Various quests served as one of the primary avenues for rapid advancement within the game.
Upon their completion, not only would players accrue substantial experience, but the majority of these quests also bestowed rewards commensurate with their difficulty.
These rewards ranged from coveted high-tier equipment, potent potions, and rare items, to even elusive hidden classes and invaluable special skill books.
Consequently, the more challenging a quest proved to be, the more exceptional its spoils typically were.
This reality spurred countless players to ceaselessly scour the game world, perpetually seeking methods to unlock new quests.
As the game progressed into its mid-to-late stages, a distinct class of information brokers would emerge, earning their livelihood by peddling intelligence on these very quests.
Through their whispered revelations, players could often unearth critical details about numerous high-level undertakings.
Naturally, this period marked the nascent stages of the game, and while some individuals might have harbored such entrepreneurial aspirations, the necessary conditions simply hadn’t materialized.
For now, every player was singularly focused on the arduous endeavor of escaping the confines of the Novice Village.
Undertaking quests was, without a doubt, the quintessential path to advancement; Bai Xia understood this fundamental truth without Tian Zheng needing to articulate it.
However…
“Where exactly are we supposed to find quests?”
Indeed, the Novice Village was a rather diminutive locale, and every single NPC was perpetually besieged by an impenetrable throng of players, standing three deep.
Furthermore, the quests offered by Novice NPCs typically offered meager value, often tasks as mundane as culling a few chickens, hunting some rabbits, or gathering a handful of medicinal herbs, with truly paltry rewards.
Therefore, rather than returning to the village to solicit quests from NPCs and then contending with a horde of other players for a paltry few wild monsters, it seemed far more prudent to venture into perilous regions for a genuine adventure.
At the very least, the latter promised a much greater thrill.
In response to Bai Xia’s palpable confusion, the man, having meticulously reined in his own emotions, simply offered a cryptic smile.
Without deigning to offer any explanation, he merely gestured, then turned and led the way back towards the Novice Village.
“Just follow me; you’ll soon understand.”
Bai Xia blinked, a flicker of profound curiosity igniting within her as she wondered just what this man had up his sleeve.
‘However, he was a renowned expert, a ‘Great God’ among players; perhaps he possessed certain stratagems unknown to her.’
‘In any case, by simply following him, she would soon ascertain his intentions.’
Thus, without a moment’s hesitation, she scampered along, her footsteps light as she quickly caught up to Tian Zheng’s stride.
****
While the Novice Village lacked the convenience of a Town Return Scroll, the forest itself was not far from the settlement.
Moving one after another, the two swiftly made their way back into the heart of the village.
In stark contrast to the previous day, the population within the Novice Village had not merely held steady but had demonstrably swelled.
Evidently, the game’s overwhelmingly positive reception and explosive word-of-mouth had successfully lured an even greater influx of players.
Given the sheer density of the crowd, and the inherent inability of holographic online game characters to ‘overlap’ in the manner of traditional online games, Bai Xia, to preempt any chance of separation, decisively seized Tian Zheng’s wrist.
The man merely cast a fleeting glance her way, then, with a subtle turn of his hand, firmly grasped her hand—which was noticeably smaller than his own—and gently drew her closer to his side.
Bai Xia paused, momentarily stunned, yet ultimately chose to remain silent regarding his forward gesture.
‘After all, she had been the one to initiate physical contact.’
Fortunately, Tian Zheng appeared to harbor no ulterior motives; it seemed he was simply concerned that her grip might be too weak, risking her being swept away and lost in the surging crowd.
Indeed, it wasn’t long before they entered a shop within the Novice Village, at which point he naturally released Bai Xia’s hand once more.
Bai Xia’s attention was now also captivated by the establishment, yet her expression grew increasingly bewildered as she surveyed her surroundings.
“A blacksmith’s shop? What are we doing here?”
While the Novice Village was certainly not expansive, falling far short of the scale of a true city, it exemplified the adage: ‘Though a sparrow is small, it has all its vital organs.’
Every conceivable type of shop was present, none conspicuously absent.
However, the most bustling establishments were not the weapon and armor emporiums, but rather the humble potion shops.
This was due to the undeniable fact that various recovery and healing potions constituted the paramount necessity for current players.
After all, not every newcomer could navigate such a game with the effortless mastery of Tian Zheng, nor could they secure a powerful patron as Bai Xia had from the outset.
Owing to their unfamiliarity with the game’s intricate mechanics, ordinary players frequently encountered myriad difficulties during their explorations.
Consequently, carrying an ample supply of both healing and recovery potions was an absolute imperative to ensure their very survival.
Mercifully, while the drop rates for various equipment and items in ‘Otherworld’ were notoriously abysmal, the ‘Official Daddy’ (TL Note: A Chinese slang term, ‘guānfāng bàba,’ playfully referring to the game developers as a benevolent, albeit sometimes strict, figure) had not been entirely ruthless.
The initial selection of potions, though not exceptional in their efficacy, were remarkably affordable.
If the potion shops represented the absolute zenith of popularity, then the blacksmith’s forge stood, without question, at the diametric opposite.
Compared to the potion vendors, who were perpetually encircled by layers of eager customers, the blacksmith’s shop, dedicated to crafting equipment, could accurately be described as utterly desolate.
Upon reflection, this state of affairs was entirely natural.
After all, this was a blacksmith’s shop situated in the Novice Village; not only did crafting equipment necessitate players supplying their own materials, but the actual cost of forging a single piece was far from inexpensive.
Presently, it was questionable whether most players could even procure the requisite materials, as virtually everyone was so impoverished that they wished they could cleave a single coin in two just to make ends meet.
Where, then, would they possibly find the surplus funds to invest in crafting any equipment whatsoever?
Furthermore, the blacksmith’s shop in the Novice Village was inherently incapable of forging anything of significant quality in the first place.
Consequently, after a few hopeful individuals ventured inside, seeking to try their luck only to emerge empty-handed, the blacksmith’s shop had fallen into a state of utter quietude.
Throughout the entire morning, perhaps only a dozen people had bothered to visit.
At this very moment, the entire blacksmith’s shop held no one but Bai Xia and Tian Zheng.
The blacksmith’s shop was a modest space, crammed with an assortment of forging tools and various half-finished weapons and armor, with a colossal furnace dominating its center.
Beside this roaring inferno stood a burly, bare-chested middle-aged man, his powerful arms wielding a massive silver hammer as he relentlessly pounded a glowing red block of iron, each resounding thud echoing with visceral force.
His concentration appeared entirely absorbed by the demanding task at hand, rendering him completely oblivious to the fact that Bai Xia and Tian Zheng had been standing within his shop for some time.
Concurrently, a friendly blue NPC identifier materialized above the middle-aged man’s head, proclaiming his identity: Blacksmith Old Wang.
‘Old Wang?’
‘She wondered if the shopkeeper next door might be sporting a green hat (TL Note: A Chinese cultural idiom, ‘dài lǜ màozi,’ meaning to be cuckolded).’
Alright, that was just a fleeting thought.
Blacksmith Old Wang possessed the countenance of an exceedingly honest and dependable man, and his profound absorption in the art of forging was strikingly evident.
Perceiving that Tian Zheng had no intention of interrupting him, Bai Xia, uncertain of their purpose here, could only opt to observe the unfolding situation in silence.
Fortunately, the blacksmith soon registered the presence of customers within his shop.
He promptly ceased his hammering, wiped his sweat-streaked face with the towel draped around his neck, and offered them an apologetic smile.
“…Uh, my apologies, esteemed adventurers, are you here to have weapons forged?”
It was truly remarkable; the level of AI sophistication exhibited by the NPCs in ‘Otherworld’ was nothing short of astonishing.
Without prior knowledge, no one would ever suspect that the middle-aged man before them was merely a complex string of data.
Responding to Old Wang’s query, Tian Zheng, who had remained silent for an extended period, finally broke his quietude.
“Yes, we require weapons to be forged.”
“I regret to inform you that my current abilities only permit me to forge the most rudimentary of weapons.”
“If you are amenable, please gather the necessary materials and bring them to me; I shall then craft weapons suitable for your respective classes.”
No sooner had Blacksmith Old Wang concluded his explanation than a system notification chimed in Bai Xia’s ear, informing her that she had acquired a weapon crafting blueprint.
The blueprint was for a Level 5 common-grade dagger, requiring a modest amount of materials, yet demanding a crafting fee of three silver coins.
Upon seeing this, Bai Xia began to grasp why the shop remained so deserted.
In ‘Otherworld,’ the game’s currency was straightforwardly categorized into three tiers: gold, silver, and copper, following the standard conversion rate of one gold to ten silver, and one silver to ten copper.
Considering that new players had extremely limited avenues for acquiring currency, and the coin drop rates were notoriously low, three silver coins, while seemingly negligible, could purchase a full fifteen Minor Healing Potions.
This sum didn’t even account for the value of the materials required for crafting!
Presented with a choice between an abundance of vital supplies and a low-tier, transitional weapon, it was unequivocally clear that most players would opt for the former.
After all, the novice phase of the game placed little emphasis on equipment, and the cost and effort involved in crafting such an item were wildly disproportionate to its actual utility.
Thus, the weapon crafting blueprints offered by this blacksmith’s shop appeared, from every conceivable angle, to be nothing more than a blatant trap, squandering both time and precious currency.
Bai Xia cast a deeply perplexed glance at Tian Zheng.
‘Surely, his grand ‘quest’ couldn’t possibly be *this*?’