Chapter Twenty-Two: Version Update 0.0.1

"Excellent!" Hwang Yunshuo smiled in satisfaction. "I'll give you forty later; let's trade the copper coins first."

Soon, Hwang Yunshuo received a transfer of two hundred thousand credit points, his balance skyrocketing instantly.

"Struck it rich, struck it rich! Hahaha!" Hwang Yunshuo's face flushed with excitement in the blacksmith shop, waving his arms wildly. Two hundred thousand credits—back in the heyday of Frozen Glory, even with the old folks on board, they couldn't make that much in a month.

Not to mention, battles were especially frequent during that period, and almost all their credits went into getting remote support from the mothership to repair and upgrade the Mirror and its mechs. Now, no one had many credits left at all.

While Hwang Yunshuo was bursting with excitement, he noticed the old blacksmith working at a snail's pace, taking ages to forge just seven bucklers. He began to grow anxious. That Year, That Night, That Sea was waiting to trade with him. He wanted to log off too, and to be honest, he was starting to feel sleepy—he couldn't stay up any longer.

"Can't be helped," the old blacksmith replied with a wry smile after hearing Hwang Yunshuo's complaint. "I have to forge and pump the bellows at the same time. I simply can't go any faster."

These past years, there hadn't been any kids in the village willing to become blacksmiths; he hadn't been able to find even an apprentice to lend a hand.

"I've got plenty of strength for the bellows!" Hwang Yunshuo leapt eagerly over to the bellows.

After reaching level eight, his attribute allocation hadn't changed; his strength was already seventy-one. For reference, a level two player would only just break ten in strength. One could only imagine how strong he was now.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" His arms pumped the bellows fiercely, and the flames in the forge blazed brighter, the temperature in the blacksmith shop rising sharply.

"Good, good! Just like that!" The old blacksmith was overjoyed. With someone this powerful working the bellows for him, his speed at forging bucklers increased several times over.

When he finally had all the bucklers and had traded forty of them to That Year, That Night, That Sea, Hwang Yunshuo glanced at the remaining seven in his inventory and logged out right in the blacksmith shop.

"So tired!" He pulled off his helmet, stretched hard, then headed to the washroom to splash his face with water. Flicking droplets from his hands, he stared into the mirror.

"After playing all day, why do I still look full of energy?" He turned his head this way and that, satisfied with his reflection—he certainly didn't look like someone who'd been struck by stellar particles.

Back in his room, he set an alarm and went straight to bed.

[Server Announcement: Dimensional Reaper is the first to complete the village quest and leave the Novice Village, earning a green rare ring x1, copper coins x10,000, and a rare skill book x1.]

[Server Announcement: All players please log off within ten minutes. Reforged Era Version 0.0.1 maintenance will begin, estimated time: two hours. Maintenance content: New PvE dungeon—Redemption of the Novice Village; new PvP event—Arena Flag Capture; new leaderboards: Level, Combat Power, Equipment, and Bloodshed.]

[Server Announcement: Maintenance compensation: All players can claim 20-point Minor Healing Spray x1 after logging in.]

Someone in Reforged Era had reached level ten and completed the Novice Village quest, arriving at the city! Thus, under Skynet's control, the first maintenance was about to begin. Players found it both excessive and exciting, already looking forward to system compensation, new dungeons and events, and data on the various leaderboards once the servers were back up.

"If we'd been using eco-pods, maybe it would've been Big Brother Hwang to leave the Novice Village first. After all, we all took a three-hour break, and he's almost level nine now," Song Na said with a trace of reluctance. The Mirror's crew had just set up a group chat.

"Eco-pods provide a better gaming experience," someone added. "Players perform more consistently, and the best part is, you never have to log out. I really think it's possible."

They chatted for a while, everyone feeling a bit regretful.

"Enough talk. Let's all get some rest. With the gear and copper coins from Big Yellow, let's hurry and get stronger."

The shrill alarm blared, rousing Hwang Yunshuo from his drowsy stupor, though he was reluctant to get up. Sometimes, if you stay up all night, you feel fine, but if you sleep for just two hours, you can't drag yourself out of bed. That was exactly how Hwang Yunshuo felt now.

Lying in bed, he grabbed the Hurricane helmet and put it on.

"Maintenance countdown: five minutes and twelve seconds? What the hell..." The login screen worked, but the "enter game" option was greyed out. Hwang Yunshuo paused, his sleepiness fading.

He hurriedly browsed the forums and finally learned that a player had left the Novice Village, triggering the update. No wonder.

"PvE dungeons and PvP events are out—I knew it!" Hwang Yunshuo clapped his hands. He'd suspected Reforged Era would address the current situation where players were being slaughtered by monsters one-sidedly.

If he was right, both PvE and PvP would ultimately yield items and equipment to help boost strength or slay monsters.

Browsing the forums, he saw that many guilds and teams were now recruiting, and even some professional clubs were spreading the word and preparing to take on new members.

Guides for chicken farming, mining tips, and kiting level two stone turtles were springing up like mushrooms after rain, drawing countless views.

He clicked on a post titled "Attribute Optimization: Kiting Level Two Stone Turtles to the End" to check it out.

The video showed the poster—a level three elf. Judging by Hwang Yunshuo's standards, their agility was around twenty. After each attack, the player would retreat at the very last moment, narrowly avoiding the stone turtle's bite every time.

In ten minutes, the level three player, at full health, successfully kited the stone turtle to death—a massive effort that left him utterly exhausted.

The replies numbered in the tens of thousands, all either praising the player's skill or expressing admiration.

"There really are a lot of experts," Hwang Yunshuo nodded. This level three elf wasn't much compared to him, but their technique was indeed flawless.

"Epic! Level 10 God with Full Dazzling Light Set—Insane Attributes!"

He opened another post, this one featuring screenshots of a level ten Berserker in full Chicken set and harassment gear, wielding a single-handed iron shield with eight defense, standing imposingly at the village entrance. Surrounded by naked players, his showboating effect was off the charts.

He clicked through several of the hottest threads—some were bystanders encountering amazing players, some were experts sharing guides, while others simply flaunted their gear, levels, or warehouse, garnering countless replies.

Before he knew it, the maintenance time was up. The temperature around him changed, and Hwang Yunshuo found himself back in the blacksmith shop.

The interface now had three new options: Leaderboards, Dungeons, and Events.

Opening the Leaderboards, he saw the Level Rankings, Combat Power Assessments, Equipment Rankings, and Bloodshed Rankings.