Chapter 5

Since it was getting late, after checking his bank balance, Li Huailin went to bed. The next morning at 7 o'clock, Li Huailin got up on time, found some leftover rice in the fridge, and cooked some congee for breakfast. While eating, he looked at the official website and forum of *Heart of Glory*.

Forum sticky post: *The Most Awesome Player Ever Beating Up the Village Chief, Village Chief Surrenders to the Tyranny and Hands Over the Hidden Quest*

There wasn't much text below, just a video link. Li Huailin clicked it and indeed saw the video of him slapping the old man with the gray beard.

Comments below:

Post author: I have nothing to say, everyone can see for themselves.

1st floor: Awesome, just two words.

2nd floor: Worship the god.

3rd floor: This post will go viral.

4th floor: Fire tongs Liu Ming.

...

21st floor: Awesome.

...

57th floor: Fire tongs Liu Ming.

...

690th floor: I'm the guy in the video, worship me.

691st floor: The floor above is S13.

...

"Ah..." After reading the post, Li Huailin sighed softly, "I'm no longer in the game, but my legend is everywhere."

After tidying up the bowls and chopsticks, just as he was about to enter the game, he suddenly heard a "bang" from the hallway outside his door.

Finding it strange, Li Huailin opened the door and discovered that his neighbor, Chen Juan, was sitting in the hallway, leaning against his door, her eyes closed, and her chest rising and falling as if she were asleep.

"Hey, wake up." Li Huailin squatted down to wake Chen Juan, but before he could get close, a strong smell of alcohol hit him.

"This girl, how much did she drink?" Li Huailin frowned and continued to call out, "Sister Juan, Sister Juan, wake up."

"Ah, handsome guy..." Chen Juan stirred slightly, her beautiful face flushed, and a seductive voice reached Li Huailin's ears, "Come on, come to my place."

"I'm saying, this is my place..." Li Huailin wiped his sweat, "Sister Juan, where are your keys? I'll help you back."

Chen Juan was clearly very drunk and didn't know what she was doing. She didn't respond, but Li Huailin noticed her bag under her right hand. He took it out and found the keys inside, along with a few condoms, which made him sweat even more.

"I'll help you back." Li Huailin said, supporting Chen Juan and limping to her apartment 2401. Opening the door, a scent of women's perfume wafted out.

"Wow, does this girl never open her windows? She'll suffocate herself." Li Huailin quickly pulled Chen Juan to the bedroom and threw her on the bed, then pulled the blanket over her, opened the window in the living room, tidied up the messy items on the table, washed his hands in the bathroom, and then looked at the deeply asleep Chen Juan before quietly leaving.

"Am I being too inhuman?" Closing Chen Juan's door, Li Huailin suddenly realized that even with the condoms, he had no thoughts at all. Was he gay?

"Forget it, the door is closed, and the key is still in her living room. I can't even get in now." He thought it was better not to add to his troubles. He wasn't that desperate, so why bother?

Back in his room, he closed the door and sat in his homemade game pod. After the black screen, he appeared at the same spot where he had logged out yesterday.

"What should I do today?" Li Huailin thought, "Hmm, let's plan it out. First, I need to level up. With my current -250 experience, I need to die 105 times to reach level 10... Damn, this game is playable, to reach level 100, I need to die 1005 times... Forget it, let's start with 100 deaths. Damn, why doesn't this game have a suicide system? I need to die, I need a powerful self-destruct technique."

Unable to commit suicide, Li Huailin had to go out and find monsters. He found black slimes again. He hit each one and then ran, with the black slimes chasing and attacking him. When he led the fifth one, he finally fell with a scream.

"After all that, only 50 experience points, not much faster than killing monsters." Li Huailin was a bit depressed as he walked out of the respawn point. Running from the village to the outside, dying, and then running back to the village took a lot of time, especially since the slimes' attacks were so low. It took them a long time to kill a level 1 player like him, and it wasn't as fast as killing monsters in one spot.

Li Huailin's leveling was indeed slow. For other players, the first level only required 500 experience points. The village chief's quest gave 200 points, and killing 60 slimes would level them up, taking less than an hour. Li Huailin had to die several times, taking more than twice the time.

"What if I find a monster with high attack power..." Li Huailin quickly thought of another way. The slimes only did 2-3 points of damage, so it was slow. If he found a monster that could one-shot him, wouldn't it be faster?

But after a moment's thought, it didn't seem right. Dangerous monsters were far from the village, and it would take a long time to get there. After respawning, he would be back at the village, and the time spent running might not be faster than being killed by slimes.

"Damn, this is so frustrating, I might as well just kill monsters to level up." Li Huailin said dejectedly.

While he was thinking, he suddenly heard a conversation between two players nearby.

"You're going to mine again? Hurry up and level up, get out of the village as soon as possible." One player said to another who was carrying a pickaxe, "Secondary professions are just for show, changing your class is the key."

"I think the miner profession is quite useful. Look, a quality 10 iron ore can sell for 15 copper coins, it's profitable." The player with the pickaxe said, "Unfortunately, I only dare to mine at the entrance of the mine. The monsters inside are too strong, they can one-shot me in two hits."

"Of course, with your equipment, who told you to keep mining?"

"Wait, guys." Li Huailin called out to the two players, "Can I bother you for a moment?"

"Sure, what's up?" The two players stopped and looked at Li Huailin.

"Where is the mine you mentioned? How far is it from the village?" Li Huailin asked.

"Oh, it's just a bit south of the village, not far." The player with the pickaxe pointed in a direction, "Just go this way, you'll get there soon."

"Damn, this is perfect." Li Huailin punched the air excitedly, "Are the monsters inside strong?"

"Yes, the entrance is okay, but a bit further in, there are level 6 bats and level 8 zombies, which are very strong." The player said, "The ore veins are good, but it's too dangerous. I'm only level 3, so I can't go in."

"Oh, thank you." Li Huailin smiled.

"By the way, if you want to mine, there's a prerequisite quest. You need a mining permit, or the system won't let you in." The player, seeing Li Huailin's interest in mining, assumed he liked it and kindly reminded him.

"Oh, I see. Where do I get the quest?" Li Huailin asked.

"From the village blacksmith. You need to take the secondary profession quest, learn the miner profession, and then you'll get the mining permit."

"Oh, I understand, thank you." Li Huailin said sincerely.

"No problem, we help each other." The player smiled and waved, then left.

After saying goodbye to the two helpful players, Li Huailin ran to the village blacksmith. The blacksmith's shop was small, about 40 square meters, with a dozen players at the entrance and some practicing blacksmithing at the anvils, all learning the forging profession.

The blacksmith was a bearded NPC in his forties named Bard. He was currently hammering at an anvil near the entrance, casually responding to the players passing by.

"Hmm? Boy, you're the new hero the village chief mentioned, the one who hasn't grown any hair yet. I heard you completed the village chief's quest, so you have some strength. Here, I have a quest for you. Go collect 10 sharp teeth from sharp-toothed rats for me to use in blacksmithing." As soon as Li Huailin approached, the blacksmith Bard started assigning a quest.

System prompt: Village blacksmith Bard has issued an E-rank quest, Collect Sharp Teeth. Do you accept?

"Who would do such a quest?" Li Huailin refused outright, "Give me the mining permit quickly."

"Oh, you want to mine? Being a miner is a great profession. I can teach you mining skills, but you need to complete my previous quest first before I can let you learn the secondary profession." The blacksmith Bard, speaking the system's prescribed lines, predictably refused Li Huailin's request.

"Damn, this quest will give me hundreds of experience points, you want me to die a few more times? I won't do it. I warn you, give me the permit quickly, or I'll beat you into a fool." Li Huailin threatened.

"Hmph, you brat, you dare to threaten me?" Bard swung his arm and shouted.

Bard's voice was loud, quickly drawing the attention of a few players who were blacksmithing and others who were buying items.

"What's going on? Who is that player?" A player asked.

"I feel like I've seen this guy before." Another player rubbed his chin.

Li Huailin, who was never afraid of crowds, didn't care. He was actually amused by Bard's attitude, "I get it, you want a beating too, don't you?"

"Huh?" Bard was still confused when Li Huailin slapped him across the face.

With a loud "slap," the entire blacksmith's shop suddenly fell silent.