This old man is truly vile

As Wu Shaochen made his way back, he thought for a moment and began to remove his equipment, donning the novice cloth armor and wielding the wooden sword as he walked toward the village. He didn't know how many items other players had obtained, but he was certain they hadn't acquired as many as he had, especially since he was defeating monsters beyond his level with such efficiency. It was better to stay low-key; if he drew attention, it could turn into a problematic situation.

Upon returning to the goat area, he noticed countless players in small groups hunting the goats. As expected, they all wore novice cloth armor and wielded novice wooden swords. Occasionally, some had other equipment, but that was rare. The game's drop rate was undeniably harsh. Fortunately, he had removed his equipment beforehand—otherwise, he would have surely attracted the attention of the crowd. Without lingering, Wu Shaochen quickly exited the goat area.

After he left, a woman dressed in a white veil furrowed her brow as she gazed in the direction he had gone.

"What's wrong, miss? Is there something wrong with that person?" Liu Shu inquired, noticing his mistress's gaze, but by the time he looked, the figure was already gone from sight.

"It's nothing," the woman replied, shaking her head. Her sixth sense told her there was something unusual about the person who had just left, but she couldn't pinpoint what. Perhaps she was just overly tired, she comforted herself.

Wu Shaochen soon returned to the village, where he found it unusually quiet; most players had gone off to hunt monsters.

"Let's see if there are any quests available," he mused, then made his way to the white-haired elder standing at the village entrance, likely the village chief.

"Hello, Chief. Is there anything I can help you with?" Wu Shaochen asked politely.

"Adventurer, your strength is still too low to assist me. Go check with Granny Liu to the north of the village to see if she needs help," the chief replied.

Ah, level too low to help. Wu Shaochen then scurried off to the north, where he saw an elderly woman sitting in a chair, basking in the sun. He quickly approached her.

"Hello, Granny Liu. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Oh, Adventurer, you're here. I do have a small problem. Recently, the rabbits outside the village have overrun my garden and eaten all the carrots I planted. Could you help me by killing those troublesome rabbits?" Granny Liu asked.

Ding – "Granny Liu has issued a quest. Quest details: Go to the grasslands and kill the little white rabbits, then bring back 10 rabbit pelts to Granny Liu. Rewards: 10 experience points, 10 copper coins. Do you accept?"

Ugh, this? Can I say I'm not interested? Wouldn't it be more efficient to kill wolves? Wu Shaochen quickly chose to decline, hastily running away under Granny Liu's disappointed gaze.

Are quest rewards always this low? Or is this the lowest level task? Wu Shaochen wandered around the village for a while, until he spotted a farmer sitting outside his house, sighing heavily. The state of things suggested he had a quest. Wu Shaochen quickly approached him and politely asked:

"Hello, Uncle. Is there anything I can help with?"

"Adventurer, hello. I've encountered some difficulties recently, and I would be very grateful for your help. Wild boars have been appearing frequently in the forest and have destroyed my crops. Could you help me get rid of those annoying boars?" the farmer asked.

Ding – "The farmer has issued a quest. Quest details: Go to the forest and kill the wild boars, then bring back 50 wild boar tusks to the farmer. Rewards: 500 experience points, 200 copper coins. Do you accept?"

Ah, now this is more like it. Seeing the over 100 wild boar tusks in his inventory, Wu Shaochen didn't hesitate and accepted the quest. Just as he was about to submit the tusks, he stopped himself. Wait a second—if I submit these, I'll level up immediately! Then how can I continue farming my talent? He quickly took back the tusks he was about to hand in. This crafty old man is trying to sabotage my talent progression!

Never mind, there's no time limit for this quest. I'll submit it later when I can no longer farm my talent in the newbie village. I'll do all the quests then—experience doesn't matter, it's the copper coins I'm after.

With that decision, Wu Shaochen headed toward the apothecary. There was no need to worry about the other quests for now; farming talent was the priority.

At the apothecary, he checked the shop's goods and saw that the red potion (small) was priced at 20 copper coins. Wu Shaochen's face darkened. So expensive?

He had assumed these low-tier potions would cost just one or two copper coins. With over 200 copper coins, he had expected to buy over 100 potions. But now, he could only afford 10 bottles.

"This is highway robbery!" Wu Shaochen muttered darkly. With a heavy heart, he bought 10 bottles, watching as only 16 copper coins remained in his pouch. His heart bled—each of those copper coins had been painstakingly collected from the ground.

He then went to the general store, selling the 81 extra wild boar tusks he had. Since the quest only required 50, he had 131 tusks on hand. The rest could be sold. A player could only do a quest once, unless it was a chain quest. After receiving 81 copper coins, he returned to the apothecary, bought 4 more red potions, and then left the village.

As he walked, Wu Shaochen opened the chat channel. He realized that, after hours of gameplay spent hunting monsters, he hadn't once checked the chat. It felt like he was disconnected from the world. It was time to see what everyone was talking about. The chat had only two active channels: the regional and private chat. Opening the regional channel, it was alive with activity.

"Forming a team to hunt goats. Level 1 or higher, preferably full strength or full health builds."

"Looking for two full-strength DPS for goat hunting."

"Anyone want to team up for goats? Just hit level 1."

"Damn it, I got killed again! At least I don't lose levels before level 10, or I'd have to go back to killing rabbits. These goats hit too hard."

Seeing all the chatter about hunting goats, Wu Shaochen scratched his nose and thought, "Goats? Isn't it just a matter of a few hits?" He completely forgot the first time he saw the goats' stats and cursed them.

"I heard some level 2 experts went to fight level 3 monsters, but they came back pretty quickly. Are level 3 monsters that terrifying?"

"Of course they are! I checked the stats of the green snake myself. That venom is nasty. Without potions, you can't fight them. And the potions in the shop are overpriced. So the experts probably won't bother with the green snakes."

Meanwhile, the group that had just exited the bamboo forest looked grim.

"Let's go back and farm goats. Forget the green snakes. Let's level up one more time, get some gear, and then go fight level 4 crabs. Green snakes are not worth it," said Jun Lin.

"Yeah, fighting the green snake isn't worth it. It's too expensive in potions," replied Nan Feng.

"Ugh, but at this rate, the gap between us and that person will only grow," said Hao Ran.

"Our talents are more suited for the later stages. We don't have an advantage early on, so there's no need to compete with him. That person's talents will likely be strong early, but in the later stages, it's not so certain. We'll catch up eventually," Jun Lin said confidently.

Wu Shaochen soon returned to the wild wolf area. With 16 potions in his inventory, he felt more confident. After a few minutes of effort, he successfully pulled a lone wolf and began to fight.