Master of Kaidan
Chapter 414: Starting

Chapter 414: Chapter 414: Starting

The player known for his reckless play was sent flying backward before Feng Xue had finished speaking, knocking over several players who couldn’t dodge in time. Surprisingly, the reckless player passed out with just that bounce, while those he knocked over were completely unharmed.

"Damn, this NPC is strong!"

"He must be a hidden expert!"

"Locked himself for 24 hours straight!"

...

Various comments from the surrounding players reached Feng Xue’s ears, but he paid no attention to these foolish players’ words; instead, he carefully sensed the status of the player who had "vanished in smoke" seconds after dying.

"This information seems a bit too scant..."

Feng Xue thought to himself. He could feel the flow of information dispersing like water vapor evaporating, and from his analysis of this level, he sensed something was off.

Without a doubt, these players were real people who could provide "Identity"; however, the "Identity" they released upon death was far lower than the normal level for real people; to put it harshly, it was about equivalent to an Anomaly Level of nothing.

Feng Xue could somewhat understand this outcome; after all, if a person was completely transformed into data, then their death would be like a real person dying in Infinite City—permanently, and even if this was the True World and wouldn’t turn into a bad omen, the person would still truly die completely. And as a game that had gone through one internal test, if dying once meant dying for good, who would want to play it? Even if some weren’t afraid to die, it shouldn’t be so easy.

But how was this mode achieved?

Feng Xue vaguely felt a flicker of inspiration but couldn’t grasp it fully, so he set aside his curiosity for the moment and continued meticulously planing a coffin board without stopping.

It seemed there was some kind of loading limit to this game’s resurrection mechanism, or perhaps it required a Resurrection Coin or something. As a result, following the player’s death, most players entered a wait-and-see mode, hesitant to speak for fear of dying pointlessly.

However, the species of players was never short of those who court disaster, and as some began to disperse, one of them finally approached:

"This, er, senior, is there anything I can help you with?"

A standard quest acceptance line came from this player’s mouth. Feng Xue’s planer didn’t pause, and he just glanced at the player dismissively,

"You? Any kid off the street could do better. Mind your own business, don’t get in the way."

With that, he set aside the coffin board and picked up another piece of wood to start cutting.

With that example set, players came one after another, and at first, Feng Xue responded casually. But after he had rejected the tenth person, he seemed to get impatient and once again put up that impenetrable air wall, leaving players only able to stand outside, gaping at the NPC.

"Let’s go; even if this NPC has a quest, you probably need enough strength to accept it." Wu Sha shook his head as he saw players hitting a dead end and waved to Liao Yunhuai, signaling him to come hunting with him. Liao Yunhuai glanced at the barrage of comments in the livestream, his eyes darting about, then shook his head,

"Sorry, I’m doing a livestream. I have to choose the method with the most comments."

"I get it, I get it, I’ll head out first!" Wu Sha wasn’t displeased with that response; it was even better than someone quitting halfway through the hunt.

As Wu Sha walked toward the village’s outskirts, Liao Yunhuai spoke to the audience in the livestream room:

"Everyone, for the sake of your curiosity, I’ve given up on fast accumulation in the early stages! Hit the reward button, and I’ll take you to uncover the secrets of this expert!"

[666]

[666]

[666]

A series of small rewards flashed across the livestream, and Liao Yunhuai, not minding the small amount, immediately put on a business-like smile and headed towards the village.

He was a player who had fought hard in DaHui Tree Village since the first closed beta. Although a month had only taught him how to hunt rabbits, he had thoroughly familiarized himself with the village.

"During the last test, this NPC wasn’t in DaHui Tree Village, and as everyone knows, Jianghu game is all about being real. I had inquired about the conditions to settle in the village during the last test. If the officials aren’t contradicting themselves, I believe the NPC’s settlement should also adhere to these conditions."

While explaining his thoughts to the audience, Liao Yunhuai headed to the tavern, fetched a jug of old wine, and then followed the path to the village chief’s house, only to find the village chief sitting on the steps, smoking and playing chess with the neighbor.

Based on his experience from the last test, he pulled the stopper from the jug, and as the aroma of the wine spread, the village chief and the neighbor both turned their heads away from the chessboard.

Seeing who it was, the village chief immediately smiled and said,

"You lad, haven’t seen you for a month. Where have you been?"

"Had some things to take care of back home, so I went to help out. This time, I’ve got something I want to ask you about."

Liao Yunhuai spoke as he handed over the jug of wine. The village chief gave him a knowing look, took a boastful swig in front of his neighbor, and then said with a laugh,

"Go ahead, as long as it’s about something in DaHui Tree Village’s realm, this old man’s words still hold some sway."

"It’s like this, at the entrance of the village we saw a... um, new face, someone we hadn’t seen before in the village, so we wanted to come and ask you."

The old village chief was a shrewd man, and immediately understood what this lad was thinking, and revealed a teasing smile,

"Heh, never seen before, huh? Are you thinking of becoming his disciple?"

"Ah, village chief, you know?"

Liao Yunhuai was slightly stunned. He had thought this NPC would be some unknown hermit expert type who only showed his prowess to players. How did even the village chief know he was an expert?

"Nonsense! Do you think it’s that easy for an ordinary person to settle down?" The village chief scoffed at Liao Yunhuai, took another sip of wine, and said,

"Don’t judge him by his youthful appearance; his actual age might even be older than this old man! This expert must be the type who has seen through the worldly dust, or maybe he’s on worldly cultivation. Anyway, such stories are not rare among storytellers. For now, he’s just a woodworker in our village, you get what I mean."

"I get it, I get it!" Liao Yunhuai nodded vigorously, a hopeful expression still on his face. The old village chief glanced at the wine in his hand, muttered something under his breath, and then shook his head,

"Let me put it this way, he’s been here for over half a month. Several clever young folks in the village have thought about becoming his disciple, but none succeeded. If you really want to find a master, you might as well save some money and go to a martial arts school in the city."

"Old master, you look down on me?" Liao Yunhuai feigned a distressed look, but the village chief simply pushed him forward,

"Enough with that. You think I’m naive? The thoughts of an expert are not something I can ponder. If you want to become a disciple, figure it out yourself!"