Lu Chen slowly opened his eyes, and his vision gradually cleared.
He found himself surrounded by a dense forest, filled with towering trees and unknown low shrubs.
Sunlight filtered through the needle-like leaves, casting dappled shadows, and a gentle breeze brushed against Lu Chen's skin, tickling him slightly.
The air carried a scent of plants mixed with soil.
If Lu Chen weren't fully conscious, he might have doubted whether he was really in the game "Ninefold Heaven Realm" or had actually crossed into another world.
[Welcome to the first layer of Ninefold Heaven Realm, the Mortal Heaven Realm!]
The system's prompt sounded.
[This game offers great freedom, surprises are everywhere, please enjoy the game.]
"Damn! With an experience like this, it's hard for this game not to become popular!"
Lu Chen recalled the game's promotional advertisement.
[Based on mature quantum entanglement and brain-neural connection technology, all you need is a game helmet to experience a 100% real game, and feel the thrill of a real-world adventure!]
Even someone like Lu Chen, who wasn't very keen on games, couldn't help but exclaim—awesome!
Thinking about the incredibly realistic otherworldly journey he was about to embark on, Lu Chen was thrilled, "This is awesome!"
Just then, Lu Chen inadvertently looked at his "hand" and was suddenly stunned.
His hand had turned into a claw? There were only three thick claws on his palm...
Looking at other parts of his body, he was covered in short, hard, black-brown fur, and his legs were not only short but also splayed outward!
According to the official statement, unless a player's body has parameters that need modification, such as being too old or having disabilities, the character model should be identical to the player's appearance.
When creating the character model, Lu Chen had marveled at its realism, so why did he turn into this thing after entering the game?
"What the hell is this? Open the Personal Panel!" Lu Chen suppressed his inner panic and hurriedly opened the Personal Panel to calm himself.
Fortunately, the Player System was still functional, and a semi-transparent projection quickly appeared in front of Lu Chen.
[Character Bound: Lu Chen]
[Character: Weak Gnoll]
[Quality (Unranked): Weak Prefix Trait, Base Attributes Reduced by 20%]
[Level: 1 (Level Up Progress: 0/200)]
[Physical Strength: Strength: 4 Agility: 4 Constitution: 4]
[Attack Power: Physical Attack 6-9]
[Defense: Physical Defense 2]
[Health: 80]
[Talent "Inferior Werewolf Bloodline" (Unranked): Normal attacks have a chance to critically hit, 1% chance for double critical hit.]
[Talent Evolution Shards: 0/10 (Tier-0 Shards)]
[Quality Evolution Points: 0/10 (0-Star Evolution Points)]
[Monster Reputation: 0]
"Damn, calming down my ass, I've really turned into a wild monster!" Lu Chen lamented, "And my attributes are ridiculously weak! Base attributes reduced by 20%, and I can only wear one piece of equipment! My quality is unranked? And the only talent I have is 'Inferior,' also unranked, with a 1% critical hit chance that's practically useless!
Customer service, get out here! I just bought a second-hand helmet, do you have to treat me like this?"
"Give me back my handsome face, my long and straight legs, my strong physique!" A gnoll, barely taller than the square root of two, with a stocky build and splayed legs, cried out to the sky in despair!
The system didn't lie to me; surprises really are everywhere! But this surprise is a bit too much.
"Hey, what an ugly gnoll!" Just as Lu Chen was in the depths of despair, a cute female voice rang out.
Lu Chen looked in the direction of the voice and saw a pretty young lady, about eighteen or nineteen, and she and her four companions were all looking at him!
There were a dozen or so weak gnolls nearby, but he was still the ugliest among them.
This game is unplayable, damn it!
Unfortunately, Lu Chen couldn't exit the game because he was now in combat!
"Xinxin, the wild monsters just spawned here, someone will definitely come to grab them soon, let's kill as many as we can, starting with the ugliest one!"
"Yeah, being ugly makes it less likely to crit!"
Lu Chen's mind short-circuited for a moment, what the hell does being ugly have to do with critical hits?
Damn it! These women are too much, even if they're somewhat good-looking, I'll still take them down!
The game had just launched, and players didn't have any equipment yet. "Little Cutie Xinxin" came up and punched Lu Chen.
A number floated above Lu Chen's head: -3.
"Mimi the Pure" followed with an uppercut.
Lu Chen took more damage: -3.
Lu Chen didn't hold back either, swinging a club at Little Cutie Xinxin's head, -5!
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Damn, there's absolutely no connection between being ugly and not critting, he only has a 1% crit chance, what good is that?
"Oh no, its damage is so high!" Little Cutie Xinxin seemed a bit scared.
"Xinxin, don't worry, gnolls have weapons, and right now, a worn gnoll club can sell for two or three hundred RMB outside, and they're hard to come by!"
"Wow, that expensive."
"Yeah, many guilds, pro players, and club companies are joining Nine Heavens, they need to level up, and 3-6 damage can help them easily grab wild monsters."
Another short-haired girl shook her head, "Don't even think about it, people say that killing 100 of these monsters won't drop a single weapon."
"Well, you never know, let's just grab this monster first."
Lu Chen's face was dark the whole time, listening to them analyze his crit chance.
Damn, even after dying, I have to give equipment to my enemies... wild monsters have no humanity!
Meanwhile, Lu Chen's health was down to 40.
The five opponents each had 100 health, and at this rate, even though Lu Chen's attack was slightly higher, he couldn't withstand five people attacking at once, there was no chance of winning.
Lu Chen didn't want to lose to these women who had humiliated him, so he glanced back and suddenly had an idea.
Lu Chen fought while retreating.
"Why does this gnoll keep retreating?"
"Don't worry about it, it's almost out of health."
"Oh no, it's aggroed another one!"
Lu Chen snorted coldly in his heart, hmph, you think you can bully me with numbers? Sorry, I'm a wild monster now, and these short, poor gnolls around here are all my companions!
"Kelan, you hold off that one, we'll kill this one first!"
Lu Chen's health was down to 30, and he turned to run, but he wasn't running aimlessly, he led Xinxin and the others, drawing in five gnolls from the surroundings!
The situation changed instantly, now it was several gnolls ganging up on Xinxin and her group of five, while Lu Chen, with low health, hid at a distance...
A weak gnoll was stronger than a level 1 player, and now with six against five, the tide turned.
"Oh no, we can't win!"
"That gnoll is so bad, it actually lured all the monsters here!"
"I can't keep up with the healing." Little Cutie Xinxin said just before falling under a gnoll's club, and the last thing she saw was that ugliest gnoll.
Lu Chen took the opportunity to join in, of course, he wanted to personally punish these little girls!
One by one, with a club each!
Before long, Lu Chen looked at the five bodies on the ground and smiled sinisterly, "Now you know, I'm the most handsome one here!"
Unfortunately, his taunts couldn't be heard by the others.
[Killed player Little Cutie Xinxin (Level 1), captured 10 points of Ambient Spiritual Qi, gained 1 Monster Reputation. (Reputation Shop unlocked)]
[Killed player Lively Lanlan (Level 1), captured 10 points of Ambient Spiritual Qi, gained 1 Monster Reputation.]
[Killed player Mimi the Pure (Level 1), captured 10 points of Ambient Spiritual Qi, gained 1 Monster Reputation.]
***
The so-called Ambient Spiritual Qi was essentially experience, Nine Heavens was an online game with an immortal cultivation background, just phrased differently.
"Hmm? What the hell? Killing players gives experience and reputation? What is the Reputation Shop? I've never heard of players having this!"
Lu Chen was about to exit the game and report his situation to Skywalk, but this series of system prompts stopped him!
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan