9: It's reasonable for designers to include a few minor bugs, right?

The entrance of the Novice Village, Wolf Forest.

A pair of sisters were diligently hacking away at Level 1 Wild Wolves with their Novice Weapons.

“Sis, look, look! Isn't that person who just rushed past the Clown we met earlier?”

“Huh? It really seems to be him! The direction he's heading is the territory of Level 5 Venomous Bees. Why is he running there?”

“Sis, he wouldn't be thinking of killing himself because he was just mocked by other players, would he?”

“Boohoo~~ That person is so pitiful!”

There were quite a few novice players doing quests in the Wolf Forest, and many noticed Lin Du passing by in a hurry.

Before entering the game, most novice players had studied Game Guides. The monsters in universe ol are generally strong, and a Level 1 novice player entering the territory of Level 5 Venomous Bees is no different from seeking death.

In the eyes of outsiders, Lin Du's little life was clearly forfeit... There were many novice players leveling up in the Wolf Forest area, and most of the Wild Wolves had been lured away by them, so Lin Du reached the Poison Bee Forest next to Wolf Ridge without any obstacles.

The number of Venomous Bees in the Poison Bee Forest was much greater than the Wild Wolves in the Wolf Forest, and the Venomous Bees were also more intelligent than the Wild Wolves.

The Venomous Bees were highly disciplined; they did not fight players one-on-one. Every player was surrounded by a dozen or more Venomous Bees, making them extremely difficult to deal with.

After arriving at the Poison Bee Forest, Lin Du slowed his steps, moving forward while hugging a small, black-brown tree.

Lin Du did not deliberately hide himself, and soon Venomous Bees noticed his presence.

However, these Venomous Bees did not immediately swarm him; instead, they buzzed warily seven or eight meters away.

Buzz—

Buzz buzz buzz—

More and more Venomous Bees gathered nearby, their buzzing making eardrums tremble... When the players leveling up not far away noticed Lin Du's situation, every one of them was astonished, jaws dropped.

“That's strange! Why aren't the Venomous Bees attacking that player?”

“That player is really bold; daring to trespass into the Poison Bee Forest at only Level 1 is simply seeking death!”

Lin Du walked on nonchalantly, completely ignoring the surrounding Venomous Bees.

The reason he was so confident was that the Small Black-Brown Tree next to him was a plant that specifically countered Venomous Bees.

The Small Black-Brown Tree emits an odor undetectable by humans, and this smell is fatally harmful to Venomous Bees.

Under the astonished gaze of the players, Lin Du smoothly disappeared at the end of the Poison Bee Forest... After walking for about ten minutes, Lin Du arrived in a desolate, rarely visited Deadwood Forest.

In the center of the Deadwood Forest stood a Red Tree easily twenty to thirty meters high; this Red Tree was the only living thing in the entire Deadwood Forest.

Lin Du glanced around, and after confirming he was alone, he moved a large stone to block a small, inconspicuous hole at the very bottom of the Red Tree.

To be safe, Lin Du blocked it with a few more large stones.

Once everything was ready, Lin Du climbed onto the largest tree branch.

He pulled out the Short Blade, the starting weapon for the “Clown” class, and started hacking at the tree bark in front of him, one strike at a time.

Crack—

Crack crack crack—

After hacking for a full seven or eight minutes, the tree bark finally peeled away, revealing a dark, fist-sized hole.

A rustling sound faintly emerged from the hole... Squeak—

The sound inside the tree hole grew closer, and a pitch-black, hideous head suddenly drilled out of the hole.

This pitch-black monster head was nearly the size of two fists and looked somewhat like a mutated insect. Once the head appeared, it got stuck perfectly in the hole Lin Du had carved.

It couldn't get out, and it couldn't retreat... The monster struggled desperately, but the more it struggled, the tighter its head got stuck.

Lin Du looked at his handiwork with satisfaction.

[Monster]: Ghost Face Centipede (normal-level)

[Level]: 5

[Description]: A venomous insect that feeds on White Silkworms. Its claws are very sharp, and its body contains a large amount of venom.

In universe ol, monsters of different races possess different abilities.

Based on the level of these monsters' abilities, they can be divided into: normal-level, Elite-level, Lord-level, King-level, Emperor-level, Saint-level, and the strongest, God-level... The Ghost Face Centipede is a venomous insect that hides during the day and comes out at night. The low silk production of Old Mrs. Liu this year was precisely because the White Silkworms on the Mulberry Trees were secretly eaten by the Ghost Face Centipedes at night.

With fewer White Silkworms on the Mulberry Trees, the silk production naturally decreased as well.

As the Chief Designer of universe ol, it's perfectly reasonable for Lin Du to know such small secrets, right?

Next, the main event arrived.

Lin Du's main purpose for coming to this Deadwood Forest was actually not to complete Old Mrs. Liu's Hidden Quest.

His main goal was to level up; Old Mrs. Liu's Hidden Quest was just a bonus done along the way.

The Sequence 999 class, Clown, had pitiful combat power in the early stages. Any one of the Level 1 Wild Wolves in the Wolf Forest would take Lin Du half an hour to defeat.

To level up quickly, Lin Du had to find another path; following the conventional novice quests was clearly not suitable for him.

The Ghost Face Centipede, stuck motionless in the tree hole, was the little leveling shortcut Lin Du had prepared for himself... The Ghost Face Centipede's weakness was its eyes. Lin Du picked up the Short Blade and stabbed at the Ghost Face Centipede's eyes, strike after strike.

Pfft—

Pfft—

Pfffttt—

The Ghost Face Centipede's body was completely jammed in the tree hole, leaving it defenseless against Lin Du's slaughter. After more than ten forceful strikes, the Ghost Face Centipede was thoroughly dead... [Killed: Ghost Face Centipede Lv. 5]

[Gained: experience value +86, lifespan value +0.05 hours]

Buzz—

A golden light flashed across Lin Du's body, and his level successfully increased to Level 2.

As his level increased, a warm current flowed through his body, and Lin Du's physique was greatly enhanced.

Attributes such as strength, speed, and defense all saw significant increases, making him much stronger than he was at Level 1.

There was a four-level difference between Lin Du and the Ghost Face Centipede, and due to this level gap, Lin Du gained extremely generous experience value.

The experience value provided by this single Ghost Face Centipede was enough for him to spend several hours hacking at Wild Wolves... The tree hole was the Ghost Face Centipede's lair, and there was more than just one inside.

Lin Du cut the Ghost Face Centipede stuck in the tree hole into pieces and dragged it out. Soon, a second Ghost Face Centipede got stuck in the tree hole.

“Continue!!”

Lin Du gripped the Short Blade with both hands and started carving again.

This time, he only needed five strikes to hack the Ghost Face Centipede to pieces.

After reaching Level 2, Lin Du's physical constitution soared, making monster slaying much easier.

The third one!

The fourth one!

The fifth one!

...

[Killed: Ghost Face Centipede Lv. 6]

[Gained: experience value +168, lifespan value +0.08 hours]

Clang—

While gaining experience value and lifespan value, a Fine Steel Long Saber dropped at Lin Du's feet.

This was the first piece of weapon equipment Lin Du had dropped in universe ol...