<strong>【 LIFE OF A NEWBIE</strong> 】
Jiang Shang sent a friend request to his old friend, formed a party, and then tracked his teammate’s exact location on the mini-map in the upper-right corner of his screen.
Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the marked spot.
Currently, the city was bustling with an endless stream of people. Among them, 99% were yers, most of whom were neers from the public beta.
Excitement and curiosity filled everyone’s hearts as they eagerly studied the game’s beginner guide while exploring the vast, unknown world.
After much effort squeezing through the crowd, Jiang Shang finally found his old friend. Thetter was sitting on the ground, poking at the dirt with a longsword, his face filled with wonder.
Jiang Shang couldn’t help butugh as he approached his friend.
“What are you doing?” he teased.
Hearing Jiang Shang’s voice, Akai shook his head and sighed, “I’m just marveling at how real this game feels. You weren’t kidding,pared to ElvKing, Immortal Sect doesn’t evene close to this level! The detail is crazy. Just look at this man… every grain of sand, every bit of soil—it’s all so realistic! And don’t even get me started on how immersive the way it simtes our senses is…”“Oh, by the way, I even tasted the dirt just now. It’s dry and gritty—exactly like real dirt.”
Jiang Shang: “…”
He stared at his friend in stunned silence before blurting out,
“…Wait, so you’ve actually eaten dirt before?”
“Uh, well, I was a mischievous kid, you know…” Akai coughed awkwardly. “I was just testing how insane the realism was. Honestly, if someone told me I’d been transported to another world, I’d probably believe them at this point.”
Jiang Shang sighed and shook his head, though a proud smile crept onto his face.
“Of course! Why else do you think this game is hailed as a groundbreaking masterpiece?”
For any gaming enthusiast, there’s nothing more gratifying than having your favorite game acknowledged by others.
This is not limited to games either, but can also be extended to many things.
Akai nodded in rare agreement.
“Yeah, I have to admit…it’s absolutely incredible. No other game evenes close to this.”
“Exactly!” Jiang Shang eagerly nodded.
“And everyone’s avatar looks stunning too. Every person I look, there are just handsome guys and gorgeous girls. It’s not just eye candy; it really pulls you into the experience.”
Akai added.
“True…” Jiang Shang hesitated for a moment, then nodded again.
“The only downside though is that,” Akai continued with a dramatic sigh, “we can’t y female characters. In a game this realistic, it feels like such a missed opportunity. I was even a little looking forward to it, you know…”
As he spoke, Akai ced both hands on his t chest, his expression one of deep regret.
“…”
Jiang Shang twitched at the corners of his mouth, ncing at his friend’s overly serious demeanor.
With a sigh, he said, “Dude.”
“What?”
“You’ll never get a girlfriend if you keep this up.”
“That’s fine. As long as I get one before you, I’m good.”
Jiang Shang: “…”
After exchanging jabs for a while, Akai’s gaze drifted to Jiang Shang’s in, beginner mage robe.
He raised an eyebrow. “Huh, you picked a mage? You’re going with that ss?”
“Actually, I’m nning to go for Druidter. You don’t know this, but in this game, Druids are the devs’ golden child. Sure, theirbat power isn’t great, but they can support, fight, build rtionships with NPCs, tame magical beasts, and even transition into Priests easily. They’re practically the solid ss in this game.” Jiang Shang chuckled, clearly pleased with his choice.@@novelbin@@
As a long-time cloud yer of Elven Kingdom, Jiang Shang had gone into overdrive, consuming all the strategy content he could find after securing a spot in the public beta.
Naturally, he’d developed a good understanding of the various sses. Among them, the Druid ss, once regarded as average jobss, had gained immense poprity due to the introduction of the familiar system, dragonpanions, and the new Priest transition path.
It had be his clear choice after seeing how versatile it was.
“Wait, so does that mean I made a mistake going with a melee-based ss?” Akai asked, stunned.
“Not at all. For someone like you who never spends money on games, melee-based sses are the most budget-friendly. I think they’re perfect for you, man.”
Jiang Shang shook his head.
Akai had always enjoyedbat and PvP. So, from a purelybat-oriented gamey perspective, picking a melee-based jobss was the best choice.
Sure, transitioningter to a skillset-heavy, spellcaster ss like Elementalist would result in more explosive damage, but relying on raw power output alone didn’t always trante well in actual fights.
As if remembering something, Jiang Shang added, “Besides, if you’re not satisfied with your starter ss, you can still switch to another ss at level 11.”
Akai let out a sigh of relief.
“That’s good to hear.”
The two chatted briefly before finally diving into exploring the game.
“So… are we supposed to follow the beginner’s guide now?”
Akai asked as he stood up, fiddling with the game interface while eyeing the constantly shing beginner tutorial prompts in his field of vision.
His gaze then wandered for a moment before settling on the in-game guide sprite—a silver-haired, purple-eyed elf girl dressed like a teacher.
The sprite’s cute chibi design was clearly modeled after the goddess.
After staring for a bit, Akai couldn’t help butment, “I must’ve read too much Eve doujinshis at this point. Even this guide sprite is now starting to give me weird thoughts…”
Jiang Shang: “…”
He nced at the sprite and coughed awkwardly. “Ahem… That’s the chibi version of the goddess. It was added to the introductory beginner course guide after the open beta. I think it’s pretty cute. I heard if youplete certain hidden storylines, you can even see her cheer for you in her chibi form.”
“This version of Evé is pretty cute,” Akai agreed with a nod. “She’d make for great emote stickers… or some fun meme edits.”
Jiang Shang: “…”
“Anyway… are we following this introductory guide? It says we can gain EXP by helping expand Chosen City and participating in daily tasks…” Akai read aloud from the tutorial before ncing around the bustling surroundings.
He frowned and muttered, “But this city already looks well-built. So what else is there to expand?”
“Well,” Jiang Shang exined, “Chosen City is the yer’s main hub in ElvKing. It’s entirely built by us yers, with no intervention from the devs. So, I’m guessing that with so many neers flooding in thus time around, we need to further expand the city just to house everyone. That’s one of the coolest parts of this game: we’re going to design and build it ourselves!”
“What a hassle.”
“It’s called freedom!” Jiang Shang retorted.
He added, “But if you’re not into that sort of thing, then you don’t have to do it. Most of these tasks are handled by the big guilds anyway. Especially the secondrgest guild, ‘Moe Moe Committee.’ They reportedly control 50% of this city’s real estate.”
“Wait… the real estate in this city is owned by the guilds? Isn’t this supposed to be the yer’s main hub?” Akai was stunned.
“That’s what sets ElvKing apart from other games,” Jiang Shang replied with a grin. “It’s nearly fully realistic, with a ridiculous level of freedom. We yers don’t just build houses, we can also run our own hotels, set up businesses, and more. See those shops on the streets? They’re owned by veteran yers.”
He pointed to the busy street in the distance. “A lot of the veteran yers have basically be ‘nobles’ by now. Meanwhile, newbies like us are just moner noobs’ starting from the bottom. We’ve got a long way to go.”
Akai: “…”
“That…isn’t it too unfair to us new yers then? I’m here to y a RPG not a city management sim,” heined.
“Pfft… Honestly, you could y Elven Kingdom like a city management sim game if you wanted to. Besides, you and I both know no game is ever truly fair, right?”
Jiang Shang shrugged before adding, “Yeah, ElvKing doesn’t really do a good job of bncing the disparity between new and old yers, but at least it doesn’t force you to spend money, and as long as you work hard and are willing to grind it, eventers like us can be stronger. To be honest,pared to most online games, it’s actually pretty fair in my opinion.”
“Of course, a certain amount of luck is also required.”
After listening to Jiang Shang’s exnation, Akai nodded.
“I guess you got a point….well, let’s get started, then. Time to grind some tasks and quickly level up.”
He opened the introductory guide to look for rmended tasks, but Jiang Shang quickly interrupted him.
“Actually, instead of following the beginner’s guide, I’d suggest we teleport to Florence instead and pick up private tasks from the NPCs there. At this point early on the game, those NPC private quests are much more rewarding, and they often increase your favorability with them too. Plus, Chosen City is so overcrowded right now so we’d probably have to queue up just to ept a tasks.”
“Florence?” Akai raised an eyebrow.
“It’s one of the main NPC cities,” Jiang Shang exined. “It’s home to a lot of NPCs who hand out tasks. If we’re lucky enough, one might even take us on as their apprentice.”
He grinned. “I heard a veteran yer once got apprenticed to an elven master cksmith. While others have also trained under rune engravers or simr professions. Even if we don’t get an apprenticeship, we could still learn some rare skills from them.”
“Really? what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
The two quickly decided on their course of action and followed the mini-map toward the teleportation array leading to Florence.
The elven cities in the Forest of Elves didn’t have level restrictions, therefore they easily passed through the portal and arrived in Florence.
Akai’s eyes lit up as he took in the view.
“This is Florence?”
The city was no less magnificent than Chosen City, but it had a distinctly different vibe onto it.
While Chosen City’s architecture had a familiar, modern touch reminiscent of their homeworld, Florence on the other hand was built with gleaming white stone. Its grandeur and imposing structures were softened by the lush greenery and colorful flowers woven seamlessly into the design, giving it an air of otherworldly elegance and serenity.
Moreover, unlike the Chosen City, whose poption is mostlyposed of yers, Florence’s streets were popted by many NPCs instead.
In this bustling city, the NPCs were actively engaged in their daily routines and whenever their eyes met with yers, they would greet them with a kind smile and a slight bow.
Seeing a female elf passing by bow slightly to him, Akai couldn’t help but remark, “They seem pretty respectful toward us.”
“Of course,” Jiang Shang replied. “We, the yers, are called the ‘Chosen Ones’ which essentially means the saviors of the elves who restored the Elven Forest to its current state.”
He then paused before adding, “But even though these NPCs are respectful to us, we still can’t act recklessly towards them. Remember, in this game, maintaining good rtions with NPCs is really crucial since ElvKing has its own ecosystem, and the yer-NPC rtionship is an integral part of it. Even newbies like us need to maintain that bnce.”
Akai nodded in agreement.
“I see. So it’s like those Japanese games I’ve yed where intimacy levels are really important. Honestly, I enjoy ying these kinds of games too.”
Jiang Shang chuckled.
“Then you’re really going to love this game! Come on, let’s go ask some NPCs for some tasks. Pay close attention to those NPCs with usernames particrly its color—those with white or blue ones can issue tasks. And if we’re lucky enough to meet an NPC with a purple one, make sure to grab their thighs! 1 But remember to still be polite and not overdo it. It’ll improve our chances of sess.”
With this n in mind, the two newbies wandered through Florence, asking some NPCs if they can issue them a private tasks.
???
Three hourster…
“Apologies, Chosen Ones. I’ve already used up my task allotment for the day, so I can’t issue any more tasks,” a female elf said with a slight bow, her tone filled with regret.
Akai and Jiang Shang exchanged nces and sighed in unison.
“All right, we understand,” they replied.
“Sorry to bother you.”
The elf nodded politely before leaving.
Looking at the female NPC’s retreating figure, the two newbies slumped to the ground, exchanging weary looks.
“What number was that, Ziya?” Akai asked.
“I’ve already lost count. It must’ve been our thirtieth attempt by now,” Jiang Shang replied with a wry smile.
“But in these three hours, we’ve only managed toplete one task which was cleaning the toilets! We only gained just one level! Dude, didn’t you say getting private tasks from NPCs were the fastest way to level up?”
“That’s what I thought! How was I supposed to know so many yers would swarm the NPCs during the public beta? Plus, there are still tons of veteran yers hogging all the tasks too!”
“I’m starting to think we’d be better off doing daily tasks back in Chosen City…”
“Wait, wait! We’ll just try onest time. There’s a cksmith shop up ahead with an elven forging master. I’ve heard that befriending that NPC can lead to an apprenticeship! Plus, they usually have plenty of tasks as well. C’mon let’s give it a shot!”
“Fine, but this will be thest time, okay?”
The two stood up, dusted themselves off, and made their way toward the cksmith shop.
Looking at it from the outside, the store was quiterge, bustling with elves hard at work, visible through the windows.
However, it didn’t take long for them to notice several figures with green usernames hovering above their heads among the working crew.
Clearly, those were yers.
Akai: “…”
Jiang Shang: “…”
“Ziya, I think we’re alreadyte again,” Akai remarked.
Jiang Shang clenched his fists.
“Dammit, we still won’t know unless we try!”
Gritting his teeth, he scanned the cksmith shop until his gazended upon an elderly elf NPC marked with a white colored username.
The NPC was named Carlos Rageme, and he was wielding a massive hammer, whilst carefully forging a longsword.
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Shang stepped forward with a polite smile and greeted him.
Unfortunately, the oue was the same as before.
“I’m sorry, Chosen One,” Carlos said with an apologetic shake of his head. “I’ve already filled my apprentice slots andpleted my task allotment for today.”
“Oh… I see. Sorry to trouble you then.”
Forcing a strained smile, Jiang Shang left the cksmith shop and shook his head at Akai.
The two exchanged a nce and sighed in unison once more.
“Man… this is tough.”
Just then, a cheerful female voice called out from behind them.
“It’s always like this whenever new yers flood into the game. Whether in Chosen City or here, it’s always hard to find tasks at the beginning.”
Curiously, they turned around to see a blond, blue-eyed female yer.
She wore an elegant, silver-trimmed druid robe that exuded authority and ir.
Instinctively, they nced at the username hovering above her head.
Username: Meng Zhihan.
But what’s surprising about it was its color.
Silver.
Both of them immediately froze for a moment before eximing internally:
<em>Holy crap!</em>
<em>Whoa! </em>
<em>A Silver-ranker!</em>
Akai and Jiang Shang exchanged nces, and the same mix of surprise and envy was evident in both their eyes.
At that moment, a soft, yful growl broke the silence.
A chubby, brownish-red magical beast covered in scales waddled out from the side and clung to the female yer’s leg.
The female veteran expression immediately softened.
She gently patted the beast’s scaled head and pulled out a shiny gemstone, feeding it to the creature.
“Good girl, Katyusha,” she murmured fondly.
Jiang Shang’s eyes widened in shock.
“W-Wait… is that a dragon?!”
So this wasn’t just a high-ranking yer either but an elite pro as well!
After feeding the hatchling, the female yer, whose name was Meng Zhihan, turned her attention back to the pair, smiling.
“You’re looking for tasks, right?”
They nodded furiously, like chickens pecking at grain.
After all, powerful veteran yers like her could be their ticket to sess!
“I’ve got something for you. Interested?” she asked, her tone light but inviting.
“A tasks? From you? Wait… can yers even issue tasks to other yers?” Jiang Shang asked, momentarily confused.
Meng Zhihan shook her head.
“Of course not. But honestly, for neers like you, the fastest way to level up isn’t doing daily tasks bur rather, having a high-level yer help you farm monsters.”
She smiled and continued, “If you help me with a small task, I can take you out for a quick grind session in exchange. How about it? I’m already Level 42, so even if we just take down a few upper Iron-rank mobs, it should be enough to get both of you to Level 10.”
“So, what do you say?”
The two looked at each other, gulped, and nodded eagerly.
“Deal!”
???
A few hourster, in the mines of Rivendell…
“So tell me again, Ziya…” Akai paused, putting down his iron pickaxe and wiping the sweat from his brow.
“Why am I out here mining in the middle of nowhere on my first day in the game…instead of adventuring or fighting mobs?”
Jiang Shang coughed awkwardly.
“Hey, have patience! As the saying goes, ‘No pain, no gain.’ Once we collect enough ore for Miss Meng Zhihan, she’ll take us out for some monster hunting, and we’ll level up in no time!”
“I get it, I get it,” Akai replied, nodding.
“But, I have a question. Why isn’t Meng Zhihan mining herself? I mean, she’s a Silver-ranker, so she’d be way more efficient than us, right?”
“Come on, think about it. What’s more efficient for her? Mining on her own, or having newbies like us do the dirty work while she takes a quick trip to boost our levels? At her level, she could probably take down weaker Silver-rank mobs without breaking a sweat.”
“Hmm… yeah, that actually makes sense.”
Akai nodded thoughtfully.
“…But still, what’s the point of mining?” he asked, curious.
Just then, a veteran yer nearby, who had also been mining, chuckled.
“You guys are pretty clueless, huh?”
He smirked and borated, “You see, someone developed a new type of weapon recently. It’s called magic firearms and they’vepletely solved the issue of steam-powered guns not granting EXP!”
“Magic firearms?” Akai echoed, intrigued.
The veteran nodded.
“Yep. Their attack power is at least double that of bows of the same tier. Mark my words, archer sses are about to dominate the game.”
“But aren’t archers mostly rely on their STR stat?” Akai asked, confused.
“Technically, yes,” the veteran said, shrugging. “But remember, elves are inherently mana-attuned creatures. Even though archers follow a STR-based level progression, they still umte some INT stat. It’s just that the archer meta mostly prioritize STR over INT.”
He added, “Besides, archers can also increase their INT through meditation. Sure, it’s not as efficient as a mage’s, but it’s doable. And once archers hit the Silver-rank, they can dual-train in both magic and physicalbat. That’s when these magic firearms really shine.”
“Moreover, it’s not just for archers, you know? Even mages and druids can also use magic firearms for self-defense,” the veteran added.
“Wow… that’s pretty impressive.” Akai nodded in understanding.
“But what does this have to do with mining?”
The veteran grinned.
“Hold on. I’m getting to that part.”
“These magical ores here are one of the key materials used to produce magic firearms,” the veteran yer exined.
“So currently, there’s a huge demand for magic firearms among archer yers right now. The dwarves can’t keep up with the supply of raw materials, so we yers have to figure out ways to gather them on our own.”
“Plus, that Meng Zhihan that helped you guys? She’s actually the only apprentice of Carlos the Elven cksmith among the yers and the first yer to unlock the cksmith ss. She even participated in improving the magic firearms design, so she has a personal need for these ores.”
“Unfortunately, there aren’t enough yers willing to do these hardbor so only usid-back life-oriented yerse to mine, and even that isn’t enough…”
“That’s why she enlisted your help.”
Hearing the exnation, Akai and Jiang Shang nodded in understanding.
“Ah, that makes sense now…”
“Well, enough talk, let’s get back to work.”
“Yeah.”
They wiped the sweat off their brows and resumed swinging their pickaxes.
???
When night fell, the duo finally returned to Florence via the teleportation array, hauling a cartload of ores along with them.
“Wow, you mined this much! You’ve worked so hard…”
Meng Zhihan looked at the two dust-covered newbies and their fully-loaded cart with a tone of genuine admiration.
After a moment of thought, she added, “How about this? Dinner’s on me tonight. Don’t say no.”
The mention of food made Jiang Shang and Akai realize just how hungry they were. They swallowed hard and quickly nodded in agreement.
With a sh of light from Meng Zhihan’s hand, the cartload of ores disappeared into thin air.
“Whoa a spatial storage item!”
The two neers’ eyes lit up, their faces full of envy.
The gap between them and her felt massive… almost insurmountable.
For the first time, they were hit with an intense desire:
They had to be top-ranking yers in the future!
Meng Zhihan treated them to dinner in the Chosen City.
Apanying her was another friend of hers: a gorgeous female priest yer named Dongdong, who also happened to own a dragon hatchling.
Clearly, another elite veteran.
Facing two high-ranking female yers, Akai and Jiang Shang couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous.
However, as the evening progressed, they began to rx and enjoy themselves.
The meal consisted of roasted meat unique to the Elven Forest, paired with fragrant flower wine brewed by the elves.
The vors were extraordinary, and the two neers devoured the food with gusto.
As they ate, they chatted and grew more familiar with each other.
“Wait, you’re from the Heart of Nature guild? That’s one of the top guild, right? “
“When will we ever be Silver-rankers…”
Akai and Jiang Shang sighed wistfully.
“You’ll get there. The silver rank aren’t fully open yet to the general public, but new allotment slots be avable periodically. If you work hard, there’s a chance you might get one,” Meng Zhihan exined.
“Haha, once you hit Level 11, you’re wee to join the Heart of Nature! I’ll look after you both! If you want to transition to a priest ss, juste to me, it’s guaranteed!” Dongdong said with a yful grin, her mouth full of roasted meat.
Both neers quickly expressed their gratitude.
After the hearty meal and lively conversation, the night had grown deep.
But the Chosen City was more alive than ever. yers who had spent the daypleting tasks or exploring dungeons were now finally returning one after another, making the city buzzed with activity.
After bidding farewell to the two high-ranking yers, Akai and Jiang Shang strolled through the streets.
Under the glowingnterns, the Chosen City’s charm shone brightly. The elegant elven music yed softly in the background, mingling with the faintughter of yers.
For a moment, both neers felt a sense of awe and contentment.
“This is amazing… It’s tiring, but it feels so fulfilling,” Jiang Shang said with a sigh.
“And we met two high-ranking female yers too,” Akai added, nodding.
“Let’s rest for now. My stamina’s almost out. Tomorrow, Miss Meng Zhihan are taking us monster hunting,” Jiang Shang said, yawning.
“Yeah.”
Stretchingzily, the two finally made their way toward the new yers’ designated safe logout areamonly known as the “Morgue”<hr>
1 This is a pretty well known chinese idiom so I didn’t bother to exin it before but for those that don’t know, to “grab someone’s thighs” (<strong>抱大腿</strong>) is a metaphorical expression that means to seek protection, support, or favor from someone powerful, influential, or capable. It’s often used humorously or critically to describe someone relying on others to gain advantages or improve their position, much like “riding someone’s coattails” in English.
<strong>TL Note</strong>: Sorry for not updating a couple of days, heard CoI which is the sequel to Lord of Mysteries finally ended so I tried reading it. I read up until the part Book 1 MC return but dropped it after that point. What a huge disappointment =__=; and looks like thest 2 volumes were pretty bad too…
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