Chapter 24

As I delved deeper into the grasslands, the frequency of monster appearances began to increase. Once, I even saw a Fallen Camp, which contained several squads of Fallen, numbering in the hundreds. There were at least ten Fallen Mages among them. I knew that in such a large group, there must be an elite monster serving as the leader. But what could I do? Even if I leveled up a few times and learned some skills, I still wouldn't have the strength to provoke such a massive Fallen Camp. Even if Lar and the others were discovered by this group of Fallen, they would surely meet their end. It seems that caution is indeed necessary; one cannot assume that a higher level means one can act arrogantly. Even a multitude of ants can kill an elephant!

After carefully avoiding this large Fallen gathering, I must mention the Hardened Rats I encountered afterward. These cunning yet pitiful creatures, due to their lack of strength, could only hide in the grass and attack from the shadows. They were indeed a headache for new players, but experienced players had interesting methods to deal with them.

Lar and Akara had both taught me this method, and I immediately put it to the test, finding it extremely satisfying.

First, you need to identify which patch of grass is hiding a Hardened Rat. This is quite simple for experienced players, but I only noticed the disturbance in the grass as I passed by.

Next, you need to provoke it. The simplest way is to throw things into the small patch of grass. Hardened Rats are irritable and foolish creatures; hiding in the grass to ambush is already their limit. Once provoked, they will soon emerge from the grass, bristling and screeching.

At this point, the grass that once protected them becomes their fatal weakness. You just need to lead them around the patch of grass and attack from their blind spots, making it easy to take them down one by one.

You might think they would retreat back into the grass, but there's no need to worry. In their rage, their attack power increases, but their already low intelligence drops even further. They will chase you until they die or until you are out of their sight for more than five minutes, at which point they will return to the grass.

The process of dealing with Hardened Rats without taking any damage is as follows: First, provoke them and lead them out, as mentioned earlier. Then, circle around the patch of grass, sneak up behind them, and strike them with a blunt weapon. Then, circle to the other side, and they will be facing away from you again. Seeing them standing guard in a foolish manner, I almost felt bad about striking them.

But it's just a game, and such tactics need to be continued.

I only now realize that the so-called "sneaky" playstyle I thought I had invented was already widely known on this continent. What a joke!

The method is sneaky and effective, and the results are very satisfying. One of the Hardened Rats even dropped a quiver of 40 arrows. These are not the common arrows sold in the market; they have built-in damage, which, when combined with the damage from a bow, results in a significant attack power even with a normal attack. Moreover, Amazon's bow skills require these specialized arrows. Selling this quiver would certainly fetch a good price.

By the afternoon, I had accumulated over 3000 experience points. It seems that I will level up by tomorrow, and I will have my own skills. At that point, I will truly be a formidable force, hoho~~

Looking at my inventory, I had also obtained three minor red potions, one minor blue potion, and 12 gold and 39 silver coins (the standard currency on the continent, with 1000 copper coins = 100 silver coins = 1 gold coin, and 1 silver coin being roughly equivalent to 1 yuan in the real world). I had earned the equivalent of 1800 RMB just by casually playing, and it seems that being a class changer is indeed very profitable.

I was deeply moved and shamelessly attributed the success of the bug amulet to my own good luck, wagging my finger and saying to myself, "With good luck, anything is possible."

In reality, without the bug amulet, I would have been lucky to drop 5 gold coins.

This journey has also broadened my horizons. Perhaps it's due to my good luck, but I even encountered a Fallen Camp with over 1000 Fallen. From a distance, the entire camp appeared as a vast expanse of red, stretching to the horizon. The area around the camp was completely barren, even the grass had been stripped away. What a voracious appetite! I was sweating and tiptoeing away as fast as I could, thinking, "My meat is tougher than grass; don't even think about eating me!"

The more Fallen there are in a camp, the more troublesome it becomes, as it means there are more Fallen Mages. They often hide in the center, and unless a ranged class can take them out, you have to charge through the horde of Fallen to kill them one by one. Otherwise, the 100+ Fallen Mages will keep resurrecting, driving you to the brink of madness.

I didn't encounter large groups of Rotting Corpses, only a few dozen at most. Even so, if there were more than five, I would have to avoid them. I'll deal with you all when I learn my skills, hahaha...

By evening, I was at a loss—according to Akara's directions, I should be close to the Evil Cave by now. But there were no coordinates, and the vast wasteland made it difficult to find the cave entrance. I thought to myself, "Is this a game where you can just follow the main road to your destination?"

Looking at the vast, endless grasslands, finding the cave entrance seemed as difficult as climbing to the heavens.

What's that? A tall, thin pole standing there, definitely not a tree. Squinting, my near-perfect vision (only slightly inferior to that of an Amazon or Assassin) quickly identified a tall pole several kilometers away, with a large flag hanging from it. The flag seemed to have some writing on it, but it was too far to read clearly.

Could it be...

After killing a few suddenly appearing Rotting Corpses, I reached the flag in less than an hour. Indeed, next to the flag was a dark, deep cave entrance, emitting a chilling and putrid odor that made me feel nauseous.

I examined the flag, which read in crooked letters: "Evil Cave."

I knew exactly who had set up this flag with its dark sense of humor—none other than the old wizards of the Mage Guild...

I didn't immediately enter the cave, as I had no idea what was inside. I no longer trusted the game's information, and Akara had repeatedly warned me to only enter with a party.

I set up my tent not far from the Evil Cave, laid out some traps, and, seeing that the sun had just set, decided not to waste time. I roamed around the camp, killing a few stray monsters. If I encountered a large group, I would consider moving my tent further away. My cowardly and cautious nature was on full display, hahaha, just wait and see...

When it was completely dark, I stopped my "training" and returned to the camp. I lit the firewood I had prepared, ate some dried meat, and promptly fell asleep in the tent. After a day of killing monsters, I was exhausted both physically and mentally.

The next morning, as soon as it was light, I eagerly got up, packed my things, and checked my experience: Level 1, 4258/5000.

It looks like I will level up today. I was so excited that my whole body was trembling. The allure of powerful skills is truly irresistible.

"Level up!" As the last Rotting Corpse fell, 40 precious experience points immediately caused a white light to envelop me, as if I were soaking in a hot spring, washing away all my fatigue and exhaustion.

"I've leveled up!"

I raised my wooden club high, as if it were a trophy, and as if I had just won a world championship. With the flag flapping in the wind behind me, it almost felt like a grand moment.

Skills, the skills I had been eagerly anticipating. After a hearty laugh, the first thing I did was open my skill menu.

In the first stage, there are five skills to choose from: Venomous Vine, Summon Ravens, Werewolf Transformation, Shapeshift, and Firestorm. I currently have only one skill point. Which one should I choose? My brain, still buzzing with excitement, began to feel the pressure.

I have a vague memory of these skills from the game, but after experiencing many strange and game-inconsistent events, I no longer dare to use my game knowledge to judge the Dark World.

Damn, I only now realize how useful a mentor would be. Other new players must have already learned the details of these skills from their mentors before starting their training. Only I, this randomly dropped Druid, am completely clueless.

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(End of Chapter 24)