Chapter 3 – Ram-killing business
Jiang Chen quickly left the Novice Village and arrived at the green plains outside.
The endless grassland was crowded with people.
"Looking for an MT to level up, efficiency team needs one more."
"Professional leveling service for girls, private message me, little sister."
"Beauty studio offering companionship and chat, fast leveling, looking for a sponsor, one spot available."
"Humble Assassin seeking a team..."
The village entrance was unusually lively.
"Hey handsome, want to team up?"
A young girl approached Jiang Chen, her face full of expectation.
"No."
Jiang Chen shook his head, confirmed his direction, and walked away.
***
After nearly twenty minutes, Jiang Chen arrived at a patch of grass on the eastern side of the plains.
There were no players around here.
[Red Rams: LV1]
On the grass ahead, several Red Rams with red horns were leisurely strolling.
"You're the one!"
Jiang Chen cast a healing spell on the nearest Red Ram.
-60!
A white light fell on the Red Ram, knocking off 30% of its health.
"This damage... full hit?!"
Jiang Chen was a bit stunned. He didn't expect his skill to seemingly ignore defense!
What a pleasant surprise!
At this moment, the Red Ram charged towards him.
Jiang Chen didn't intend to kite it.
Without equipment in the early stages, his movement speed wasn't enough to outrun wild monsters.
When the Red Ram got close, he calmly struck it with his wooden staff.
-2
That's right, 2 points of damage.
Jiang Chen only had 6 attack points, and with the Red Ram's defense, the damage was ridiculously low.
"Baa!"
The Red Ram lowered its head, aiming its red horn at Jiang Chen, and then charged.
Jiang Chen sidestepped, dodging the attack.
The Red Ram's attack wasn't fast. Missing its target, it lowered its head again to prepare for another strike.
Jiang Chen struck it again with his staff.
Then dodged again.
Meanwhile, the 5-second cooldown of his healing spell was up.
-60!
The Red Ram's health dropped by more than half.
In a no-damage solo situation, Jiang Chen, with his skilled techniques, could only intersperse two normal attacks during the 5-second skill interval.
Other classes at level 1 weren't much better off.
Moreover, others didn't have as high skill damage as Jiang Chen.
Therefore, it wasn't easy for ordinary players to solo.
After two more rounds of healing spells, the Red Ram fell to the ground.
"Now it takes four healing spells to kill a Red Ram."
Jiang Chen was quite satisfied with the speed.
Without delay, he quickly looted the corpse.
He picked up a ram horn.
This was a fixed drop.
[Red Ram Horn: The single horn of a Red Ram. Legend has it that the people of the ancient Guma Empire used it to worship the gods. Now, it seems to have no other use besides being decorative. (Non-tradable)]
After glancing at his backpack, Jiang Chen cast another healing spell on a nearby Red Ram.
He began a new round of monster farming.
***
"Thirtieth one!"
Ten minutes later, with another healing spell, Jiang Chen took down the 30th Red Ram.
[Your level has increased to: Level 2!]
[Your four main attributes +1 point, and you have gained 4 free attribute points. Please allocate freely.]
"All into Intelligence."
Without thinking, Jiang Chen allocated all 4 free attribute points to Intelligence.
Constitution: 11 (↑1)
Strength: 11 (↑1)
Agility: 11 (↑1)
Intelligence: 15 (↑5)
Each gains +1 to all attributes per level, plus 4 free attribute points.
Now, Jiang Chen's spell power reached 30.
"Come on, brother ram, take a heal."
Jiang Chen cast a healing spell on a Red Ram.
-75!
The white light fell, and the Red Ram lost nearly 40% of its health.
"Now three healing spells can take one down!"
Seeing this damage, Jiang Chen was filled with enthusiasm, casting healing spells even more excitedly.
The Red Rams could only bitterly endure Jiang Chen's violent healing.
***
Fifteen minutes later, another 60 Red Rams fell under Jiang Chen's toxic healing.
Jiang Chen reached level 3!
As usual, he allocated all 4 free attribute points to Intelligence, bringing his spell power to 40.
Now, his healing spell could deal 90 points of damage!
"The NPC in the ruined temple arrives at 22:00 and leaves around 23:00.
Now it's 20:40, I need to deliver the ram horns to him before he leaves, which gives me about two more hours to farm."
Jiang Chen checked the time.
In the game, time was synchronized with reality.
However, in the game, it was only dark from 23:00 to 01:00, the rest of the time was daylight.
Jiang Chen continued his "ram-killing business."
***
22:15.
Jiang Chen, now level 5, was still diligently farming Red Rams.
"There it is, the Red Ram farming spot."
"Finally made it!"
"Didn't expect our luck to be so good, encountering this limited-time quest first!"
Jiang Chen saw a four-person team approaching excitedly from a distance.
They also noticed Jiang Chen, and their smiles faded, replaced by a hint of surprise.
The four exchanged glances.
One of the warriors walked up to Jiang Chen and smiled, "Brother, how long have you been farming?"
"Just got here."
Jiang Chen replied casually, picking up the loot on the ground.
"Brother, if you don't mind me asking, are you selling the ram horns?" the warrior asked.
Jiang Chen knew what they were thinking and calmly said, "The ram horns are non-tradable."
After speaking, Jiang Chen saw more players approaching behind the four.
Looks like it's time to head back.
Jiang Chen thought he could farm a bit longer, but players arrived faster than expected.
Soon, as word spread, more and more people would come.
By then, it would be a competition for monsters.
Hardly worth farming.
"I've farmed enough."
Glancing at the 705 Red Ram horns in his backpack, Jiang Chen headed back to the Novice Village.
Seeing Jiang Chen leave, the four-person team looked at each other in confusion.
Why did he leave?
As they were puzzled, they saw more players arriving.
Their expressions changed.
"People are coming, quickly pull the monsters!"
***
On the way back, Jiang Chen saw more and more players heading towards the farming spot.
The closer to the Novice Village, the more people there were.
After nearly 20 minutes, Jiang Chen arrived at his destination, a dilapidated temple in the southern area of the Novice Village.
There weren't many players here.
The temple, built of stone, had eight cracked stone pillars at the main entrance.
It looked ancient and weathered.
It gave off a heavy sense of history.
Inside, there were various worn-out statues of deities, all with indistinct faces.
Some statues were even missing their upper halves.
In the corner of the temple stood an old man in a gray robe.
A few players were talking to him and then quickly leaving.
Jiang Chen walked over.
"Adventurer from another world, you have just arrived here, and the Gods should be guiding you."
The gray-robed old man's hoarse voice sounded, "However, the temple is lost, the light of the statues dimmed, making it difficult to receive the Deity's blessing."
"What should I do?" Jiang Chen asked cooperatively.
"The horns of the Red Rams can communicate with the Gods. Go and collect them. The more you bring, the easier it will be to receive the Deity's blessing. I won't stay here for long, so don't be greedy!" the gray-robed old man said slowly.
[Limited Quest: Obtain the horns dropped by Red Rams and give them to the gray-robed old man. Reward: Deity's Blessing.]
[Hint: 1. The gray-robed old man will leave shortly. 2. The more horns, the greater the reward.]
Seeing the game prompt, Jiang Chen scratched his head sheepishly:
"Well... sir, what a coincidence! I happen to have some Red Ram horns right here."