Weird Prefixes

"Huchi~huchi"

Wu Xiu held his robe as he ran, panting heavily. Behind him, a wolf with red eyes and a ravenous gaze pursued him relentlessly.

As a scholar and the son of a wealthy family, Wu Xiu had passed the examination for a scholar, which made his current predicament all the more regrettable. Why had he decided to go out for a stroll in such an unlucky year?

Regretting his decision, he thought back to how he ended up in this situation. He wasn't the only one who had gone out for an outing; there were other classmates. However, he had drunk too much wine and wandered off to relieve himself. It was then that this wild wolf had targeted him, blocking his way back and forcing him to run for his life.

He had been running for less than a quarter of an hour and was already exhausted. But his will to survive was strong. Even as he neared his limit, the sight of the hungry wolf behind him gave him a burst of energy. If the wolf caught him, it would surely mean death.

'It's hopeless. I'm going to die today. Wait, there seems to be someone.'

Wu Xiu looked up and saw a strange figure not far away, clad in solid wooden armor. The figure drew a bow and shot an arrow.

*Phew!*

The sound of the wooden arrow slicing through the air brushed past his earlobe and struck the wolf behind him.

With a sound of breaking bones, the wolf was pierced through the head by the wooden arrow and died on the spot.

Seeing this, Wu Xiu breathed a sigh of relief. He was exhausted but managed to support himself and approached the strange man. "Thank you, strong man, for saving my life."

The strange figure was Chen Xiyi, who watched as the white dot on his map gradually turned green.

**Scholar Wu Xiu, HP: 98%, Status: Shocked, Grateful, Fatigue**

**You rescued the scholar Wu Xiu from the expelled wolf king. Wu Xiu's favorability towards you has increased by +1. Current favorability: 0.5 stars.**

**You have added a friend: Scholar Wu Xiu.**

Chen Xiyi was puzzled. Why did this game have a friend system and NPCs?

And what was up with these names? He had thought that "newly born Outer Territory Demon" was just a monster name, but it seemed like these prefixes indicated roles or types, similar to how Wu Xiu was titled a scholar.

He checked the friend system and found that he indeed had a new friend.

**Friend (1/1)**

**Scholar Wu Xiu: Online, Favorability: 0.5 stars**

'If this guy dies, would it show him as offline?' Chen Xiyi mused, a bit speechless. With Wu Xiu nearby, he couldn't express his thoughts openly.

More importantly, he could understand Wu Xiu's speech, indicating that the homeland sandbox game had a built-in language pack, alleviating concerns about language barriers in new worlds.

"You're welcome, it was no trouble," Chen Xiyi said softly before moving towards the dead wolf.

He was puzzled. Why hadn't anything dropped?

He checked the game log and found the record. Killing the expelled wolf king should have caused it to disappear and drop items, much like the newly born Outer Territory Demon.

'One-hit kill? The damage seems a bit high, or maybe this wolf is weaker than the demon?'

'It seems the wooden bow and arrows are target-locked, ensuring a hit. Must be a game mechanism,' Chen Xiyi thought. He knew he wouldn't have been able to hit the wolf on his own.

**You use a wooden bow to shoot a wooden arrow, causing 100% damage to the expelled wolf king's health.**

**You killed the expelled wolf king.**

Chen Xiyi approached the wolf's corpse and found a note on it.

**Wolf corpse shot to death by a wooden arrow, HP: 0%, Status: Dead, Collectable, Corrupting**

The name had changed from expelled wolf king to wolf corpse shot to death by wooden arrows, indicating it was dead and starting to rot.

The "collectable" status intrigued him, so he chose to collect the wolf's body.

**Collecting: 1% 50% 100%**

**You collect the wolf corpse shot to death by wooden arrows. You get: 1 piece of wolf skin, 1 unit of wolf meat, 5 wolf teeth.**

The wolf's body disintegrated, turning into materials that sank into Chen Xiyi's inventory.

'Interesting. Unlike the demons, whose items drop directly, this wolf's items must be collected manually, like looting a corpse.'

Chen Xiyi found this amusing.

On the other hand, Wu Xiu was stunned. He had never seen anything like this. The wolf's body had split into white lights and flown into the strange man's body.

In these barren mountains, such a sight could mean only one of two things: either this was a god or a demon.

Either way, Wu Xiu knew he couldn't afford to offend him.

A closer look suggested this wasn't a demon. Demons were described in books as having green faces and fangs, which was not the case here.

Considering the man had just saved him, if he were a demon, he might have eaten him alive instead. Perhaps this was a god?

Thinking this, Wu Xiu believed he had encountered an immortal.

As Chen Xiyi approached, Wu Xiu hurriedly bowed and said, "I, Wu Xiu, greet the Immortal. Thank you for saving my life. If you have any commands, I will surely follow them."

Since this was an immortal, he had to seize the opportunity to gain favor.

Chen Xiyi felt a bit wary. The man's reverence suggested the existence of cultivators or gods in this world.

If true, it could be dangerous. What if a powerful being decided to capture him?

He decided to probe for information cautiously.

"You're welcome. Have you seen any of my other comrades?"

Wu Xiu's excitement grew. This must indeed be a god.

"No, Immortal. You are the first I have seen," Wu Xiu replied quickly.

The ambiguity of Wu Xiu's words left Chen Xiyi uncertain. It could mean gods existed but were unseen by Wu Xiu, or it could mean there were no gods, and Wu Xiu had mistaken him for one.

"Tell me about this world," Chen Xiyi said, deciding to gather information first.