Chapter 4: Professional Certification

Suddenly, the scene brightened, and I was teleported to an ancient and quaint little village amidst my maniacal laughter. Damn! Everyone around me was staring at me as if I were a fool. I hurriedly darted to the next street and checked the time, which was almost ten o'clock. I had spent nearly two hours setting up my character! But as the saying goes, a well-sharpened knife does not hinder the woodcutter, so these two hours were worth it!

Perhaps because I spent too much time setting up my character, the newbie village was already crowded with people. The system stipulates that anyone below level 20 is considered a newbie, and newbies cannot leave the newbie village and its surrounding five-kilometer leveling area. I estimate that this not-so-large area is now packed with at least 5,000 players. I'm not used to crowds, so I decided to find a quiet place to level up. I planned to familiarize myself with the environment first. I summoned the status and item bar (the system in "Zero" automatically senses these operations, and players just need to think about it). I only had a linen shirt and linen pants, which added up to only 2 points of defense. In my hand was a single-handed longsword called the "Newbie Sword," with an attack range of 1-1! This must be the so-called newbie equipment!

Although the equipment on my body made me depressed, seeing that everyone on the street was dressed the same as me brought me some balance. The first thing to do now is to kill monsters and level up.

It took about ten minutes of running to reach the leveling area outside the newbie village. There was no choice; newbies have low agility and naturally move slowly! Once out of the village, I realized the situation was not good. Outside the village, players were in groups of three or five surrounding and beating up a poor little deer, or a dozen people collectively chasing a wild boar! Although the monsters respawn quickly, there were far too many players, and the number of people clearly outnumbered the monsters by several times! If I joined them, I wouldn't get any benefits, and besides, I naturally dislike crowds!

Since the levels of newbies in "Zero" do not appear on the leaderboard, I don't know how high the fastest person has reached. Although I can't see it, I roughly estimated that the fastest person should already be around level 16-17. No way! How can this young master be content with being behind others? I must lead in both the game and real life! I need to level up quickly.

I ran far out of the village, where there were still many players, but it was basically one person per monster. Ha! A little deer ran over. I immediately drew my sword, and with a swift strike, the system prompt sounded: "Killed a deer, gained 200 experience points."

Damn! One-hit kill! Isn't that a bit exaggerated! Although my character is a bit overpowered, the real overpowered part is the number of pets. My attack power shouldn't be that exaggerated! But just now, a 60 appeared above the deer's head, which I guess is the damage displayed after hitting the target. Could it be that I dealt a critical hit? Probably!

I found another deer and struck it with one blow. A red 30 floated up, and the deer was still running. It seems the previous hit was a lucky one. I struck the injured deer again, and a 35 floated up, and the deer fell and disappeared. From this, it seems the deer's health is around 50 points, or even less.

After cutting down three more deer, I reached level 2. My current stats became:

Attack: 24-32, Defense: 20, Speed: 10, Health: 290, Magic: 41 (these are the values including equipment).

Basically, a normal attack can one-shot a deer. After half an hour of killing deer, I was already level 12, and my stats became:

Attack: 68-98, Defense: 65, Speed: 20, Health: 440, Magic: 51.

Looking around, there were still many people killing deer, and more and more were joining. Based on past experience, it's time to change the location. After a long run, I finally reached the edge of the village's leveling area. Although I could see outside, I couldn't get out, as if there was a wall blocking me. I had to continue looking for monsters. Not far away, a new target appeared—a wild boar. I rushed up and struck it, one-shot kill. Due to my high base stats, my strength is very high, and the difference in stats increases with each level, making my attack power very overpowered. Later, I found out that a level 12 player with an attack power of 44-70 is already considered high, and a level 20 warrior's attack power is generally around 60-90.

I was very lucky to find a wild boar den. The boars respawned very quickly, and even with my one-shot kill speed, I couldn't keep up with the respawn rate. However, the boars are a type of monster that retaliates but does not initiate attacks. I killed them one by one for over an hour and was already level 18. I summoned the leaderboard, and there were already over thirty people on it. Being on the leaderboard means they have already broken through level 20. This is no joke; if I don't quickly break through level 20, I won't have much hope.

Level 20 is not just a simple distinction between newbies and regular players. All major and auxiliary professions start their first skill at level 20. With skills, the leveling speed is incomparable! The top player on the leaderboard is already level 25. Although higher levels require more experience, they have skills, and outside the newbie village, there are fewer people and more monsters, so there's no need to fight for monsters!

I hurried and continued to work hard for twenty more minutes, and finally, the beautiful system prompt sounded. "Congratulations, player Ziri, you have reached level 20. Congratulations on becoming the 79th player to pass the newbie barrier. You are now a true warrior. Please report to the profession guild to obtain your professional skills."

I felt the scenery around me suddenly change, and I found myself in a teleportation array in a huge square. I opened the map and saw that this city is called Cold Emerald. This huge square is the teleportation and resurrection point of Cold Emerald. It's currently empty, probably because the early arrivals have already gone to level up. Even if they were all here, there wouldn't be many people. Think about it! I am the 79th person who can leave the newbie village, meaning there are only 79 people outside the newbie village in the entire world of "Zero," scattered around the world. The map of "Zero" is based on the world map, and the newbie village is like a fantasy realm where only people below level 20 appear. Once they reach level 20, they are automatically teleported out. Other city maps are just some city names changed and made to look like ancient architecture. So, with only 79 people on this huge map, the density is extremely low. I might even be the first person to arrive in this city!

I didn't care about that and quickly rushed into the profession guild. The huge hall was paved with marble tiles, giving it a bank-like feel. There were over thirty marble counters along the walls, each with a copper plaque. The middle counters were labeled "Major Profession Acceptance," and the surrounding counters were "Auxiliary Profession Acceptance."

I decided to get my major profession certification and obtain skills first. With this decision, I immediately went to one of the middle counters. "Hello! I want to accept the profession certification."

A beautiful elf girl behind the counter warmly greeted me. "Sir, hello (I was moved, finally someone recognized me as a male)! Welcome to the profession certification. What profession do you want to certify?"

"I have two major professions. One is Dark Warrior, and the other is Beast Tamer."

"Oh! You are a rewarded player! The certification for Dark Warrior costs one gold coin, and Beast Tamer costs two gold coins. A total of three gold coins, please pay first."

"Ah! So expensive!" I helplessly opened my item bar and found exactly 307 copper coins! (The conversion rate here is: 1 Crystal Coin = 10 RMB = 10 Gold Coins = 100 Silver Coins = 1000 Copper Coins). After paying, I was left with only seven copper coins! Poor!

The elf girl collected the money and said briskly, "Congratulations, you are now a Dark Warrior and a Beast Tamer. Skill books for major professions are sold in the store, but the quantity is very limited. The truly useful skills are learned by players themselves, so please study more in the future."

"What? Learn by myself? Dizzy!" I turned to leave, depressed. The two major professions drained all my money, and buying skills is out of the question! I'll consider auxiliary professions later, I need to earn some money first!

Just as I took two steps, the elf girl called me back. "Please wait!"

"Is there anything else?" I started to worry, hoping she wasn't asking for more money!

"You are the first player in this game to obtain the Beast Tamer profession certification, so you will receive a reward according to the rules."

"Reward?" Ha ha, I won a prize! Unfortunately, it's just the first Beast Tamer; it seems the Dark Warrior has already been certified by someone else! I feel so greedy! Hehe! But thinking about it, the Beast Tamer is a hidden profession, and there won't be many people, so being the first is normal. Anyway, a reward is good, so I asked, "What is the reward?"

"The reward is random. Please come over, and I will help you draw."

I walked to the counter, and the elf girl immediately started the lottery. She reached into a black hole that appeared out of nowhere and pulled out a red paper. She took it and looked at it. "Congratulations, you have drawn a special equipment reward: the Guardian Collar. Since you can control seven pets, you will receive seven collars."

"Collars? What do I need collars for? I only have one neck, not a nine-headed hydra! Seven collars, how can I wear them?" This system is just being ridiculous!

"Hehe!" The elf girl covered her mouth and laughed. "Those are not for you to wear. The collars are for your pets."

"Pets? Can pets in 'Zero' wear equipment?" This is a good situation!

The elf girl explained, "No, normally pets cannot wear equipment, but some special items can be equipped on pets. Your Guardian Collar is one of these special items."

"Then what is the use of this collar?"

"The Guardian Collar can connect your health with your pet's health. For example, if you are attacked and have 3 health points left, and then you are attacked again and lose 7 health points, you will only lose 2 health points, and the remaining 5 points will be randomly deducted from one of your pets with more than 5 health points. However, note that the protection is one-way; when your pet has no health, it will not deduct health from you."

"That's great! Does that mean as long as my pets don't run out of health, I won't be in danger?"

"Basically, yes, unless each of your pets' health is insufficient to cover the extra health deduction, in which case you will immediately die."

"Wow! It's indeed a good attribute. I need to find more pets with high health. Ha ha! Ha ha!"

The elf girl interrupted me. "Pets are not just randomly caught. Once you choose a pet, you cannot change it."

"Oh! I see! Thanks!" I reached out for the collars.

The elf girl looked at me with a strange expression. After a moment, I couldn't help but say, "Collars, give them to me quickly!"

"Oh!" She finally understood. "The collars are not issued here. Once you capture and tame a pet, a collar will naturally appear on its neck."

"I see! Thanks. I'm leaving. Goodbye."

The elf girl waved goodbye to me.

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