Chapter 9: Cheater Player [Wood Spirit]

Absurd.

Absolutely absurd!

It had only been just over an hour since the closed beta began—’how could there already be a level 10 player?’

Ye Lian rubbed his eyes and looked again.

Still level 10.

No mistake!

“Hacks, right?” he muttered in disbelief.

There was no other explanation.

‘How else could someone hit level 10 in such a short amount of time?’

“Logically, that should be impossible. A completely unfamiliar game takes a lot of time to explore in the beginning. Not to mention, everyone starts off practically naked…”

‘Wait.’

‘Could it be that person found a game easter egg too—just like me?’

Ye Lian quickly looked at the player’s username.

[Second place, level 1.]

That was him.

And above him, at the top—

[Wood Spirit].

A name he wasn’t sure whether to call strange or just plain ordinary.

“Wood Spirit?” he repeated aloud, and at once, the image of a beautiful girl with long black hair in a tight-fitting black leather outfit flashed through his mind.

“Could it be her?”

She had left a deep impression on him.

Her strength had been far beyond that of an average player.

“She was soloing, just like me… Wait, she even showed up later than I did!”

He thought back to the strange encounter at the starting point, and his expression changed.

That black-haired girl had exited the starting zone after him!

Although he couldn’t be completely certain she had obtained an easter egg item, the chances were definitely high.

“Even if she is Wood Spirit and managed to get something on par with [Divine Alchemy], there’s no way she could reach level 10 that fast.

It just doesn’t add up. No way it’s reasonable!”

Ye Lian scratched his head in frustration.

No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t make sense.

“Unless… she got access to the game earlier than we did?”

‘No.’

‘That couldn’t be right—today was the first day of the closed beta.’

‘She couldn’t have gotten early access unless it had something to do with the [Savior] organization.’

As soon as that thought occurred to him, Ye Lian realized something else was off.

Ever since she entered the game, she seemed to be searching for someone.

‘If she really had ties to the [Savior] organization, joining the game shouldn’t have been necessary just to find someone.’

A simple request for the closed beta player list would have been enough.

“No matter the reason, Mu Ling’s presence is already a threat to me.”

Unable to make sense of it, Ye Lian decided to stop thinking about it.

Instead, he quickly assessed the current situation.

Level 10 versus Level 1—that’s a one-hit-kill kind of power gap.

Running into Mu Ling might be even more dangerous than encountering monsters.

No one knew if she would kill other players.

And no one could guarantee she wouldn’t.

This game had never placed any restrictions on player-versus-player combat from the very beginning!

“Until I’ve had time to grow stronger, I’d better avoid her.”

Closing his interface, Ye Lian felt a new kind of pressure settle on him.

***

After resting for a short while, he made up his mind to head to the underground river to hunt prey.

As he followed the slope downward, the visibility gradually decreased.

But after making a sharp turn, things suddenly became much brighter.

“Glowing crystals, huh? Too bad they’re too high up.”

At the bottom of the slope was a large cavern, with luminous crystals embedded high in the ceiling.

By their glow, Ye Lian spotted a flowing river.

More accurately, it was an underground river.

Smooth rocks jutted from the water’s surface.

The water was fairly deep and the current quite swift.

Ye Lian didn’t rush in.

His gaze, sharp with killing intent, landed on a spot not far away.

There lay a massive gray-armored crocodile, its body muscular and imposing.

As soon as Ye Lian came close, the crocodile—previously lazing about with a strangely humanlike air—instantly grew aggressive and bloodthirsty.

It stomped forward on its thick limbs, charging straight at him.

But with one successful crocodile kill under his belt, Ye Lian remained calm and composed.

He thrust his spear steadily, drawing arcs of blood from the beast.

In less than forty seconds, he brought down his second gray-armored crocodile.

He immediately used the materials from its body to craft a pair of gauntlets and battle boots.

His defense stat shot up to 65.

“If I kill two or three more of these guys, I can put together a full set of basic gear. That’ll give me a major defense boost and make it way easier to survive and level up.”

Tightening his grip on the spear, Ye Lian began performing what could only be described as brain surgery on the crocodile.

He pried open its skull and retrieved a white crystal, roughly the size of a soybean.

[Item obtained: White Core Crystal]