Chapter 4 Can A Priest Attack Monsters?

"Well... Alleria?" Xiaofeng asked tentatively.

"This ID has been archived in the Hall of Fame. If this is your ID, please go to the Hall of Fame website for official identity authentication and account binding. Otherwise, please enter a new name.

"Feng Xiao."

"The name ‘Feng Xiao’ is taken. Please enter a different name."

"...Hua Tuo."

"The name ‘Hua Tuo’ is taken. Please enter a different name.""

"Bian Que."

"The name ‘Bian Que’ is taken. Please enter a different name."

"Damn it!"

"The Name ‘Damn It’ is taken. Please enter a different name."

"Fuck you!"

"The name ‘Fuck You’ is taken. Please enter a different name."

"I..." Xiaofeng was speechless. Something occurred to him and he blurted it out. "Dad!"

"The name 'Dad' is available."

"Yes!"

Xiaofeng smiled.

"The character 'Dad' has been successfully created! Next, we will scan the basic attributes of the player. The average is five, the maximum is ten. There may be some discomfort in the process. Please be patient!”

An attribute panel appeared in front of Xiaofeng. It showed the five basic attributes, currently listed as ‘?’. In addition, it listed the three special attributes. Savvy, the one human talent, had points, but Charisma and Luck were both zero.

"Successfully scanned! Initial strength is ten points!"

The question mark beside the strength attribute became a ten.

"Successfully scanned! Initial constitution is ten points!"

"Successfully scanned! Initial agility is ten points!"

"Successfully scanned! Initial intelligence is ten points!"

"Successfully scanned! Initial spirit is ten points!"

Xiaofeng was speechless. The system had given him maximum points in all five basic attributes.

"Hey! Since your basic attributes exceed the average, please choose whether to unlock the free targeting mode?”

"Free targeting mode?" Xiaofeng hadn’t seen this function on the official website. Apparently, it was a hidden function that could only be triggered by specific conditions.

"Myth has two methods of targeting attacks. In system targeting more, skills are automatically directed towards the target. In free targeting mode, the user targets attacks with no system correction,” the voice explained with endless patience.

Xiaofeng took a bit to think. It seemed like a disadvantage, but it was also a special function that only certain conditions could unlock. It seemed worth exploring.

“Unlock free targeting.”

“Your basic attributes have been successfully scanned. Each player also has five free attribute points. Would you like to distribute them now, or after you enter the game?”

Xiaofeng took another moment to think on it. He didn’t know much about this profession, and he didn’t know how attributes would change during the game.

“After I enter the game."

"Please choose the level of pain experience. The selection range is from 5 percent to 50 percent. Tip: Because intense pain will cause mental distress, we recommend choosing the lower degree.”

"Of course, I choose 5 percent." Xiaofeng said without hesitation. He didn't like being abused.

“Hey! The character has been created successfully! Do you want to enter the game?”

Now the hall was almost empty, containing only a human priest and a disembodied voice.

"Enter the game!"

"Hey! Failed to enter the game! There are still 28 minutes before Myth starts!"

Everything went black, and Xiaofeng was kicked out of the game.

He took off the game helmet, speechless. He hadn’t expected to spend so long building a character. It was already past 11:30.

"Stupid... stupid brother!"

Xiao Ling had fallen asleep on the other side of the sofa, curled up in a ball like a kitten. She whispered in her sleep, biting her fingers a bit.

Xiaofeng shook his head and laughed. He lifted Xiao Ling and carried her to bed. Once she was settled, he took the game helmet to his room. Now that it had caught his interest, Xiaofeng was looking forward to playing. He passed the time browsing the official website until he realized the server would open soon. He put on the helmet with excitement.

"Hey! There are still 5 seconds before the start of the game! Please be patient!"

"4..."

"3..."

"2…"

"1..."

"Hey! Welcome to the world of Myth! You have been randomly assigned to Novice Village No. 9191! We wish you a happy game!"

"Hey!"

The roar of the crowd almost overwhelmed Xiaofeng. As the screen switched on, Xiaofeng had appeared in the crowded village. They all wore cloth gowns and, as he watched, more players continued to appear in bursts of white light.

"Please step aside! You’re in the way!"

"Fuck! Who’s stepping on my feet? Don't push me!"

"Ah! Rogue!"

The village was huge, but they’d all been dropped in the village square. The noise was ear splitting. Besides the noise of the crowd, there was a buzzing and the occasional crack of thunder, striking and killing any player who touched another inappropriately, even on accident.

Xiaofeng struggled to squeeze out from the crowd. That lightening was the biggest problem. An accidental brush would result in severe punishment. It felt like walking through a crowd of human bombs. The people he’d already seen struck served as warnings.

Xiaofeng looked around Novice Village. He’d braced himself for how vivid the game might appear, but that hadn’t prepared him for the reality of it. The sky was clear blue and, even in the crowd, the air was fresh and crisp. The village around him was antique, with variation and detail that shocked him.

He’d thought the claims of being ninety nine percent loyal to the real world were overblown, but the environment alone justified the title ‘second world’.

He struggled through the crowded Novice Village square. He was graceful, but the effort still left him gasping for air. Originally, he’d planned to follow the website’s suggestion and talk to the Novice Village NPCs to receive his first quest, but the village was far too crowded. Every NPC would be swarmed with people.

"Forget it."

He could come back and start the novice questline when it had cleared out a little.

Although the Novice Village was called a village, it was immense. Xiaofeng went in the opposite direction of the crowd, heading out of the village. Obviously, he was not the only one who chose to avoid the chaos of the square. A smaller crowd of players walked out of the village with him.

All of them, regardless of gender, wore the same simple white shift. Many of them carried wooden knives or swords. Xiaofeng opened his own pack. It contained his novice weapon and nothing else.

Novice Wooden Stick

Equipment Type: Two-handed blunt instrument.

Equipment Level: 0

Equipment Grade: none

Equipment Requirement: none

Attribute:

Physical attack: 0-1

It was practically useless, but Xiaofeng took it out of the pack. It was about as thick as his arm and tapered like a baseball bat, but longer. He held it like a sword, but it felt strange and unwieldly. Instead, he flipped and held it like a walking stick.

It felt much more natural.

Checking for other equipment, only his clothes showed up. Novice shift, cloth trousers, and cloth shoes were listed. Together, they gave him three points of defense. It was better than nothing.

Character: Dad

Level: 0

Profession: Apprentice Priest

Health: 70/70

Mana: 70/70

ATN: 10-11

INT: 10-10

DNF: 5-8

MGD: 5-5

Basic attributes:

Strength: 10

Constitution: 10

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 10

Spirit: 10

The remaining free-allotted attribute points: 5

Professional Skills: none

Life Skills: none

In the player's basic attributes, health and mana both started at 50. The additional 20 came from his player attributes, so Xiaofeng was satisfied with his starting stats.

"Hurry! There’s another chicken over there! Come and get it!"

As the group crossed the boundary of Novice Village, they started to see animals, mostly chickens. Players couldn’t attack each other, so it was a good place for novices to level up. It was crowded with players, running around after the chickens wildly swinging.

The players ran around with wooden weapons, slashing at the chickens. The second a little bird spawned, it would be swarmed by attackers. It felt a bit cruel to Xiaofeng, and he continued away from the village.

There were a couple of different little creatures near the village, but as he walked farther away, he began to see higher level creatures. Some even seemed aggressive. There were still a few people on the village outskirts, but soon the crowd began to disappear entirely.

The monsters out here were dangerous, and novice players wouldn’t survive out here for long. The novices moved in small groups. The only lone players were higher level players from the closed beta.

Even though there weren’t many people around, they started to notice Xiaofeng. He actually became a subject of conversation.

"What's wrong with him? Why is he going out alone? He’s right by the spawn point for a level five monster! It’ll attack him on instinct!"

"Maybe he’s high level. But he’s holding a stick... Is there a profession where novices get a stick?”

"Is it a staff? No, staffs are longer…"

"It's a mace! He’s a priest!"

"What? Don’t be stupid! Can a priest even attack monsters?"

"I mean, he looks kinda middle aged. Maybe he’s never played an online game before?"

Xiaofeng ignored them. Who said a priest couldn’t fight? He kept walking until he was alone.

"Awooo!"

He couldn’t see Novice Village anymore. Xiaofeng stood on the edge of the forest where the monsters turned from large herbivores like bison and wild sheep to wolves.

This was what he’d been looking for.

The novice tasks would have given him the ability ‘Scout’ which would let him know the level and attributes of the wolves, so he’d have to take his best guess.

The gray wolf rushed him, howling as it approached. According to the limited information and on the official website, monsters around the village were under fifth level and would not attack the players. It gave novice players a safe place to learn their moves and gain levels.

"Awooo!"

The gray wolf was about half the height of a man. It really looked like a real wolf was in front of him, which made it genuinely frightening when it opened his bloody mouth and rushed towards him.

Xiaofeng was still level 0, but he felt confident. He took a step back, letting it rush past. As it passed, he lifted the stick and slammed it down on the wolf’s head.

[-5!]

There was a muffled thud and the damage appeared over the wolf's head. That moment allowed him to see its health, seventy points.

Xiaofeng felt a bit embarrassed. He could hit it, but what could he really do against it? His basic attributes were high, but that damage was too low.

"Awooo!"

The gray wolf missed him, but it didn’t stop. It struck Xiaofeng with a claw, taking out a sizable chunk of his health.

[-11!]

Xiaofeng had a moment of shock and forced himself to concentrate. He couldn’t let himself get distracted. He took another swing.

[-4!]

He was still barely scratching it. Xiaofeng turned aside, avoiding the wolves snapping jaws. An idea struck him, and as he dodged, he opened the attribute panel.

Remaining attribute points: 5

"Put all remaining points into strength!"

Xiaofeng could feel the change as he took his next swing.

CRACK!

[-10!]

The hit connected. The damage still wasn’t amazing, but it was much better than before. He could work with this.