Chapter 4 - 4 2 The Little Monster at the Village Entrance

4: Chapter 2 The Little Monster at the Village Entrance 4: Chapter 2 The Little Monster at the Village Entrance System Prompt: Please give your character a name. An empty name bar appeared before his eyes. Xiao Jie thought for a moment and chose a game name he often used in the past—Hidden Moon Following Wind. What surprised him was that the game didn’t have a character customization or profession selection process, and it directly switched to his character’s perspective. A skinny man wearing only shorts, holding a wooden stick in his hand. [Wooden Stick (One-handed bludgeon) Attack Power: 8 blunt impact. Item Introduction: A crude weapon made from tree branches. When swung with full force, it can create a certain lethality. It is said that the wooden stick was the first weapon created by ancient humans, thus becoming the only companion for a returnee with nothing at all. Isn’t this too shabby? Not even a piece of cloth to wear? Xiao Jie complained inwardly and familiarized himself with the controls. As a veteran gamer of over a decade, he had grasped the game’s basic mechanics in just a short while. WASD to move, left-click to attack, right-click to block, able to run and jump, a standard over-the-shoulder control scheme. What amazed him was the game’s action module was quite impressive. By fine-tuning with the mouse, you could attack and block from different directions, somewhat similar to Mount & Blade, yet while that game only allowed attacks from four directions, this one let you attack and defend from every different angle. You could also roll and jump, releasing charged attacks through key presses, which added some shades of the soul system games. But what Xiao Jie found most unbelievable was the game’s realism, whether it was the movements or the sensation of hits, they were incredibly life-like. Typically, characters in online games feel ‘floaty’ when controlled, but this game had none of that feeling. Its play feel surpasses those stand-alone titles Xiao Jie had played; the game was even excessively realistic to the point where there was a distinctive delay in responsiveness. Even though the key was pressed, the character’s actions always seemed to be half a beat too slow. But Xiao Jie knew that this was not a fault. In fact, it was precisely the astonishing aspect of the game. This kind of realism was actually closer to the patterns of human behavior in reality. It might feel unfamiliar at first, but once you got the hang of it, it would provide a strong sense of immersion. After all, every game is a simulation of some aspect of reality. The more real the simulation, the stronger the player’s sense of immersion, and the greater the sense of achievement when defeating an enemy. What surprised him even more was the way he interacted with NPCs, not through a dialogue box. When he approached an old NPC man to talk, he couldn’t find any dialogue options. At that moment, a system prompt popped up on the screen. [System Prompt: Players can interact with characters around them using voice.] Voice interaction? Xiao Jie wondered if that was really true. So high-tech? “Hello!” he tried saying into the microphone. The old man actually seemed to hear his words and nodded at him. “Hello there, young man. Judging by your looks, you must be a returnee.” Damn, it really works! Xiao Jie grew increasingly astonished. So intelligent? Could this be the legendary artificial intelligence technology? He immediately became interested. He wondered just how intelligent the game’s AI was. Could it fully simulate an old man’s speech and behavioral logic? If it could really do that, it would be too impressive. Just how high was the freedom in this game? “Indeed, elder, I am Hidden Moon Following Wind, having just arrived here. May I ask, where is this place?” “This is Ginkgo Valley; our village is called Ginkgo Village, a territory of Fengyin State. However, since the great disaster, we have lost contact with the State Mansion. These days, demons and ghosts roam everywhere outside. If you like, you can stay here for a while longer. Some other returnees came by a while ago, but they didn’t stay for many days. They went outside the village, and now we don’t know if they are alive or dead… Sigh” Hearing the old man’s words, Xiao Jie was utterly amazed. Though it was but a simple conversation, the level of interactivity was already nearly on par with talking to a real person. Liu Qiang was right, this game was definitely something that could change the future. Moreover, it has to be said that the game’s optimization is somewhat impressive. Despite being an online game, it runs smoother than a standalone title, and the graphics are incredibly realistic, letting his old machine with a 1060 graphics card still run it smoothly. He could hardly wait to go out and explore the world anymore, as long as the game’s combat system had no issues, it was bound to be boundless with potential. At this moment, Han Luo also ran over, and Xiao Jie thanked the old man before the two of them headed out of the village. “Don’t go out, it’s very dangerous out there,” the old man nagged, his eyes betraying his worry. But both were so excited that they didn’t pay any heed. They strode out of the village, thrilled with anticipation. Five minutes later— The two encountered the game’s first Little Monster. “This guy looks pretty fierce.” Xiao Jie, holding a wooden stick, hid behind a bush, looking at the ‘Lost Soul Mountain Bandit’ in front of him with trepidation. There stood a burly man in studded leather armor, his dilapidated gear not hiding his intimidating build, broad-shouldered and powerful, with a large saber on his shoulder. The rust-stained blade seemed to still carry traces of blood, and the bandit’s face had a twisted, crazed expression, but his eyes were empty, probably related to the term ‘Lost Soul.’ In ultra-high resolution, he looked even more menacing. In comparison, the two of them, bare-bodied and holding wooden sticks, looked utterly shabby. “What’s there to be scared of, just some minor monster near the village entrance. How tough can it be, let’s do this!” Han Luo said nonchalantly, eager to start the fight. Xiao Jie figured that was also true as games with a dark style tended to make monsters look scarier than they were in a fight. Besides, it was just a game, and even getting killed wouldn’t matter. They could just resurrect and start over. “Alright, I’ll go in first to draw its aggro, and you sneak attack from behind.” “Got it.” The two charged at the mountain bandit, one after the other. Seeing them, the bandit also swung his large saber and charged at Xiao Jie. Xiao Jie swung his stick, but the bandit didn’t dodge or evade, also chopping down directly. Xiao Jie intended to test the Monster’s damage, so he didn’t try to dodge either and exchanged blows with him. Clang! -7. Splat! -28 As the stick hit the bandit, Xiao Jie also took a slash from him. (Damn, that’s some freaking high damage! What happened to the minor monster at the village entrance?) Seeing his health bar drop by a third in an instant, Xiao Jie was shocked. The game was ridiculously unfair, with even the minor monsters near the village being so formidable. Seeing the bandit come at him with another slash, Xiao Jie didn’t dare to keep trading blows. Instead, he deflected with his stick while retreating. This game featured a Deflection mechanic, where right-clicking and moving the mouse also allowed the direction of the Deflection to be adjusted. Similarly, the direction of the Attack could be changed during an attack. So in theory, as long as you could predict your opponent’s attacking direction at the moment they launched the attack and align to the same direction to Deflect, you could block the enemy’s attack. However, theory is just theory. Since the attack angle could be freely chosen, it was undeniably quite difficult to quickly determine the enemy’s attacking direction and deflect. Any small mistake could lead to a failed defense, but fortunately, Xiao Jie’s gaming skills were no ordinary high. With a clang, he Blocked a slash. But then came the second and third slashes in quick succession, and Xiao Jie had to keep defending. Even though Xiao Jie’s skills were above average, he barely Blocked two slashes; when he attempted to block the third, his angle was slightly off, and the bandit’s attack broke through his defense, striking him. -33! Blood splattered, and he was now left with just a sliver of health. Seeing his character covered in blood, Xiao Jie felt an inexplicable anxiety arise, as if his own life was truly hanging by a thread.