radicalducati Chapter 10 Physical Changes
Chapter 10 Physical Changes
Jiang Yuan leaned against the stone wall, mentally reviewing what Xilu had said.
Level 10 should be Tier 1... a giant spider monster covering the cave passage, and a huge scorpion with a tail stinger several meters long...
None of them are ones he can handle right now.
The fact that they managed to take down that gray-scaled lizard involved an element of cleverness.
Jiang Yuan placed the crossbow across his lap and asked, "What kind of magical beasts live near your tribe? None of them are those second-tier behemoths you've seen?"
"There are many first-tier animals: small beetles, rabbits, and wild boars. Hunting teams often bring them back," Hilu said, counting on her fingers.
"The big guys in the second tier, Father said they're all hiding deep in the mountains. As long as we don't provoke them, we'll be fine."
Jiang Yuan asked, "How many second-tier warriors like you are there in your tribe?"
Hilu tilted her head and thought for a moment, her cat ears tilting to one side as well:
"There are many, but Hil is different; Hil has been blessed by the moon goddess."
She puffed out her chest and her tail tip curled up.
Blessed by the moon goddess? Jiang Yuan thought of the deity that Shiru had mentioned before and asked, "What is that?"
Hilu said, "It was given to me by the Moon Goddess when I was a child. That's why I can stay hidden for so long without getting tired."
Jiang Yuan became interested.
In Graystone Town, players can only choose from four basic classes: Warrior, Rogue, Hunter, and Sorcerer.
Could Hilu's divine favor correspond to some kind of hidden profession?
Jiang Yuan continued to ask questions.
Upon learning that the Moon Goddess mentioned by Hilu is a deity worshipped by the cat-eared tribe for generations, who is in charge of the night, secrecy, hunting, and secret codes...
Her father was the tribal chief, reaching the fourth level, and that "priest grandfather" was also at the fourth level.
Strictly speaking, should the Frostclaw tribe be classified as a rogue or hunter? Jiang Yuan then asked many more questions about the tribe's heritage and warrior system.
Hilu told everything she knew without reservation.
From her, Jiang Yuan learned a lot of knowledge that forum players had never encountered before.
They chatted for three or four hours straight. Jiang Yuan wasn't tired of asking questions, but hope Lu was exhausted. She sniffed and glanced at Jiang Yuan's bag.
"Human, do you still have that kind of food?"
"...You just ate it not long ago."
Hilu stared intently with her bright blue eyes. "Hilu's hungry again. That smells so good, much better than dried meat."
Jiang Yuan didn't move. He did have a few compressed biscuits in his bag, but judging by how much this cat-eared girl ate, even ten more bags wouldn't be enough to fill him up.
He thought for a moment and said, "I have many things that taste even better than this."
"Really?" Hilu was a little skeptical, but her ears perked up immediately.
"Of course, but you have to listen to me from now on, and we'll work together to get out of here," Jiang Yuan said.
Hilu's cat ears slowly drooped back down, and she shook her head: "Hilu can't beat those big guys up ahead."
Hilu also has her own clever tricks.
The black thing in the human's hand was powerful enough, but for her, who was skilled in agility, it posed no threat at this close range.
This human wasn't strong; even without her father, the uncles in the tribe could handle her.
Then the human gave her some good food, so she carelessly talked about many things in the tribe.
After saying that, Hilu added:
"And if you go any further, those big guys will kill you. Let's wait here; Father will come for Shilu."
Jiang Yuan looked at her without saying anything.
Hilu felt a little uncomfortable being stared at, and her tail unconsciously tucked in a little more.
"Have you forgotten how many days you've been here?" Jiang Yuan sighed.
"..." Hilu.
Jiang Yuan said, "If your father could find you, he would have found you long ago."
"If I weren't here, you would be starving by now."
Hilu pressed her ears to her head, opened her small mouth, but couldn't say anything.
Jiang Yuan didn't continue speaking; he was lost in thought.
Hilu said that it was not entirely impossible for people from the tribe to come looking for her, but the possibility was too low.
However, it is indeed inappropriate to directly confront those two demonic beasts ahead; we should consider the matter more carefully.
"Okay. Let's wait and see," Jiang Yuan said.
Hilu nodded.
But Jiang Yuan himself couldn't just do nothing; he already had a plan.
The existence of the Oracle Forum is the solution to this predicament.
Just like the weakness of this gray-scaled lizard—the grayish-white scale on its belly—it was information obtained through the forum.
If we can find out the weaknesses of the magical beasts that Hilu mentioned, we might be able to deal with them.
"I need to find a way to get more information about the Oracle Game when I get back," Jiang Yuan thought to himself, and stood up from the ground.
"Where are you going?" Hilu asked nervously, afraid that this human was going to his death.
Jiang Yuan paused for a moment.
Did he open a portal and leave right in front of this cat-eared girl?
That is a problem.
When he disappeared before, Hil assumed it was some kind of stealth ability, and she didn't even ask where he went.
But after a few more times, even the most oblivious person will notice something's wrong.
Jiang Yuan thought for a moment, then took out the last few compressed biscuits from his bag and placed them on the ground in front of Xilu.
Hilu's eyes followed the biscuit, and her cat ears stood straight up.
"I have a way of bringing food back," Jiang Yuan said, pointing to the biscuits on the ground and then to himself.
"Wow, that's amazing?" Shilu's little head had barely started to turn when her attention was immediately drawn to the few compressed biscuits: "When are you going to use them?"
"When you get hungry."
"Hilu is hungry now."
"...You just ate four pieces."
"That's very small," Hilu said confidently, her sky-blue eyes full of anticipation.
Jiang Yuan looked over; it was only for a short while.
Hilu carefully scraped the last crumb off the wrapper with her fingertips and licked it.
The cat's ears twitched contentedly.
"You can really eat. Next time bring more food so we can test how much stuff the portal can carry..." Jiang Yuan said, "I'm going to use my ability now."
Jiang Yuan picked up the crossbow and the bag. "You stay here and don't move."
Hilu immediately stood up, her cat tail twirling behind her. "How long will it take?"
"I don't know." Jiang Yuan paused for a moment. "It would take at least ten hours."
Hilu was a little disappointed and didn't follow, but added, "You should come back soon. Bring back lots of delicious food."
Jiang Yuan nodded and turned to walk back towards the cave passage he had come from.
He walked along the cave passage for a while.
This gray-scaled lizard's original territory was not small.
The tunnels are interconnected, with some narrow junctions allowing only one person to pass sideways, while others are as wide as a small square.
Occasionally, white spiderwebs could be seen on the wall. Those were the nests of small spiders, which Hilu said she had cleaned up.
Hilu is right, this place is safe for now.
After turning two corners, I made sure Hilu wasn't following.
However, the cat-eared girl is very curious and may have followed him, but he wouldn't have noticed.
But I can't worry about that now... Jiang Yuan's mind raced.
Behind him, a golden halo over two zhang tall appeared out of thin air, with fine particles of light flowing around its edges and an unfathomable depth at its center.
He didn't go in immediately, but looked around at the spacious cave.
It was discovered that the pale blue light emitted by the Spectral Grass did not change because of the pale golden light emitted by his use of the Gate of Boundaries.
"As expected, only I can see the portal..."
Based on Hilu's description of his disappearance last time and her current observations, Jiang Yuan is certain that only he can see this teleportation portal.
He stepped inside.
basement.
Jiang Yuan stepped out of the portal that was shimmering with golden light.
The light gate behind him flickered slightly, then shrank into a tiny speck of light and disappeared.
The phone was still on the old wooden table, and the beam of the flashlight shone on the opposite wall, which was dimmer than before we went in.
He picked up his phone and glanced at the time.
【11:24:56】
I stayed in this other world for about five or six hours.
He spends most of his time chatting with Shilu and gathering information.
The cat-eared girl had absolutely no intention of being wary of people.
She answered whatever Jiang Yuan asked.
She revealed everything she knew about the Frostclaw tribe, from its chieftain to the organization of its hunting teams and the types of magical beasts hunted each season.
Jiang Yuan put his phone in his pocket, bent down to pick up the flashlight, and quickly walked up the wooden ladder.
He lifted the wooden board, and sunlight streamed in through the window, making him squint.
I pushed open the kitchen door and walked into the yard.
The May sun in Songhai City was already quite strong, scorching the ground until it turned white.
The leaves of the crooked jujube tree were curled up by the sun, casting a small shadow on the ground.
Jiang Yuan stood in the center of the courtyard, squinting his eyes.
My gaze passed over the iron gate of the spacious courtyard and landed on a small GG sticker on a utility pole on a distant hillside.
A picture of a beautiful young woman with four eye-catching words below: Seeking a son for a large sum of money.
He could even see the other small print clearly.
That's a distance of two or three hundred meters!
"My nearsightedness is completely cured!" Jiang Yuan thought with delight.
He has mild myopia of about 100 to 200 degrees.
In the past, even if the distance were reduced by half, let alone two or three hundred meters, the view would probably not be as clear.
Jiang Yuan then stretched his body a bit more in place.
I could feel the muscles in my lower back contracting and relaxing smoothly, without any hesitation.
I used to have lower back strain from doing odd jobs and moving goods. It would ache and feel sore after sitting for a long time, but now I don't feel it at all.
The same goes for his cervical spine; he turned his neck left and right, and it felt very comfortable.
Jiang Yuan's gaze swept over a blue stone in the corner of the courtyard.
He vaguely remembered this stone; it must have weighed at least sixty or seventy pounds.
He walked over, bent down, grabbed the two sides of the stone with both hands, and with a strong pull, he actually managed to lift it up.
Not exactly easy, but steady and reliable.
As the muscles exert force, the body seems to know how to distribute the force on its own.
He held the stone for a few seconds, then put it down and dusted off his hands.
"This level is roughly equivalent to that of an adult male who works out regularly!"
He retreated to the other end of the yard, took a deep breath, and suddenly rushed out.
The soles of his shoes made a dull thud on the ground. He ran up to the jujube tree and stopped abruptly, leaving a small footprint in the dirt.
"happy!"
Jiang Yuan stood still, his breathing steady, and his heartbeat barely accelerated.
Without a timer, and while I can't give you precise figures, it was noticeably more relaxing than before.
Strength, speed, and reaction time have all improved, though not to an inhuman degree.
But it has far exceeded his original sub-healthy state, like a sports enthusiast who has persisted in training for several years.
"Just going from level 0 to level 5 and it's like this. What would happen if it went up to level 10 or 20... would it really become Superman?!"
He recalled the comments made by the players on the forum.
Ten levels make up the first tier, and twenty levels make up the second tier.
Those who reach level twelve are considered to be in the upper-middle tier of players and are known as "big shots".
As he pondered this, he walked towards the main room and sat down on the rattan rocking chair outside.
Basking in the sunshine, I took out my phone and first opened the QQ group.
Several messages popped up immediately.
Your request to join the "Greystone Town Strategy Discussion Group" has been rejected.
Your request to join the "Oracle Players Group" has been rejected.
……
Scrolling down, there are still several rejection messages from groups, and some that haven't been replied to yet.
Those who didn't reply probably chose to ignore his application.
I've been trying to join groups for over a day, but haven't been accepted by any of them.
Jiang Yuan was not too surprised.
He joined the group without mentioning his forum ID or level.
It now appears that the barriers to entry for these groups are higher than expected.
Either it's through acquaintances bringing in other acquaintances, or it's because they're qualified enough.
If your forum level isn't high enough, you can't even send private messages, so it's not surprising that newcomers aren't recognized in groups.
Moreover, he discovered something else while browsing through the posts.
Players who actively post and share information, like the "Illustrated Hunter," are extremely rare.
More often, they keep the information hidden, revealing only a portion, and selling the valuable parts as commodities.
Clearly, many players have realized that Oracle is not an ordinary game.
Its game information is naturally quite valuable and worth investing real money in.
"No wonder that 'What can I do to you?' didn't reply again, admitting that the underside of that gray-scaled lizard was a weak point."
Jiang Yuan needs more game information, especially Warcraft information, to deal with the dangers inside the cave.
This trend of selling information is detrimental to him.
That would certainly have been the case before meeting the cat-eared girl, Hil.
but now……
"If others can sell information, so can I!" Jiang Yuan's eyes lit up.
He asked Hilu for a lot of information, not just out of a sense of urgency, but also because he wanted to understand the other world in detail.
This information is all "new map" content that players on the forum have never encountered before!
Jiang Yuan's thumb flew across the screen.
Open the Oracle Forum and go to the page for newly created posts.
He used an account he registered the day before yesterday, nicknamed: Original.
The title bar popped up, he thought for a moment, and typed a line:
[I accidentally stumbled upon a hidden map, discovered a hidden tribe and a hidden class, and wanted to share my observations.]
[I stumbled upon this by accident. I don't know how I triggered the teleportation mechanism, but when I opened my eyes, I was in a new map. I'll focus on a "tribe" I encountered on this map.]
This is a place called "Frostclaw Tribe," where cat-eared people gather.
Yes, you read that right, it's full of humans with cat ears and tails.
The original poster successfully connected with them, explored the area for some time, and obtained a lot of information.
This tribe has a complete occupational system and a deity to worship.
The original poster focused on investigating a special profession among them, not the four basic professions of warrior and rogue, but the "divine power" that only a very few people in the tribe can obtain.
The specific name of this job branch, which was created by divine blessing, is still unclear to the original poster, but it is certain that this job's stealth skills have been enhanced, far surpassing those of other jobs of the same rank...
The tribal chief is at the fourth tier, and there are countless others at the third tier below him... I'm currently at the third tier, and in this map I'm practically a lackey...
"This information should be enough. There's also the new map's monsters and hidden classes to use as bait..."
Jiang Yuan clicked "OK" to send the post, then placed his phone face down on his lap and leaned back in his rocking chair.
He assigned himself the identity of a Tier 3 player, which is a high-level player of level 30 or above.
This persona is necessary; after all, if you're not a big shot, who will believe your intelligence?
After thinking for a while about how to exchange information for money, he got up and went out to buy supplies.
The old house is on the edge of the village, and there's a small supermarket in the town a long walk away.
On the way to Gangwon, the sun was blazing, and the air was filled with the smell of dry grass and earth.
After walking for a full half hour, I finally saw the supermarket in the distance, with a row of electric bikes parked in front of it.
"Although walking isn't physically tiring, it takes too much time. I need to get a car, but I'm still short of money..."
Jiang Yuan muttered to himself as he entered the supermarket, pushing a shopping cart around the shelves.
I grabbed several large bags of compressed biscuits, and also packed some bottled water and bread for myself.
Then he moved to the snack section and started throwing things into the car—milk candy, chocolate, lollipops, small packages of beef jerky, jelly, potato chips, and cookies.
Snacks that I wouldn't normally buy for myself, I stuffed into bags and bags of them.
As he picked them up, he recalled Xilu's expression when she ate the compressed biscuits; her cat ears twitched. He wondered what kind of expression she would make when she ate these.
When he checked out, the bill came to over five hundred yuan, and his savings were completely depleted.
"I wonder how much money I can get for game information..."
He was unfamiliar with market conditions. He didn't expect to be able to redeem the old house simply by selling information.
But I shouldn't have to worry about living expenses from now on.
Jiang Yuan was carrying several large bags in both hands. If his body hadn't "evolved," he probably wouldn't have been able to walk back to the old house.
More than half an hour later, Jiang Yuan returned to the old house and selected some snacks to put into a canvas bag.
He stuffed candies, lollipops, and the like into his pockets.
He then sat down in the wicker rocking chair, took out his phone again, and opened the Oracle Forum.
The post went viral.
It had only been a little over an hour since it was posted, and there were already nearly a hundred replies.