Chapter 34

Dafei realized! A navigator must be a versatile jack-of-all-trades, so of course, he should learn all the combat and adventure public skill books found in the room! What’s the point of having so many skills otherwise?

Dafei was level 18, and leveling up gave him 17 skill points. Advanced Reconnaissance and its sub-skill Intelligence Collection cost 5 points; Master of War Machines and its sub-skill Ballista Master cost 6 points; he mistakenly spent 1 point on Leadership and 1 point on Luck. He had 4 skill points left.

And Dafei just happened to have 4 unlearned skill books left, it was as if they were tailor-made for him!

Isn’t this clearly telling me to change my profession! Anyway, I’m already a Ballista Master and a Boss Killer, so I don’t have to worry about combat issues even if I do quests in the future. I’ll learn all the remaining skill books! Although this is a big taboo for newbies, knowing a little bit of everything means being a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none, which is a waste of skill points and will make leveling up increasingly difficult. But for a hidden profession, it’s not a problem at all!

Dafei was no longer confused. He took out the skill books, and golden light flashed!

— System Notice: You have spent 1 skill point to learn Basic Offense!

— Basic Offense: Increases the melee combat damage of the hero and the hero's troops by 10%.

— System Notice: You have spent 1 skill point to learn Basic Defense!

— Basic Defense: Reduces the damage taken by the hero and the hero's troops by 10%.

— System Notice: You have spent 1 skill point to learn Basic Archery!

— Basic Archery: Increases the damage of the hero and the hero's ranged troops by 10%.

— System Notice: You have spent 1 skill point to learn Basic Logistics!

— Basic Logistics: Increases the marching speed of the hero's troops on the ground by 20%.

All the accumulated skill points were spent, and the learning was complete. But—no golden light descended from the sky, and no system notice appeared. Then, nothing happened after that.

Could it be that the system wasn’t putting on a show?

The ship swayed steadily, the waves rhythmically lapping against the hull, and the fresh sea breeze blew into the cabin, stirring Dafei’s messy hair. Dafei’s heart was filled with tranquility...

After an unknown amount of time,

— China Region System Announcement: Congratulations! China Region player Chashafanghua has become the first player in the world to successfully hire an Epic Hero!

In an instant, the world chat exploded!

— World Chat [Eternal Stars]: Eternal Stars Guild congratulates Miss Chashafanghua on her world-first achievement! Eternal Stars Guild welcomes you!

— World Chat [Dragon Scales]: Dragon Scales Guild congratulates Miss Chashafanghua for bringing glory to the China Region! Dragon Scales Guild welcomes your joining!

— World Chat [Emperor]: Ninth Heaven is willing to offer Miss Chashafanghua a million yuan annual salary to join our guild!

— World Chat [Dragon Scales]: Our guild offers 2 million yuan.

— World Chat [Emperor]: I said dollars!

— World Chat [Dragon Scales]: I said pounds!

— World Chat [Hero News Reporter 043]: Miss Chashafanghua, hello. I am a reporter from the Hero News program. I hope you can add me as a temporary friend to accept an online interview...

— World Chat [Emperor]: Please add Miss Chashafanghua as a temporary friend. I am the president of the largest professional gaming club in China, Ninth Heaven.

— World Chat [Dragon Scales]: Little Huang, you might as well give up, you’re ranked 9th!

...

Dafei finally came to his senses. It costs 100 yuan to say one sentence in the world chat! Are they using it like a chat room? They managed to hire an Epic Hero just a few days after the server opened! That’s amazing! Wait, the name Chashafanghua sounds familiar. It seems to be the farm girl who was good at mental arithmetic when I created my account yesterday. Damn, I can’t help but admire her. This is real skill, not something everyone can do. Getting an Epic Hero in a day or two isn’t impossible. After all, I’m only pre-ordered one Epic Hero.

Wait, this Dragon Scales, this Dragon Scales Guild also sounds familiar? Could it be?

For a moment, Dafei was reminded of a distant memory. It was also during the New Year, Dafei was heartbroken after a breakup, which led to a major mistake at work, and he was fired without receiving his year-end bonus. Then, Dafei didn’t want to see anyone, so he stayed at home and played games, venting his anger in the game. On the first day of the server opening, he encountered Dragon Scales, who got him killed by a boss and stole his pet tiger.

Then, a long story short, Dragon Scales Guild sent people to hunt Dafei every day. One day, when they were surrounding a boss and both sides were about to die, Dafei suddenly appeared, killed the boss, and looted a guild order.

There was nothing to say, you Dragon Scales Guild are so righteous and amazing, right? I’ll be the guild president! Dafei registered the name of Dragon Scales Guild and boasted across the server: "Recruiting black fungus as the guild president’s wife, the darker the better, I’ll give you anything you want." Soon, all sorts of riffraff gathered...

Then the situation got bigger and bigger, and Dragon Scales Guild contacted Dafei: "We want to buy back the guild for 100,000 yuan."

100,000 yuan? Are you kidding me? In Dafei’s mind at that time, games were all about stealing accounts, scamming money, and stealing equipment. He ignored them and continued to stir things up.

Then they offered 200,000 yuan! Hahaha! The price increased as casually as eating a meal, they were definitely scammers! You’re all sick and need to be treated. So, he treated the entire Dragon Scales Guild out of the game, and the game was shut down, saving countless internet-addicted youths. That was truly a passionate and fiery era.

Years later, when Dafei finally learned the real-world background of Dragon Scales Guild, he regretted it deeply. This was truly a lose-lose situation! If he had asked for 1 million yuan! With 1 million yuan, he could have bought a house and a car! But thinking about it, if he had really taken their money, it would have been hot in his hands. Anything over 100,000 yuan could be considered extortion, and the cyber police could get involved.

However, it was precisely because of his crazy behavior in the game during that period that his family became increasingly dissatisfied with him, especially his high school sister, who, despite being a little girl with barely grown hair, could confidently scold her older brother! It infuriated him!

In short, after Dafei quit the game, he worked various temporary jobs and never played games again. But even so, he still yearned for the extraordinary life in the game. Whenever he had time, he would still pay attention to new games online.

Now, looking at the world chat where Dragon Scales and others were arguing at 100 yuan per sentence, Dafei sighed, "Why not give up on treatment?"

In any case, with such a big event in the China Region, the news media should be paying attention and conducting interviews. Since he had nothing to do, he decided to check out the attributes of the Epic Hero.

Dafei logged into the in-game forum. A prominent hot post was pinned at the top: "The trash player of the China Region, Dafei!" The poster was Blood Sea Frenzy!

— Ah! Dafei spat out a nose booger! Damn, do you know how much it costs to pin a post for an hour?

...

At this moment, the Hero News program was live-streaming an audio interview with Chashafanghua.

Reporter: "Excuse me, thank you, Miss Chashafanghua, for accepting our program’s interview."

A very strange electronic voice replied, "No problem, I hope my success can inspire other players."

Reporter, surprised: "This voice is?"

"It’s Luo Tianyi, my favorite electronic songstress."

Reporter, surprised: "The Chinese Miku?"

"Please don’t compare me to Miku, I am Luo Tianyi, thank you!"

Reporter, laughing: "Ah, sorry, the most pressing concern for players now is your Epic Hero. Can you reveal his attributes? Of course, you can skip this topic if you prefer."

"No problem, I’ll send you a video."

Host: "Hello, viewers, now please watch the live video sent by our reporter. Let’s wait and see the world’s first Epic Hero."

The screen changed to a pastoral scene, with windmills spinning. Hundreds of level 0 human peasant workers were diligently working in the fields. A blonde knight in silver armor, looking heroic and spirited, was riding a steel-armored horse, waving to the peasants, who cheered in response.

Then a sub-hero attribute box appeared on the screen, revealing the full attributes of the world’s first Epic Hero to all the players.

— Knight Lord: Elanie, Level 30, Attack 20, Defense 20, Magic 5, Knowledge 5, Leadership 1000.

Hero Specialty: Loved by Peasants.

Elanie is a noble, upright, kind-hearted, and generous estate owner, deeply loved by the peasants. Under her leadership, the peasants voluntarily pay an extra 1 gold coin in taxes each month.

— Peasant: Level 0 Holy Hall Peasant, Attack 0, Defense 0, Damage 0-1, Health 1, Attack Speed 8, Movement Speed 8, Leadership 0. Special Skill: Production, Taxpayer, Cannot be Deployed.

— Taxpayer: Pays 1 gold coin in taxes each month.

...

At this moment, the reporter was surprised, "A truly unexpected Epic Hero. How did Miss Chashafanghua obtain her?"

"Luo Tianyi" laughed, "At first, I was assigned to work here by the examiner, and I met Elanie. She was always troubled by the farm’s losses, so I turned the farm around in 15 in-game days, and she gave me the farm. Then she followed me and became my sub-hero."

Reporter, surprised: "Just like that? She gave you the farm?"

"Yes, she was losing money because she gave too much to help the poor, she’s like an angel. She gave me the farm because she said she didn’t know how to manage it, and giving it to me would help more people. That’s all there is to it."

Reporter asked again, "Now, many guilds want to invite you to join. Do you have any intentions?"

"Thank you for the recognition, but my sub-hero is still subject to the kingdom’s laws and cannot be used for battles at will. I just want to slowly farm in the game and have no intention of joining a guild. That’s all I have to say, can we end the interview?"

"Thank you, Miss Chashafanghua, for the interview. It was a pleasure working with you, goodbye!"

For a moment, all the players watching the live stream from around the world were amazed and sighed. As a clearly non-combat hero and not particularly high-level Epic Hero, her value could not be immediately determined. But at least one thing was clear: the appearance of an Epic sub-hero spurred the professional teams of various countries to accelerate their efforts.

(Seeking all kinds of votes, thank you!)

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