Chapter 4 First Entry

At dawn, the biting morning wind swept through the forest, the air seeming to shimmer with a faint blue mist. The thick, dense canopies of the dark-clothed trees rustled against each other, as if the forest were slowly awakening.

In a rarely trodden part of the woods, a piece of decaying wood, dead for who knows how long, lay across the thick layer of humus, almost completely hollowed out by insects.

Amidst this tranquility, a faint point of light appeared out of nowhere, landing on the piece of wood.

The wood suddenly and silently turned into dust, but instead of being scattered by the wind, the dust gathered towards the light, gradually transforming into a human shape.

At first, it was just a human outline made of ash, but soon, the ash became solid, gradually turning into the color of skin. Facial features and hair quickly emerged, eventually forming a man with deep-set eyes and a high-bridged nose. He had a bird-shaped tattoo on his arm and wore coarse cloth trousers and a shirt, dressed like a vagrant.

Zhou Jing felt a daze as his consciousness descended into this body. He staggered, almost losing his balance.

He quickly grabbed a nearby tree for support, swallowing quietly, unable to hide the shock in his eyes.

"This... is this matter recombination?"

Zhou Jing's consciousness had remained clear throughout the process. During the transit, he witnessed the entire process of the Star Realm Apostle's creation, like disassembling a piece of wood and turning it into a human body.

Looking at the bird-shaped tattoo on his arm, Zhou Jing's expression shifted. He suddenly bit the inside of his cheek hard, wincing slightly in pain as the salty taste of blood filled his mouth.

"Looks like it's still flesh and blood, not a wooden puppet."

Zhou Jing smacked his lips, his mouth full of blood.

Matter recombination... Well, he didn't understand it, but he was deeply shocked.

*It seems this body is the Star Realm Apostle I created, a vessel for walking in this world.*

Suppressing his inner surprise, Zhou Jing took a deep breath. The biting air immediately filled his lungs, and all his senses felt intensely alive.

Controlling the Star Realm Apostle's body felt smooth and natural, no different from controlling his own body.

Well... not entirely the same. The Star Realm Apostle's senses were more acute, and he felt an unprecedented sense of power, as if he possessed inexhaustible strength.

"This must be the effect of the Agile talent and the 9 points of Fitness... Truly strong."

Zhou Jing moved his hands and feet. Not only was there no stiffness, but he could even feel and control muscles that his original body had never trained.

He curiously flexed his pectoral muscles, which he had never possessed before, and quickly recalled the panel, attempting to summon it in his mind.

Buzz—

The panel appeared, fixed in a certain area of his vision, as if etched onto his retina. When he turned his head, the translucent panel turned with him, passing through trees as if it were a virtual projection.

"It's a bit like augmented reality technology. Others probably can't see it."

Zhou Jing blinked, trying to make the panel disappear from his retina and only appear in his mind.

"This feels better, so people don't see me making weird gestures at the air..."

Zhou Jing breathed a sigh of relief.

After descending into the Star Realm Apostle, he discovered that the panel interface had changed. The previous character creation interface, projection interface, and map interface were no longer accessible. Now, only "Wilwood's" information was displayed.

Compared to the original file, two new items had appeared.

[Estimated Length of Stay: 57 days]

[Current Synchronization Rate: 10%]

"The synchronization rate starts at ten percent, not zero."

Zhou Jing looked again at "Wilwood's" trait profile.

Personality: suspicious and cautious, conservative style, lawful and moral stance, pursuit of power and honor... As long as his actions aligned with these traits, and he tried to act like this "Wilwood," he could increase the synchronization rate.

*Looks like I'll have to temporarily treat these traits as my code of conduct... Although I'm not exactly like this, acting like a different personality and seeing things in a different way feels quite special... I'm just not sure if I can do it.*

Zhou Jing carefully surveyed his surroundings.

The trees nearby were all several dozen meters tall, quite large and densely covered with foliage. Only faint sunlight could penetrate, making the forest seem somewhat dim. The ground was covered in sprawling grass, and the terrain had a gentle slope, so it probably wasn't a continuous mountainous area.

Extending his gaze, he saw only more trees, unable to discern his direction.

Zhou Jing suddenly realized a major problem.

—*Where the heck am I?*

He had no idea where he was, didn't know which way to go. The panel said he would stay for five to seven days, but who knew if that was enough time to leave this forest... No, he wasn't even sure if he could survive in the forest.

The Star Realm Apostle's physical senses were identical to his own, so he needed to eat and rest, which meant considering the problem of survival.

A cold wind blew past, chilling him to the bone. Zhou Jing shivered slightly.

—*Judging by the current situation, "freezing to death" has overwhelmingly defeated "starving to death" and "thirsting to death," and has proudly taken the top spot as the most likely way to die right now. Great.*

"The most important thing is to find signs of people. Speaking of which, the Star Realm Apostle's race is listed as Terra, which should mean that there are living people in this world, but the problem is that I don't understand the language here. How am I supposed to communicate with them..."

As Zhou Jing pondered, he suddenly noticed a light flashing in the lower right corner of the panel.

He focused his attention there, and several messages popped up from the bottom right corner.

[Achievement Triggered: First Transit!]

[Gained 300 Star Realm Points!]

[Achievement Triggered: First Arrival!]

[Gained 100 Star Realm Points! [Support Tool - Language Quick Parse (Skill Version)] x1]

[Support Tool - Language Quick Parse (Skill Version)]

[Function: Quickly parse a language]

[How to use: When you study a language through books, or when you communicate with an object, you can consume this tool to quickly parse the relevant language, perform language translation in daily use, and generate skills]

Zhou Jing's eyes lit up.

He learned from the panel information that certain behaviors of the Star Realm Apostle while traveling through different planes could trigger "achievements," earning rewards, mostly Star Realm Points, but occasionally different types of achievement rewards.

The completion conditions for these two achievements were as follows: [First Transit] was for the first plane transit, a unique achievement. The definition of [First Arrival] was that it would be triggered every time he entered a new Star Realm, a repeatable achievement.

Achievement types were divided into unique and repeatable. He could open the [Achievement List] on the panel to query the completion conditions for many achievements and complete them in a targeted manner. There were also some hidden achievements, for which he couldn't directly query the completion methods. He would only be prompted to trigger them if he accidentally met the requirements.

The different types of achievement rewards besides Star Realm Points didn't have to take effect immediately, but could be stored in the achievement warehouse and used later.

"It seems the panel doesn't directly solve all communication problems, but it's good that there's this achievement reward... Speaking of which, this achievement says it can be triggered once in every new plane. Is this a welfare benefit to solve the communication problem in every new world?"

Zhou Jing secretly speculated.

He had been worried that if he didn't speak the language, others wouldn't understand his flamboyant sign language. Now he could relax.

He was unfamiliar with the place and had no information about the current Star Realm. Finding someone to communicate with and understanding his situation was his top priority.

Zhou Jing steadied himself, picked through the fallen branches on the ground, found a handy one to use as a walking stick, chose a direction, and cautiously moved forward.

He had no experience in wilderness survival and was uncertain, but he could only trust himself and a bit of luck.

Fortunately, this body had 9 points of Fitness, making it very strong and energetic. If he encountered danger, he would also have a greater ability to cope.

*I'm just an ordinary interstellar society civilian, suddenly dragged onto a wilderness survival set... Although the death of a Star Realm Apostle won't affect the main body, it's best to keep myself alive and kicking as much as possible before returning, just in case.*

Zhou Jing rubbed his arms vigorously, as if to rub away the biting cold.

...

After walking intermittently for about three or four hours, the temperature in the forest gradually warmed up, no longer as cold as it had been at dawn.

Zhou Jing had been trekking through the forest for a long time, his nose red with cold, constantly exhaling white mist as he breathed.

"It's lucky I had a set of clothes with me, otherwise I probably would have frozen stiff..."

The style of the clothes he had was very simple, just a single shirt and trousers. The fabric was very coarse, and after traveling for half a day, his shoulders and neck had red marks from the friction. They were itchy and prickly, and the cold wind made the sensation incredibly unpleasant.

He lived in the interstellar era, and although he couldn't be considered pampered, the supplies he used were all modern industrial products. He had no experience surviving in the wilderness wearing only a single layer of clothing, and had never suffered like this before.

Zhou Jing grit his teeth and endured it, trying not to think about the comforts of modern life and striving to adapt. He had been mentally prepared before entering, and retreating was not an option now.

He was here now, so he just had to do it!

Stopping and starting along the way, Zhou Jing tried to identify traces in the wilderness and search for signs of people.

He hadn't learned wilderness reconnaissance, so he could only judge based on his intuition, but it seemed that the [Agile] talent was working, as he occasionally noticed some subtle traces.

However, these discoveries made him tense. On some trees, he found old claw marks, indicating that there were unknown beasts in this forest, making his situation even more dangerous.

However, to his surprise, this body's physical fitness was even better than he had expected. After walking for three or four hours, he was only slightly tired and still maintained plenty of energy. Moreover, after being in the cold environment for so long, only his joints were slightly stiff, making him quite resistant to the cold.

Turning past a large tree, Zhou Jing suddenly stopped, his eyes fixed on the ground not far away. There were several human footprints, extending all the way forward.

"Finally, I've found signs of people!"

Zhou Jing was first delighted, but quickly calmed down.

He didn't know if the owners of these footprints were good or bad.

But humans were the only ones he could communicate with in the wilderness forest, so he needed to make contact as appropriate, otherwise he would lack intelligence and wouldn't be able to leave the forest easily.

This was the first time Zhou Jing had experienced something like this, but he had weighed the pros and cons along the way. Those he encountered in the forest would either be beasts or people, and the latter were ultimately easier to communicate with than the former.

He secretly braced himself and carefully followed the footprints forward.

His mind was highly tense, paying attention to the surrounding sounds and movements, and ready to respond to any unexpected events.

After walking for about half an hour, a sharp whistling sound suddenly rang out.

Zhou Jing reacted quickly, quickly dodging behind the nearest tree.

Thwack!

An arrow was stuck in the ground a few steps ahead.

At the same time, a man's angry shout rang out from the forest ahead.

"%%#%!"

—As expected, he couldn't understand a thing.

Zhou Jing tightened his grip on the dead branch in his hand and peered out from behind the tree, looking towards the sound. He saw five figures emerging from behind the trees in the forest ahead, all holding bows and arrows, aimed at the tree he was hiding behind.

These people were of different heights and builds, but their outfits were almost identical. They wore shoulder-length hoods on their heads, thick cloth clothing on their bodies, and simple leather armor on the outside. They had quivers on their backs, longbows in their hands, leather belts around their waists, and hunting knives and daggers hanging from them. They wore boots on their feet and looked like either rangers or hunters.

*This style of dress and weapons... The Middle Ages, or a similar stage of development in this world.*

Zhou Jing's heart stirred. From the style of these people's clothing, he thought of a historical stage from his mother star's history books, but his expression remained calm.

At the same time, the panel flickered and a new message popped up.

[Unknown Language Detected. Consume 50 Star Realm Points to activate [Support Tool - Language Quick Parse (Temporary Version)]?]

[Support Tool - Language Quick Parse (Temporary Version): When others communicate with you in this language, you will understand the meaning of what they are expressing. What you want to express will be automatically translated into this language when you speak it. (Note: This does not mean you have mastered the language.)]

[Note: Only applicable to one language. When encountering a new unknown language, you need to activate the temporary support tool again, each time consuming 50 Star Realm Points, and so on.]

[Note: Temporary support cannot form skills and cannot be inherited. After switching Star Realm Apostles, you need to reactivate it repeatedly.]

"If I don't have a skill version to parse the language, I'll have to spend points to turn on the temporary communication function. Repeatedly doing that would be a waste... There's no need for that. I'll use the achievement reward I got earlier."

Zhou Jing understood. He didn't hesitate. He opened the achievement warehouse in the mental panel and used the special achievement reward he had gotten earlier.

[Unknown Language Detected. Using [Support Tool - Language Quick Parse (Skill Version)]!]

[You have gained the skill [Terra Empire Language, Northern Dialect Version]!]

[Current Mastery: lv2- (Proficient)]

[The name of this skill can be customized. Do you want to change it?]

"No," Zhou Jing refused in his mind.

At this time, the five hunters saw that Zhou Jing didn't answer. The burly hunter who seemed to be the leader spoke up again, and this time Zhou Jing could understand him.

"Who are you!"

Zhou Jing didn't feel any language knowledge surfacing in his mind. He braced himself and spoke, and found that he was almost instinctively speaking a language he had never learned, fluently and naturally:

"I'm just a lost person."

"Lost?"

The burly hunter frowned and shouted, "Come out from behind the tree!"

Zhou Jing opened his hands to show that he had no weapons, came out from behind the tree, and stopped a meter away.

The burly hunter looked Zhou Jing up and down carefully, and couldn't help but look puzzled when he saw that he was dressed like a vagrant: "Why did you come here? What are you doing?"

"I got lost in the forest, and finally saw some footprints, so I followed them here... Who are you?"

Zhou Jing carefully probed. When he was hurrying along the way earlier, he had guessed at several possible encounters and thought about how others would question him.

He knew nothing about this world, so he definitely couldn't make up a background. Lying would easily expose him, so he simply said that he was lost and tried to ask for help.

Hearing this, a tall, thin hunter next to him spoke vigilantly: "If your eyes are okay, you should be able to see that we're hunters, right?"

Zhou Jing narrowed his eyes, and without waiting for the other person to continue questioning him, he quickly took over the conversation and softened his tone:

"I'm just confirming... Good hunters, I'm lost in this forest. I hope someone can take me out. Can you be kind and take me with you?"

"We're not interested. You better leave right now!" The tall, thin hunter said coldly.

Zhou Jing bit his lip, but instead of retreating, he advanced and took another step forward:

"Look at me... I'm dressed so thinly, I don't have any food or drink. I have no other choice but to seek your help. Everyone has times of trouble. It's not easy for us to meet in the wilderness. Let's help each other out. Kindness will be rewarded."

He had decided on the way here that if others didn't attack him without a word and showed room for negotiation, he would follow them relentlessly.

There was no other way. He had finally caught a group of people he could communicate with, so he couldn't let them escape.

If he were in the main world, Zhou Jing felt that he couldn't do such a thing. He was a little socially awkward and rarely actively befriended strangers.

But in his current situation, it seemed that he couldn't afford to be shy. He had to make changes. He decided to grit his teeth, overcome his inner discomfort, and throw away all his embarrassment.

Speaking of which, coming to another world with a different face, where no one knew him, seemed to suddenly make him thick-skinned, as if he had suddenly lost his burden and psychological baggage.

Hearing these words, the burly hunter who was the leader hesitated and lowered his bow.

Seeing this, the tall, thin hunter couldn't help but remind his companion: "Hey, this person is too suspicious. Who would run into the dark-clothed forest wearing just a single layer of clothing? There's a risk in letting him follow us. Let's drive him away!"

The burly hunter shook his head and said, "I think he might really be in trouble. It takes two or three days to walk out of the forest from here. If we drive him away, he's almost certain to die. We can't just stand by and watch him die."

The tall, thin hunter looked at the burly hunter and said somewhat anxiously: "Put away your overflowing kindness. Don't forget that we don't have that much time to waste here."

The burly hunter turned to look at the tall, thin hunter, and was about to respond when his expression suddenly changed.

"They're here!"

Suddenly, there was a dense rustling sound in the grass not far away, as if a group of creatures were moving through the grass, approaching rapidly.

Swish, swish, swish—

A dozen dark gray beasts suddenly darted out of the grass. They were four-legged, looked like wolves or dogs, and were about knee-high to a person. They had sparse fur, bulging muscles, and jagged, sharp fangs filled their mouths, like irregular saws. Thick saliva dripped from the corners of their mouths, making them look extremely ferocious.

"Retreat! Lead them to the trap!"

The hunters shouted and immediately ran in another direction, trying to attract the beasts.

The burly hunter was about to follow, but when he caught sight of Zhou Jing, he gritted his teeth, immediately changed his escape route, and headed straight for Zhou Jing, grabbing his arm.

"Follow me and run!"

The burly hunter grabbed Zhou Jing's arm and ran.

He hadn't forgotten to take this lost guy with him. If he left this suddenly appearing person here, the plan to lure the beasts into the trap would fail, and he would also kill this stranger.

Although taking a burden would slow him down and put him at the back of the group, he couldn't bear to watch someone die.

However, after only a few steps, the burly hunter realized something was wrong.

Zhou Jing, who was originally being dragged by him, had suddenly shot ahead of him in just two or three steps, running faster than him.

Not only that, but this guy had turned around and grabbed his arm, dragging him to the front of the group while the other hunters watched in stunned silence.

He left everyone else in the dust.

The scenery in front of them sped by, and the burly hunter was a little dazed.

*What's going on?*

*Wasn't I dragging him along? How did it suddenly reverse?*

Zhou Jing strode like the wind, fully exerting his 9 points of Fitness.

He even looked back and urged them, as he had energy to spare:

"Don't just stand there! I don't know the way! Which direction is your trap? Lead the way!"

The burly hunter subconsciously pointed in a direction, and then felt a great force on his arm, being dragged straight over by Zhou Jing.

He hurriedly stumbled along, almost being dragged to the ground, his face full of surprise.

*This person's body is too strong! Could he be a blood warrior like the captain!*