Chapter 2: The Source of Deadly Poison.

"Only 1 minute and 30 seconds left until the game starts. Please name your game."

Upon hearing the system prompt again, Wu Shaochen shook his head, not wanting to think too much about it. After all, it was a game from a different era, and there were bound to be many things he couldn't understand. Calming his mind, he said:

"Dust Sealed."

This name represented his current state of mind.

"Naming successful. The game will use the player's original appearance, which cannot be adjusted. However, players can purchase masks or face cloths in the in-game store to cover their appearance. To help players quickly adapt to the game, the initial pain sensation is set at 5%. Every ten levels, the system automatically increases the pain sensation by 5%. Other senses remain consistent with the real world.

After entering the game, each player will be randomly assigned a lifelong talent based on their comprehensive characteristics. Each talent has its own unique features, so please make good use of your talent and try to choose a profession that matches it."

"Alright, enjoy the game! The game is about to begin...

10

9

...

3...2...1"

As soon as the countdown finished, a flash of light and Wu Shaochen found himself in the newbie village. The surroundings were filled with constant flashes of white light as more and more people appeared, causing a chaotic scene.

"Wait, is this the game?"

"Damn, this feels too real."

"It's exactly like reality."

"Ouch, who the hell pinched me?"

"Um, sorry, I just wanted to test it out. I thought I was dreaming. It's really 100% realistic."

"Damn, don't you know how to pinch yourself?"

Countless voices echoed around Wu Shaochen, making it difficult for him to distinguish between reality and the game.

"Welcome to Oracle. You were born in Newbie Village number 8365. The system has sent you a newbie gift package, and your talent has been generated. Your talent is [The Source of Deadly Poison]. Please check it in the character panel."

"The Source of Deadly Poison? What the hell? I'm an upright person. What does poison have to do with me?" Wu Shaochen looked confused because he knew that each person's talent was determined by themselves, and he couldn't understand why he was associated with poison.

Going back in time, in reality, when Wu Shaochen's consciousness entered the game, his skin gradually turned pale, and toxins started entering his bloodstream. After a while, when the game helmet collected a blood sample, it detected the presence of toxins in his blood. The game helmet absorbed most of the toxins from Wu Shaochen's body through the blood sample collection.

"Open the character interface," Wu Shaochen silently thought.

Name: Dust Sealed

Level: 0

Health: 50

Mana: 50

Physical Attack: 10

Magic Attack: 10

Physical Defense: 5

Magic Defense: 5

Movement Speed: 5

Experience: 0/100

Strength: 5 (affects physical attack, 1 point of strength = 2 points of physical attack)

Intelligence: 5 (affects magic attack, 1 point of intelligence = 2 points of magic attack)

Constitution: 5 (affects health, 1 point of constitution = 10 health points)

Endurance: 5 (affects defense, 1 point of endurance = 1 point of physical defense and 1 point of magic defense)

Spirit: 5 (affects mana, 1 point of spirit = 10 mana points)

Agility: 5 (affects movement speed and attack speed, 1 point of agility = 1 point of movement speed and 0.5% attack speed)

For newbie players, all attributes start at 5, which is fair unless there are talent bonuses.

Skills: Insight (able to view information about monsters up to 10 levels higher than oneself)

Talent: The Source of Deadly Poison: Normal attacks or melee skills will inflict a poison effect on the target (ranged attacks cannot trigger it), dealing true damage of 1 point per second, which can be stacked up to 1 layer. The poison effect lasts for 60 seconds, during which the target cannot regenerate health. Special feature: Each time a target 5 levels higher than oneself is killed, poison damage increases by 1 point. Killing a boss at or above one's own realm level adds one layer to the poison stack.

Wu Shaochen stared blankly at his talent. Although it initially seemed trashy, seeing the special feature made his heart beat uncontrollably. Based on his understanding of the game, he could sense how terrifying this talent would become if it stacked up in the later stages.

He felt like he was about to take off! Houses, cars, money, and girls were all beckoning to him. At this point, he no longer pondered whether his talent had anything to do with poison; he only knew that this talent was amazing.

Quickly opening the backpack, he unpacked the newbie gift package, which unsurprisingly contained a wooden sword and a set of cloth armor.

Wooden Sword: Physical Attack +2 (Newbie equipment)

Cloth Armor: Physical Defense +1 (Newbie equipment)

He immediately put them on, increasing his attack to 12 and defense to 6.

Looking at the bustling crowd around him and the continuous flashes of light, he conservatively estimated that there were already over ten thousand people in this newbie village. According to official announcements, there were ten thousand newbie villages in the entire country. If each newbie village was like this, it meant that the game had already surpassed a hundred million players as soon as it started in the country. It was truly terrifying.

After finally squeezing out of the crowd, he wanted to find a quiet place.

The player checked if there were any quests from the NPCs but found that there were only about a dozen NPCs in the village, surrounded by players in three layers. 

"Well, even if there are quests in the early stages, the rewards aren't that great. It's better not to waste time and go out to fight monsters," Wu Shaochen muttered.

Walking out of the village, he entered a grassland where many rabbits were hopping around. The grassland was also filled with players, and occasionally, white light would flash, indicating player deaths.

"These cute bunnies can also kill people?" Wu Shaochen looked surprised as he approached a rabbit and used Insight skill on it.

[White Rabbit]

Level: 1

Health: 100

Physical Attack: 12

Physical Defense: 7

Speed: 6

Skills: None

After looking at the attributes of the white rabbit in front of him and comparing them to his own, Wu Shaochen's mouth twitched. Finally, he understood why people were dying. Without teaming up, it would be difficult for an average person to defeat even the weakest rabbit.

Before reaching level ten and changing professions, players' attributes were mostly the same. With a wooden sword adding 12 points to attack and cloth armor adding only 6 points to defense, it meant that hitting a rabbit would deduct 5 health points, while the rabbit's attack would deduct 6 health points. The problem was that the rabbit had 100 health, while players only had 50 health. In the early stages, attack speed was the same for everyone. Basically, it was a situation where you hit it once, and it scratched you once. The final result was obvious. What made it worse was that the rabbit's speed was slightly faster than the players, which meant that players couldn't even run away if they couldn't defeat it. Was this game serious?

"What the heck, the game designer is a real dog. Can you believe it? I've already been killed twice by a rabbit!" 

"I'm even more miserable. I was one of the first to come out, and I've already died three times. I've been playing games for so many years, and it's the first time I can't even beat a rabbit. It's embarrassing!"

Although many people had died, the sheer number of players made it difficult. Often, when a rabbit spawned, several players would attack it simultaneously. Without teaming up, only the player who landed the final blow would get the experience, and as for the drops, it was just a matter of who was faster. However, there were already quite a few dead rabbits, and occasionally, a copper coin or rabbit fur could be seen dropping, but no equipment. The drop rate from divine oracles was truly disheartening.

"Damn, killing one rabbit only gives 1 experience point. It took so much effort just to snatch one. How long will it take to kill a hundred?" someone complained. Wu Shaochen's mouth twitched. Was this game really this difficult?

Looking at the bustling players around him, he felt that he couldn't make any progress here. The rabbit he had just seen was already being surrounded by a group of people. "Alright, let's try another place," Wu Shaochen thought to himself.