Li Wu stood there dumbfounded, gripping the handgun, his mind in a daze.
What kind of game is this? With modern weapons, those so-called magical professions are utterly useless.
Li Wu's attempt to load bullets into the magazine caught the attention of a middle-aged man nearby.
Noticing Li Wu's clumsy actions and his beginner's cloth outfit, the middle-aged man's eyes lit up, and he approached with a smile.
"Hey, kid, are you selling those bullets? I'll give you a dollar each."
Hearing this price, Li Wu was slightly taken aback. Is the newbie benefit this generous? Just logged in and not only do I not need to top-up, but I can also sell for ten bucks?
"Not selling!"
Before the middle-aged man could raise the price, Li Wu quickly squeezed out of the crowd.
After pushing through the crowd, Li Wu began to wander around the Beginner Village.
There weren't any particularly tall buildings around, but the overall style was close to modern architecture, albeit with half of the structures in ruins, giving off an apocalyptic vibe.
The Beginner Village was absurdly large; even after walking for over ten minutes, Li Wu hadn't reached the end, though he didn't find it strange.
After all, it's a game for the masses, and with such a massive player base, it's normal for the Beginner Village to be large.
Finally, he found a General Store. Looking at the shopping interface filled with a dazzling array of goods, Li Wu's jaw practically hit the floor.
Black Bread (Restores 3 points of Fullness): Price 50 Copper Coins.
Mineral Water: Price 50 Copper Coins.
Handgun Bullets: Price 50 Copper Coins.
Mask (Style Optional): Price 1 Silver Coin.
......
Li Wu opened the top-up interface at the bottom right of his backpack and immediately felt the full malice of Blue Star Online.
1 Yuan = 10 Copper Coins.
1 Silver Coin = 100 Copper Coins.
1 Gold Coin = 100 Silver Coins.
In other words, a piece of black bread or a bottle of water in the game is worth five bucks.
Handgun bullets are five bucks a piece; good thing I didn't sell them.
After experiencing the full malice of Blue Star Online, Li Wu left the General Store and headed out of the village.
With the currency value so high in this game, maybe I can make some money here, which would count as an extra job.
Even if a monster only drops one Copper Coin, it's still something!
After walking for another ten minutes, Li Wu finally exited the Beginner Village. Looking at the ruins outside the village's glow, he confirmed that this was a game set in a post-apocalyptic world.
Could it be about fighting zombies?
With a hint of curiosity, Li Wu followed a few players who seemed to still be in their beginner outfits.
The scattered ruins gradually thinned out, and an endless grassland came into view. The zombies Li Wu imagined didn't appear; instead, there were many hopping Giant Rabbits.
Giant Rabbits, standing a meter tall, had lost all their cuteness, with two buck teeth resembling sharp daggers, looking fierce and terrifying.
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These can't be beginner monsters, right?
With doubt, Li Wu moved closer and threw a True Sight.
[Giant Rabbit]
[Level: 1]
[Health: 200]
[Physical Attack: 25]
[Defense: 5]
It really is a beginner monster!
Comparing the Giant Rabbit's attributes with his own, Li Wu's face turned green.
No wonder so many people resurrect; new players can't even solo a beginner monster, no wonder they die.
His Wooden Sword's attack power is 26 points, subtracting the Giant Rabbit's 5 defense points, each strike deals 21 damage, needing 10 hits to kill it.
Meanwhile, the Giant Rabbit's attack power is 25 points, subtracting his 10 defense, dealing 15 damage.
With his health at 100 points, the Giant Rabbit only needs 7 hits to take him down without using skills.
A head-on fight won't work; using the handgun would be an easy solution.
Although the handgun's damage doesn't stack with character attributes, its base damage is as high as 45, plus the bullet's 5 damage, totaling 50 damage per shot.
Five shots can take down a rabbit; as long as you manage the distance, the rabbit won't even get close before it's dead, making the 100% real pain system irrelevant!
Seriously—speechless!
Is this nationwide online game also a pay-to-win paradise?
No wonder the government mandates it; is the treasury short on funds, needing to harvest players?
Even though he knew it was impossible, Li Wu couldn't help but complain.
But even if the state does harvest players, it's the wealthy ones, not the ordinary folks, because spending 25 bucks to kill a level 1 beginner monster isn't something regular people can afford.
Of course, you can't just look at data comparisons in games, like those three players Li Wu was following.
They seemed like a family of three, surrounding a Giant Rabbit. A fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy called out, and three swords struck the Giant Rabbit simultaneously.
A white light flashed, and the Giant Rabbit was dead before it could counterattack.
Judging by their proficiency, they were clearly not beginners, and their attack power was high.
The Giant Rabbit's health is 200 points, and it was killed in three strikes, meaning their average attack power should be around 72 points.
Li Wu hesitated but didn't step forward to ask to join.
Three people instantly killing a Giant Rabbit, who would take a stranger along for no reason? Better not to embarrass himself with a cold rejection.
Li Wu glanced around; there were few players left in the level 1 area. After all, it's been a week since the server opened, and most players had formed fixed teams or were simply family groups.
Li Wu wasn't a complete newbie either. After pondering for a while, he decided to go solo.
He still had a Beginner Staff in his backpack, with a spell attack of 5 points, making his spell attack 25 points.
Fireball deals 130% magic damage, meaning one hit deals 32 damage, subtracting the Giant Rabbit's 5 defense, resulting in 27 damage.
Fireball's cooldown time is 2.5 seconds; if he manages the distance well, he should be able to use it twice, though he's unsure of the Giant Rabbit's chase range. If he can kite it, maybe three or four times.
Assuming two uses, the damage is 54 points.
Switching weapons for close combat, Power Strike can deal 150% physical damage, resulting in 34 damage per hit.
The Giant Rabbit has 116 health left, needing 6 sword strikes to kill, and he would just barely survive with a sliver of health.
***
After figuring out the strategy, Li Wu moved to an empty area and selected a Giant Rabbit.
Since he didn't know the attack range of Fireball, Li Wu tested it step by step from a distance, finally triggering Fireball at about 30 meters.
Casting Fireball had about a one-second delay, and a fist-sized, orange-red fireball quickly flew toward the distant Giant Rabbit.
As soon as Fireball was cast, Li Wu ran back without hesitation, turning around to cast Fireball again after 3 seconds.
Seeing the Giant Rabbit only a dozen meters away, Li Wu suppressed his shock and steadily cast Fireball.
This Giant Rabbit is fast!
During the 2.5-second cooldown of Fireball, he had run about 20 meters, while the Giant Rabbit not only closed the previous 30-meter gap but also surpassed it by a few meters.
This isn't a rabbit; it's a cheetah in a rabbit's skin!
-27
Slash -0 (Slash value less than 1 point doesn't trigger)
The Giant Rabbit was already upon him, and Li Wu had no time to think, quickly switching to his Wooden Sword and delivering a Power Strike to the Giant Rabbit's head.
-34
First strike! Got it!
Just as a smile appeared on Li Wu's lips, the Giant Rabbit bit down on his instinctively raised left arm in defense.
-15
"Damn!"
The intense pain in his arm made Li Wu curse, and the Wooden Sword, which should have struck again, was delayed by the pain.
-15
After being bitten twice by the Giant Rabbit, Li Wu gritted his teeth through the pain and retaliated.
-21
The first strike turned into a counterattack, and Li Wu's rhythm was instantly disrupted. Enduring the pain, he tried to fight and retreat out of the Giant Rabbit's chase range.
Unexpectedly, the Giant Rabbit's chase range was larger than expected, and its speed was faster than his.
-15
-21
After exchanging damage and running a dozen meters, Li Wu ultimately fell behind due to the pain, turning into white light.
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan