At this moment, Kaede was roasting something because she felt hungry... Feeling hunger, Kaede was a bit suspicious about whether this was actually a game.
Even in SAO, you needed to eat, but you wouldn't feel hunger; honestly, you just needed to fill up that stamina bar.
However, there was no stamina bar here. Originally, Kaede thought there were no restrictions, but now it seemed she had underestimated this game.
To a certain extent, this place felt like a real world, only the real world didn't have these extraordinary beings.
Perhaps this was a real world, just with an extra system connecting the players.
A bold thought suddenly popped into Kaede's mind, and then she shook her head vigorously. How could that be?
Stopping the thought, Kaede focused her gaze on the golden-roasted rabbit. Watching the grease constantly roasting out of it, even without seasonings, it already emitted waves of aroma, making Kaede involuntarily lick her lips. As for her previous thought, it had already been thrown to the back of her mind; nothing was more important than eating.
However, in such a wilderness, starting a fire like this and making such food was very easy to attract predators.
However, before the predators arrived, a man was lured over by this aroma.
At this moment, the man also saw Kaede sitting there roasting the rabbit, and surprise appeared in his eyes. "I didn't expect to run into someone here."
Kaede glanced at the man walking over. He wore white clothes, with a head of black hair draped casually behind him, and a pair of black eyes currently staring at the rabbit.
"Good skills," the man said. The aroma kept wafting over, making his saliva secrete continuously.
Kaede didn't speak, as if the man didn't exist.
However, the man didn't care at all. He sat down beside her and said, "Let's discuss something~ Meeting is fate, can you share some rabbit meat with me?" As he spoke, the man smiled.
"..." Kaede looked at the man. How should she put it? If he were in that other world, he would probably be considered a top-tier handsome man, right? Why was he a bit, um, a bit shameless?
Completely unbothered by Kaede's gaze, the man said to himself, "Why aren't you adding any seasonings?"
"I don't have any." As she spoke, an expression of regret appeared in Kaede's eyes. The ingredients were very good, but it was truly a pity that there were no seasonings.
"You don't have any, but I do!" The man seemed to have found a reasonable excuse to eat, and with a happy wave of his hand, bottles and jars appeared on the ground.
Seeing this scene, Kaede's eyes constricted.
However, the man didn't pay attention to Kaede's shock. He picked up a bottle and said, "This is salt, this is..."
"Can't you roast it yourself?" Kaede was a bit dizzy from the man's messy seasonings, and there were many she had almost never heard of.
"Uh..." The man suddenly froze, then a few pieces of charcoal appeared in his hand, and an awkward expression appeared on his face. "This is my work."
Kaede looked at this scene speechlessly. Was this really food? This skill seemed to be comparable to a certain pink-haired dumpling, of course, if Kaede knew that dumpling...
Sighing, Kaede took out a few familiar seasonings from those bottles and jars and started adding them. Although the timing was a bit late, it was undeniable that after adding these, the taste would be better.
"I can share some with you, and you might even be able to continue eating it later, but you have to promise to take me to the nearest city."
"..." The man blinked. He hadn't noticed these things earlier, but now he looked at Kaede—smooth black long hair, and that pair of red eyes. Hmm, she was a beauty.
However, what the man noticed wasn't these things, but Kaede's strength. Hmm, it was unbelievably weak. How could someone this weak appear here? Wasn't she just looking for death?
Perhaps this was a player, relying on the ability to resurrect, and then recklessly doing some ridiculous things.
"Are you lost?" Suddenly, the man realized.
"Yes." Kaede admitted it directly, then took out a map and handed it to the man.
Then the man looked at the route on it, and a few black lines appeared on his forehead. If you didn't get lost while being led by this kind of map, you would truly be a god-tier player.
"Alright, I agree." The man indicated that he wasn't bought off by the food, just that he felt a little sorry for this young girl.
Afterwards, when the rabbit was roasted, Kaede had no mood to eat, because in her perception, they had been surrounded.
Looking at the pairs of green eyes all around, and the wolf pack walking over step by step, Kaede placed her hand on the hilt of her blade, while the man over there seemed not to have noticed the wolf pack and was enjoying the roasted rabbit meat there.
Kaede sighed. In her eyes, the strength of most of the wolf pack could already be seen; most were LV1 like her, and a few were LV2.
Although a single wolf might just be an ant in Kaede's eyes, many ants could bite an elephant to death. Kaede exposed her hidden killing intent without the slightest reservation.
The killing intent was like an invisible gale spreading out, and Kaede's eyes were also veiled in a trace of scarlet.
And the man sitting there also had surprise in his eyes, which then turned into an expression of interest as he watched Kaede, as if he had discovered something interesting.
However, what made Kaede helpless was that the pack of wolves seemed to have been affected, but the impact was not big; they were definitely not as pampered as that Patterned Leopard from before.
They had lived until now by fighting constantly, and their numbers were large, so the impact of Kaede's negative buff on them was naturally smaller.
Most of the LV1 wolves could still exert 70% of their strength, and the LV2 ones could even exert 90% of their strength.
However, Kaede, whose attention was entirely on the wolf pack, did not notice that the wolves seemed to not see the man at all, with all their gazes concentrated on Kaede.
Finally, no longer testing, a wolf lunged at Kaede.
Kaede moved her feet slightly, and the blade in her hand swung upwards at a tricky angle.
Blade out, blood fell, and the wolf that lunged up was directly dismembered.
And the man's eyes brightened even more when he saw this scene; the attack was crisp and clean, and the movements were swift, with little amplitude, saving a lot of energy.
Looking at this one strike, the young girl in front of him was definitely a battle-hardened existence; it seemed he had misunderstood a bit before, the man thought, taking a bite of the rabbit meat, hmm, delicious!
The reason Kaede cut so cleanly and neatly was, firstly, there was no need to waste effort, and secondly, she wanted to let the wolf king standing in the back know that she was not to be trifled with.
"Awoo!!"
Kaede only heard the wolf king's roar, and then the pack of wolves seemed to riot, rushing towards Kaede as if they didn't want their lives.
Sighing, it seemed her approach had failed. After all, it was a pack of wolves; the fresh blood flowing from that wolf not only didn't make them afraid but instead incited their ferocity.
This was the biggest difference from that pampered Patterned Leopard.
Watching the lunging wolf pack, Kaede gripped the hilt of her blade. She hadn't expected to encounter such a thing on her first day out of the newbie village, she really didn't know what to say.
Did she have to use Blood Demons Wrath and Blood-Colored Dead End here?
Better wait. Kaede decided not to use them yet, because Blood Demons Wrath consumed her own blood, and once Blood-Colored Dead End didn't play a role, then Blood Demons Wrath was a move that would screw herself over.
However, not long after, a few wounds appeared on Kaede's body. Although she wasn't bitten by the wolves, she couldn't dodge their claws. After all, if she were bitten, it would be practically the same as saying she was done for here.
Prey bitten by a wolf generally couldn't escape the wolf's bite force unless it had strength far exceeding the wolf's, so most of Kaede's attention was focused on dodging the wolves' bloody maws, so naturally, she had to take some injuries from their claws.
However, this couldn't go on. Kaede also understood that she couldn't continue like this. She finally decided to use Blood Demons Wrath. She didn't know what the result would be if she used Blood Demons Wrath after her race had changed.
Just as Kaede decided to use it, a voice suddenly came from her ear.
"I advise you not to use it. Although I don't know what kind of enhancement skill it is, the damage to yourself is quite significant, right?"
"Huh?" Kaede stared blankly at the man walking directly toward her, who was holding a rabbit leg in his hand.
Seeing Kaede's gaze, the man raised the rabbit leg and said, "The rabbit was roasted well."
Kaede silently looked over at the makeshift barbecue grill she had made earlier. There was no rabbit left there, which meant this guy in front of her had eaten it all. Yes, eaten it all.
Suddenly, Kaede's eyebrows twitched, and her gaze toward the man became dangerous.
"Yikes, what a terrifying look." The man thought of the person back home upon seeing Kaede's gaze, then shook his head. "Forget it, leave the rest to me."
After speaking, the man walked up to Kaede. Before she could react, he threw her onto a tree branch with one hand, leaving her completely unable to resist.
Then the man thought for a moment and asked, "What's your name?"
"Kaede," Kaede said blankly, clearly still unable to recover from the fact that she had been tossed up.
"Kaede..." The man nodded. "I am Li Chen. This is the payment for eating your rabbit."
After Li Chen finished speaking, a party invitation option appeared before Kaede. Kaede silently chose to accept.
Once Kaede accepted, Li Chen felt it, and a sword appeared in his hand. It was a pure eight-sided Han sword, though it had several blood grooves on it, and one could tell at a glance that its power was unquestionable.
Then Kaede widened her eyes.
Why? Because Kaede couldn't quite understand it. In Kaede's eyes, Li Chen's sword swings were light and airy, as if the sword might fall to the ground at any moment.
But this light and airy sword was currently wreaking havoc. What made Kaede even more confused was that she had a feeling that rather than Li Chen killing them, it was as if the wolves were throwing themselves to their deaths, delivering themselves under Li Chen's sword.
Kaede certainly knew this was impossible; the only possibility was that she couldn't understand it.
At this moment, Kaede also felt a bit dejected. She had thought that after the third blood sacrifice, she would be considered a powerhouse here, but now, anyone she happened to run into was someone she couldn't deal with.
Li Chen was seen waving his sword around as if casually, yet every strike took the life of a wild wolf. His left hand was still holding a rabbit leg, continuously feeding it to his mouth, and his white clothes were not stained with a single drop of blood.
While Kaede was stunned, wisps of energy quietly seeped into her body, strengthening her. This was the payment Li Chen had mentioned.
Next, the rabbit leg in Li Chen's hand was finished. After a burp, Li Chen tossed the bone to the ground and raised his sword.
At this point, Kaede's attention was focused on Li Chen's sword, because this time, his sword was no longer as light and airy as before.
The next moment, Li Chen's sword began to flash, and his figure quietly disappeared. Even with Kaede's observation skills, she didn't find any traces of him.
She saw Li Chen's figure again upon hearing his voice, which came from mid-air.
"Silver Light Falling Blade!"
The next moment, it was as if Kaede saw the Milky Way; the brilliant sword light was as splendid and magnificent as the galaxy.
To an onlooker, this sword technique was brilliant, but to that pack of wolves, it was undoubtedly the most terrifying nightmare.
The silver light dissipated. Li Chen, now in the field, had taken out a wine gourd from somewhere and was drinking heartily.
At his feet lay a field of corpses. The wolf pack had met its end in that instant, not even excluding the wolf king at the rear.
Just how strong was he? Kaede jumped down from the tree with a look of amazement.
It was only then that she realized something was wrong with her; she noticed that her attribute evaluation column had quietly changed to LV2...
"I didn't expect there to be someone like you among the players. It actually surprises me a little," Li Chen said, leaning against a tree.
"..." Kaede remained silent.
"You should be LV2 now. With your strength, you stand at the top among LV2s. I originally thought it was impossible for such an existence to appear among players. They are all so weak in actual combat experience that even if they reach LV2, they might not be able to beat our LV1s," Li Chen said, looking at Kaede. "However, seeing you now, perhaps I should change my perspective on players."
Kaede did not speak. She knew her own situation; if not for her previous experiences, perhaps she would be no different from the players Li Chen spoke of.
"What about your strength?" Kaede suddenly wanted to know Li Chen's strength.
"..." Li Chen looked at Kaede and finally said, "As for attributes, I am LV3. However, I will give you a piece of advice: do not trust attributes. For example, the strongest among you players right now is LV4, and in terms of attributes, he is several times stronger than me. I went to find him before, but I was a bit disappointed. Even if his attributes are stronger than mine, I have the confidence to take off his head within a few moves."
"..." Kaede remained silent. LV3 meant he was only one level above her, but Kaede felt the gap between them was truly too vast.
"I've said what needs to be said." Li Chen suddenly smiled, looking at Kaede. "If we can meet again, I will teach you some things."
After speaking, Li Chen handed Kaede a stone.
"This is?" Kaede looked at the stone in her hand; it seemed to be a piece of jade.
"Just a one-time teleportation stone. The destination is the nearest city." As soon as Li Chen finished speaking, the stone began to glow.
"Teleportation stone?" Before Kaede could react, she felt a sense of vertigo, and the next moment, Kaede's figure disappeared.
"Hmm, I've met an interesting little girl." Li Chen shrugged and said.
"...It's the first time I've seen you treat a girl like this. Did you take a fancy to her?" At this moment, a woman with a face like frost appeared beside Li Chen, as if she had walked out of a painting.
"I am quite interested in her, but it's not that kind of interest between a man and a woman, but rather..." As Li Chen spoke, a trace of red flashed strangely in his eyes. The next moment, the killing intent on Li Chen's body erupted completely, even staining the space with a bloody color. Under the shroud of this killing intent, all living creatures were frightened and fell to the ground.
"Although I don't know the reason why she possesses that killing intent—after all, she is so weak—it's still a bit like the old me." Li Chen said, nostalgia appearing in his eyes, and the killing intent on his body slowly converged.
"Let's not talk about this. Have you found the source controlling those undead?" The woman's expression eased slightly after hearing Li Chen's words.
"I haven't found the source, but I have made some discoveries."
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