Chapter 5

The small town had only the most basic buildings, such as a pharmacy, a low-level equipment store, and personal storage, with only a few NPCs. The tasks these NPCs offered were mostly low-level collection tasks, such as hunting certain animals, collecting animal skins, herbs, and minerals. The rewards for completing these tasks were usually experience or money.

Nie Yan bought three bottles of low-level instant health potions from the pharmacy, each restoring thirty health points and costing one copper coin. The store only sold basic health potions; intermediate and higher-level health potions could only be made by alchemists.

After buying three bottles of low-level health potions, he had one copper coin left.

Nie Yan walked out and sprinted toward the treasure chest spawn point, carefully avoiding any monsters and maintaining a safe distance.

He was heading to a Level 5 monster area, which was highly dangerous for his current level. However, since his experience was at 0% of Level 0, he wouldn't lose any experience if he died.

After crossing two Level 1 monster areas, one Level 3 monster area, and one Level 4 monster area, it took him more than ten minutes to finally reach the Level 5 wildcat area.

Observing the surroundings, it was a dense grassland with tall grass reaching up to the waist. Looking into the distance, there was a large willow tree in the center of the grassland, standing out prominently in the open field.

The silver treasure chest was not far away, and Nie Yan's heart began to race.

The area was populated by Level 5 wildcats, which were far beyond his current level.

Occasionally, one or two wildcats would pass by, and Nie Yan would quickly hide.

Thieves had a passive ability that increased their stealth, making it harder for other creatures to detect them.

He could also use the Stealth skill.

Using the Stealth level difference formula, he calculated that after using Stealth, the safe distance between him and the wildcats was two yards. This meant that if he approached within two yards of a wildcat while stealthed, he would be detected. The area between two and three yards was a buffer zone where detection was possible, but being more than three yards away was absolutely safe.

Nie Yan had played a thief for ten years in his previous life, and his skills were already honed to perfection. Estimating distances by sight was not difficult for him.

The grass rustled in the distance, and Nie Yan's expression changed as he entered Stealth mode.

A wildcat, the size of a wolfhound, emerged from the grass, scanning the area with its sharp eyes. Finding nothing unusual, it crossed the open space and disappeared into another patch of grass.

After confirming that the wildcat had moved far away, Nie Yan cautiously continued forward.

Under the willow tree was a ten-yard-wide clearing, where a silver treasure chest lay quietly. There were six or seven wildcats active in this area.

At least a team of twenty Level 3 players would be needed to clear these Level 5 wildcats.

Obtaining this treasure chest was not going to be easy.

Nie Yan observed the movement patterns of the wildcats, trying to find a safe path to the willow tree.

The wildcats moved in a certain pattern.

After observing for a while, Nie Yan put all his equipment into his backpack and wore the defenseless beginner gear. These beginner items were worth zero copper coins when sold to NPC stores and were of no value to anyone if dropped on the ground.

In Faith, the penalty for death was a level drop and the random loss of an item. If he lost the newly purchased equipment, it would be a significant loss. As for the beginner gear, losing it was no big deal; he could wear it for cover.

Nie Yan stealthed and slowly moved toward the willow tree. After about ten seconds, he stopped, holding his breath as a wildcat passed by from the front, left, and right, each within two yards of him.

After pausing for six seconds, Nie Yan continued, carefully controlling his distance from each wildcat.

He was getting closer to the treasure chest, and his heart rate increased slightly. He knew that obtaining the skill book at Level 0 would be crucial for his future development.

Two more wildcats approached Nie Yan's location.

Nie Yan quickly stopped as the two wildcats passed by, just grazing him at two yards, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.

The Stealth duration was two minutes, and with only thirty-two seconds left, Nie Yan's nerves began to fray.

He couldn't afford to wait, so he slightly increased his speed.

A wildcat nearby noticed him, stared at him with sharp teeth bared, and let out a hoarse growl.

He had been detected!

The wildcat leaped at him, and despite his slower movement speed, Nie Yan managed to dodge using his well-honed reflexes from his previous life.

Basic character movements included side-stepping, rolling, and jumping, which players could use to dodge attacks within the system's framework.

The wildcat's sharp claws narrowly missed Nie Yan's throat, missing by a hair.

Just as he dodged, two more wildcats pounced from the sides, one clawing his back and the other biting his arm.

It was over.

In this situation, using a health potion would be useless.

-68, -32, two damage numbers floated above Nie Yan's head, and his health dropped to zero, causing him to fall to the ground.

The scene changed, and Nie Yan respawned in the graveyard of Trak Town.

He had activated the Stealth skill too early and became too anxious as it was about to end, leading to his detection. This was one of the reasons for his failure.

Nie Yan summarized the lessons from his failure, checked his equipment, and found that his gloves had been dropped, but it was just beginner gear, so it wasn't a big loss. As for his experience, it was still at 0% of Level 0.

He had been prepared to die, which was why he dared to venture into the Level 5 monster area.

Nie Yan set out again, leaving Trak Town and heading back to the wildcat spawn point.

Upon reaching the edge of the clearing, Nie Yan noticed that the wildcats' movement patterns had changed. They had been lured to the treasure chest and gathered around where he had died, making it even harder to reach the silver treasure chest.

The wildcats' activity areas were constantly shifting. Nie Yan had an idea: he could lure the wildcats away and then respawn to stealth back and open the treasure chest.

At a distance of about three yards from the wildcats, he interrupted his Stealth skill, and his figure slowly became visible.

The five nearby wildcats simultaneously detected Nie Yan and chased after him.

Nie Yan sprinted away, but his movement speed was far inferior to the wildcats, and they quickly caught up. One wildcat leaped and knocked him to the ground, and the others surrounded and killed him.

A white light flashed, and Nie Yan respawned in the graveyard of Trak Town, losing a pair of leg armor.

After respawning, he left the town again and headed back to the clearing, reaching it after about ten minutes.

The wildcats were now a bit farther from the treasure chest. After calculating the route, Nie Yan's eyes lit up; this time, it should be fine.

He activated Stealth and approached the silver treasure chest, moving for about twenty seconds before stopping. Two wildcats passed behind him and moved away.

All the wildcats were now about five yards away from him, and he felt safe. He quickened his pace, reaching the silver treasure chest with thirty-six seconds of Stealth remaining, six seconds more than expected.

Nie Yan crouched down and opened the treasure chest, maintaining Stealth while doing so.

System: Treasure chest opening, 20%... 50%...

A wildcat passed nearby, stopping about two yards away from Nie Yan.

Nie Yan's heart rate increased involuntarily, but he reminded himself to stay calm, and his heartbeat gradually slowed.

The wildcat looked around, found nothing, and turned away.

Nie Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

System: Treasure chest opened, took twenty-seven seconds.

Nie Yan opened the treasure chest and felt a paper book inside, his heart racing. It was the one!

He took it out and examined it.

Skill Book: Critical Strike

Skill Description: The thief attacks the enemy's vital points, causing additional damage.

Execution: Action (requires a weapon)

Skill Attributes: +5 to hit when striking a vital point, reduced damage on a miss.

Cooldown: Thirty seconds.

User Restrictions: Thief, Warrior, Paladin, any faction.

It was indeed Critical Strike, an excellent skill that could be learned at Level 0! This was the purpose of his journey, and Nie Yan activated the skill book, turning it into a white light.

Checking his skill bar, he saw that a new skill, Critical Strike, had been added.

After taking the Critical Strike skill book, the silver treasure chest gradually faded and disappeared.

"Done, I can use the free return to town now," Nie Yan thought.

The Stealth duration ended, and Nie Yan's figure slowly became visible. The wildcats detected him and pounced.

Since he wouldn't lose any experience, dying would conveniently return him to town. Nie Yan calmly awaited his fate.

Nie Yan died and respawned in the graveyard of Trak Town, losing his beginner cloth armor, but compared to the Critical Strike skill book, these losses were insignificant. With Critical Strike, his leveling speed would significantly increase.