Chapter 5

Update Time: February 10, 2014

Lin Zheng stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter his mother had given him.

---

Task overlap? Before Lin Zheng could figure out what was happening, the old village chief spoke up: "You've been looking for my glasses for so long without success. I think that damned big thief crow must have taken them! Here's what I propose: You go and defeat the big thief crow, retrieve my glasses, and the final trial will be over! However, the big thief crow is very cunning, and you might not be able to find it. I have a sprig of thyme here. Go to the cornfield, find a spot to light it, and the big thief crow will appear! The big thief crow is not only cunning but also very fierce. You should use your wits, not your strength. Go on!"

Big thief crow? Just the name suggests it's a boss, but I don't know what level it is. I wanted to ask the village chief for more information, but hey—! He's not answering, which is really frustrating for Lin Zheng! However, since the village chief emphasized using wits, it must be difficult to defeat it by force. It looks like I need to prepare well. After thinking for a while, Lin Zheng headed to the general store, bought a rope, and then went to the cornfield.

There's a crooked-neck tree deep in the cornfield, and no other players come here. Lin Zheng chose this spot to defeat the big thief crow. Opening his backpack, Lin Zheng took out the rope and the medal he had almost forgotten.

SS Evaluation Medal: +10% experience gain, 80% reduction in skill learning costs from the profession mentor. Place it in the backpack to activate. Already bound.

What a good item! This way, the experience absorbed by the dagger is offset by 10%, and according to Yang Qi, learning skills is quite expensive, so this will save him a lot. Putting the medal back in the backpack, Lin Zheng started to plan how to deal with the big thief crow. Actually, what's there to plan for a mere animal? Just set a trap! After setting the trap, Lin Zheng took out a sprig of thyme, which is the one the village chief mentioned.

Thyme: When lit, it emits a strange scent that lures the big thief crow. Quest item.

This is practically tailor-made to trap the big thief crow! Lin Zheng clicked to use it, and the thyme immediately lit up. He quickly placed it in the pre-determined spot and hid in the corn stalks. The thyme was indeed very effective. In less than a minute, with a loud caw, a huge three-eyed crow flew over. Its size was comparable to the eagle in "The Return of the Condor Heroes," and with the players' small arms and legs, they really couldn't match it!

Big Thief Crow: Level 15 Silver Boss

Physical Attack: 389-560

Physical Defense: 250

Magical Defense: 250

Health: 15000

Skills: Wind Split, Shadow Steal

Leader of the big crows, a greedy thief with a strong passion for shiny objects.

Damn, look at those stats! 15000 health and 250 defense, enough to keep Lin Zheng busy for a long time. If he doesn't set a trap, a one-on-one fight would be a sure death! No wonder the village chief emphasized using wits! As the big thief crow stepped into the trap, greedily sniffing the thyme, Lin Zheng didn't hesitate to pull the rope! The rope trap under the big thief crow's feet instantly tightened, and before it could react, its legs were bound, and it was lifted into the air with a loud "Caw!" Lin Zheng immediately rushed out, threw the rope around the big thief crow's neck, and tied it to the crooked-neck tree, wrapping it around the tree several times. The big thief crow was thus elegantly bound to the tree, unable to move no matter how much it struggled! Finally, with the big thief crow's terrified eyes, Lin Zheng smiled maliciously and slowly approached with a dagger. Without any suspense, the big thief crow was miserably stabbed to death while hanging on the tree, and it unwillingly dropped its loot.

The big thief crow was definitely a first kill, and it dropped quite a few items. First, there was a lot of money, 20 gold coins! But what Lin Zheng was most excited about were the two pieces of equipment the big thief crow dropped! The first was a sword, which looked quite impressive. It was three feet and three inches long, about an inch wide, entirely black, with a fierce crow as the pommel and a blue gemstone at the end.

Black Crow Sword: Level Requirement 15, Silver Weapon

Physical Attack: 210-316, Magical Attack: 190-223

Strength: +20

Rip 1: 10% chance to activate, causing 100 points of damage per second for 5 seconds

Greed: 5% chance to obtain an additional item on the final hit

Special Skill: Shadow Steal

"Finally, I got what I wanted!" Lin Zheng thought, rubbing his chin. Although this sword isn't as good as Lin Zheng's dagger, it's a god-like item in the early stages. If he sells it for real money, it would be worth a lot! But if Yang Qi finds out, she might challenge him to a real-life duel. "Hehe! I'll tease her with it later!" After putting away the Black Crow Sword, Lin Zheng picked up a mask. The mask was shaped like a fierce and aggressive crow, covering the upper half of the face. It looked quite cool and had a bit of a show-off vibe!

Black Crow Mask: Level Requirement 15, Silver Accessory

Physical Defense: 20, Magical Defense: 20

True Sight: +20 level restriction when probing monster data

Focus: Increases player's intelligence by their level

The mask is an accessory, and a special one at that, which is quite rare. The Black Crow Mask has very good stats, especially suitable for mage-type classes. However, Lin Zheng decided to keep it for himself, yes, for show!

In addition, the most satisfying thing for Lin Zheng was finally getting the damned glasses. Holding the old glasses he had been looking for all day, Lin Zheng was speechless. The old man didn't seem to have presbyopia; his eyesight was excellent. But this is a game, and it's best to be prepared for all sorts of ridiculous settings.

"Hehe! As expected, it was that damned thief crow! Thank you, young man! I must say, you're quite quick! You defeated that thief crow in no time!" The old village chief said happily, taking the glasses from Lin Zheng.

"Completed a composite task, completion time 6 minutes and 21 seconds, hit 0 times, task evaluation SS grade, received an SS-grade profession special gift, 50 gold coins, and a character level increase of 2. Congratulations on successfully becoming a Sword Fighter!"

50 gold coins? And a profession special gift? Awesome! Lin Zheng was so excited he almost shouted. At this moment, the old village chief handed him a letter: "This is my letter of introduction. Take it to the profession hall in Frost City and find the profession mentor. He will teach you powerful combat techniques!"

Taking the letter, Lin Zheng knew his beginner days were over. It wasn't easy! Checking the leaderboard, he was now level 12, ranking several thousand places behind. However, the highest-level player in Frost City was already level 18. What a guy, I wonder how he leveled up so fast. Looking at his name, Chong Chong, it sounds like a name a woman would use. Could it really be a woman? That's too fierce! Then Lin Zheng found Yang Qi's name, "Red Dust Rain," ranked 6th, level 15. This guy is quite arrogant. But it's also quite coincidental, as this level is just enough to equip the Black Crow Sword. So, Lin Zheng maliciously created a Black Crow Sword card and sent it to Yang Qi, then blocked all communication and slowly opened the gift.

SS-grade profession special gift: 100% chance to get a silver-grade profession item, 30% chance to get a gold-grade profession item, a small chance to get a gold-grade or higher item, and a random profession skill book.

Lin Zheng eagerly opened the gift. Under his watchful eye, the gift flashed with white light and disappeared, and he found a bow and a skill book in his hand. Lin Zheng's eyes lit up, a weapon! At least a silver-grade, what a good item! Looking at the bow, it was silver-white with mysterious and beautiful patterns, but it looked like two short swords put together? And there was no bowstring? Yes, this is the Sword Fighter's exclusive weapon—the Blade Bow.

Shattered Moon: Level Requirement 30, Gold Weapon (Sword Fighter)

Physical Attack: 420-550, Magical Attack: 360-464

Ferocity: +100 Physical Attack, -50 Physical Defense

Overlord 1: 3% chance to enter Overlord state when attacking, lasting 5 seconds

Armor Break 2: 4% chance to cause Armor Break when attacking, reducing enemy defense by 80% for 5 seconds

Moon Soul: 3% chance to cause a freezing strike when attacking, increasing ice attack by 5000 on the next attack

A gold-grade weapon at level 30! Lin Zheng muttered, it will take a lot of time to reach level 30! But since he has the dagger, he can store this in the warehouse for now. However, it's not very impressive for a Sword Fighter to not have an exclusive weapon! Looking at the skill book.

Arrow Mastery: A skill that only archers can understand. Learning it increases arrow damage and allows the use of any item as an arrow.

This skill seems good. Lin Zheng clicked to learn it and then checked the skill system.

Arrow Mastery: Level 1. Proficiency 0/1000, passive skill, +10% arrow damage, can use any item as an arrow.

The next level increases damage by 15%, and at level 20, it reaches 105%! This is a significant increase! But it's not easy to max it out, especially since Sword Fighters don't use arrows much. Lin Zheng now regrets learning this skill. It's good, but it's not very useful for him. If he sells it, there would definitely be archers willing to pay a lot for it. Unfortunately! Lin Zheng slapped his thigh in regret!

Well, since I've already learned it, it's a skill that can't hurt to have! Checking the time, it's already 3 AM, and he needs to go to sleep. The rest can wait until tomorrow! But before that, there's one more thing to do, or there might be a real-life duel. Lin Zheng doesn't want his sleep to be disturbed. So, he opened the communication system, and a bunch of call requests popped up. Just as he opened it, a new call request appeared. Lin Zheng's only friend is Yang Qi, so these requests are all from her. He randomly clicked to accept one, and after a few seconds of silence, Yang Qi's angry roar came through!

"Damn! Even if you want to tease me, you don't have to take so long! Do you have any humanity left?"

"Hehe! You're a pro! I always thought you could get something better than the Black Crow Sword. I trust you!" Lin Zheng said with a mischievous smile. "Alright, I won't tease you anymore. Go to the Frost City teleport point, and I'll come over and give you the item. I need to sleep!"

Yang Qi was about to curse, but hearing this, she choked, feeling very uncomfortable. But then she got excited, as the sword was about to be in her hands! "Hurry up! I'll go right now!"

When Lin Zheng teleported to Frost City, he immediately saw a female warrior looking around, her brows slightly furrowed, waiting anxiously. At first glance, no one would associate this lovely beauty with a thug. Some perverts were lurking around, their eyes green with desire! Although the female thug had adjusted her appearance, Lin Zheng recognized her immediately! Wearing a mask, only his mouth was visible, making it hard to recognize him. As a result, even when Lin Zheng walked up to Yang Qi, she didn't recognize him.

"Thug!" Lin Zheng called out helplessly, amazed that she didn't recognize him even when he was right in front of her. This call brought Yang Qi back to her senses. "Damn! What's with this show-off mask? It took me forever to recognize you!"

"Can I take that as jealousy?" Lin Zheng said smugly, receiving a scornful gesture from Yang Qi.

Yang Qi was envious and resentful. Despite being a pro, she didn't have a decent piece of equipment and had to rely on Lin Zheng, an amateur, for "assistance." The thought of it made her feel like crying! When Lin Zheng told her about his quest, Yang Qi was even more frustrated, regretting not knowing about the first-class quest secrets! Hearing that Lin Zheng used the thyme to trap and kill the big thief crow, Yang Qi was so envious she almost drooled, her eyes glowing green, which scared Lin Zheng!

"What do you know?!" Yang Qi said, her eyes still glowing green. "How much do you really know about Illusion? Many things you don't know. For example, equipment in Illusion, some are repetitive, but some are unique, like epic and mythic items. There's another type of unique equipment called Lord's Exclusive, which comes with boss skills. The Black Crow Sword is undoubtedly one of these! According to the data, the drop rate of these items is not higher than mythic items. You got one, and I can only attribute it to your good luck! But now! Hand it over quickly!!" Yang Qi's eyes glowed fiercely, like a demon, and Lin Zheng felt a chill, quickly handing over the sword to avoid being swallowed.

Yang Qi was as excited as if she had received a diamond, holding the sword lovingly and saying, "Let's go! Find a place to test the sword!"

"Test your big head! It's so late, go to sleep!" Lin Zheng said irritably.

"I'm too excited to sleep! You go to sleep if you want, but I'll stay up for another two hours!" Even without the Black Crow Sword, Yang Qi wouldn't sleep now. For players like her who make money from the game, staying up late is a common occurrence! Besides, it's the early stages of the game, and she needs to level up quickly.

"Alright, I'll go to sleep. Don't stay up too late. Get up early tomorrow. It's not good for girls to stay up late, or you'll turn into a yellow-faced woman!" Yang Qi nodded casually, but Lin Zheng suspected she didn't take it seriously. He opened the system interface and clicked to log out.

Exiting the game pod, Lin Zheng stretched and yawned. It was late at night, and the only sound was the ticking of the clock. However, the lights outside the window were still on, and he could see many houses still lit up. He wondered how many people were still fighting in the game. But it didn't matter; sleep was important. Lin Zheng yawned again, fell onto the bed, and quickly fell asleep.