By the time Wang Jun arrived at the Eldritch Forest, he began to harvest the woods from one medium sized Eldritch Tree, he swung the boring axe a couple of times onto its trunk and it stumbled down with a loud thud sound.
Wang Jun was even surprised by his own strength in the game. If he tried the same thing in the real world, it would take him hours to cut down a tree of this size, that's before his arms gave up and exhausted, that is.
With just a swift swipe of his hand, he immediately stored the felled tree inside his Sea of Abyss which served as his own unlimited inventory box. It was a pretty convenient talent, however, he had to be cautious not to show this 'cheat code' in front of anyone.
Before long, Wang Jun had felled forty Eldritch Trees and collected a bunch of wood inside his Sea of Abyss.
Ding!
The notification chimerang cheerfully in his head. Soon the bluish transparent screen appeared before his eyes.
[40 Eldritch Tree Harvested!]
[+40 Gold Coins!]
[+100 EXP]
[EXP: 100/1.000 EXP]
[Reach Level 2 to attain your special reward!]
"100 EXP for harvesting those trees? That's quite generous isn't it? I can level this forest in one day and level up. But the problem is my low Stamina Point, if I keep this trend, I might pass out from exhaustion. Seems like the fastest way to level up is to kill other players."
He decided to catch his breath while letting his stamina point to recover. Along with his short resting time the Eldritch Trees regrow from its stump to a fully matured tree in a matter of minutes.
"Hmm? Am I tripping or those trees just regrow back to their original shape?"
Curious, Wang Jun touched the bark and felt a profound Qi Energy channeled through the tree's root systems and spread throughout the forest like a cobweb of endless veins of Qi Energy and he eventually detected the source which he believed was situated at the very heart of the forest.
"This forest is… Alive?" Wang Jun was amazed by his own little discovery.
In this world, where all sorts of energies exist, one could cultivate one energy of their choice which corresponds with their affinity.
For Wang Jun, since he has a thick eastern blood in his vein, it wasn't a coincidence that he had the Demonic Dual-Cultivation Path, Qi Energy, both Yin Qi and Yang Qi were very essentials for his cultivation growth for the long run.
As much as he wanted to venture further into the heart of the forest, Wang Jun was aware that he had to become stronger first and level up his character and skills.
As if it was a cued event, Wang Jun noticed the presence of five people, lurking between the lush foliage of the bushes and what not. From the name above their head, Wang Jun was convinced that they are real players. Even from a distance, Wang Jun noticed their intent to rob him amidst the bright day and kill him.
"From their stance and positioning, they are veteran gamers, I shouldn't hold back from killing them, right?
Wang Jun grinned from ear to ear before he used his [Shadow Step] and vanished into thin air like a vengeful wraith.
***
The group of five veteran gamers perplexed upon witnessing the young man's ability.
Hou Yongyong, the leader of the this [Tiger Claw Squad], remained calm, sharpened his senses to detect any slightest change in the air.
"Fei Lan, A Lan! Take the trees. Taotao, Jiegei, watch my back! This person is dangerous! Stay sharp!"
Although their enemy was just a single young man, Hou Yongyong didn't underestimate the young man at all. His experience in various games taught him to always be vigilant, even if his enemy was a mere slime.
Likewise, Wang Jun also calculates the situation before he strikes from afar, perching on a tree branch. "Two people as watchmen, and another two as rear guards. Gotta kill those two on the trees, first."
Zapp! Zapp!
The sound of leaves rustled from every direction, a dark after image of a shadow dashed from one tree to another in quick succession made them bewildered.
"Fei Lan, A Lan! What's your status?" Hou Yongyong spoke to the twin brothers via Piscord App outside the in-game voice chat, so other players won't hear their comms.
Fei Lan, the younger brother reported in, "Nothing… This guy is a ghost, bro! I think we gotta head back to base and dip in, we have so much loot already-"
Tink! Urrghh!
Fei Lan's voice groaned in agony and his Soul was returned to his body in an abrupt manner, causing his muscle memory to react to the pain that was inflicted in the game.
"Gggrrh! Fuck! Even the pain feels so real!" Fei Lan writhed in pain even in the real world, although there's no injury on his body.
"Fei Lan! Are you okay? This bastard is a psycho for sure!" A Lan, the older brother, spoke from inside the game, his character was still pretty much alive.
"Sorry bro, I was careless!" Fei Lan looked at the display before his eyes which stated his Respawn Cooldown was four hours remaining. "You guys are on your own now, be careful! He's so fast!"
"Rog!"
"No worries, we will get back your gear and loot! We won't lose to this guy!"
Meanwhile, inside the game, A Lan had found a dead body dangling upside down with his one leg nailed upon the branch with a sword. Blood flowed freely like a miniature waterfall from the neck deep splitted head.
"Shit! I found Fei Lan's body, come check it out." A Lan spoke to his party through the Piscord App.
Before long, the other three had arrived on the scene to bear witness of the sheer horror in this game which has the details almost 100% resembling the real world itself.
"Forget about the RCR 3 and GRA VI, this game is far more… fucked up than the rest!" Taotao remarked the horrifying details, "Even the smell of the blood was very pungent and nauseated my guts!"
