Chapter Nine: A Bloody Incident Sparked by a Rabbit

The three of them ran together toward the Beginner’s Village. Zhang Shan glanced at his experience bar: 326 out of 2000. It would take two thousand experience points to reach level four. Leveling up was becoming increasingly difficult. Surely the experience requirement wouldn’t keep doubling forever—if it did, that would be terrifying.

Back in the village, Zhang Shan spent all his copper coins, buying five thousand bullets. With the two thousand left in his bag, he now had over seven thousand bullets, enough to last him four hours.

Once Thousand Miles Alone had finished repairing his gear at the blacksmith, Wind Chimes led their group out into the wilds. The scenery outside differed completely from the level one and two monster zones; compared to them, those earlier areas felt more like breeding farms.

Out here, there were open plains and low shrub forests. Occasionally, they glimpsed wild wolves or stray dogs—other level three and four monsters. But the three ignored these, heading straight for their target: the Boar Forest.

After running for about ten minutes, they entered the Boar Forest map. The trees ahead grew taller, though somewhat sparsely. In the distance, wild boars wandered back and forth.

Zhang Shan checked the boars’ stats.

Demonic Wild Boar: Level 5, Health 1000, Attack 53, Skill: Charge. Boars are irritable and will charge anyone who approaches, causing knockback and an extra 50 damage.

“These demonic boars aren’t tough—their attack is only a bit higher than rabbits, their skill isn’t powerful, just fifty extra damage, and they only have more health. No pressure at all,” Thousand Miles Alone said confidently.

After reaching level three, his health had increased to 280, and his defense by two points to a total of seventeen. The boars could at most hit him for thirty-some damage per attack; with a healer in the party, he felt completely safe.

Of course, it was thanks to Wind Chimes having learned the Rejuvenation spell that he felt so confident. Otherwise, with his stats, he could withstand only two monsters in a row before needing to rest and recover.

“These boars aren’t strong, but you need the right class combination to fight them. Melee alone can’t do it—they get knocked back and can’t hit, while ranged classes can’t withstand the damage. Only by combining melee and ranged attacks can you farm them efficiently. They’re probably the best monsters for us to grind right now,” Wind Chimes explained.

They began their work.

Thousand Miles Alone charged at a solitary boar, delivering a Falling Leaf Slash for -56 damage. The skill added ten damage per level, and he had leveled it to three, giving the skill thirty points of damage plus nearly thirty from his stats, totaling fifty-six points in one hit.

Zhang Shan and Wind Chimes quickly joined in, each attacking six or seven times to finish off a boar. Wind Chimes raised her hand, restoring Thousand Miles Alone’s health.

Experience +17, copper coins +15. No wonder Wind Chimes bought so many mana potions—she wouldn’t lose money here. Level five monsters dropped more currency, easily covering the cost.

They killed one monster every twenty seconds. In just over half an hour, Zhang Shan would reach level four—much faster than leveling from two to three. Delightful.

“Wind Chimes, isn’t your brother, Storm Under Heaven, also grinding boars here? Why haven’t we seen them?” Zhang Shan asked, puzzled. He had looked around for some time but hadn’t seen a single player. He wondered where Wind Chimes’ brother was farming.

“The Boar Forest map is huge; it takes over ten or twenty minutes to run across the whole thing. I don’t know where they are. It doesn’t matter, anyway—we’re not fighting a boss, so more people isn’t better. Two or three working together is most efficient,” Wind Chimes replied.

Zhang Shan glanced at the game map; Boar Forest was now revealed, and indeed, it was vast. They had only been moving in a tiny corner, their activity covering less than one percent of the whole map.

One demonic boar after another fell to their attacks, their experience rising swiftly. Thousand Miles Alone was full of energy, gleefully asking, “Do you think we can reach level five before lunch?”

“If we eat a little later, we can. It’s only ten-thirty—by eleven or so we’ll reach level four. But to reach five, we need five thousand experience. At our current pace, we’ll probably hit level five around one in the afternoon, which would delay lunch. We’ll see, though—it’s fine to grind after eating as well,” replied Wind Chimes, likely a punctual eater who logs off at mealtime.

“You must be using a gaming pod, right? Why log off to eat? Isn’t it said that you can stay online for days at a time without any issue?” Zhang Shan asked, confused.

“Still, you need to log off and move around—a game isn’t real life,” she answered.

“That makes sense,” Zhang Shan nodded, understanding her point. It was really a matter of balance. Just as working overtime every day leads to mental exhaustion, spending too much time immersed in the game world would have effects as well.

But rumor had it that New World, by employing advanced quantum communication technology, had resolved some of these issues. When players entered New World, their bodies were essentially resting, as if asleep, with no physical impact. Only their minds remained active, as if dreaming.

Of course, staying in a dream forever wouldn’t work either. While there wasn’t a direct physical effect, the mental strain would gradually build up, so it was necessary to log off and engage in real-world activity now and then to refresh one’s spirit.

If overtime causes both physical and mental stress, then gaming long-term is only mental stress—relatively lighter, and manageable with proper adjustment.

While Zhang Shan was pondering the game’s effects on the body, Thousand Miles Alone suddenly cried out, “Check the Beginner’s Village chat channel—there’s chaos on the Rabbit Map, total mayhem! Haha, lucky we left early, or we’d be miserable dealing with those guys.”

“Really, they’re fighting? Let me see—heh heh,” Zhang Shan was curious about the situation.

Beginner’s Village Chat Channel:

“Damn, so you think ranged classes are awesome? All you do is steal kills. We work hard to whittle monsters down to low health, and then a mage snatches it. Can’t you just fight your own monsters? If I can’t play, then no one gets to grind. Whoever attacks a monster, I’ll attack them—let’s see who can outlast who. I don’t care if I don’t level up today.”

“Damn, who hit me? We’re supposed to use Peace Mode when grinding!”

“Peace Mode, my ass.”

“Yishui Jingke, you trashy thief, why do you keep stabbing my backside with your little knife? With your garbage stats, you think you can kill me? I'll send you home with a Fireball—now you’re back to level one, feeling good, huh?”

“Haha, kill! Kill everyone! There are no guards in Beginner’s Village, and there’s no penalty for red names!”

“No penalty? NPC shops charge double for red names—buying a mana potion costs twenty copper coins now!”

“Double price isn’t the worst. The blacksmith won’t repair my gear anymore—he called me a butcher and said he wouldn’t help villains. My clothes are down to one durability, what do I do? Argh!”

“Haha, I’m not worried, I only have starter gear and don’t need repairs. Wait for me to kill you all—no one gets to grind monsters, heh heh.”

“Don’t mess around. If you have a grudge, take it out on the right person. Why attack me? I just want to quietly grind monsters.”

“Grind monsters? What monsters? I finally reached level two and dropped back down again. Who did I offend?”

“Forget it, I’ll just go farm chickens. I can’t handle you lunatics.”

Zhang Shan closed the chat channel.

“A bloodbath caused by a single rabbit, haha,” he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Is there really no penalty for red names in Beginner’s Village? Only no gear repairs and double item prices? Can’t you just have someone else buy items or repair gear for you? Then you could kill at will, without worrying about being red-named. It’s tempting,” Thousand Miles Alone said, itching for action.

“You’re overthinking it—how could there be no penalty? Since shops and the blacksmith are hostile to red-named players, what about the village chief? He’s also an NPC and likely hostile. Right now he doesn’t seem important, but when it’s time to leave the village, everyone has to go to him. Who knows if he’ll settle accounts then?” Wind Chimes shared her thoughts on the red-name mechanics.

“That’s true. Maybe red-named players aren’t allowed to teleport out of the village, or even if the red name is cleared, there might be other penalties,” Zhang Shan speculated.

“Check the forum—this isn’t just our Beginner’s Village, it’s happening everywhere. Total chaos on the Rabbit Map. Haha,” Thousand Miles Alone said, tanking monsters while browsing the forum.

Curious, Zhang Shan opened the New World forum.

Sure enough, the forum was flooded with posts about PK incidents in the Rabbit Map across New World. Others were analyzing the penalties for red-named players in Beginner’s Village.

Most agreed with Wind Chimes’ analysis: likely, when reaching level ten and leaving the village, the chief would impose some penalty. Details were unclear, since the official site provided no information.

One post caught Zhang Shan’s attention.

“How do you clear a red name in Beginner’s Village? I’ve been red-named for an hour, with ten points of notoriety, but the chief ignores me. What should I do? I don’t dare leave the village. Please, experts, help me out.”

“Serves you right. The game’s only been open a couple hours, and you’ve been red-named for one. You probably want to dominate the Chicken Map and become the Chicken King.”

“Yeah, you probably waited for others to get low health from monsters, then ambushed and killed them. Jerk. Serves you right.”

“Serves you right +3.”

“Serves you right +4.”

“Serves you right.”

“Serves you right +5. You’re getting off topic.”

“If your notoriety hasn’t dropped after an hour, maybe it won’t decrease naturally in the Beginner’s Village. Since the chief ignores you now, maybe it's a level requirement. Probably at level ten, he'll deal with you, but expect a penalty—likely paying to clear your notoriety. Start saving up, kid.”

“Expert above is correct. The chief probably only interacts with players when they first enter or leave the village. Clearing notoriety will either cost money or require a difficult quest. Kids, play properly—no point causing trouble in the Beginner’s Village, too small a stage.”

“Expert is right.”

“Respect to the expert.”