment, a notification appeared—it was a call from Crysic. She was at the entrance of his apartment complex, stopped by the security guard, unable to get in.
Johnnie quickly collected the loot on the ground, cut off the goblins' ears, and then logged off.