Chapter 3 of 10

Chapter 3

14 min read3,403 words

"Congratulations, player Lieryang has successfully reached level 10. You have entered the county of Juping in Taishan Commandery, Yanzhou, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, in the first month of Guanghe Year 3 (180 AD)! Enjoy your game!"

Yang Rui was still basking in the joy of leaving the beginner village when he heard the system notification and frowned. Taishan Commandery, Juping County? It's quite a distance from where I planned to develop!

In his previous life, Yang Rui had always stayed in Yongzhou after entering the game, so he was relatively familiar with that area! Moreover, Yang Rui had attended university in X'A City in real life, which gave him a special connection to the place. X'A City was part of Yongzhou during the Eastern Han Dynasty.

In the game "World War," each player's starting location after leaving the beginner village is randomly generated, so it's possible to appear in any state or commandery. Of course, you can choose not to register in your starting location, but the teleportation cost in the game is exorbitant, starting at 1 gold, and the further the distance, the higher the cost! Teleporting from Taishan Commandery to Yongzhou would cost about 10 gold!

Forget about 10 gold, Yang Rui only had a couple of hundred copper coins. In the game, 1 gold = 100 silver = 100 copper, so Yang Rui's assets were equivalent to a little over 1 silver! He couldn't afford to teleport anytime soon!

Running there on foot? That's even less realistic. The map in "World War" is magnified about a hundred times compared to the real world map. Walking from Juping County in Taishan Commandery to Yongzhou would take an indefinite amount of time!

In Yang Rui's mind, Taishan Commandery in Yanzhou had a worse development environment than Yongzhou. Yanzhou and Qingzhou were heavily affected by the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the early stages of the game, which would inevitably cause some developmental chaos!

However, for now, he could only register in Taishan Commandery! He would have to consider migration in the future! Given the circumstances, Yang Rui temporarily put aside these thoughts, pushed through the bustling NPC crowd on the street, and hurriedly completed the registration procedures at the designated registration office outside the county government.

Since no other players had registered yet, the entire process was very smooth and didn't take much time.

Next, Yang Rui spent 20 copper coins on ten steamed buns and 30 copper coins on a pot of wine, then spent time wandering within 10 miles of the four city gates. It wasn't that Yang Rui had the leisure to stroll around; he was looking for a key NPC—a beggar—related to the Village Establishment Order task!

This was an important part of Yang Rui's pre-game planning. Under normal circumstances, the Village Establishment Order could only be dropped by level 20 and above lord-type bosses, and the drop rate was very low. Just defeating a boss was quite challenging, requiring players to reach a certain level, eliminate bandit camps, and kill major bosses to obtain it.

Of course, defeating a boss wasn't the only way to get the Village Establishment Order. Yang Rui remembered that in the forums of his previous life, Russian players had established territories on the second day of the game, which definitely wasn't by defeating a level 20 boss! The task Yang Rui was looking for was also discovered by Chinese players shortly after the game's launch!

However, such tasks were not widespread, otherwise, the Village Establishment Orders would be too common! Yang Rui had almost searched the entire area where the beggar NPC could appear but found no clues!

Yang Rui knew that the beggar NPC didn't refresh in every county, and only a few counties had them at any given time. The beggar NPC also didn't stay in one place, as they were living beings and needed to move around!

After almost searching the entire north gate area and not finding anything, thinking his luck was bad, Yang Rui was about to go to a nearby county to try his luck when he suddenly noticed a figure crouching in the grass under a tree across the moat!

This figure made Yang Rui's heart leap with joy. Although it was far away, he could tell from the appearance that it was likely the beggar NPC he was looking for! It seemed the beggar was fishing, quite leisurely.

Yang Rui circled around the moat and approached the figure from a distance, confirming it was indeed the beggar NPC. He didn't rush, standing aside and waiting for the old beggar to speak first.

Fishing scenes generally shouldn't be disturbed, as approaching directly might interfere with the NPC's progress and have the opposite effect! The NPCs in the game were quite intelligent, and any misunderstanding could ruin the task.

"Why aren't the fish biting today! Sigh! I've run out of worms!"

The old beggar didn't keep Yang Rui waiting long, standing up after a while and glancing in his direction.

Yang Rui quickly followed and approached the old beggar, striking up a conversation and handing over the ten steamed buns he had prepared.

"Old sir, here are some steamed buns. Please take them to fill your hunger!"

"Oh, thank you, young hero! Thank you..."

The old beggar hastily took the buns and started eating them, muttering as he did.

"You, young hero, are truly a kind person! A kind person! In these hard times, everyone is short on money, and you've spent so much! Thank you, thank you!"

"Old sir, eat slowly, eat slowly. Here's a pot of wine. I hope you don't mind. I'll go get some worms for bait!" Yang Rui took out the prepared wine and then went to catch worms.

In fact, even if Yang Rui hadn't brought the wine, the old beggar would have hinted at wanting some. The outcome would be the same, but it depended on whether the player noticed the hint. If they did, they could continue; if not, the task would fail. Yang Rui simply took out the wine to save time.

As for the worm bait, Yang Rui guessed it was a way to initiate conversation with the old beggar.

The old beggar's cloudy eyes suddenly lit up, forgetting to eat the buns! After a moment's hesitation, he snatched the wine from Yang Rui and took a big gulp.

"Wine?! Gulp... Indeed, it's wine!"

After drinking three or four mouthfuls, the old beggar looked at Yang Rui, who was walking away, and then at the wine in his hand, shook his head, and continued drinking.

By the time Yang Rui returned with the worms, the old beggar was already a bit tipsy.

"Forgive me, young hero, I'm a bit of a drinker. Forgive me... But you, young hero, are truly a kind person! A very kind person! This fishing gear is a token of my gratitude!"

Yang Rui immediately declined the old beggar's fishing gear. Not only was it questionable whether the old, worn-out gear could catch fish, but it could also delay the Village Establishment Order task!

"Old sir, no need to be so formal! In these times, your situation is not your fault. Is there anything else I can do for you?" Yang Rui continued to prompt.

In fact, Yang Rui knew that the old beggar would likely ask for a sheepskin coat next, but it would take some time and the information would be vague. It was better to remind him to speed up the process!

Hearing Yang Rui's question, the old beggar was initially surprised, then became shy. After a moment's hesitation, he finally spoke, "I'll trouble you, young hero. The weather is still cold, and I find it hard to keep warm. Could you provide some clothing? I think the sheepskin from the sheep on the southern hill would make a very warm coat..."

As expected. Without further ado, Yang Rui agreed to the old beggar's request and arranged to meet at the north gate. He then headed to the southern hill a few miles away, spent some time, and successfully killed a group of sheep, collecting a complete sheepskin.

The process of killing the sheep and collecting the skin went smoothly, encountering only a few mountain wolves. At level 10, Yang Rui could handle them easily. However, the winding mountains and hills in Taishan Commandery made finding the path the most time-consuming part.

The next step was to have the coat made, which Yang Rui was a bit worried about. This step required a tailor, and there would be a cost! He had no memory of the exact cost, but after spending 50 copper to trigger the task, he only had a little over 100 copper left!

Fortunately, the next part went well, and the cost to make the sheepskin coat was exactly 100 copper! Yang Rui felt lucky but also a bit frustrated, as he was now down to just a few copper coins. He had to find a way to earn money quickly!

While recalling ways to earn money in the game, Yang Rui handed the custom-made sheepskin coat to the old beggar.

"You, young hero, are truly righteous! I have nothing to offer in return, please accept my humble bow!" The old beggar trembled as he took the coat, almost moved to tears!

"Old sir, please don't!" Yang Rui quickly supported the old beggar and helped him sit on a stone bench by the moat, assisting him in putting on the sheepskin coat. He then remained silent, waiting for the next part of the task.

Sure enough, after putting on the sheepskin coat, the old beggar seemed to transform, standing straighter and speaking more clearly. He recounted his past, expressing deep gratitude to Yang Rui.

Talking about his past, the old beggar mentioned that he was once the village chief, but due to years of famine, bandit attacks, and an epidemic, his village was destroyed, and he and his daughter were forced to wander outside.

Yang Rui was familiar with this story, and the last line was what he had been waiting for!

"Oh? Where is your daughter, old sir?" Yang Rui asked at the right moment.

The old beggar was sad and sighed, finally revealing that his daughter had been killed by a tiger while gathering herbs on the southern hill.

Yang Rui promptly accepted the task to eliminate the tiger, knowing it was the final part of the Village Establishment Order task. He then settled the old beggar and hurried off to find the tiger.

The difficulty of the Village Establishment Order task series wasn't too high, but the main challenge was finding and triggering it. The specific steps were not publicly known, and the trigger condition for the beggar task was to give enough food. After triggering, the player had to obtain information from the NPC, analyze it, and act accordingly.

This task series represented the overall characteristics of tasks in "World War": trigger conditions, information gathering, analysis, and utilization. The NPCs in the game had intelligence similar to real people, making the tasks more human-like and less rigid and predictable.

The final part of the task was challenging, requiring the elimination of a level 15 monster! Fortunately, it wasn't necessary to find the specific tiger that killed the old beggar's daughter or to defeat a tiger boss. Only 10 tiger skins were needed.

The southern hill was home to a type of level 15 monster called the "Taishan Short-legged Tiger," which was strong but within Yang Rui's capabilities. The biggest challenge was the area's 12-level wolf packs, which were a significant threat to Yang Rui at level 10 with poor equipment.

Yang Rui spent about three hours collecting 10 tiger skins, a considerable effort! Despite killing so many monsters, the experience gained was minimal, showing the increased difficulty of leveling up after level 10.

When he handed the tiger skins to the old beggar NPC, it had been over 10 hours since Yang Rui logged in. In the early stages of the game, game time was 1:1 with real time, and Yang Rui had been busy all night!

"Task completed! The old village chief is grateful and wishes to give you the Village Establishment Order. Do you accept?"

Despite the fatigue, when he saw the Village Establishment Order in the old beggar's hand, Yang Rui's spirits lifted, and he immediately accepted it!

Finally, he had successfully obtained the Village Establishment Order!

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