Action Plan

The Evil Woodlands. Though lush and emerald-green, the forest exuded a suffocating aura of death. Dozens of ghouls resembling grey-skinned goblins crept out from the underbrush, swiftly locking onto the youth cradling a chubby little kitten. "Mengmeng, attack!" Yu Xian shouted the instant he spotted the ghouls. The kitten in his arms relentlessly swiped her pudgy paws, flinging golden copper coins one after another. This was the Mengmeng Fortune Cat's basic attack skill—generating copper coins to strike targets. It was worth noting that the gold ingot atop the Mengmeng Fortune Cat's head was actually a piggy bank capable of storing infinite money. The more wealth stored inside the ingot bank, the greater the power of the coins she hurled. If there were a trillion in that ingot right now, a single basic attack from her would probably wipe every ghoul in the Evil Woodlands out of existence. Unfortunately, Yu Xian was broke, and the Mengmeng Fortune Cat, having clearly been born not long ago, was just as broke. Consequently, her basic attack was truly just a basic attack, chipping away a mere sliver of a ghoul's health bar per strike. Fortunately, the ghouls were hardly peerless experts either—they were merely Level 1 minions. Midway through their charge, a ghoul had over half its health whittled away by Mengmeng's barrage. As it closed in, Yu Xian delivered a swift kick to its abdomen, emptying its health bar on the spot. Once its health hit zero, the ghoul's body dispersed into white light midair, leaving behind a rectangular box. Having no time to inspect what was inside, Yu Xian continued dispatching the remaining ghouls. Only after clearing every last one did he turn his attention to the spoils scattered around. He stepped forward and picked up a bell. [Ghoul's Kinky Bell] [Effect: When equipped, Ghoul Attraction +1.] [Note: Perhaps they'll find you sexy.] After reading its stats, disgust flashed across Yu Xian's face. He was just about to toss it away when he considered that just because he didn't need it didn't mean no one would. What if some class-holders possessed extraordinary gifts or peculiar tastes? After all, as Lu Xun once said, the tastes of the rich are hard to predict. Speaking of which, there was one feature of this world Yu Xian greatly appreciated: every class-holder possessed a spacious inventory capable of storing an immense amount of items. After stowing the bell away, Yu Xian walked over to the box. [Ghoul's Loving Bento] [Effect: Consuming this carries a high probability of contracting plagues and other diseases.] [Note: Darling, your bento!] After reading its stats, Yu Xian silently stored the box into his inventory. Again, the tastes of the rich were hard to predict. What if someone truly enjoyed eating this? Then again, a ghoul's bento... wouldn't that mean... *Hiss!* Yu Xian drew in a sharp breath of cold air before continuing to gather his loot. Unfortunately, the ghouls he had personally slain dropped only that single bento, whereas nearly all the ones Mengmeng Fortune Cat killed had produced drops. The problem was that Mengmeng's damage was too low, forcing him to land most of the finishing blows, which left him with very few drops overall. Out of more than a dozen ghouls, only four pieces of loot dropped in the end. Aside from the bell and the bento, the other two were somewhat respectable. [Ghoul's Nails] [Effect: Crafting material. Can imbue equipment with corpse poison.] [Note: I added ghoul nails to this blade; whoever touches it is doomed to die, *slurp*!] ... [Ghoul Ring] [Effect: Temporarily transforms the user into a ghoul.] [Note: I'm a husky blending in with a wolf pack—this is my method of infiltration!] ... Respectable as they were, they were practically useless. After packing away the loot, Yu Xian continued roaming through the forest to grind monsters. Unfortunately, this world had one major flaw: there was no visible experience bar. Although some class-holders had calculated roughly how many monsters had to be killed to level up, one couldn't monitor it in real time. Furthermore, according to the intel Feng Mingge had provided, the experience required to level up seemed to vary across classes. A warrior might level up after slaying a thousand monsters, whereas a mage might need to kill ten thousand, and classes like summoners might require as many as a hundred thousand. As levels progressed, this disparity would only widen. Naturally, there were pros and cons. Classes that leveled up easily tended to be weaker overall. Meanwhile, classes with steep leveling curves possessed greater comprehensive strength. Other classes could only suppress them through raw level advantages; at equal levels, these slow-leveling classes were invincible. Yu Xian spent another three hours tracking down and killing another dozen or so ghouls. His luck this time was even worse, yielding only three drops: a ghoul bento, ghoul teeth, and a ghoul's eyeball. [Ghoul's Teeth] [Effect: Crafting material. Can imbue equipment with lifesteal, granting 0.1% lifesteal per tooth.] [Note: It drains blood, but only a tiny bit.] ... [Ghoul's Eyeball] [Effect: Crafting material. Can increase perception when applied to equipment.] [Note: Actually quite delicious in home cooking, too!] ... ... Yu Xian badly wanted to keep grinding. The problem was that he was hungry, and weakness gradually set in, leaving his limbs drained of strength. In truth, with his physical stamina and energy reserves, he could go millions of years without food or water without ever feeling hungry or fatigued, yet right now he was genuinely tired. Evidently, this was another mechanic—simply put, he had to eat in this world. But that raised another problem. Aside from ghouls, this wretched forest had nothing but more ghouls. What was he supposed to eat? He hadn't spotted so much as a single rabbit. Perhaps the class-holders in Fangfang Village had departed not because their levels were high, but because there was no food here, forcing everyone straight into wilderness survival mode. Yu Xian had originally planned to grind a wave of monsters and return to Fangfang Village to rest. Now, however, he had no choice but to change his plans. To avoid becoming the first class-holder to starve to death, he would have to embark on wilderness survival as well. "I knew it—how could they not leave a single person behind?" "So that was the issue. How vicious! Good thing I've been heading outward all along. If I'd lingered around any longer, wouldn't I have starved to death in no time?" Cradling the Mengmeng Fortune Cat, Yu Xian nuzzled her with his cheek from time to time as he muttered softly under his breath. Since a mandatory hunger mechanic existed, this world definitely had food. If push truly came to shove, he could always resort to eating leaves, bark, or even the weeds on the ground. From then on, he fought monsters as he made his way toward the far side of the Evil Woodlands. Crossing the woodlands would bring him to the Fukang Mountains. According to the map, on the other side of the Fukang Mountains lay the first-stage main city for class-holders: Fukang City. The entry requirement was reaching class level 10. Having discovered the hunger mechanic and the lack of food around Fangfang Village, Yu Xian abandoned his ambitions of becoming the Sword God of Shili Slope. His only option was to leave the Evil Woodlands first and see what the Fukang Mountains were like. If he found food in the Fukang Mountains, he might linger between the mountains and the Evil Woodlands for a while, and once he hit Level 10, head straight for Fukang City.