Chapter Fifteen: The Adventure Badge
“I only dared to venture into the level 2 monster zone at level 5. The level 10 monsters in the novice village—does that mean players need to reach level 20 or 30 before they can handle them?” Shaking his head helplessly, Huang Yunshuo strode into the general store and bought ten bottles of micro healing spray, each restoring 20 health, and four bottles of small healing spray, each restoring 50 health, leaving him with 127 copper coins.
He went to the tailor’s shop next. After handing over 51 chick down feathers, Aunt Sun was delighted. She took 50 copper coins, then rewarded Huang Yunshuo with three bottles of micro healing spray before heading to the back room.
“So, for every fifty chick down feathers collected, they reward you with three bottles of micro healing spray? That’s downright stingy.” Huang Yunshuo felt speechless. Even though this was unexpected fortune, SkyNet was really tight-fisted. Unless a player had a stroke of luck like he did, how could anyone possibly complete such a ridiculous quest?
His backpack now held thirteen bottles of micro healing spray, five bottles of small healing spray—enough healing for 510 health points, which amounted to five lives. Huang Yunshuo felt inflated with confidence, as if he could take on anything.
“I’ve got 77 copper coins left. I’ll keep fifty.” He opened the trade interface, placed twenty-seven copper coins and the Harassment Armor up, then sent them to Ye Piaoxue.
Within five seconds, Ye Piaoxue’s voice message arrived.
“Big Yellow, are you planning to fully sponsor me now?”
Huang Yunshuo typed, “Let me just ask, am I awesome or what?”
Ye Piaoxue sent a dramatic eye-roll emoji. “Do you have enough copper coins and equipment for yourself?”
“I’m good. I’ll support you first, then help Yin-jie and the others. Keep an eye out for chick down feathers—once you’ve got twenty, go find Aunt Sun at the tailor’s shop. Save twenty copper coins for it.”
“Alright!”
Ye Piaoxue closed the chat interface. Although Big Yellow was skilled at the game, he must have had some extraordinary luck this time—otherwise, there’s no way he’d be so far ahead of her!
He was already level five—level five! Extra copper coins aside, he even had an extra piece of equipment!
There’s no suspense now; Big Yellow was once again the undisputed leader of the Mingjing Guild in Reforged Epoch.
Ye Piaoxue was in high spirits. She went to the general store, bought a novice wooden staff and five bottles of micro healing spray, and ten minutes later, wrapped in white light, she reached level two.
Aunt Sun emerged from the back of the tailor’s shop, her face glowing with joy, holding a chick down cloak.
“Young man, put on this cloak. I believe the little creatures outside the village won’t trouble you anymore!”
Chick Down Cloak, Level 5
Agility: +3
Movement Speed: +2%
Passive Skill: Restores 1 health point automatically every five seconds.
“Oh my goodness!”
Huang Yunshuo’s legs went weak and he dropped to his knees.
“Adventurer, what are you doing? Auntie doesn’t need you to show your gratitude like that!” Aunt Sun hurriedly helped the stunned Huang Yunshuo to his feet, smiling warmly.
“Such superb equipment! The quality may be battered, but it has stats fit for white-tier gear, and that passive skill is absolutely game-breaking!”
Huang Yunshuo trembled all over with excitement, as if having a seizure, scaring Aunt Sun into ushering him out.
Thirty-two points of high agility, plus two percent movement speed bonus, twelve health restored per minute—could it get any better?
“I just want to ask—who else is there? Hahaha!”
Outside the tailor’s shop, a player named ‘Simpleton’ was decked out in gear, legs spread, hands on hips, pointing skyward and shouting arrogantly.
“Damn, my alloy dog eyes can hardly believe it.”
“How many pieces of equipment is that? Hat, cloak, shoulder guards, leg guards, boots, armor, staff—that’s seven items, not even counting the wooden shield!”
“Is this even a game anymore? I’m hopeless!”
Players nearby, still wearing only their underwear or at most a bandeau, cast complicated and desperate looks his way.
Someone snapped a video of Huang Yunshuo, made a short clip, and posted it on the forum.
“Shocking! In novice village ekT92034, a fully geared juggernaut appears—is this a solo chick farming routine?”
“I’m devastated, but let me grab second floor first.”
“Reforged Epoch? Our trashy novice village—no one can even afford a wooden staff.”
“Am I second floor?”
“Third floor—doesn’t your novice village have major guilds or temporary groups? Shouldn’t the guild leaders at least be able to afford a wooden staff?”
“Look closely at this player’s name—Simpleton! Could it be any more ironic? Even a Simpleton is crushing us by eighteen streets!”
“Go to hell, OP. Is editing videos so amusing? Should I photoshop a full-body rainbow artifact for you? Don’t act like making videos is so hard.”
The post quickly attracted crowds of players, replies exploded in number, and after repeated manual pinning, it caught the official’s attention and was set as a hot topic.
“Solo farming for emotional fulfillment.”
Huang Yunshuo knocked a chick aside with his staff, followed up with another blow, then stood his ground against the chick’s attacks.
-10!
After three hits, the chick was nearly dead.
Huang Yunshuo kicked upward, launching the chick into the air, then swung his wooden staff.
“Home run!”
With a smack, the chick shrieked midair, turned into a corpse, and five copper coins, a chick down feather, and a badge dropped to the ground.
“Adventure Badge?”
Huang Yunshuo examined the badge in his hand, astonished.
Adventure Badge: Level 1
Description: A widely recognized token by the Guardian Alliance, representing an adventurer’s courage and deeds in the Earthmix Continent. The higher the badge level, the greater the benefits; your strength and quality are more easily trusted.
Experience gain rate: +1%
Movement speed: +1%
Item slot: 1
Daily supply: 100 copper coins (already claimed today)
Huang Yunshuo quickly checked; his fifty copper coins had become one hundred and fifty, and his stats now included buffs for experience gain and movement speed, plus a special item slot appeared at the top of his backpack.
“Damn! There’s actually such a good thing!”
His eyes nearly popped out. Judging by the description, every player would eventually equip one, and it would upgrade as their strength increased.
But the drop rate was ridiculously low. Huang Yunshuo had killed over a hundred chicks before one finally dropped, and it was likely tied to his rapid solo kills. Regular players might wait ages for one.
“If this thing gets out, who knows how many people would go mad? At level one, you get a daily supply of one hundred copper coins. The average player barely earns three copper coins after half an hour’s struggle.”
He sighed, casually pinned the badge to his chest. Once acquired, it was permanently bound and couldn’t be dropped, so its placement was merely symbolic.
Passing through the dense chick monster zone, Huang Yunshuo saw a vast, lush grassland ahead.
The grass stood about twenty centimeters tall, enough to cover his ankles.
“This doesn’t make sense. Why is there such a large empty field between the level one chick monster zone and the level three rabbit zone?”
He could already see, at the far end of the grassland, a daunting horde of brightly colored rabbits, all clearly marked as level three monsters. But where were the level two monsters?
Walking through the grass, Huang Yunshuo suddenly felt his foot strike something hard.
“What’s a rock doing here?”
He started to look down, then suddenly felt his whole body go numb.
-10!
“You have suffered slow damage from a level two Stone Turtle. For the next minute, your movement speed will be reduced by ninety percent.”
The abrupt system notification nearly caused Huang Yunshuo to jump out of his skin.
Stone Turtle?
He hastily looked down and froze.
Hidden among the grass was a creature with a green shell the size of a rugby ball, its turtle head stretched out to bite him. If that wasn’t a turtle, then what was?
“Damn it, do they have to be this tricky? Twenty-centimeter grass, green little turtles—if the turtle pulls its head back into its shell, who could possibly spot it?”
Huang Yunshuo was on the verge of tears. In the blink of an eye, while he was distracted, he got bitten again.
In a flash, he was down to eighty health.