Chapter 3: The School Flower Sisters, First Encounter with a Ferocious Beast
Zhou Han didn't waste any time and stepped into the entrance of the Misty Forest.
At the entrance was a gate of light, with an inexplicable energy flowing within it.
As soon as he entered, there was a flash of light, and Zhou Han's figure instantly disappeared from the spot.
A brief tearing sensation came over his body, and soon he heard a notification.
[System Prompt: The current area is the Misty Forest. This zone is a combat area. Players can attack each other. Please pay attention to your safety!]
Hearing the system's warning, Zhou Han's eyes sharpened.
The meaning was obvious—within this area, players could kill each other. It was even more brutal.
The Misty Forest, as its name suggested, had thin white fog drifting through the air.
Visibility was low, and faintly, one could hear the continuous growls of ferocious beasts.
Even though he held the enhanced Rusty Iron Sword in his hand, Zhou Han didn't get carried away. If he were surrounded by wild monsters, he wouldn't have an easy time.
So, to be cautious, Zhou Han's current strategy was to hunt down isolated monsters.
That was the safest approach.
The early stage of development was the hardest. As long as he got through it, things would become much easier later.
After making his decision,
Zhou Han carefully began to explore the forest.
After walking about three to four hundred meters, his luck wasn't bad—he finally encountered a lone wild monster.
It looked like a chicken, but several times larger than a normal one. Its body was covered in bluish-gray armor-like plating, giving off a strong sense of defense.
"Cluck cluck cluck!"
"Use Appraisal!" Zhou Han muttered in his mind.
Soon, the monster's stats appeared on the virtual panel.
[Iron Rock Chicken]
[Grade: Normal]
[Level: 1]
[HP: 300]
[Attack: 23]
[Defense: 10]
[Skill: Iron Rock Shield (Covers its body with iron rock, increasing defense by 3 points for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 60 seconds.)]
[Description: Very strong defense. It is recommended that beginner players do not fight it head-on, or suffer the consequences!]
After reading it, Zhou Han finally understood why so many players had died.
These wild monsters were indeed very strong.
With 23 attack power, it only needed five hits to easily kill a player.
After all, beginner players had no defense, and only 100 HP.
No wonder even the arrogant Ye Chen had been instantly killed by a level 1 monster.
Relying solely on the system-issued starter weapon,
with a total of 15 attack, 0 defense, and 100 HP—
fighting a wild monster one-on-one with that kind of strength was basically suicide.
"The Iron Rock Chicken has 300 HP!"
"If the tetanus effect triggers, it only takes three seconds to kill it!" Zhou Han thought to himself.
However, the trigger rate for tetanus was only 50%.
If he was unlucky and it didn't trigger, then he'd be screwed. Zhou Han still felt a bit worried.
"I'll attack three times. If it doesn't trigger after three hits, I have to run!"
Because the Iron Rock Chicken only needed five hits to kill Zhou Han.
To say he wasn't nervous would be a lie.
"Haah!"
After making his decision and planning his escape route, Zhou Han let out a long breath,
and directly launched a surprise attack on the self-absorbed Iron Rock Chicken.
"Bang!"
The iron sword stabbed directly into the Iron Rock Chicken's body, meeting a huge resistance. Its defense was indeed strong.
-20
A red damage number floated above its comb.
Only 20 damage. Even after enhancement, if he relied solely on basic attacks, he'd need to slash thirty times. In that amount of time, the monster would have already killed him.
"Damn it, bad luck! The tetanus effect didn't trigger!"
The Iron Rock Chicken seemed a bit stunned.
Actually, it had noticed Zhou Han long ago, but seeing that he was just a beginner and alone—too weak—it ignored him.
It didn't expect that Zhou Han would actually dare to provoke it alone.
"Again!"
Taking advantage of the moment, Zhou Han stabbed out another sword strike, but the effect still didn't trigger.
"Cluck cluck cluck!"
The Iron Rock Chicken became enraged, and its sharp beak pecked directly at Zhou Han.
-23
A wave of pain hit him. The huge difference in strength caused Zhou Han to stagger back a few steps.
The Iron Rock Chicken pressed its advantage, spreading its wings and lunging at Zhou Han.
-23
Zhou Han's heart skipped a beat—he had already lost 46 HP.
He raised his iron sword and slashed.
If this strike still didn't trigger, he had to escape.
[System Prompt: You have successfully triggered the special effect "Tetanus." The Iron Rock Chicken is now in a tetanus state, losing 100 HP per second for 10 seconds.]
"Nice! It worked!"
The system's notification sounded like heavenly music. Zhou Han's face lit up with joy.
He sheathed his sword and quickly widened the distance between himself and the Iron Rock Chicken.
Now he only needed to stall for three seconds, and the Iron Rock Chicken would definitely die.
Zhou Han wasn't stupid enough to keep fighting it head-on.
-100
-100
-100
"Boom!"
Three seconds later, the Iron Rock Chicken's massive body collapsed to the ground. Zhou Han wiped the sweat from his forehead, a smile appearing on his face.
[Congratulations, you have killed a Level 1 Iron Rock Chicken. You gained 1 enhancement point, 1 experience point, and 5 copper coins.]
Seeing the rewards accumulate on the panel, Zhou Han felt very happy.
This first battle had been won without danger.
He picked up the five copper coins from the ground.
The currency of the Divine Demon Continent was divided into copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins.
One gold coin equaled one hundred silver coins, which equaled ten thousand copper coins.
In other words, if he wanted to earn one gold coin for lodging,
he would need to kill two thousand level 1 monsters within three days.
Of course, as the level and grade of monsters increased, the rewards would increase accordingly.
"Hm? Equipment dropped?"
While picking up the copper coins, Zhou Han noticed a black piece of clothing appearing beside the Iron Rock Chicken's corpse.
He immediately became a bit excited and walked over.
He picked it up right away.
[Congratulations, you have obtained the equipment "Cotton Cloth Robe." Would you like to appraise its attributes?]
"Yes!" Zhou Han quickly agreed.
He didn't expect that killing his first ferocious beast would drop equipment. His luck was pretty good.
After using Appraisal, the relevant attributes appeared on the virtual panel.
[Cotton Cloth Robe]
[Grade: Normal]
[Category: Armor]
[Attribute: Defense +2]
[Description: Black fabric. It looks a bit cool when worn and is quite warm, but the defense is average.]
After seeing the effect, Zhou Han took off his school uniform.
He put on the robe. Dressed entirely in black, it looked pretty good, and his defense was finally no longer zero.