Chapter Two: Pheasant!

Speaking of their territory of skeletons, it was indeed not far from the plains. Though a series of mishaps had occurred along the way, thanks to luck, it mattered little to Li Ren, who was merely a skeleton. He hardly cared, as long as his bones weren’t shattered completely; he could simply reassemble himself and carry on.

At this moment, he held a short sword in his right hand and a small round shield in his left. His pristine white skeletal frame marked him as the lowest rank of skeleton soldier. The sword and shield, naturally, were system-issued equipment for every skeleton soldier: the short sword had an attack of 1–1, the round shield provided +1 defense. The system, in an unusual show of generosity, had even included a map, which clearly marked the locations of various monsters, along with their attributes, skills, territorial boundaries, and, for some, even personality notes.

The information was so chaotic and overwhelming that Li Ren glanced at it twice before setting it aside. Every creature listed was a super boss of at least level two hundred; he had no use for it now, so he decided to store it for the time being.

A large, dark area on the map indicated the realm of human activity. It was obvious that, as a skeleton, he could not venture there. To do so would be to offer himself up as experience to the humans, and he had no idea whether death here meant resurrection or if he only had this one life. If it was the latter, crossing that boundary would be a tragedy.

As for why Li Ren insisted on venturing out alone, it was rather straightforward. At the bottom of his character attributes, he had discovered an experience bar. To test whether he could level up, he equipped his weapons and set out, aiming to reach a beginner-level training ground.

The most suitable target—and the safest—was naturally the area near the novice village, where wild chickens and frogs roamed. It was the usual routine for games. However, the range of wild chickens was too close to the village; he didn't want to be discovered immediately. So he chose a more secluded spot, a grassland near the village of Little Ox, just over a hill. That place was mostly the domain of wild deer, though a few wild chickens could be found on the low slopes.

Li Ren had no intention of tangling with the wild deer—given his current stats, a single charge from a deer would likely scatter his bones. Only the seemingly harmless wild chickens were suitable for testing his skills.

He proceeded with utmost caution, stopping frequently to observe his surroundings. It wasn’t the monsters he was wary of; most were neutral toward him, their names glowing yellow overhead. Rather, he feared the unpredictable presence of players.

This reconnaissance cost him a great deal of time, but when he finally arrived at his destination, nervously scanning for threats, he realized he hadn’t encountered a single player. He was perplexed: had all the players become high-level, leaving this area behind?

He tried to reason it out. Little Ox Village was an out-of-the-way settlement, with no special resources except for its uniquely flavored beef. It was far from other towns, lacked concentrated monster zones, and thus naturally had a low population.

The absence of people made sense, he thought. Climbing the hill, he stealthily glanced toward Little Ox Village. Smoke curled gently from a few chimneys, and soldiers patrolled the gates.

He quickly flattened himself against the ground. Though he couldn’t see clearly from this distance, there was no doubt someone was present. Whether NPC or player, either would spell disaster for him!

Fortunately, there were no players in the vicinity—a stroke of luck.

Li Ren retreated to the base of the hill. After confirming there was no danger, he began searching for his life’s goal.

That goal, of course, was the wild chicken. “Hunt wild chicken, kill wild chicken, gain experience, level up!” he muttered, searching high and low. At last, his persistence paid off—rounding a bend, he spotted a wild chicken.

Li Ren grinned slyly, raised his short sword, and lumbered toward the chicken.

The wild chicken noticed his malicious intent, and the yellow name above its head turned red, indicating attack mode.

Li Ren gripped his sword tightly. “A mere chicken dares challenge me? You're courting death!” As he was about to lunge and stab, his foot slipped on a pile of dung, and he fell helplessly to the ground, the chicken before him.

Luckily, his sword remained in hand and his arm unbroken. Before he could rise, the wild chicken attacked.

Warm sunlight and gentle breezes painted an idyllic green meadow, but the scene was marred by a skeleton, face-down after stepping in dog feces, being stared down by a ferocious wild chicken.

The chicken raised its head; its sharp beak glinted menacingly in the sun, and a bold “-33” appeared above Li Ren’s head. His health bar dropped by almost half!

“Damn, this chicken’s fierce!” Li Ren cried. As the chicken prepared to strike again, he thrust his sword forward in desperation. Two numbers, “-33” and “-60”, flashed above their heads. Li Ren’s heart raced: he had only 34 HP left, while the chicken had 40. Both could die in a single blow, but trading lives with a chicken was hardly worth it.

In the tense moment, he raised his left arm to shield his head. The small round shield protected him just in time, and he stabbed forward with his right hand.

A dull thud sounded, as if a nail struck wood. Another “-15” appeared above his head, but his sword had pierced the chicken. By all rights, the chicken should be dead, but Li Ren, not trusting his luck, remained prone, stabbing repeatedly. When no further harm came, he cautiously lowered his shield.

The chicken lay lifeless before him. With only 19 HP remaining, Li Ren cursed, “Damn, I can’t even beat a chicken! Damn it!”

But when he saw his experience bar had increased by ten percent, his spirits soared. So it was possible to level up by killing monsters—now things were looking up.

He wondered if anyone had ever chosen the skeleton soldier class. It was dangerous, but, “Well, if I get strong enough, maybe players will treat me as a boss,” Li Ren mused, grinning. He recalled his own past attempts to defeat a boss and being thoroughly trounced, and suddenly found this possibility rather appealing.

Gazing at the chicken’s corpse, he remembered his racial skill and quickly activated it. The chicken’s body transformed into a blood-red crystal, which dissolved into his form, restoring his HP to fifty. This skill could convert corpses into blood essence for him to absorb.

After absorbing the crystal, Li Ren stood up and felt a slight surge of strength. He checked his attribute panel, and his delight grew. All stats remained unchanged except for strength, which now read (1.1). Combined with his hidden absorption stat at level 0, Li Ren laughed gleefully, as though he'd found a treasure.

He immediately raised his short sword and continued hunting wild chickens.

Time passed swiftly. Wild chickens were hard to find, and after much effort, he finally killed his tenth one. A halo descended upon him, instantly restoring his HP, and his bones shone a bit brighter. Both HP and MP increased by ten points, though other stats remained the same.

Notably, his level 0 absorption stat only improved after the first chicken, granting no further increases, which disappointed him.

After absorbing the last chicken’s corpse with his innate skill, a strange sensation rose within him. Checking his attribute panel, he was overjoyed: his luck stat had changed from -10 to -9.9, and the question mark next to his absorption stat now had a new note: "Upon killing an enemy and absorbing blood essence, there is a 30% chance to acquire any enemy attribute; 0.1% chance for 10%, 1% for 5%, 5% for 1%. (Absorbed attributes will not be returned.)"

“Damn, this... this is too perverse!” Li Ren could not contain his excitement, laughing heartily. He saw hope for the future! Since there was no logout option here, he might as well treat this as another Sword Art Online. He had nowhere to return to anyway, so he might as well settle in.

Li Ren strode forward, but almost immediately shrank back, panting nervously. “Damn, lucky I didn’t go any further. If I had, my bright future would have been ruined.”

Just around the corner, a troop of cavalry was heading for Little Ox Village, followed by a dozen wagons laden with supplies. Li Ren took a furtive glance and immediately withdrew. Only when the cavalry and caravan were far enough away did he dare emerge again. The cavalry’s gear alone dazzled him—his fragile frame would be shattered by a single finger.

Regaining his composure, Li Ren resumed his search for wild chickens on the secluded hillside.