Chapter 4

In the world of "Miracle," the night to some extent signifies danger and death, which is somewhat different from other games. Almost all monsters that are accustomed to appearing at night will have a 10% to 20% attribute bonus when fighting at night. In contrast, players in the dark are like headless flies, with almost zero visibility, and all six basic attributes will suffer a devastating -20% penalty. Under these circumstances, the danger of venturing out of the city at night is self-evident. Torches can only provide a limited viewing distance, but the Dark Vision skill is different. When a player has a Dark Vision skill, the system will default to the character being "accustomed to moving in the dark," reducing the 20% attribute penalty to 5% temporarily. Moreover, the Dark Vision skill usually has a bonus when countering hiding skills, making it an unparalleled tool for travel, survival, and even murder!

However, based on Fang Yi's experience, although the task he completed was challenging, it was still short of the difficulty required to obtain rare equipment. The two pieces of rare equipment in front of him, apart from the special case of all rewards being increased during the beta test, had another possibility: these pieces of equipment would definitely be needed in future tasks. Only when the task completion rate reached a certain level would the word "Quest" on the equipment be removed, making it truly his own. This was a common tactic used in the chain quests of "Miracle."

Now, looking at this task rationally, Fang Yi was almost certain that it was a high-level hidden quest biased towards high-agility classes. If a thief or ranger knew that a warrior like him had taken on this task, their gaze would be as lethal as a "Death Finger."

But... what do I, a warrior, need these stealth equipment for!? Am I supposed to spend so much effort completing the task only to exchange it for gold—though that is the ultimate goal of professional players—couldn't you at least give me a two-handed axe, a two-handed sword, or a rare full-body armor to enjoy?... Thinking about this, Fang Yi angrily tore off a large piece of meat and threw it into his mouth. He hadn't even seen a purple two-handed weapon since the beta test began!

The rain outside the window showed no signs of stopping, as if it were trying to wash the entire Kaling Port into the Sea of Glory. The countdown for the end of the beta test still had over an hour left, but Fang Yi didn't wait to be kicked offline by the system. Instead, he sent messages to his friends in the game, wishing them well. Ignoring the complaints and curses of some wealthy buyers on his friend list, he quickly disconnected from the game, leaving this familiar yet strange world.

Gently removing his helmet, Fang Yi twisted his sore neck and got out of bed.

Fang Yi was twenty-seven years old, with dark skin inherited partly from his father and partly from his love of sports. His eyes were sharp, but overall, he had a common face—Fang Yi liked this feeling. In virtual online games, although he could adjust his appearance, being less noticeable was more in line with his low-key style.

As a professional player, Fang Yi had started from scratch in the gaming circle of City X and had been in the industry for six years. Due to his low-key approach, he was more famous among top players than among ordinary players.

With "Miracle" about to go live, this high-quality game meant more players and a broader market, which was undoubtedly the best news for Fang Yi.

The virtual helmet had a deep sleep function, so despite spending the night in the game world, Fang Yi was still full of energy. In the real world, it was just past the summer solstice, and although it was only 5 a.m., the sun had already risen. Fang Yi put on his running shorts and tank top, left his rented room, and started his morning run.

In the past few days, he had played for twelve hours every day to complete this task. Fortunately, he had finally withdrawn safely, and the substantial investment, including the purchase of scrolls, had paid off. As his level increased, Fang Yi increasingly felt the revolutionary breakthrough of "Miracle" compared to other virtual games.

Today's virtual game technology has developed quite maturely, requiring only a neural bundle helmet and a regular network for everyone to explore the beautiful game world. Therefore, the update cycle of virtual games is also very fast.

One of the major innovations of "Miracle" is that all skills have only additional effects and no specific moves. If a slash misses, the skill fails, and whether damage is dealt depends entirely on the reaction of both parties (for spellcasters, it depends on casting techniques such as prediction, experience, and the timing of spell casting) and the agility (for spells, it is intelligence, perception, or charisma) of the character.

Although the abilities of game characters are not related to the player's physical fitness, neural reaction speed and subconscious actions can be perfectly reflected in the game. If you choose a magic class like a mage or a bard, a good memory and a calm personality can also be a great help. After understanding this, reaction and combat training were added to Fang Yi's schedule.

Returning home and putting on the virtual helmet, Fang Yi skillfully connected to a community called "Combat Expert." Here, various combat techniques could be learned for a fee. To keep his skills from getting rusty, Fang Yi consistently trained here. Choosing the classical mode, Fang Yi appeared in a wide square wearing ancient European leather armor, drew the dagger from his waist, and without a word, engaged in battle with the virtual NPC in front of him.

A month passed quickly. Besides researching game materials and exercising, Fang Yi consistently trained in virtual combat. However, unlike real-world training, it only kept his skills from becoming too sluggish. Surprisingly, his neural reaction speed improved from an average of 0.197 seconds to an average of 0.157 seconds.

On July 21st, the day of the "Miracle" beta test. Fang Yi took a cold shower, lay in bed, and connected to the game, waiting quietly until 8:00 PM. After the iris scan and brainwave lock, he finally heard the familiar voice: "Respected player, welcome to the fantasy world of 'Miracle'!"

Skipping the opening animation and character introduction, ignoring the enthusiastic guidance of the NPC, Fang Yi quickly selected the human race, the Thief class (right-handed), and additional languages: Elvish and Dwarvish, and started rolling the dice for attributes.

During the beta test, unlike the official launch, players could create multiple characters. To quickly familiarize himself with the game mode, Fang Yi had trained in several classes, which led to his warrior level being relatively low. However, he had thoroughly understood the game's mechanics and found a class more suitable for him in "Miracle": Thief!

At the attribute selection interface, Fang Yi muttered to himself, "Sister Tamora, please torment me a hundred times, a hundred times..." It wasn't until the sixth roll that he got the numbers 15, 18, 16, 8, 13, 14. The numbers weren't very high, but Fang Yi knew that the realm of a face-fighter was unattainable, and having an 18 was already quite lucky.

Decisively, he allocated the six sets of numbers to Constitution, Agility, Perception, Charisma, Strength, and Intelligence, and then allocated 2 points to Agility. Fang Yi quickly entered the character name: "Fangkuai," clicked confirm, and officially entered the game.

Fang Yi constantly reminded himself that he was a seasoned player, and composure was his true nature! But standing in the milky white light, his heart still raced a bit. Maybe... this is the essence of being a player.

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