Chapter 93 - 89 Monster’s IQ

Chapter 93: Chapter 89 Monster’s IQXiao Jie walked towards the village with heavy thoughts. He had been somewhat careless today. Although the appearance of the horse bandits was unexpected, the nature of the unexpected was that it could always happen. Life and death didn’t adhere to any logic; one couldn’t always gamble on luck to win against such surprises. Luck was the least reliable thing. Even if you won a hundred times, just one loss could mean GAME OVER. It wouldn’t do; he needed to be as cautious as possible in the future, calculating all possible factors and preparing for every action. But as easy as it was to think-up, it was hard to execute. His level was too low, his knowledge of the game too scant, and the resources at his disposal were limited. Moreover, some emergencies were hard to predict. After all, playing this kind of death game meant risking danger. One could only choose not to venture out and stay like Wang Kai, holed up in the village for a lifetime. All he could do was to do his humanly best and leave the rest to fate. Seemingly sensing Xiao Jie’s thoughts, I Want to Be Immortal suddenly said, "Feng, today wasn’t your fault. Who knew we could encounter horse bandits?" "No, that’s exactly the problem. Even if we didn’t know, we must still consider it beforehand. Now we can only make do with limited resources, and once we level up and get to the larger map, we must prepare all kinds of life-saving items to ensure we can escape danger. I wonder if there’s something like a Town Recall Scroll in this game..." In fact, when chasing the pick-up little monster earlier, Xiao Jie had also hypothesized the possibility of encountering enemies, but conventional thinking made him believe that, aside from wild dogs and Corpse Eating Dogs, no monster on the Ginkgo Valley map could outrun a player. Little did he know that he would turn around and face a new type of enemy. The memory of his conversation with Wang Kai came to mind; indeed, anything could happen in this game, and many who thought they could gradually increase the difficulty from little monsters often died out there. Xiao Jie shook his head, discarding the unease that lingered in his mind. "Did you notice that both the horse bandits and pick-up little monster were too smart? Their way of thinking is very human-like. This little monster even knew how to draw disaster elsewhere and use one enemy against another. It lured us to the horse bandits likely with the intention of having us killed by monsters and then picking up our loot. Those items in its bag must have come from that." I Want to Be Immortal said, "Now that you mention it, that does seem to be the case. Initially, I was lured by that pick-up little monster to a few wild dogs, and if it wasn’t for your rescue, I almost died. But the pick-up little monster must be an exception, right?" "On the contrary, I think this may be more common than you think. The monsters we’ve encountered before are the exception." In the past, the creatures they had encountered were either soulless zombies, which were completely mindless trash, or wild beasts which were low-intelligence creatures. Lost Soul Mountain Bandits had some smarts, but not much, understandably so since, being soul-lost, they must have been pretty brainless. Straw men were puppets created by magic, and a few demons had been corrupted by Demon Talismans, making their thought processes abnormal. This led Xiao Jie to believe that the monsters in this game were no different from those in other games. But now, considering that NPCs had human-like reactions and intelligence, it seemed reasonable that monsters would have similar intelligence levels. The reason for previously encountering mostly brainless monsters was probably because the little monsters near Newbie Village were intentionally designed as weaker, not only in level attributes but also in intelligence. Even with that, the death rate among new players was unusually high. If all were as smart as the horse bandits or the pick-up little monster, the number who would die would equal the number who arrived; hardly anyone would survive. But once they left Newbie Village, the situation would undoubtedly change. In the future, monsters like the horse bandits would likely be just ordinary members. Xiao Jie shared his speculations, and I Want to Be Immortal exclaimed in shock. "Ah, does that mean— in the future, we have to treat every monster as if we were dealing with another human? Engaging in a battle of wits?" "No, there’s still a difference. Monsters have their fixed patterns of behavior, such as the horse bandits riding around on horses, and the pick-up little monster being attracted to fallen treasures. But, aside from this, we indeed must treat them as intelligent opponents, not as brainless beasts. Especially the humanoid ones. Otherwise, it’s only a matter of time before we fall. Just like the mountain bandits, the ones we’re dealing with now are ’Lost Soul Mountain Bandits,’ less smart, which is understandable. But if we encounter regular mountain bandits who haven’t lost their souls, then we need to be cautious. They might call for each other when attacked or set traps in advance to catch us. They might even use lies to deceive us, waiting for us to slip and then suddenly attack." I Want to Be Immortal said, feeling jittery, "That sounds way too dangerous. It’s like there’s no way to guard against it." "What, are you scared? Gaining power is never easy. Or are you thinking of giving up?" "No, I won’t give up. I must achieve godhood and Immortal Path, then resurrect my elder brother." I Want to Be Immortal was very firm on this. "I won’t give up either. So, let’s strive together." Upon returning to the village, both began their repairs. Xiao Jie sold all the junk from his bag to the shop and made over 1,000 sovereigns. Including the copper coins dropped by the pick-up little monster and his previously saved windfall, he now had over 3,300 sovereigns. However, this time he wasn’t pleased; he realized that such money was nothing in the grand scheme—sooner or later, it would all be spent. If push comes to shove, he thought about using real money. Now that he had an extra 500,000 in his account, topping up some money wasn’t a big deal. But for now, he could manage without, and rushing into paying wasn’t necessary. After lunch and stocking up on supplies, Xiao Jie bought another Shield since his previous one had ended up shattered by a horse bandit. Although he had started using Dual Blades, the Shield still had its uses, similar to what had happened today. As they gathered at the village gate, Xiao Jie noticed that I Want to Be Immortal had bought another dog. He recognized this dog; it was called Scar. He joked, "Hey Cheng Xian, take it easy this time, and try not to end up with another dead dog." I Want to Be Immortal also felt a bit awkward, "Stop talking about it, Feng, I feel like I kind of owe these dogs. This time, no matter what, we can’t let any more dogs die." While the two were chatting, two dogs also started chatting. Scar: Rou Qiu? What are they talking about? Rou Qiu: They’re saying you’re too weak and definitely can’t compete with me. They’re afraid you’ll panic and run around during the fight, messing up the plan. Scar: The master really underestimates dogs. Just wait until the battle starts; I’ll make him realize that I am a brave hunting dog. Just you watch. Rou Qiu: Okay, then during the fight, you go first. I’ll give you more chances to show off so your master can see how formidable you are. Scar: Good brother, truly one of us who scrambles for food together. Xiao Jie listened and was speechless for a while, thinking to himself, Rou Qiu, oh Rou Qiu, you really are a dog. "Let’s go, on to leveling." Xiao Jie waved his hand, and the two walked out of the village. With the lessons learned from the battle with the three horse bandits, Xiao Jie became extra cautious in the afternoon’s leveling, completely avoiding greed for experience and recklessness, and prioritizing safety above all. By now, Xiao Jie’s experience points had reached 39%. The three horse bandits were indeed formidable, but they also offered high experience points, each giving over two hundred. In comparison, a soulless zombie only gave a dozen or so points, and when split between them, each could only get a few points of experience. One horse bandit was equivalent to about twenty soulless zombies. If we really start leveling up, killing horse bandits would indeed be faster. But for now, let’s honestly chop up soulless zombies. The two wandered around the area near the village, first killing some animals in the forest and replenishing their pets with some dog food, while I Want to Be Immortal also used the Autopsy Skill to dig up some materials. Then they moved to the area around the forest path, killing a group of soulless zombies; after a morning’s time, the soulless zombies there had refreshed, just right for the two to train on for a bit. Then they ran up the hillside and cleared the mountain bandits once more. Compared to the horse bandits, these Lost Soul mountain bandits seemed much weaker this time. Not only because they lacked horses, Xiao Jie could feel that the mountain bandits’ intelligence was clearly lacking, and they hardly called for companions, only attempting to escape when severely wounded. But because they were on foot, they couldn’t escape at all. It seems this "Lost Soul" prefix really weakened these mountain bandits quite a bit. It’s a pity that the crows in the farmland are all descendants of those three big crows, making it inconvenient to attack them. After this round of leveling until evening, the two only barely reached a bit over 70% experience. This afternoon’s journey of leveling wasn’t much to speak of; its only advantage was safety. Now, having almost completely explored the map around the village, they knew their way around even with their eyes closed. Apart from the occasional corpse group and the small boss in the mountain bandit camp, there wasn’t much of a threat. Xiao Jie checked the map and saw that now only the area in the northeast direction of Ginkgo Valley remained unexplored. Tomorrow morning, once they reached level 8, they would set off to investigate in the afternoon. The safest method, actually, would be to wait until level 10. But with the current leveling speed, reaching level 10 might still take about a week. Although investigating the Ancient Tomb didn’t have a specific time requirement, much could happen over a long night. Who knows what could change by then? If by the time they reached level 10, that mysterious man in black had already fled, or if someone else snatched the mission, that would be problematic. Just for investigation, level 8 should be enough. The next day, bright and early, the two continued leveling, starting with laughs and talks but gradually becoming calmer. Mechanically repeating monster kills was never an interesting thing, not to mention they also had to stay alert while doing so. By noon, the two had finally reached level 8, and with a flash of golden light, they both felt relieved. "Whew, Feng, let’s take a break, it’s exhausting," Xiao Jie said. If there weren’t the threat of death, it would be manageable, but with the hanging threat of death, they couldn’t dare relax their focus, making the leveling process unusually torturous. "Okay, let’s go back and rest up, then head to the tomb this afternoon." Back in the village, they cleared all the junk from their bags, ate and drank their fill, maxed out their satiety, and prepared ample supplies. Then the two were ready to set off. Xiao Jie instructed, "Remember, if we encounter danger, when I shout ’run,’ we run immediately. If I shout ’run for your life,’ don’t hesitate, use the Godspeed Talisman and head straight for the village." "Don’t worry, Feng, I’ll listen carefully," I Want to Be Immortal responded seriously, well aware of the stakes. "Also, we’re just investigating this time, try to avoid combat as much as possible, got it?" "Got it!" Xiao Jie took a deep breath, "Alright, let’s go!"