Chapter 12: Look, A Humanoid NPC

In the Liangshan Stronghold, Zhang Tieniu, who had investigated the area around the territory under Qin Shujian’s orders, was the first to return and report his findings.

“Stronghold Chieftain!”

“How’s the situation? How much of the factions that are connected to Liangshan have you investigated?” Qin Shujian lowered his tone and asked when he saw Zhang Tieniu.

Zhang Tieniu replied respectfully, “I went to the Messy Stone Forest this time. Three Mountain Thieves occupy the area. They have 70 or 80 men.”

“In terms of overall strength, they are not weaker than the Liangshan Stronghold.”

“It is just that the three Mountain Thieves do not bother with each other and have separated the Messy Stone Forest into three areas. They each occupied one area.”

“The people leading them were experts who were at least Martial Entry-Level Four or maybe Martial Entry-Level Five.”

Qin Shujian’s expression did not change when he heard the report.

According to Zhang Tieniu’s explanation, the Messy Stone Forest’s factions were similar to that of the Liangshan Stronghold. They were all men who resided within the forest.

However, compared to the Liangshan Stronghold, the factions of Mountain Thieves in the Messy Stone Forest each occupied a particular area. Thus, their average strength was not too different from that of the Liangshan Stronghold.

However, if the Messy Stone Forest was to come under a unified rule, the Liangshan Stronghold of the past would not have been able to fight against them.

Qin Shujian saw the big picture.

Qin Shujian could deduce the general strength of the other factions around Liangshan by observing the situation in the Messy Stone Forest.

If this was yesterday, he might have tried to prepare for any future situations that might arise.

However, currently, Qin Shujian did not have that thought.

First, he had already perfected the Bodyforge Manual. Within the territory of Liangshan, he was an expert with abilities at Martial Entry-Level Six.

According to what Zhang Tieniu told him in the past, out of all the factions connected to Liangshan, only the Xining Rebellion in the west might have experts that surpassed Martial Entry-Level Five. Furthermore, those experts might also be receiving boosts for staying within their territory.

Whether or not those people could sustain that level of ability when they left the sphere of influence of the Xining Rebellion was unknown.

In other words, as long as he stayed within the Liangshan Stronghold, it was equivalent to there being a Martial Entry-Level Six expert defending Liangshan.

As long as there were no significant changes, he could basically guarantee that the Liangshan Stronghold would be undisturbed.

Furthermore, there was something else that deserved Qin Shujian’s attention.

That was the players who had descended into this world.

No one understood more than him just how much potential players had.

He knew just how fast a player could enhance their abilities.

If he did not find a way to solve this problem, Qin Shujian, a mini Boss of the Liangshan Stronghold, would be farmed to death by the players one day.

Without giving Qin Shujian too much time to think about the situation, Wang Tieniu, who had headed out to check on the players’ position, returned with a report.

“There is a new village 20 miles east of Liangshan. Many of the Outlanders who had descended from the sky have gathered there.”

“Village?”

Qin Shujian’s expression turned slightly darker when he heard that.

He did not have to think too hard to know what the sudden appearance of a village meant.

That must be the starter village of this game.

Qin Shujian did not expect such a coincidence. The starter village was situated right under his nose.

The game seemed to be setting up to destroy him.

“Do you know how strong the village is?”

“From my point of view, the village has several guards. There are multiple dozen guards just in the area. We do not know how strong they are as we have not battled them before. However, from the looks of things, they don’t seem very weak.”

Wang Tiezhu gave an honest answer.

Several dozen guards could be seen in the village. Then, if Qin Shujian considered that there might be hidden guards in the village, there could be more than 100 guards in the village.

That meant that they had considerable strength.

Even though Wang Tiezhu did not know what the arrival of the Outlanders meant.

However, the sudden appearance of another faction within the Liangshan’s sphere of influence would have a significant impact on Liangshan.

Qin Shujian slipped into deliberation and did not speak for some time.

The appearance of a starter village meant that there might be a large number of players gathered there.

The Liangshan Stronghold was situated here. They couldn’t move.

If they couldn’t move, then the Liangshan Stronghold would become the target of the players’ attacks when they became stronger.

He had to seize the initiative and strike first. There would be trouble if he took action too late.

Since they would have to battle each other in due time, Qin Shujian decided to take matters into his own hands and seize the initiative.

…

Outside the starter village:

Multiple players were chasing after the ducks and chickens roaming around with their bare hands in an empty field.

“F***, this game is too difficult!”

“They don’t even give us any weapons or techniques at the start of the game. These chickens and ducks are also sprinting. Who knows when we’ll be able to reach the Martial Entry-Level One if this continues!”

Many players cursed helplessly in the field.

They had been rather excited about the realism of the game when they had first entered the game.

However, they had to face the cruel reality after the excitement waned.

Other than the full set of clothes provided to prevent any indecency, the new players were not even given a single copper coin, much less any weapons.

They had to have a technique to cultivate if they wanted to enhance their level.

Thus, they all ran to the training hall to cultivate a technique.

However, they needed money to access the training hall. The players were penniless. Where could they find the money for the training hall?

They could only turn back and look for the rest of the villagers in the village. They had to participate in many various missions to earn a few copper coins.

After gathering enough money to cultivate a technique, the players realized that they would not directly level up after they cultivated a technique.

They had to follow the prescribed practice if they wanted to enhance their level.

They might be able to level up after a year or six months.

The players were devastated by such a situation.

Fortunately, someone discovered later on that they did not have to follow the practice regimen step-by-step. As long as they killed monsters just like they did with any other game, they would be able to gather progress on their technique and enhance their level using that.

However, the unequipped players could only deal with wild monsters that did not pose too much of a threat.

Thus…It resulted in the present situation.

Suddenly, some of the players stopped and looked toward a faraway direction. They had a glimmer in their eyes.

“Quick, look, there’s a humanoid NPC!”

“What!”

“It is really a humanoid NPC. He is even carrying a blade. He must be strong.”

The other players also noticed the NPC when they heard the exclamation. They engaged in a discussion.

Amidst their commotion, the gazes they shot toward the NPC suddenly became more passionate.

There was the sudden appearance of an NPC in the wilderness.

Furthermore, judging from his equipment and clothing, this NPC must have considerable status.

To the players, this NPC must be a walking mission board.

Qin Shujian knitted his brows when he saw the many players swarming toward him. However, he did not take action immediately. Instead, he said with a jovial expression, “People, I… I wish to rest in the village in front. Please excuse me.”

“That’s good, that’s good!”

The rest of the players instinctively opened up a path when they heard Qin Shujian.

That was because, from their point of view, it was highly probable that NPCs that they could converse with would issue them with missions.

It would be a huge loss if they soured their relationship with the NPC for a small matter like this and failed to obtain any missions.

However, even though they had opened up a path, several players refused to give up and were pestering Qin Shujian from the side.

“May I ask what I can help you with?”

“You can tell me if you have any trouble. I might be able to help you.”

“Hello…”

“…”

Qin Shujian had a smile on his face throughout the journey. He walked toward the village, escorted by many players.