TAG Chapter 7

The morning in Xin Yue Hu, the novice village, was usually bustling. With nearly two hundred people, there were those who were practicing, trading items, and forming teams for quests or monster hunting. But today, everyone had gathered near the Life Tree, and Qiao Jingting, in his house at the corner of the village, could hear bursts of angry shouts, seemingly Zheng Wei’s voice.

Qiao Jingting silently watched through the gap in the curtains. He didn’t expect that there would be so many people in Xin Yue Hu. If only they could trade points with each other, Han Bin would be swimming in riches. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible. So Han Bin came up with a sinister plan. He made these people buy items and give them to him, and then he would sell them back through the trading system. The depreciation fee for ordinary functional items was as high as 50%. For example, take the Healing Scroll. One person spent 80 points to buy it and gave it to Han Bin, and then they had to spend another 40 points to buy it back from Han Bin.

In addition to earning points by hunting monsters, Han Bin organized them to do quests, assigning them tasks for each day, deciding who they would team up with and who would lead. He found ways to exploit and enslave them. Of course, they could refuse Han Bin’s arrangements, but they had to pay a “tribute” every week. Han Bin controlled the entire novice village, their levels, and their lives.

Qiao Jingting guessed that this gathering was most likely due to the Morse code he had carved. Han Bin was bound to find out who was responsible.

Upon closer consideration, he realized that the level system in this game was cruel. To level up, one had to kill other players, and there were various restrictions on killing. For example, even though Zou Yidao was powerful enough to defeat everyone in the village, he didn’t dare to make a move. On the other hand, Han Bin knew that even if all the players in the village teamed up, they might not be a match for Zou Yidao. However, for the significant additional bonus points, Han Bin was willing to take the risk.

At first, Qiao Jingting thought Shu Ai was overly suspicious, but even he, at level 2, was afraid of being killed by players of the same level. The higher the level, the more people coveted them. Each person was a living, walking source of points. Who could trust others?

The crowd around the Life Tree gradually dispersed, and he saw Shu Ai walking away with a few people, probably forming a team for a quest.

Until now, he hadn’t taken on any quests himself, but he had browsed through them. The simplest quests were even about helping the innkeeper prepare ingredients, but they offered meager points. The slightly higher-level quests were mostly related to killing monsters. Quests came in all sorts, and for beginners, there were many tasks that could be completed with time and physical effort. Of course, he calculated that killing gray rats provided the best cost-benefit ratio with his current strength. And all of this came from the bug he had discovered.

Just the thought of the game bug made him feel a surge of excitement. He really wanted to go back in immediately and see if he could learn a monster’s attack pattern or get a weapon. It would be like hitting the jackpot.

Seeing that the day had just begun, he didn’t want to face the two brats on the platform, so he decided to exercise in his house.

After completing two hundred push-ups, he clearly felt an improvement in his physical abilities, even though he had only gained 4 points.

Afterward, he treated himself to a bowl of beef noodles. Eating alone was a bit boring, so he opened the Demon Slayer List again.

He first checked the person named Zou Yidao. His level was displayed as 9, an ordinary number that represented tremendous and intimidating power in this context. Besides, there was a red downward arrow symbol after Zou Yidao’s name, something that no one else had. This might be the symbol for the “Executioner.”

Out of curiosity, Qiao Jingting scrolled up the Demon Slayer List. The top-ranked player on the list was indeed the King Shu Ai had mentioned, followed by one Queen and three Jacks.

Qiao Jingting became interested and quickly scanned down. There were quite a few level 10 players, a total of eight, which seemed disproportionate to the three Jacks. Based on the ratio, there should have been fewer attendees. There seemed to be a delicate balance among these five attendees. Qiao Jingting speculated that the Queen was hesitant to become the King for the time being, and the Jacks held the same thought. That’s why, for nearly a year, the number and levels of the attendees remained unchanged. The current King, the strongest player in the game, was just one step away from returning to the real world but was trapped because he couldn’t find his opponent.

Interesting. The world outside the novice village must be both cruel and exciting.

Qiao Jingting finished his bowl of noodles while looking at the Demon Slayer List. Before closing it, he habitually checked Qiao Ruidu’s status.

Level 4!

Qiao Jingting stared at Qiao Ruidu’s level in astonishment.

Yesterday, when he checked, it was still level 3. This kid, damn, he’s not afraid to kill. Although Qiao Jingting knew the true face of Qiao Ruidu’s hypocritical demeanor behind his facade of a model youth, he never expected him to be so ruthless.

Qiao Jingting felt a strong sense of dissatisfaction. If he could know Qiao Ruidu’s status, then Qiao Ruidu could naturally know his. Comparing his own situation, the pent-up frustration he had been holding since entering the game, was growing more and more.

He closed the Demon Slayer List, took out the stainless-steel long knife, and practiced slashing through the air. He imagined the fat guy, Zheng Wei, and Han Bin standing before him—the enemies he needed to eliminate.

In this game, he would definitely carve a path back home.

The day felt unusually long, and just as Qiao Jingting was contemplating whether to set up a simple mechanism to make the Silver Ice Device drop back onto himself at a specific time, he heard the sound of the door opening.

“Shu Ai, I…” Qiao Jingting quickly walked to the living room, intending to share the method he had come up with. But upon seeing the person who had entered, he froze in place.

Standing at the doorway was none other than Zheng Wei, wearing a cold smirk, while Shu Ai stood beside him with a pale face like paper.

“You… you bastard, you’re actually still alive,” Zheng Wei spat out the half-smoked cigarette from his mouth, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

Qiao Jingting smirked darkly, “You haven’t died yet, so of course I have to stay alive.” As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and rushed towards the window, leaping and smashing through the glass, his body following suit.

As he landed, the broken glass cut into his skin, but he didn’t have time to think about it. Rolling on the shards, he quickly jumped up, catching a glimpse of several people running towards him. He instantly pulled out the M26 shotgun he had bought out of curiosity. Luckily, he had bought a clip of bullets, thinking that as a beginner, it would be a gain no matter who he killed. So he aimed and blindly fired.

Those people probably didn’t expect him to suddenly pull out a gun, so they scattered and shouted, avoiding the gunfire.

The submachine gun’s magazine cost 3 points each, more expensive than the pistol. Qiao Jingting had bought only one, and now he had almost emptied half of the magazine. For the time being, he managed to force those people back and grabbed the gun, running frantically outside the village.

Gunshots rang out from behind as Qiao Jingting glanced back. Some people had also taken out their guns and were chasing after him, running even faster than him. Especially Zheng Wei, it seemed like he wasn’t afraid of Qiao Jingting’s bullets at all. His furious expression made Qiao Jingting have no doubt that Zheng Wei intended to kill him.

Qiao Jingting fired several shots at Zheng Wei as he retreated. His marksmanship was terrible since he had never practiced before, but at such close range, it was impossible to miss every shot. However, a strange scene unfolded. Several bullets, when they were less than an arm’s length away from Zheng Wei, changed their trajectory as if hitting an invisible shield and were deflected away.

Qiao Jingting kept shooting while retreating, and soon the magazine was empty. His heart sank as he realized that if he got caught this time, he would undoubtedly die.

He absolutely couldn’t die here!

In despair, he suddenly remembered something. He quickly took out a Travel Scroll and shouted in his mind, “Take me to… the goblins!”

The surrounding time and space instantly twisted into a spiral. Qiao Jingting saw Zheng Wei’s angry face just inches away, distorted like a reflection in a whirlpool, becoming even more ferocious.

The next second, everything turned pitch black.

The darkness lasted only for a very brief moment, maybe two or three seconds, and Qiao Jingting’s vision was filled with a fresh and vibrant green. He found himself in a deep forest, surrounded by towering rows of larch trees. Looking around, the scenery was mostly the same, making him feel a bit dizzy.

When he looked down, he realized that he was still holding the guns with both hands and in a half-crouched defensive posture. His heart relaxed, and his body followed suit, collapsing weakly onto the ground.

At this moment, he felt the pain in his arms and back. Upon inspection, he found superficial cuts and bruises caused by the broken glass. They weren’t severe enough to use a Healing Scroll, so he simply used the first aid kit he bought for 2 points to bandage himself up.

The Travel Scroll was the first item he obtained from a monster. He had carefully read the instructions on how to use it. At the moment, no one knew where he was, and unless they arranged a dozen or twenty people to use Travel Scrolls simultaneously to check various monster locations, Zheng Wei wouldn’t waste so many scrolls on him. That’s why he chose to come here, the place farthest from the novice village with the fewest visitors.

Just to be safe, in case someone was already spawning monsters at the goblin’s location, he didn’t dare to act brazenly. He quietly made his way towards an obvious depression in the ground.

Sure enough, in the center of the depression, he saw a small village constructed with wood, thatch, and stones, resembling a primitive tribe. That was the goblin’s lair.

Goblins had a body shape similar to ten-year-old children, shriveled and small. Their wrinkled, yellow-green skin had no fur, and their large bulging eyes were even uglier than Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings.” However, these creatures were the strongest monsters in the novice village and required a team to defeat them.

On the outskirts of Xiaocun Village, there happened to be a group of people fighting monsters. The team consisted of seven or eight individuals, engaged in a fierce battle with a comparable number of goblins. They wielded various weapons, while the goblins generally had primitive weapons like stone hammers, clubs, and sickle-like stone blades. However, their speed was astonishing, with agility surpassing even that of monkeys. Despite his current dynamic vision, Qiao Jingting couldn’t accurately capture their movements, whether they belonged to the goblins or the humans.

Being too far away, Qiao Jingting couldn’t determine if Han Bin was among that group of people. Regardless of who it was, he didn’t dare to approach. He walked in the opposite direction of the goblin nest, searching for a suitable hiding place.

After finding a secluded spot, with the sun already setting, Qiao Jingting leaned against a tree trunk and opened the Demon-Slaying List. Seeing Shu Ai’s name still in the system brought him some relief.

His escape would undoubtedly put Shu Ai in danger, but if he stayed, they would both die together. As long as she was still alive, it meant she couldn’t die in the short term. After all, who would collect her points? That would be Han Bin’s decision.

This whole situation started because of him. If he owed Shu Ai a scroll and a favor before, now he probably owes her a life.

Although he managed to escape, he ultimately had to return to the newbie village because only through the Tree of Life could he travel between cities. However, he couldn’t use a teleportation scroll to go back; he had to walk on foot. The goblin camp was about 12 kilometers away from the newbie village, but the obstacle preventing his return wasn’t the distance; it was his weakness.

What he needed most at the moment was points, and it had always been what he needed the most – points.

But the Gray Rat was too close to the village; he definitely couldn’t go there. Actually, he couldn’t go to any single-target passive monster spot. If Zheng Wei had any brains, he would definitely send someone to block him at these low-difficulty monster spots.

What should he do? What other ways were there to earn points?

The only thought that came to Qiao Jingting’s mind was that bug. None of the paths seemed viable for him right now, except for that bug. Perhaps it could bring him an unexpected surprise.

He entered the player platform.

The two brats had changed their clothes again. They changed every day, and their clothes were mostly exquisite and gorgeous, giving him a sense of ritual whenever he entered the platform.

Xiao Yuan grinned at him. “Wow, you look like you’re having a streak of bad luck.”

“Wow, you look so happy,” Qiao Jingting sarcastically remarked with a cold face. His clothes were torn, bloodstained, and he looked dirty and miserable.

“I’m happy because you’re still alive. What benefit would it bring me if you died? So, now you need help, right? Spit it out,” Xiao Yuan said cheerfully.

“Do you have, um, thick hemp ropes in the system?” Qiao Jingting asked.

“Yes,” Xiao Yuan waved his small hand, and a window popped up displaying dozens of hemp ropes with different materials and thicknesses. These items seemed to have little practical use, and their prices were very cheap.

Qiao Jingting bought a rope with a diameter of 60mm, roughly as thick as a woman’s wrist.

Xiao Shen frowned, “What are you going to do?”

“I won’t tell you,” Qiao Jingting said bluntly. He couldn’t possibly tell the system sprite about the bug he had discovered; what if it got fixed?

Xiao Shen tilted his head and looked at him, “You must be planning something foolish, considering your intelligence is only 19.”

“Hahaha, his luck is only 7,” Xiao Yuan laughed uncontrollably, rolling around on the couch.

Qiao Jingting rolled his eyes. He didn’t know who designed these annoying children who came in pairs. He interrupted Xiao Yuan’s laughter, “Can you calculate? Calculate how long it would take for a candle to burn through this rope.”

“Of course I can,” Xiao Yuan tapped his own head with his small hand. “I’m a computer. If we don’t consider wind and atmospheric pressure, and there are no external forces, it would take about half an hour.”

Qiao Jingting thought for a moment, “What about an alcohol lamp?”

“It would be faster, but not by much.”

“Give me an alcohol lamp then.” The flame of an alcohol lamp would be more stable and less likely to be extinguished by the wind.

Xiao Yuan sold an alcohol lamp to Qiao Jingting, who also casually bought a piece of clothing. Without waiting for the twins to ask, he immediately exited the platform with his belongings.

Qiao Jingting found a sheltered mound, tied a knot in the hemp rope, and looped it around a tree branch. He placed the alcohol lamp beneath the rope and ignited it with a small flame. As a precaution, he placed a stone on the not-so-thick branch. If anything unexpected happened and the rope didn’t burn through, the stone would eventually break the branch.

Looking at this makeshift device, Qiao Jingting laughed at himself. It indeed looked incredibly foolish, but it was the only method he could think of to ensure his return after entering the void space.

After all, it was his only hope at the moment.

He secured the silver ice device to his fingertips, tied it with the hemp rope to ensure the device would fall on him. Then, taking a deep breath, he cut off a piece of flesh connecting the silver ice device to his body.

__________________________

Entering the void space once again, he was already familiar with the process. Since he wouldn’t get tired anyway, he sprinted desperately, searching for anything that might appear.

Not long after, a light cluster appeared ahead, and he quickly ran towards it.

To his delight, he saw a shallow-water crocodile!

Shallow-water crocodiles were aggressive single-target monsters with strong attack power but relatively slow speed. However, even a single hit from them would likely result in a severe injury, and they had thick and tough skin, making them challenging to kill. Defeating one would earn him 12 points.

During the time he couldn’t leave the newbie village, he had already studied all the monsters outside.

Before he could approach, the shallow-water crocodile had already noticed him. Swinging its large tail and twisting its plump limbs, it crawled toward him.

When they said the speed was “relatively” slow, it meant compared to mammals. In reality, their speed was only slightly slower than that of a running adult human. With a slight misstep, it was still possible to be caught up by them. Moreover, the safe distance for shallow-water crocodiles was much longer compared to gray squirrels or giant hyenas, reaching ten meters. So, if he wanted to escape, he had to create at least a ten-meter gap for the shallow-water crocodile to give up the chase.

The so-called safe distance referred to the distance at which the creature wouldn’t attack as long as a person maintained it. The safe distance was the key difference between passive and aggressive monsters.

The shallow-water crocodile crawled up to him and began to snap at him. Its menacing jaws lined with serrated teeth lunged towards his waist. Although he knew that they couldn’t physically touch each other, the visual and psychological impact of the scene was still significant.

Qiao Jingting stood in place, watching as it snapped and snapped. He attempted to step back, but the large crocodile chased after him. He tried to dodge, but the reptile had its own countermeasures. Basically, everything he would encounter in actual combat, he would encounter here.

Qiao Jingting started dodging while becoming familiar with the shallow-water crocodile’s attack patterns.

If only he could have a knife, then he could simulate the battle…

An idea struck Qiao Jingting, and with a mindset of trying it out, he “opened” his inventory—and it actually worked!

In the instant the high-quality steel longsword appeared in his hand, Qiao Jingting was ecstatic. It felt like divine assistance, and his whole body was filled with energy as he began hacking and slashing at the shallow-water crocodile.

He gradually adapted to the speed of the shallow-water crocodile and became more familiar with its various attacks, such as biting, slapping, tail strikes, and charges.

He didn’t dare to rest, fearing that he would be dragged back into the game the next second. He didn’t know if he would encounter another shallow-water crocodile the next time he entered. He had to make the most of every minute and second, learning how to defeat this monster that was definitely unbeatable for newbies.

Sure enough, just like the gray squirrels and giant hyenas, the shallow-water crocodile was also a programmed machine monster. Their actions would repeat, and their attack patterns followed a set routine. As long as he discovered the patterns, he could dodge each effective attack and find the vulnerabilities to counter-attack.

He continued to fight the shallow-water crocodile tirelessly for a long time until he woke up under the summoning of the white light.

The burnt rope, along with the silver ice device, fell back onto him. The sun had just set, indicating that not much time had passed. Everything went as expected. The only regret was that he wanted to stay a bit longer. He needed more time to familiarize himself with the shallow-water crocodile.

He used the same trick and entered the void space once again. However, the shallow-water crocodile was nowhere to be found. He had no choice but to run with all his might, trying to find something new.

Unexpectedly, this time he didn’t encounter anything until he was awakened.

It seemed that not every entry would yield results, which was in line with his speculation. Everything in the void space was random.

In any case, his gains this time were not bad. Although he wasn’t as familiar with the shallow-water crocodile as he was with the gray squirrels, he now dared to challenge it.

He opened the map, and the navigation showed that the shallow-water crocodile was 7 kilometers away. Taking advantage of the nighttime, he ran towards the direction of the shallow-water crocodile…