Chapter 1 Opening

Opening his textbook, a series of complex mathematical and physics equations came into view. Nie Yan quickly began working through them. He discovered that after his rebirth, his memory was even stronger than in his previous life. Although he wasn't quite at the level of photographic memory, it was a significant improvement, and his thinking was sharper than before. Learning was twice as effective.

He also made an amazing discovery: after all this intense exercise, he didn't feel tired at all. His strength had also increased slightly after working out.

Nie Yan really liked his current body. As long as he got enough nutrition, he would quickly grow taller, just like he did in his last year of high school in his previous life. But nutrient solutions were too expensive. Nie Yan couldn't afford them yet. The lowest grade nutrient solution cost five hundred credits per serving, while the medium grade ones sold for thousands. His family only had two servings stocked, and he had already used one.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, Nie Yan entered the game again.

When he logged back in, Nie Yan found himself surrounded by Water Spiders. All the Water Spiders in the area had respawned.

Fortunately, there was a thirty-second system protection period after logging in, during which he was in a state of invulnerability, like a soul. He couldn't attack monsters, and monsters couldn't attack him. Nie Yan bypassed the Water Spiders and swam outwards.

Once the thirty seconds were up, Nie Yan continued to farm Water Spiders in the nearby waters. His backpack already contained twenty-five Fine Silks and five Rare Fine Silks.

At Nie Yan's monster-killing speed, he should be able to complete the task in about three hours.

He had to earn enough money when he got back. Next time he encountered a collection quest like this, he could buy the quest items instead of collecting them himself so painstakingly.

About an hour later, Nie Yan's voice chat rang. It was Yao Yao.

"Nie Yan, where are you?"

"I'm still farming Water Spiders. What's up?" Nie Yan asked. He continued working with his hands while chatting, using Assassinate with his right hand to flip over a Water Spider.

"My friends and I went to the Treant Forest this morning."

"Oh."

"Aren't you going to ask how it went?" Yao Yao asked.

"There's no need to ask." Nie Yan knew a lot about the Treant Forest dungeon. Back then, he and his friends had farmed it five times before they finally cleared it. If the Shield Warrior's defense wasn't over sixty and their health wasn't over two hundred and twenty, there was no chance of success.

"Okay, just like you said, we wiped. We didn't even get to the Treant King. One of my friends wants to meet you. We're going to farm Treant Forest again tomorrow. Can you join us?" Yao Yao asked expectantly.

"Let's wait until your Shield Warrior's defense is up to par. I'll see if I have time. But tell your friend that if I go to Treant Forest, I'm going to be the leader, and all the equipment that drops for Thieves is mine," Nie Yan said. There was a Thief's cloak in the Treant Forest that was pretty good.

"You want to be the leader? Why?" Yao Yao asked.

"I don't trust anyone else's command."

"Well, I'll have to ask. It'll be a little difficult to give you all the Thief equipment. We have a Thief in our team, too," Yao Yao said awkwardly. The team's distribution rules were equal for all members.

"If your leader doesn't agree, then forget it," Nie Yan said. He wasn't deliberately trying to make things difficult for Yao Yao. He just particularly disliked the Thief in Yao Yao's team.

"I'll ask our leader," Yao Yao said. Nie Yan's demanding request made her feel less favorable towards him.

Yao Yao's leader was a beautiful woman named Yu Lan, a Berserker class. Nie Yan's most vivid impression of her was the pair of breasts on her chest. When she wore her Berserker armor, they were practically bursting out. The hollowed-out armor revealed a deep cleavage, which made him shiver just thinking about it.

But Nie Yan didn't dare to provoke Yu Lan. Yu Lan was usually easygoing, but if someone angered her, her temper was as explosive as the pair of breasts on her chest. He remembered one time when a player just teased her a little, and Yu Lan chased him down, causing him to lose a whole five levels.

Such a beauty was only to be admired from afar, not to be trifled with. Otherwise, you might get played.

"Also, besides the Thief equipment, the gem that drops from the Treant King has to be mine, too," Nie Yan said bluntly.

"We're just going to run a dungeon together. Why are you being like this!" Yao Yao stomped her foot, tears welling up in her eyes. Yesterday, they had done quests together, and their tacit cooperation had made Yao Yao feel that Nie Yan was a pretty good person. She was almost about to consider Nie Yan a friend, but she didn't expect Nie Yan to shatter her good impression of him time and time again.

Nie Yan smiled faintly. Sometimes, explanations were superfluous.

Yao Yao hung up the voice chat in anger.

Nie Yan sighed softly. If they were going to run a dungeon, it was better to make some things clear in advance, so as to avoid disputes later.

At the Terrakotta Town Teleportation Point, Yu Lan's team was gathered nearby, a total of nineteen people. The most eye-catching were Yu Lan in the center, wearing blue Swordsman armor, and Yao Yao, wearing a white Mage robe.

The others surrounded them like stars surrounding the moon. There were a few good-looking women in their team, but they were completely overshadowed by Yu Lan and Yao Yao.

Yu Lan was tall and had a curvy figure, with long, very sexy legs. Plus, she was very pretty, making her a top-quality woman. Although she was only around twenty years old, she was full of mature womanly charm. Especially her magnificent breasts, which were quite eye-catching.

Yao Yao was a different style altogether, wearing a white Mage robe with a delicate oval face and her hair tied in a ponytail, making her look pure, beautiful, cute, and endearing.

"Yao Yao, what did he say?" Yu Lan asked when she saw Yao Yao hang up the voice chat.

"He said that if he goes with us, he wants to be the leader, and all the Thief equipment and the gem that drops from the Treant King have to be his," Yao Yao said, her face flushing red. At first, she had excitedly introduced Nie Yan to Yu Lan and the others, thinking of Nie Yan as a good friend, but she didn't expect Nie Yan to be this kind of person.

"Yao Yao, you're too trusting. There are too many people like that. He must be a swindler, someone with no strength who's just trying to get free equipment," said a Thief standing next to Yao Yao. He was about twenty years old and quite handsome.

Yao Yao wanted to defend Nie Yan, but then she thought about it and stopped talking, pouting. For some reason, she was still a little on Nie Yan's side. Nie Yan was very strong and definitely wasn't just trying to get free equipment. He wasn't as bad as Chen Bo made him out to be.

"That's not necessarily true. He knows that the Treant King drops a gem, so he must have run Treant Forest before, and cleared it. The fact that he could make it to the end of the dungeon with his team means that his team is quite strong and more experienced than us. It's not excessive for him to ask to be the leader and take all the Thief equipment and the gem that drops from the Treant King. Since he could be honest with Yao Yao about it, that proves that he's being upfront about it," Yu Lan patted Yao Yao on the shoulder and said, "Yao Yao, don't worry about it."

Hearing Yu Lan's words, Yao Yao felt a little better, even though she was still a little angry with Nie Yan. She smiled brightly.

Seeing Yao Yao's radiant smile, Chen Bo's heart sank. For some reason, this suddenly appearing Nie Yan made him feel a sense of crisis.

"Tomorrow, we'll rent a Bronze set of Shield Warrior equipment. Tell him we're inviting him to team up with us to go to Treant Forest tomorrow," Yu Lan said, already having made arrangements.

"I don't even want to talk to him this morning. I'll talk to him again in the afternoon," Yao Yao said, pouting.

"Okay, you can contact him again in the afternoon," Yu Lan said, shaking her head with a smile.

Nie Yan was still farming Water Spiders. He was lucky, and three Fine Silks had dropped in a row. He looked at his backpack. He already had twenty-nine, just one short of having the full amount.

Farming monsters in the morning had its advantages. The drop rate for various items was higher.

Nie Yan killed a Water Spider and reached out with his right hand, grabbing something. He picked it up and saw that it was a Thief's skill book.

Skill Book: Sever.

Skill Description: A Thief can use a dagger to cut open an enemy's skin, causing them to bleed and take secondary damage.

Activation Requirement: Action (weapon required)

Skill Attribute: Grants an additional +1 to the attack check when opening the wound, causing 5 points of bleeding damage per second for 6 seconds.

Skill Cooldown Time: Thirty seconds.

User Restriction: Thief, usable by any faction.

Sever was a follow-up basic skill that could be used after skills such as Assassinate, inflicting a tearing wound effect that caused 5 points of bleeding damage per second for 6 seconds.

In terms of damage output, the damage from Sever, plus the cumulative bleeding effect, was only slightly weaker than Vital Strike, which was still quite good.

What Nie Yan needed most right now was skill books.

Nie Yan learned Sever and turned to the next Water Spider. His voice chat rang. It was Yao Yao again, sending him another voice chat request.

Nie Yan connected to Yao Yao's voice chat. Neither of them spoke for a long time.

"Originally, I didn't want to talk to you ever again, but I'm generous, so I decided not to hold it against you. Our team is going to farm Treant Forest tomorrow. Are you going?" Yao Yao said, pouting.

Nie Yan could imagine how cute Yao Yao's sulky expression must be, and he couldn't help but smile.

"Tomorrow, I..."

"Don't say you're busy tomorrow. Just tell me if you're coming or not."

Nie Yan was about to speak, but Yao Yao interrupted him.

"Okay, tell me what time tomorrow, and I'll be there," Nie Yan said with a helpless smile. He was completely defeated by this young miss.

"That's more like it. We'll call you tomorrow morning. Okay, you can get back to what you were doing," Yao Yao said, very satisfied with Nie Yan's answer. Without waiting for Nie Yan to say anything, she hung up the voice chat.

Hmph, I knew I could handle you, Yao Yao thought smugly, imagining Nie Yan's awkward expression, and couldn't help but giggle.

Hearing the beeping sound in the voice chat, Nie Yan smiled wryly. He had to go to Treant Forest tomorrow. It seemed like he had to speed things up.

With Sever, Nie Yan's monster-killing speed was significantly faster. One Assassinate followed by one Sever could easily take down a Water Spider.

Ding! A crisp system notification sound rang out. Nie Yan leveled up to Level 3.

After a while, he collected thirty Fine Silks.

"Finally done," Nie Yan thought to himself, swimming towards the island to turn in the quest.

System: Player Flying Stone has deposited one silver coin into your personal storage.

"Expert, the guide you provided really worked. We've cleared the Sunken Magus Camp. The other silver coin has already been mailed to your personal storage," Stone sent a message, sounding excited.

"Received. Anything else?" Nie Yan asked. Stone's two silver coins had arrived, and with his recent earnings, he was almost up to three silver coins. His starting capital was more or less secured.

"A friend of mine said they're going to team up to go to the Ogmorte Muddy Marsh the day after tomorrow. Are you going?" Stone asked expectantly.

"I have something to do the day after tomorrow," Nie Yan said. The Ogmorte Muddy Marsh was a bit difficult. Stone's team could clear the Sunken Magus Camp, so they must be quite strong.

"Never mind, then. Expert, do you have a guide for the Ogmorte Muddy Marsh?"

"Do you think I'm a god? The Ogmorte Muddy Marsh is the hardest of the Level 3 dungeons. Do you think I could get a guide that quickly?" Nie Yan said. He couldn't keep selling dungeon map guides, or people would become suspicious. He would wait for Stone's team to wipe a few times in the Ogmorte Muddy Marsh before selling it at a good price.

"Sorry, force of habit," Stone said with an embarrassed laugh.

~~First chapter in the morning, requesting recommendations...