Chapter 9: Global Announcement [Please Vote for Recommendations]

At first, Kuina had been utterly nonchalant, her eyes now wide in astonishment, filled with disbelief. This kind of fang-rabbit was all too common; she could crush one with her bare hands, so she hadn’t given it a second thought. As for Tang Shen’s speed—well, it was far too slow, not even worth comparing to hers. Any slightly more formidable beast could easily dodge his attacks. What truly shocked her was his draw technique. So fast! In that instant, even she could only catch the fleeting shadow of a blade. Even for her, evading such speed would be nearly impossible.

How could this be? Was her master more than just an ordinary man? His strength and speed were plain to see, yet how could his draw technique surpass hers?

Indeed, Tang Shen’s draw was faster than hers. She had practiced the same art and knew her own limits intimately; the comparison was obvious at a glance. At this moment, Kuina’s draw technique was already at the peak of the beginner level, just a hair’s breadth from advancing to intermediate. Yet that single step marked a significant gap.

Snapping out of her astonishment, Kuina looked at Tang Shen with a newfound respect in her eyes.

[Kuina’s respect for you +5]

Tang Shen was momentarily baffled. Why had Kuina’s respect for him increased yet again? Turning to her, he offered a faint smile. Had she been overwhelmed by his kingly aura? Or perhaps bewitched by his handsomeness? Truly, being too handsome was a curse, especially for someone as low-key as he was.

Of course, Kuina knew nothing of Tang Shen’s thoughts—if she had, she would surely have berated him on the spot. Watching him turn and smile at her, she immediately nodded with a serious expression and said respectfully, “Teacher, I understand your painstaking intention. Thank you for your guidance!”

Tang Shen: “????”

Excuse me? What do you understand? Because I have no idea. Watching Kuina put on such a serious face, as if she’d just experienced a profound revelation, Tang Shen was utterly bewildered. Did I even guide her? All I wanted was to show off quietly, and now it’s come to this.

Still, this was not the moment to break character. As a teacher, he had to maintain his authority. With a calm nod, Tang Shen said, “As long as you understand.” Hmm, this feeling was rather pleasant.

In truth, Kuina believed Tang Shen was teaching her a lesson: look at me, even with such weak physical strength and poor speed, as long as my draw is fast enough, my attack speed is swift enough, even enemies stronger than you will still fall to your blade. Wasn’t this the very lesson he had imparted? From another angle—make speed your core, with strength as support. If I am faster than you, that, in a sense, equals lethality.

The thought moved Kuina deeply. Her teacher was truly considerate, knowing she was slow to grasp things, so he demonstrated in person. She made a silent vow never to let Tang Shen’s teachings go to waste. Her gaze grew even more respectful, and she had no regrets about taking him as her master—instead, she was filled with gratitude.

Tang Shen, of course, had no idea how much Kuina had read into his smile. If he did, he would likely burst out laughing, thinking he’d never seen such a pure-hearted child. Out loud, he would probably say, “Yes, you’re absolutely right; I am indeed so painstaking.”

[Beep~ Hunted a level-1 beast, gained 1 experience point]

Hearing the system notification, Tang Shen curled his lip. Only one point of experience—how stingy. He called up his personal info.

Player: Monkey D. Roger
Age: 18
Start location: Frostmoon Novice Village
Level: 0, 10%
Swordsmanship talent: +20
Health: 100
Constitution: 5
Strength: 1
Agility: 1
Spirit: 1
Skills: Intermediate Draw Technique (Beginner), Scouting, Basic Gathering
System inventory: Novice Wooden Sword x1, adjustable hand and leg weights

Seeing that the experience bar had only increased by 10%, Tang Shen’s expression darkened. Then, noticing his constitution had dropped by half, he could barely resist cursing out loud.

In this full-immersion online game, leveling up actually required hunting ten level-1 beasts. What’s more, his draw technique had used up half his stamina and endurance in one strike. This meant, at full strength, he could only draw twice before his stamina hit zero. In other words, he would need to be at full strength five times over just to reach level 1.

The difficulty was outrageous. Worse yet, he hadn’t forgotten the system’s evaluation of the fang-rabbit. Without the intermediate draw technique, he might have been the one killed. If leveling was this hard to start, what about later? Wouldn’t most human players be slaughtered by fang-rabbits? Tang Shen didn’t dare imagine further.

He had no doubt that a large number of players, upon first entering the game, would eagerly set out with their novice wooden swords to hunt monsters, with fang-rabbits being the weakest of the lot. He pictured hordes of players being chased and bitten by level-1 fang-rabbits, the carnage and screams, the utter misery—it would be quite a spectacle.

From that perspective, perhaps things weren’t so bad for him after all.

Just then, the system chimed again, but with a different tone.

[Beep~ Congratulations: Player Monkey D. Roger has achieved the first kill, rating: Perfect]
[Beep~ As the first player to hunt a beast, you are awarded 1 achievement point]

Tang Shen was pleased at first, but when he heard the reward, he rolled his eyes in annoyance. He didn’t even know what achievement points were, but one point? That was miserly indeed. This game was really stingy.

But it wasn’t over yet. Immediately, three system notifications sounded in succession.

[System announcement: Player Monkey D. Roger is the first to achieve a beast first-kill; special announcement for encouragement!]
[System announcement: Player Monkey D. Roger is the first to achieve a beast first-kill; special announcement for encouragement!]
[System announcement: Player Monkey D. Roger is the first to achieve a beast first-kill; special announcement for encouragement!]

At this, Tang Shen’s eyes widened. He wanted to shout “666!” The earlier rewards were nothing—this was the real prize. Though not a tangible reward, it felt great. System announcements were broadcast to all players. At this stage, there were at least hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of players online. He had just shown off in front of everyone.

It also proved he was indeed the first to slay a beast. All his earlier suspicions were true; even after chatting with Kuina for so long, no one else had succeeded. That spoke volumes.

He felt an immense satisfaction. He’d become famous without even trying. The feeling was exhilarating—first in the whole server! Just thinking about it made his heart race.

Tang Shen bent down, grinning from ear to ear, ready to pick up the fang-rabbit’s corpse.

[Beep~ Congratulations: Player Monkey D. Roger has learned Basic Gathering]
[Gathered a piece of exquisite fang-rabbit meat. Note: When cooked, restores stamina and endurance.]
[Gathered a fang-rabbit tooth. Note: The hardest part of the fang-rabbit, naturally as sharp as a dagger.]
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