Harsh Debuff

After being thrown around like a rag doll, Xu Feng's vision finally gained clarity as he seemed to have arrived at a town. 

There was a teleporter in front of him, meaning that he should have been teleported from the Holy Sanctuary to this town. 

At the same time, he heard chattering from the sides with players interacting with one another. These players didn't have much equipment on them either and seemed to have just started the game. 

'Phew, at least I didn't spend too much time in the Holy Sanctuary and cause me to be behind others.' Xu Feng was quite relieved to realize this point with a mere glance. 

Just as Xu Feng was feeling quite relieved, he heard an angry shout from behind. 

"Hey, move aside already. Don't you know the traffic here is high?"

Xu Feng didn't get agitated by the angry shout as he turned around to the person shouting angrily. It was a muscular man with a wooden shield on his left hand and a steel lance on his right hand. 

'So it's a Knight Lancer Class player.' He thought to himself, inspecting the gears of the person.

"Sorry, I'll move away now." He smiled with a somewhat apologetic look and said softly, exiting the teleporter platform. 

A teleporter platform served as a function of transportation for players between locations. Depending on the distance, the cost and usage of the teleportation could vary in price. 

And being a town— one that is a starter town location for players finishing their character creation, the teleporter platform was usually free of charge and players would be able to return to the town without needing a Teleport Scroll or Return Scroll. 

Thus, blocking others in this crowded space naturally led to frustration from fellow players, so Xu Feng didn't take offense to the harsh tone directed at him.

After moving away from the teleporter, Xu Feng began to ponder the potential punishment imposed by the system.

The first thing he checked was his inventory, and only when he saw the herbs were there did he sigh in relief.

'Phew, at least the system wasn't so cruel as to take back the herbs I painstakingly obtained,' Xu Feng thought, patting his chest. With his main concern resolved, he now wondered what other punishment the system might have in store for him.

The fact that he wasn't imprisoned or had his herbs confiscated made him thoroughly confused. 

After all, the system did state punishment would be imposed and there was no way the system would lie to him. 

It wouldn't and couldn't do so either. There was a saying for those who played Divine World.

Believe in the system more than you believe in your parents, lovers, and friends! 

Parents, lovers, and friends could lie to you, but the system won't. 

"Sigh, whatever, let me check my status screen first." Fixing the glasses position, Xu Feng decided to open his status screen for the first time since arriving in the Divine World. 

–

Player Name: Lin Feng

Class: Cleric

Level: 1

Experience Points: 0/100

Attributes: Strength 8, Agility 7, Endurance 9, Intelligence 12, Vitality 10

–

At first, Xu Feng merely browsed through his status screen without much thought until he noticed the experience points were highlighted in a darkish-red color.

"Huh, what's the meaning of this?" He mumbled, clicking on the experience points. 

As soon as he clicked on it, Xu Feng realized the so-called punishment that was imposed upon him after reading the system message prompt.

System: Due to Adventurer Lin Feng's ethics, the experience points gained from killing normal monsters are reduced by 99 percent for the duration of 3 days. 

Although 3 days didn't seem to be a long time, one must understand that the game had just been released. To have your experience points drastically reduced by 99 percent at the start of the game was equivalent to being behind by the rest for a month. 

After all, a fresh start of a game is the most important time for a player and those who are pros or those who play games for a living. 

Normally, anyone receiving such a harsh debuff would be disheartened and might even lose their will. 

Xu Feng's body was trembling, and from an outsider's perspective, he was someone going crazy, causing others to give him a side glance and avoid him like a plague.

Of course, Xu Feng realized the surroundings, but he couldn't be bothered. He was simply too speechless at the moment. 

'Ahh, system, how could you believe this kind of debuff would set me back?' Xu Feng laughed inwardly. 

The debuff was targeted at normal monsters, meaning the system thought he would be like other average players, trying to gain experience by killing the "tutorial monsters". Tutorial monsters, as in those low-level and easy-to-kill mobs that could increase a player's level as soon as possible. 

But most importantly, what are classified as normal monsters in the Divine World are those found in the wild.

As if he would spend the time hunting for them when he got a bunch of rare herbs. 

'Let's open the map and check where in the heck did I get sent to,' he thought to himself, opening the map interface. 

Riverwood Town

That was the name of the town that Xu Feng was thrown into, and he couldn't help but silently curse at the system's despicable move. 

"Damn, to think I'll be thrown at Riverwood Town under the jurisdiction of the Aetheria Empire. Aren't you trying to force me to be sandwiched to death by those wealthy heirs?" He was definitely annoyed by the circumstance, but there was nothing else he could do. 

To attempt to transport himself to other regions would cost him quite a fortune, not to mention the loss of valuable time.

To be unlucky enough to be thrown into an empire region meant the competition was going to be fierce.

However, that doesn't mean it was all bad because if he could maneuver his scheme properly, then this supposed bad fortune could turn into a gold mine. 

'The system thinks it screwed me over, but I, Xu Feng, am not afraid of a challenge.' He clenched his fist tightly, and a glint of determination flashed behind his glasses.