Chapter 53: Leveling Up, Part 2

Placing two silver coins on the table, Yu Xunge decided to set up her own tent to rest. She was experienced in wilderness camping, carrying a variety of fully equipped camping gear in her bag. She lit some charcoal, set up a small pot, and cooked herself a steaming bowl of meat noodle soup to restore her energy and banish fatigue.

Different tents nearby emitted various enticing aromas. Skilled players often learned cooking, not only to sustain themselves during monster hunts but also to acquire a lucrative skill. Not all beta testers could afford to learn cooking, so those who could would later sell food to players who couldn’t.

Yu Xunge portioned out some of her meat noodle soup and carried two bowls to the front desk, where she noticed a circle of people gathered around a bespectacled man. His table was laden with food, and when he saw Yu Xunge approaching with dishes, someone waved enthusiastically and said, “Come, come, we’re all here to gather intel. Join us.”

Yu Xunge smiled and sat down, placing the meat noodle soup among the food spread. “Should I pay for this?”

A nearby girl looked at Yu Xunge in awe, recognizing her from a play she had seen. She had been the one to invite Yu Xunge over and explained, “He wants to charge, but we’re just chatting here.”

Xing Minglang sighed helplessly, “I can’t say anything; we have rules. Most of the money we make goes to those ordinary folks.”

A young man sitting beside him stuffed a chicken nugget into Xing’s mouth, silencing him. “I know, I know.”

They hadn’t really said much anyway. Perhaps they were a bit selfish, but not utterly heartless. Even Yu Xunge wasn’t stingy. Otherwise, to put it bluntly, if she had no scruples, she could have simply gone invisible and followed Zhao Shuying, found a player willing to cooperate, and figured out how to enter the teleportation portal by sneaking or shape-shifting. With a lax mindset, there were always loopholes.

Player interactions continued until midnight. Yu Xunge learned of many places where the monsters were high-level and best avoided.

At one point, a box of cockroaches arrived, led by a short-haired woman and a broad-eyed man in military uniform. They joined the conversation, and the woman even helped herself to a cup of wine. Yet, no matter how warm and friendly everyone acted, Yu Xunge ate only the food she had brought from the start.

...

To avoid running into other players, Yu Xunge set out to hunt monsters at 6 a.m. the next day. She had gained 1.473% experience the previous day but felt her efficiency was still low. Today, she planned to venture deep into the forest for monsters between levels 4 and 6.

She switched to her bow. Though it took longer to draw and couldn’t shoot as fast as a crossbow, the bow dealt greater damage. Her current equipment included a necklace that reduced cooldowns, wristbands and belt that each granted +1 Constitution, cloth boots with +1 Intelligence, and a cloth vest with +1 Agility.

[Character] Yu Xunge (Level 0, 1.473%)

[Health]: 350/350

[Mana]: 400/400

[Strength]: 10

[Constitution]: 13 (+2)

[Intelligence]: 15 (+1)

[Agility]: 21 (+1)

When she inspected the data of all players present during dinner, everyone was level 0, with individual attributes mostly between 5 and 10 points, totaling around 25 to 31. In contrast, her combined attributes reached 59—about 30 points more, equivalent to a level 6 difference.

How could she not bully the weak monsters?

Yesterday was barely a warm-up for mobile target shooting; today, she intended to hone her skill in striking monster weak points.

Her sharpshooter talent included a passive skill, “You’re Too Weak (Passive),” allowing her to keenly detect enemy weak spots during combat. She noticed that each time she entered battle, 1 to 4 red dots appeared on the monsters, marking their vulnerabilities. However, battles changed in an instant, making precise shots difficult.

Soon, she found spider silk traces and followed them to a web woven between branches, where a venomous spider lurked.

Yu Xunge took aim and fired an arrow that pierced the spider’s abdomen. A moment later, the monster’s name and health bar appeared above its head.

[Venomous Spider] (Level 4) HP: 270/334

The spider hissed green venom from its fangs. As its abdomen contracted slightly, Yu Xunge swiftly dodged. At the same time, she opened her hand, releasing magical missiles that auto-targeted without needing to aim.

Once steady, she stopped the magic and drew her bow again for a precise shot.

Yu Xunge rarely left herself any opening—this was a skill she’d honed in her previous life. Whether rolling to dodge, falling awkwardly face down, or fleeing, she always managed to land a hit and take a “bite” out of her foes.

Unlike elite players who favored big, flashy ultimate moves, Yu Xunge preferred quickly cast, short cooldown skills that could be used while moving. No matter how powerful the ultimate, if it missed, it was worthless. Ultimates usually took longer to cast and were easily interrupted; if dodged, they might as well be fireworks wasted on mana.

Magic missiles only dealt 5 damage per hit—far less than her 60+ damage arrows—but they fired rapidly, two or three per second, required no chanting, and could be unleashed anytime, perfect for moving and dodging.

In her previous life, many pursuers died not to her ultimates but to her relentless magic missiles.

With two more arrows, the spider lunged at Yu Xunge. She used “Push Shot” to shove the spider back, then fired two more arrows and a few magical missiles. The level 4 spider’s health dropped to zero.

Yu Xunge approached with her bow still drawn, kicked the spider over, revealing a pair of glowing green boots underneath.

Just as expected—she’d struck loot gold so quickly!

She picked up the boots.

[Spider Silk Cloth Boots] (Fine Quality)

[Bonus Attributes]: +3 Intelligence

[Magical Attributes]: +6% Movement Speed

Not bad—two bonuses.

She immediately found a safe spot to swap into the new boots.

Looking at her experience, thanks to the bonus for killing higher-level monsters, she gained an extra 0.01% experience, meaning killing a hundred spiders would increase her experience by 1%, much faster than hunting skeletal wolves.

But it still wasn’t enough. She wanted to hunt even stronger monsters.

Although the Thief God’s “I Want This, This, and That” skill forbade stealing from anyone weaker than herself—meaning she couldn’t pilfer items or attributes from players below her level—she never considered leveling down just for that.