In the evening, Apricot Blossom Village was enveloped in the curling smoke of cooking fires, the air filled with the aroma of food, which to the ravenously hungry Zhang Fan, felt like the cruelest torture in the world.
He quickly made his way to the Steamed Bun Shop, slamming three copper coins onto the counter with a resounding "thud," exuding an indescribable air of bravado.
"Old lady, give me three wotou!"
The dozing old woman was startled awake by the sound. Seeing the copper coins on the counter, her previously impatient face immediately broke into a smile, her attitude making a complete turnaround.
"Alright, sir, please wait a moment!"
She deftly lifted the lid of the steamer, releasing a wave of white steam mixed with the aroma of coarse grains.
With quick hands, she packed three steaming hot wotou for Zhang Fan.
Zhang Fan picked one up, and immediately an item attribute appeared before his eyes.
[Name: Coarse Grain Wotou]
[Tier: Tier 1]
[Type: Consumable]
[Attribute: Restores 20 points of satiety upon consumption, slowly recovers 10 points of HP.]
[Remarks: Although the texture is rough, it at least fills the stomach. For the hungry, it's a supreme delicacy.]
He couldn't wait any longer and stuffed one into his mouth.
The wotou's rough texture scratched his throat a bit, but the warm grain aroma slid down his esophagus into his stomach, instantly transforming into a warm current that dispelled the weakness and cold entrenched in his body.
He devoured two in quick succession, and the [Satiety] bar on his Attribute Panel finally shifted from a dangerous red to a safe [60%].
[Ding! Your satiety has been restored to a safe level, negative status has been lifted.]
He was alive!
Zhang Fan leaned against the wall, exhaling a long breath, a sense of relief from surviving a disaster filling his heart.
He never thought a coarse wotou could taste so delicious.
As he savored this hard-earned feeling of fullness, three figures approached from the direction of the village entrance, catching his attention.
It was two men and a woman.
Their equipment was just ordinary cloth clothes, but they looked clean and tidy, their spirits high, in stark contrast to his previous wretched, starved appearance.
They were obviously players too.
The leading male player had a friendly smile and an easygoing demeanor. He noticed Zhang Fan, who was gnawing on his wotou, and approached with a smile, greeting him, "Brother, are you new here?"
Zhang Fan saw the ID floating above his head— [Xu Xiake] —and nodded, swallowing the wotou in his mouth.
He watched warily.
"Yeah, I just got here not long ago."
"I'm Xu Xiake," he pointed to his companions behind him, "this is [Empty Gate], and this is [Dreaming of Jiangnan], we're a team."
The male player named Empty Gate was tall and had a simple, honest face. He smiled at Zhang Fan.
The female player named Dreaming of Jiangnan had a delicate face but a somewhat indifferent expression, nodding politely.
Looking at them, Zhang Fan finally mustered the courage to ask the biggest question in his heart.
"Brothers and sister, I'm... I'm a newcomer, completely in the dark. How do you play this game?"
Xu Xiake laughed at his words, a kind smile on his face, "No need to be formal, we're actually newbies too.
The game just launched not long ago, there's no information on the official site, everyone is figuring it out.
There's no guide, NPC quests are all self-explored, so leveling up is particularly slow."
"Are there many players?"
He paused, then continued, "As far as we know, there are about seven or eight players in this village, all below level ten, basically doing odd jobs and quests in the village.
Money is hard to earn in this game, and experience is even harder to gain, leveling up is as difficult as climbing to the sky."
Hearing this, Zhang Fan nodded in deep agreement.
When the conversation turned to money, Xu Xiake changed the subject, as if remembering something, and tentatively said to Zhang Fan.
"By the way, brother, judging by your situation, you must have just earned your first bit of money?
Our team buys game currency long-term, if you have extra money on hand, we can buy it with real money.
The current rate is one wen for one hundred bucks, no upper limit, if you want to sell, you can find me anytime."
"One wen... one hundred bucks?"
Zhang Fan's mind buzzed, as if struck by a bolt of lightning.
He maintained a calm exterior, simply staring blankly at Xu Xiake, pretending to be deep in thought, but inside, a storm was raging!
One hundred bucks for one wen?
So I just chopped wood for half an hour and earned three wen... that's three hundred bucks?!
Then I bought three wotou, spending three hundred bucks?
Half an hour, three hundred bucks?! A few hundred in a minute?
"This is ridiculous! This isn't playing a game, it's printing money! No, it's eating money!"
It all felt too unreal to him. Was it really worth pouring this much real money into a mere game?
He felt something was off, forcibly suppressing his excitement, he replied vaguely, "Th-thank you, brother, I'll... I'll think about it."
"Alright, no rush." Xu Xiake didn't mind.
Zhang Fan quickly asked about leveling up and communication.
Xu Xiake: "The most important thing now is leveling up.
Once you reach level ten, the system will automatically activate a feature called [Jianghu Forum], then all players who reach level ten can exchange information and experiences on the forum, that's when you truly step into the Jianghu."
"So there's a place for communication." Zhang Fan sighed.
Jianghu Forum!
It was like a light illuminating Zhang Fan's path forward.
He developed an intense desire to reach level ten.
With the forum, it meant access to more information, learning more secrets of this world, and even... possibly finding clues about Wang Yun's death and that person named [Wanderer]!
As night deepened, the lights in the village gradually dwindled.
Xu Xiake and his companions seemed ready to log off.
Before leaving, Xu Xiake kindly advised him, "Brother, it's dangerous outside at night, never log off in the wild.
The Ancestral Hall in the center of the village is the only safe log-off point we've found so far, log off there and you'll be fine."
"It's getting dark, if there's nothing else, log off quickly, it'll save you a lot of money, otherwise your satiety will keep dropping at night."
"Thank you!" Zhang Fan sincerely expressed his gratitude.
After bidding them farewell, Zhang Fan followed the instructions and went to the Ancestral Hall in the center of the village.
The Ancestral Hall was ancient and solemn, with unknown tablets enshrined inside, a few remaining candles flickering in the wind.
Looking at this only place that could bring a sense of safety, he didn't hesitate, silently reciting in his heart, "Log off."
As his consciousness withdrew, only one thought remained in his mind.
...