"Game?"
The Primordial Underworld King looked at Ye Ling in confusion, clearly unfamiliar with such concepts.
"Phew... I've only ever seen virtual worlds in movies and novels. This is my first time experiencing one too."
Ye Ling took a deep breath, trying to calm his shock, and quietly landed in the village.
Since Ye Ling had infiltrated illegally, he had no guiding spirits or interface. He could only see most of the villagers staring into the air, seemingly browsing something.
"The monsters outside aren't strong. This should be a新手村 (novice village)... but the people here don't seem to know they're playing a game. They probably think this is the real world."
"Back in the center of the universe, in the nutrient pods, new people were constantly born and old ones died. It seems that death in this game is real death."
"Ahhhhhhh!"
As Ye Ling analyzed the situation in this virtual world, a piercing scream came from another part of the village. Then, fear appeared on the faces of everyone in the village. A few people conjured weapons out of thin air and looked grimly in the direction of the scream.
"It seems that in this game, only a minority have combat professions..."
Ye Ling briefly scanned the surroundings and then headed towards the direction of the scream. He saw a blonde girl in plain clothes, covered in blood, sitting on the ground outside the village, looking terrified at a cyclops wielding a mace.
The blonde girl's leg was injured. Several corpses, slowly dissipating into data, lay around her. Not a single person from the village dared to go out and help.
When Ye Ling reached the village entrance, he saw that the blonde girl was only level ten, while the cyclops with the mace was level twenty-five!
"The slimes around here are only level one or two, but this cyclops is level twenty-five. Could it be a hidden boss?"
Ye Ling murmured to himself. Seeing that no one around was going to help, he was about to go out and save her, but he was stopped by an old man.
"Young man, you absolutely cannot go out now! That giant is the lord of this region. If you provoke him, our village will be destroyed!"
"What do you mean?" Ye Ling frowned and asked, "Can that giant attack a novice village?"
"As long as we don't provoke the lord, the lord won't attack our village. Those outside are adventurers, traveling all over the continent to hunt monsters for treasure... They were blind to provoke Lord Qingshi and deserved to die. We should just watch from the village."
The old man said to Ye Ling, trembling, clearly terrified of the cyclops outside.
However, Ye Ling also gleaned a lot of information from the old man's words...
Although this world seemed like a game, there was no concept of a safe zone. Apart from using a game framework, it was not much different from the jungle outside where the weak are preyed upon.
It's just that the beings outside rely on cultivation to improve their strength, while the people in this world rely on leveling up.
The skin has changed, but the core is the same.
It's all the law of the jungle, where the strong are respected.
Ye Ling knew very little about this virtual world and needed to gather information. He ignored the old man's obstruction and walked straight out of the village.
"Young man!"
Seeing Ye Ling walk out, the old man's fear intensified. He quickly knelt down towards the cyclops outside the village and kowtowed, "My lord, forgive me! That guy is not from our village! Please do not blame us!"
The cyclops, seeing someone emerge from the village, also shifted its gaze to Ye Ling. Its eyes narrowed slightly: "A level one ant dares to come out and provoke this lord?"
The blonde girl, who had been overjoyed by Ye Ling's appearance, saw her hope turn to despair upon hearing the cyclops's words.
What could a level one adventurer change?
"Little brother, you... you should hurry back. Don't lose your life!" the blonde girl urged Ye Ling with a tearful voice, her body trembling.
Her legs were broken, and she couldn't escape. She didn't want another life to be lost.
However, Ye Ling ignored the blonde girl and carefully examined the cyclops, murmuring, "I can't sense any aura... Is it because this is just a virtual world?"
Seeing Ye Ling muttering to himself, the cyclops's lips curved into a cruel arc. He raised his giant mace and smiled cruelly at Ye Ling, "Since you're seeking death, I'll smash you into a meat patty first, and then slaughter the entire village!"
"I, your lord, will let you lowly ants know that in this Qingshi Plain, I am the supreme existence. Not everyone can be a hero saving a beauty!"
The cyclops roared and swung his giant mace down at Ye Ling!
The blonde girl beside him closed her eyes in terror, and the villagers turned pale with despair.
According to the cyclops, if Ye Ling died, it would be their turn!
For a moment, many people harbored immense resentment towards Ye Ling, blaming him for meddling.
However, when the cyclops's mace struck Ye Ling, the scene of Ye Ling being smashed into a meat patty did not appear. Instead, the cyclops was sent flying by Ye Ling and dissipated into data in mid-air.
A golden treasure chest fell from the sky, landing heavily on the grass.
Everyone in the village was stunned.
Lord Qingshi... was bounced to death just like that?
Keep in mind that Lord Qingshi was the most powerful existence within a hundred-mile radius. A level twenty great knight once formed a knight expeditionary force, but they were all annihilated by Lord Qingshi. That knight expeditionary force was completely wiped out.
And now, Lord Qingshi was directly bounced to death?
Lord Qingshi's evaluation of Ye Ling's level... was likely off by two zeros!
For a moment, the entire village fell into a deathly silence. The face of the old man who had stopped Ye Ling turned the color of liver!
A powerhouse of this level could hardly be found in the entire country!
He had provoked a god!
Thinking of this, the old man regretted it immensely.
Not only the villagers, but even Ye Ling himself was surprised.
He hadn't even made a move, nor had he harbored any killing intent... and the cyclops was bounced to death by him...
"The death of that cyclops should have been automatically judged by the system of this world... Although I infiltrated from the outside and appear to be only level one, my physical attributes have all been converted into corresponding data by the system of this virtual world..."
"I wonder what my current level is equivalent to..."
Ye Ling murmured, then looked at the stunned blonde girl and gave what he thought was a gentle smile.
The blonde girl was so scared that she fainted!