Chapter 7

In addition to having 34 independent major zones, the world of Tianqi is further divided into over a thousand smaller safe zones, also known as newbie villages, within each major zone.

Each newbie village can accommodate more than ten thousand players.

This is just within the country; there are also a significant number of overseas servers. It was only after a few years in the previous life, when the zones of the Tianqi world merged and the national war began, that Zhang Yi learned about this.

From this, it is evident how popular the game Tianqi is.

Zhang Yi was assigned to, and guided by the system to, the safe zone called Hope Town, which has the number 886.

Surrounding the 886th safe zone, countless players, born in different locations, are rushing towards Hope Town according to the prompts of the survival quest "Find the Safe Zone." Zhang Yi must enter Hope Town before them to trigger the achievement.

Don't think that because Zhang Yi is less than a mile away from Hope Town, he can enter quickly. In fact, the road from the train station to here is not the challenge; this is where the real nightmare-level survival quest "Find the Safe Zone" begins.

From Zhang Yi's current position to Hope Town, the route is filled with bio-mutant beasts of levels 1 to 5. These bio-mutant beasts do not have a newbie protection mechanism, meaning that even if players do not provoke them, they will still attack if the players get too close.

In the previous life, about one-tenth of the players in each safe zone would die on their way to the safe zone. If it weren't for teaming up with several other players, Zhang Yi would have almost died on the road too.

However, in this life, Zhang Yi does not plan to team up with other players because, with his +25 reinforced iron hammer, he doesn't need anyone's help.

Jumping down the hill, a huge level 2 "Bio-Cockroach" immediately crawled towards Zhang Yi.

Zhang Yi remained calm and continued forward, waiting for the bio-cockroach to reach him. With a "clang," he smashed it with his hammer, flattening the bio-cockroach's head—

-51!

The bio-cockroach, with its head nailed to the ground, temporarily lost its ability to attack. Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Yi swung his hammer again, dealing another 51 points of damage, KO!

"Chime~ You have killed a level 2 Bio-Cockroach, +2 experience!"

Picking up the gold coin dropped by the bio-cockroach, Zhang Yi continued on his way.

Soon, a level 3 bio-rat darted over, and without any suspense, it was taken down by Zhang Yi with three hammer strikes, turning into 6 experience points and a copper coin, which fell into Zhang Yi's pocket.

Nothing is unsolvable with two hammer strikes; if not, then three.

The originally trashy level 1, 1-star iron hammer, reinforced to +25, is practically a divine weapon in the early stages!

So, along the way, Zhang Yi faced almost no obstacles. Even the level 4 and 5 bio-mutant beasts, which other newbie players need three or four people to barely handle, were just a few hammer strikes for Zhang Yi.

Thus...

"Chime~ You have killed a level 3 Bio-Ant, +6 experience!"

"Chime~ You have killed a level 2 Bio-Spider, +2 experience!"

"Chime~ You have killed a level 4 Bio-Centipede, +12 experience!"

When Zhang Yi finally reached the entrance of Hope Town, a beam of golden light showered down from his head, accompanied by a pleasant system prompt—

"Chime~ Congratulations, you have leveled up, +5 free attribute points, next level requires 250 experience points!"

After a bumpy journey, he finally reached level 2.

Opening the status panel, Zhang Yi allocated all 5 points to his Vitality, which increases health.

Regardless of the class he chooses at level 10, it does not affect the free attribute points before level 10, as the system will grant a reset point opportunity upon completing the class change.

So before level 10, whatever attribute is low, he adds points to it.

The +25 iron hammer has already guaranteed Zhang Yi's output. His survival ability is currently his weakness.

5 points in Vitality, equivalent to 15 points of Vitality growth, added 75 health points and 37 energy points, doubling Zhang Yi's vitality!

After completing the attribute allocation and closing the status panel, Zhang Yi stood at the entrance of the safe zone and entered the town through a white light barrier that monsters cannot penetrate.

Upon entering the light barrier, a peaceful and tranquil town came into view. Clean roads lined with undamaged houses, and numerous NPCs with blue IDs bustling about, creating a lively scene.

For Zhang Yi, who had just traversed the post-apocalyptic wasteland, it felt like entering heaven.

At the same time, a loud system announcement echoed from the sky—

886th Safe Zone Announcement: "Chime~ Congratulations to player [Yinuoqingcheng] for being the first to enter the 886th Safe Zone [Hope Town], completing the [First Newbie] achievement, reward: +120 Human Reputation! (Including 20% Human Camp bonus) +10 Silver Coins!"

The 120 reputation reward is quite good, as normally, it would take several difficult quests to earn that much reputation.

As this announcement spread to all players in the 886th Safe Zone, those still on their way to Hope Town were instantly沸腾, and the regional chat channel became lively—

[LonelyBro] (Male, Level 1 player): "Dude, that's fast, you're already at the safe zone! I just respawned, wait for me, I'll definitely make it within an hour this time!"

[MouseLovesCat] (Female, Level 1 player): "Yinuoqingcheng, are you a boy or a girl? You're so fast to get into the safe zone, amazing!"

[ProPlayer] (Male, Level 1 player): "Holy crap! I've been grinding rats and almost forgot about the safe zone quest! Bros, wait for me, I'm coming!"

"Chime chime~"

The chat channel kept ringing, but Zhang Yi didn't even look at it, setting it to silent.

Because he hasn't yet realized that this is a real post-apocalyptic world, other players still have the leisure to chat, but Zhang Yi doesn't.

Following the regional announcement, Zhang Yi received another private system prompt—

"Chime~ Congratulations, you have completed the survival quest [Find the Safe Zone] (Nightmare Level), reward: +1 Resurrection Chance, all survival quests for this week are completed, please wait for the system to release new survival quests at 00:00 next Monday!"

Checking the time, it was 8:30. Zhang Yi had only taken half an hour to reach the safe zone. In the previous life, the first player to reach Hope Town was around 9:00, meaning Zhang Yi was at least half an hour ahead of other players, allowing him to enjoy the benefits of the safe zone.