Chapter 4

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

Seaside City was a small city by the ocean. As Meng Jingtian entered, there was a constant stream of new players exiting the city to grind levels.

In order to complete his mission, Meng Jingtian conversed with every NPC he encountered. He discovered that while their Friendliness was at 100, their Belief was at 0.

After a brief period of thought, Meng Jingtian turned his attention to a beggar in the corner. The worse off one was, the more likely one was to believe in a god, right?

“Are you hungry?” Meng Jingtian walked over and spoke to the beggar, who had curled up into a ball and was massaging his stomach.

The beggar’s eyes gleamed when he saw Meng Jingtian walking over.

“Brother, don’t waste your time!” A player wearing the simple clothes of a newbie and holding a wooden sword nodded and warned, “These NPCs are probably of the lowest intelligence. There’s no way they can converse with players.” 

“How do you know that?” There weren’t many players willing to strike up a conversation with a random person during the game’s opening period. Meng Jingtian returned his gesture with a kind smile.

“Didn’t the official website mention a lucky encounter system? I’ve spoken with every NPC in this Seaside City!”

The player shrugged, and after a brief pause, he pulled Meng Jingtian over and whispered, “Though there’s this weird old man in the western part of the city who wouldn’t even let me past his door. He was all mysterious, like there was something going on. Are you interested in going with me to look?”

Meng Jingtian’s eyes glinted, but just when he was about to reply, the beggar that this player called Zhang Defa had said was lacking in intelligence suddenly spoke.

“Can you get me two steamed buns?” The beggar looked at Meng Jingtian with a pleading and hungry look.

“Ding! A God’s Pity: The down-and-out beggar hopes that you will give him two steamed buns.

“Mission Time Limit: 2 hours.

“Mission Reward: Beggar’s Belief + 5, EXP + 100, 1 Frozen Sword Sect Trial Token.”

“Of course!” Meng Jingtian almost instinctively replied, accepting the mission.

“It can’t be…” Zhang Defa’s mouth dropped, and he stared in shock at Meng Jingtian.

“Not fair! I already gave this beggar six steamed buns, and all I got was ten points of Friendliness. He didn’t say a word to me. Why is it that he started a conversation with you as soon as you asked him a random question?” Zhang Defa’s face was burning with indignant rage.

“It’s probably because his Friendliness to me is 100?” Meng Jingtian chuckled.

He had by now noticed that all the human NPCs he had run into had a natural maximum Friendliness toward him.

This was probably the work of the Belief Halo.

Belief Halo: You are a god, so all creatures are full of trust and intimacy toward you. This effect is more obvious on weaker life forms.

“Brother Zhang, since you’ve strolled around the entire city, do you know where I can buy steamed buns?” Meng Jingtian asked Zhang Defa.

Zhang Defa handed Meng Jingtian two steamed buns right away and impatiently asked, “Is it a lucky encounter? What’s the reward?”

Meng Jingtian handed the steamed buns over to the beggar, who gratefully took them. Meng Jingtian received the mission completion notice and immediately rose to Level 6.

“Thank you! This is a treasure I picked up outside the city. Please, you must take it!” The beggar took out a token made of black metal from behind him.

Frozen Sword Token: A trial token used by the Frozen Sword Sect. With this token, you can proceed to the central square and take the Frozen Sword Sect Trial. If you succeed in the trial, you can join the faction Frozen Sword Sect.

“What’s this? Can I take a look?” Zhang Defa curiously asked as he looked over enviously.

Meng Jingtian sent over the Frozen Sword Token’s description, and Zhang Defa almost turned to stone. The difference in treatment left him furious!

A faction! This was clearly a new system that had yet to be unlocked. Who knew what rewards someone joining a faction would get?

“Shit! Brother, could you reveal a little about the secrets to increasing Friendliness? I’ve been standing here for ages, but you just got here, right? How did you get Friendliness to 100?” Zhang Defa questioned Meng Jingtian.

Meng Jingtian solemnly pondered the question. “Mmm… it should be because I look handsome!”

“Ugh! So it has to do with this NPC’s aesthetic sense?” Zhang Defa rolled his eyes.

“Be serious, Brother. Teach me how to raise Friendliness. I’m already making some progress with that old man in the western part of the city. If that’s a lucky encounter, I’ll give it to you!” He once more tried to get in Meng Jingtian’s good graces.

“It’s not that I don’t want to teach you, it’s just that it’s innate! You know that this game is all about randomly-generated characters. Luck! It’s really nothing but luck!” Meng Jingtian shook his head and prepared to head to the central square and see what this Frozen Sword Sect was all about.

“Ah! Is that right? Then what did you reincarnate as? A beggar elder?” Zhang Defa covered his head and moaned. He had been reborn as an ordinary commoner in Seaside City.

This was what the vast majority of players had experienced. After all, only a few could get lucky.

“Do I look like a beggar to you?” Meng Jingtian asked, spreading his hands.

Although he was a god, he was equipped like a regular player, with a white robe and wooden sword.

Of course, he had already thrown away the wooden sword and replaced it with Tian Xuance’s iron sword.

As Meng Jingtian was walking toward the central square, he heard another announcement.

“Ding! Congratulations to Player Bai Wensheng for discovering the Cave of the Giant Crab! Instance system unlocked!”

“That fellow really does have some luck. If I had known…” Meng Jingtian stopped for a moment and pouted.

Since Bai Wensheng had been the one to find the instance, there was a high chance that he would be the first one to clear it.

While more than half of the top ten players of ‘Grand Desolation’ had relied on despicable methods, they still had some ability.

Meng Jingtian looked down at the Frozen Sword Token in his hand. He couldn’t fall behind!

Meng Jingtian quickly spotted several martial artist–like people standing in the central square, dressed very differently from the ordinary folk of the city.

“Can I ask who belongs to the Frozen Sword Sect here?” Meng Jingtian came over, holding up the Frozen Sword Token.

“Ah! Are you looking to join our Frozen Sword Sect? That’s great! Our Frozen Sword Sect happens to be the strongest faction within 50 kilometers. The sect’s headquarters are located at Frozen Sword Mountain…” A straight-browed, bright-eyed youth wearing a white brocade robe and a long sword on his back immediately walked over and began to talk up Meng Jingtian. 

“Within 50 kilometers? Uh… let me think it over!”

This NPC was far too enthusiastic. The strongest faction within 50 kilometers?

To tell the truth, this was very different from what Meng Jingtian had expected. Previous gaming experience told him that a faction, once confirmed, was very difficult to change.

The players currently had zero information about factions, and he was not inclined to carelessly choose a trash faction.

With this thought in mind, Meng Jingtian turned to Zhang Defa and asked, “Brother, what do you think? Is the reward for the first player joining a faction better than the reward for the first player to Level 10?”

“Of course? Isn’t that obvious?” Zhang Defa immediately replied.

“Are you interested in being the first player to join a faction?” Meng Jingtian smiled as he waved around the Frozen Sword Token.