"Hmm, you make a lot of sense."

Zhang Xuanyi nodded, opened up the gaming forum she was managing, and then saw a post:

[I stake my twenty years of being single on this—'Game Otherworld' is definitely a game that trumps all major games!!!]

This guy named 'If I Don't Die I'll Go Wild' was clearly a player too, using a large chunk of text to describe his own experiences, and concluded:

[Betting my twenty years of single life, 'Game Otherworld' is freaking fun, the key is… you can't play it, haha…]

Then, this guy who started the ridicule received a storm of verbal attacks from the forum users, a brick-moving storm, and he was almost beaten to a pulp.

After all, in this 'no pic, no proof' internet era, it's too naive to just believe what others say.

"Hehe..."

Xu Ran's smile was a bit stiff, "The internet is so vast, it has all kinds of people!"

...

Several days later, at night.

Zhang Xuanyi and Xu Ran logged on again.

The players' spawn points seemed to be bound to the location they left the game.

Therefore, when the two of them appeared on the grassland, they easily spotted each other.

"Yo, you guys logged on?"

Wan Donglin was lighting a bonfire, roasting two fish on it: "Wanna try? My cooking should be passable..."

(Game characters also need to eat, otherwise, they will get a 'hungry' status, reducing their mobility by 30%; and if prolonged, they will become 'weak,' 'sick,'… and then death.)

The extent to which the game was made was indeed hardcore.

"Thanks!"

Zhang Xuanyi took the roasted fish, had a bite, and felt it was passable.

Though the smoky flavor was strong, it at least masked the fishy smell and the embarrassment of having no salt.

The three players chatted while eating their fish.

"There's a forum opened on the official website, I counted the heads, there seem to be less than a hundred players in the first round of internal testing…"

Xu Ran said, "And the newbie village is too big, there might even be different newbie villages, the fact that we haven't found any other players these days proves it."

"What should we do then? Is 'Game Otherworld' initially a wilderness survival routine?"

Wan Donglin was startled.

"I don't know… because the main quest has not been triggered yet…" Xu Ran sighed, "Then, there's the experience points…"

Upon mentioning this, Wan Donglin fell silent.

Though the player's attribute panel clearly showed an experience column, he hadn't seen a single point of experience credit despite catching rabbits and killing fish, harming countless small animals, all this time.

"Could it be… wild monsters don't provide experience? Or maybe these don't count as monsters, and we must find wild wolves, wild boars… or humanoid monsters?"

Zhang Xuanyi speculated.

"We might as well just keep following the stream we found… based on wilderness survival experience, such convergence of stream water should have settlements upstream or downstream, right?"

Xu Ran suggested, "We're not as lucky as Old Bai, who could walk for a few days and stumble upon a humanoid NPC…"

After eating the fish, the three walked along the direction of the stream, heading downstream.

Half a day later, Zhang Xuanyi wiped off some sweat.

It's strange to say, but in the real world, she, a homebody, would never willingly go out for a walk.

But now, in a game world that was nearly real, she had a great deal of endurance and could walk half the day without feeling overly tired.

"Hey?"

She looked in a certain direction and suddenly pointed, "Look!"

Xu Ran looked back and saw a black column of smoke rising under the sky, just like a beacon fire...

"I've read a post!"

Xiao Shan was excited, "'Old Man with Young Hair' said he borrowed an axe from a woodcutter, planning to build a camp... He burns a smoke column every noon to remind players to gather there!"

"This hardcore game is too much, isn't it? Do players have to build their own village from scratch?"

Zhang Xuanyi sighed, but without hesitation, the three players immediately made their way toward the smoke column.

Then, they learned what it meant to rush toward a faraway mountain.

Though the smoke column was always in sight and seemed close, they traveled for more than an hour before finally arriving.

It was a small valley with three small mounds nearby that formed a 'concave' shape, not far from a small stream.

In front of the valley, a column of wolf smoke was burning at that moment.

Several people with dirt-covered faces were watching the fire with a look of deep resentment.

Wolf smoke needs relatively wet firewood to create, which means the smoke is definitely heavy, turning those watching the fire into "rabbit-eyed."

"Cough cough…I can't take it anymore, oh, are there newcomers?"

A seemingly plump guy waved vigorously, "Over here, over here..."

"Hello, I am 'Merciful Mother at the Mid-Lane'…"

Zhang Xuanyi stepped forward and introduced herself with poise.

"Welcome, welcome. Good to see you three, I'm 'Wan Donglin,' the boss of Evil Valley, mainly in charge of receiving new players... You three have come from quite far."

A middle-aged man stepped forward, rubbing his eyes, his face covered with soot.

"Who says that? This place is clearly 'Baihua Valley', right?"

A passing female player protested.

"We don't want such a sissy name, just call it newbie valley…"

Another plump guy shouted.

"Alright, alright, this place was first discovered and established by Old Man with Young Hair, let's discuss anything else when he returns..."

Another player spoke, "I'm 'Mo Tengyun,' this wilderness is actually very dangerous with wolves, poisonous snakes, wild boars, tigers... Therefore, we gathered here and thought it best to quickly build a camp. Look, it's enclosed on three sides by mountains, just build a fence at the valley entrance, and it'll easily defend against wild animals. It's not far from a water source, and there's a large open area for cultivation…"

"Nonsense, I didn't come to play some leisurely farming game... I came to cultivate, and if I cultivate, my Mana will reach the heavens!"

A very cliché young man shouted.

Zhang Xuanyi covered her face.

She knew this 'If Not Dead Yet, Keep Surfing Hardcore'—he'd made grand statements on her forum before, almost getting hammered into a pig's head by various forum armies.

Since 'Game Different World' was primarily promoted on several hardcore game forums, most of these players came from those small sites, setting a foundation of acquaintance.

Indeed, Zhang Xuanyi had already contacted the players from her forum offline, planning to form a small team.

"Enough of the clichés..."

Mo Tengyun held his forehead, looked toward the forest, and suddenly smiled, "Old Bai and the others are back."

Xu Ran and the others looked over and saw a dozen players coming over, laughing and talking while they carried firewood bound with vines, and couldn't help but silently cry, "Who would have thought that even in 'Game Different World,' we players can't escape the fate of moving bricks and chopping trees from the very beginning?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.