Ding! Game Announcement: You are the first person to kill a demonized Boss single-handedly outside the Novice Village. You have met the system's conditions. Do you want to announce this?

“No.” Blue Maple didn't want to become famous again.

Ding! Announcement: You can announce this with a fake name. Do you want to continue?

“No.”

Announcement: “This news will not be announced in any way. Continue working hard!”

How annoying...

Blue Maple hated the annoying system voice. He stared at the Barbaric Bull King, which had collapsed onto the ground not far from him, two swords protruding from its body and a bunch of items dropped around it. Blue Maple didn't hesitate as he picked up his plunder.

The old man suddenly appeared behind Blue Maple when he was walking forward to pick up his loot. Blue Maple had already discovered his presence, but he refused to pay him any attention.

“Hey, dirty rascal. I can possibly become your mentor in the future. Are you not going to greet me when you know that I'm here?” the old man whined behind Blue Maple.

Blue Maple was still quietly picking up his coins…

“Hey! Little rascal, I'm talking to you. Don't pretend to be deaf!” the old man howled angrily.

Blue Maple picked up the items. He realized that he couldn't see their statistics, and he had a blank look on his face…

“I… dirty rascal! Stop picking up all that rubbis.h.!.+ I'm talking to you!!” The old man was almost starting to fume from the top of his head.

Blue Maple suddenly turned around, and the old man thought Blue Maple was about to answer him when Blue Maple's words almost sent the old man into a fury.

“Appraise.” Blue Maple said to him plainly as he handed the item in his hands to the old man.

“You dirty fellow! Are you treating me like one of those stupid appraisers? Ah? You're picking up random trash and asking me to appraise it. And, did you hear what I just said to you? Eh?!”

“I heard you. Appraise these.” Blue Maple said he heard the old man, but was acting like he hadn't heard him at all.

“Appraise my s.h.i.+t. You're asking me to appraise trash like this? Do you not know how to greet me? I may not yet be your mentor, but I'm still your senior. Do you not know anything about basic respect? Ah?!”

“I don't even know what your name is.” Blue Maple turned his head slightly to one side as he spoke, his cold expression dumbfounding. He seemed to be saying, How can I address you if I don't know your name?

“Uh…” The old man suddenly realized that he hadn't introduced himself to Blue Maple. The only time Blue Maple addressed him was 'old man', so could he still address him as 'old man', even when was greeting him?

“Ahem, alright. That's my fault. I haven't introduced myself to you.” The old man paused like he was preparing himself and continued, “My name is Fang Chen, and my t.i.tle is Sword Hermit.” The old man wasn't in a good mood, almost like he was being made a fool of. Even then, it had happened because he did it to himself.

“Alright. So, you know my name. You can call me Fang Chen, or you can call me Elder Chen. Just don't call me Elder Hermit.”

“Elder Hermit? Oh.” Blue Maple's tone didn't sound right.

“I told you not to call me that. Are you asking for a beating, you dirty rascal!” The old man's face flushed as he roared. Elder Hermit and Elder Pervert sounded too similar…

(Translator's Note: The terms sound similar in Mandarin.)

“Old Man Fang, appraise these.” Blue Maple handed the item over again.

“You… are incorrigible. Give it to me!” The old man immediately took the item from Blue Maple's hands. A spark of blue fire flashed by as the item's attributes appeared in front of Blue Maple.

===

[Barbaric Bull Bracers] (Rank 20 Bronze Equipment)

Type: Heavy Armor

Defense: 37-46

Magic Defense: 13-17

HP: +60

Strength: +12

Toughness: +5

Special Effect: Ignores rank and cla.s.s requirements.

===

Blue Maple didn't think much when he saw that this was a Rank 20 item and was heavy armor. However, the so-called 'special effect' was probably the old man's doing. Blue Maple eyed the old man before he equipped the item.

“Hmph. What are you looking at? Consider this your reward for completing the quest. It should increase your strength by quite a bit, and it's useful for your subsequent quest. I was planning to test you for a couple of weeks, but I think I'm going to ask you to complete a small quest after your performance.”

There was a huge difference between testing over a couple of weeks and a small task, even though this 'small task' wouldn't be anything fun.

Blue Maple glanced at the old man and waited for his instruction, because he knew the old man would tell him even if he didn't ask.

“Submit this quest back to the village. Hmph!” Blue flames appeared on the old man's body after he spoke, and he vanished into the wind.

The old man knew that hanging around with Blue Maple would only upset him even more. He felt that Blue Maple should be taking the initiative to ask him questions, which would give the old man a chance to show how formidable and mysterious he was. However, Blue Maple didn't ask a single question. The old man had no choice but to admit that he was afraid that Blue Maple would leave without completing anything, and he felt very aggrieved…

------

The old man was gone. Blue Maple inventoried what he had plundered: 3 gold coins, 67 silver coins, 287 bronze coins, and an iron helmet with two bullhorns, along with a pair of boots which had no rank. Everything seemed useless besides the bracers and the coins. The iron helmet was useless for Blue Maple because it was too ugly…

I have some money now. I should have around eleven gold coins with my thousands of bronze coins. I don't know how I'm going to use all that money. I don't know what I should buy at all. I don't think I need too many consumables, do I?, Blue Maple thought to himself.

Coins were useless, and Blue Maple was just that kind of person. He only needed enough to live, and anything more was useless.

Blue Maple took out his electronic map as he followed the markers.

“Eh?” Blue Maple took two steps before he felt something strange. That feeling was the urge to pee…

Did this game, which was half-based in reality, need to do this? Did it have to incorporate necessary elements of daily life? Humans wouldn't experience excretion or anything of the sort in nourishment pods, so the only explanation was that the game stimulated players' organs in the virtual world so that they would have identical sensations like they would in real life. Blue Maple also discovered that he was hungry.

How annoying. I shall take a look in the village.

Blue Maple's level was similar to that of normal barbaric bulls, and he casually killed a few bulls along the way back to the village. Even though he had already completed the old man's quest, he wasn't sure if the system considered his quest complete. He decided to slay a few bulls to be safe.

The fog gradually started dissipating after walking for another hour, and the vegetation thinned as the air didn't feel so moist anymore. Furthermore, there weren't any more bulls, and low-level wild rabbits had replaced them. Blue Maple could already see several players about, but they stared at Blue Maple with strange expressions. If Blue Maple's equipment hadn't been relatively better, then the players would probably have treated Blue Maple like an NPC to ask about quests because Blue Maple didn't have any name or level above his head.

Blue Maple had a very unapproachable aura, dissuading curious players who would come forward to ask what was going on.

The map only marked a direction, but Blue Maple could tell that he was almost back in the village.

Indeed, it didn't take long before the village's simple walls appeared not far in front of Blue Maple…

Blue Maple ignored the other players' strange looks as he casually stepped inside the village.

---

One player said, “Eh, was the person who just walked into the village a player?”

A second player answered, “I don't know. I can't see his level, or his name. But he shouldn't be an NPC because of his equipment. But isn't his equipment too good for a player?”

A third player continued, “What are you guys thinking? You can tell with one look that he's a player, except he's probably managed to get his hands on a low-level item with secret information. There are so many players in this game, so it's not strange that some people have better luck.”

The first player responded, “You make a lot of sense. I can tell that you're an expert. Why don't we form a party to kill monsters? This game seems a little different.”

---

Blue Maple's electronic map displayed a specific route once he entered the village. The village chief was located near a small inn.

There were several other players who gave him strange looks as he strolled along the specified route. This village wasn't much different from before, and the structures were all European-style buildings.

Blue Maple ignored a few players' attempts to strike up a conversation with him as he quickly arrived at the inn. His map showed that the village chief was located inside.

Blue Maple realized that there wasn't a single player eating in this place, as they were probably out training and trying to level up. Blue Maple saw his target: the village chief.

===

[Village Chief Liu] (Foggy Gra.s.slands Village)

Introduction: Village chief of Foggy Gra.s.slands Village. He likes to chat people up when he's free and bored.

===

There was somebody engaged in conversation with him...

===

[Forgetful Boss] (Inn)

Introduction: Innkeeper to a small inn in Foggy Gra.s.slands Village. He's very forgetful and doesn't know how to manage an inn.

===

Blue Maple glanced at their introductions and confirmed that the village chief was who he had to submit the quest to as he stepped forward. He arrived before them and interrupted their conversation as the village chief glanced over and asked, “What do you want?”

“Do I submit the quest about the barbaric bulls to you?” Blue Maple asked the village chief.

“Yes, that will be me. Have you completed it?” The village chief looked Blue Maple over suspiciously.

“Oh.” Blue Maple took out the horns that took up half his backpack as he answered with a simple word and piled them up before him.

The village chief was stunned, and he was about to say something when he suddenly asked the innkeeper, “Is there a toilet here?”

Both the village chief and the innkeeper were stunned. “Uh…”

“Ahem, the toilet is inside. You'll see it when you go in. You can come out to collect your reward when you come out.” The village chief seemed to be able to tell that Blue Maple urgently had to pee, and gave Blue Maple directions on the innkeeper's behalf.

Blue Maple walked deeper inside the inn as the village chief said, “Youngsters nowadays. Why do they have to be in such a hurry all the time?”

“Eh, yes. There was someone else like that before this… Haih, there was someone else who wanted to use the toilet before you came in. If I remember correctly…” Forgetful Boss seemed to descend into deep thought after he spoke.

---

The toilet must be here. Blue Maple arrived at a small hut with tattered doors as he thought to himself, Doesn't seem like a place someone would stay in. Olden doors are pushed open, how c.u.mbersome. Modern doors are still better.

Blue Maple wanted to push open the door with his hands because he hadn't pushed doors open before in real life, where everything was automated. Therefore, Blue Maple used more strength than he normally would because he was afraid that the door wouldn't open.

Pa... There was a soft sound as the door was pushed open, then…

A beautiful young girl fell into Blue Maple's eyes. She had flowing long hair, and her exquisite features were on perfect display on her white, tender, and slightly rosy face. She had several pieces of equipment on her, and was mostly dressed in hemp clothes. Blue Maple couldn't tell much about her figure because of the angle. This young girl was looking like she had just finished using the toilet, and she was bending down to pull up her pants…

The pretty young girl was still in shock as Blue Maple quietly shut the door and retreated…

Then…

“Ah!!” A sharp scream was heard…

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