"Game login successful. Enjoy your adventure."
The system’s voice faded gently. Before Bai Xia could react, the serene silence shattered into roaring chaos.
She blinked rapidly to adjust to the sudden shift. As her vision cleared, a faint dizziness washed over her.
This was the starting village of *The Otherworld*—the newbie zone. Players couldn’t teleport to the main city until reaching level 10.
The newbie phase eased players into the game mechanics and offered the perfect spot to practice skills.
Death here reset the experience bar to zero—but no levels, gold, or items were lost.
Say you were level 3 at 50% XP; after dying, you’d drop to level 3 at 0%.
Leveling up required little XP, yet the setup felt brutally unfair. Everyone was new. Dying repeatedly was inevitable, slowing progress.
But Bai Xia didn’t care. Honestly, she treated the game like sightseeing—which explained why she strolled in four hours post-launch.
True players knew: an early lead meant staying ahead. Not a second wasted.
Standing on the village grass, watching the bustling crowd, Bai Xia didn’t rush for quests. She crouched, plucked a blade of grass, and peered closely.
"Huh… feels surprisingly real."
Hesitating just a moment, she tore a piece off and chewed.
"Ptooey! So bitter!"
Taste simulation? Bai Xia froze in shock. Then, realizing how silly she looked, she brushed her hands and stood up.
Her presence drew attention. Newbie villages were male-dominated. *The Otherworld* banned cross-gender avatars, making female players rare—and an adorable loli like her? A magnet.
Having joined hours late, the level-0 newbie instantly caught shady eyes.
The moment she stood, she looked up—and froze at a bizarre face.
"Strange" felt too kind. A chin sharp as a cone, a nose absurdly prominent, teeth stretched in a gap-toothed grin.
Bai Xia shuddered, stumbling back three steps. She nearly toppled onto the grass, voice trembling: "U-um… can I help you?"
Her timid tone seemed to encourage him. The man with the username "Sanjiao Neiku" pointed at his level 3 tag and flashed a painfully forced smile.
"Little sis just started? Need big bro to guide you? I’m *really* strong!"
*Your face is "strong," alright,* Bai Xia thought, suppressing the urge to kick him. She took a sharp breath, roughened her voice:
"...Bro. I’m a guy."
Sanjiao Neiku’s smile froze.
Game robes hid gender. Her loli frame had minimal curves. The deepened voice almost sold it.
But his grin widened. His gaze turned predatory.
"Really? *Actually* a boy!?"
Bai Xia: "..."
*Ugh. So gross.*
If this weren’t a game, she’d have vomited. Were all players this weird?
Thankfully, not all were.
Just as Bai Xia weighed kicking the creep, a hand clapped Sanjiao Neiku’s shoulder.
"Bro. Can’t you see she looks at you like trash? Lolis belong with the strong. Your face? Pure creep factor."
"What the hell?! You with that square face dare judge me?!"
Sanjiao Neiku spun—to face a man whose jawline was *literally* a perfect square.
Rage ignited. *We’re both freaks! Who are you to look down on me?!*
The square-faced man flared too—he hated face comments.
With a loli watching, pride and showmanship kicked in. Weapons flashed. They clashed.
Sword thrusts. Sweeping strikes. Cramped space, crowded onlookers—chaos erupted instantly.
Bai Xia watched deadpan, lips twitching. As eyes locked on the brawl, she slipped silently into the crowd.
"Idiots," she muttered.
Beyond the chaos, she wandered the village.
But joining hours late meant NPCs and shops were buried under layered crowds: quest lines, vendors, impromptu stalls selling mats…
Less than half a day live—and already this insane?
*Is this game really this popular?*
Finding no gap to squeeze through, she shook her head and headed out of the village.
More bizarre avatars lined the path. She’d expected beauty-focused designs. Instead? *Left guy—nose grazing his eyebrows? Ventilating your skull? Right guy—where’s your nose? Did you just skip it? Even in-game, that’s lazy!*
Bai Xia rubbed her forehead. Feeling foolish for ever expecting better.
Outside, crowds thinned—relatively. Fields swarmed with players. Freshly spawned monsters vanished mid-spawn under wild swings, squealing into white flashes.
*The Otherworld* censored gore, but Bai Xia still spared two silent seconds for the poor mobs.
No leveling spot at the gate. She hesitated, then turned toward the deeper grove.
Despite the "newbie" label, the village was spacious. Left: forest (Lv. 5–8 mobs). Right: vast valley (Lv. 8–10).
Monster tiers ranked: Common, Reinforced, Elite, Lord, Monarch, Divine Beast (unkillable).
Per official info: soloing an Elite marked skill. Lords demanded perfect teamwork. Stronger tiers? No contest.
Kills dropped gear, mats, or items. Higher mobs = better loot, higher odds.
Gear tiers: Common, Fine, Excellent, Rare, Artifact.
Future updates would bring stronger gear and bosses—but irrelevant to Bai Xia. She was still a level-0 newbie.
En route, she checked her gear. Sighed. System stinginess confirmed: only the starter white dagger (+10 ATK). The rest of the newbie set? Zero stats.
Speechless, she flipped off the sky, then opened her character panel.
Class: Assassin. Dark Elf bloodline granted the starter skill "Backstab" *and* "Dark Manipulation."
Lv. 1 Backstab: 110% damage from behind. Dark Manipulation: reshape weapons, infuse dark magic damage.
Neither skill shone early—but what could a level-0 newbie expect?
Stepping into the forest triggered the expected warning.
Mobs here were Lv. 5+. One swipe would one-shot her. Repeatedly.
But Bai Xia had zero XP. Dying meant a free respawn. Zero loss.
Instinctively, she drew the white dagger, grip firm.
Alone, she struck a cool pose—swung the dagger twice with dramatic flair.
"Heh. So my conquest of *The Otherworld* begins in this tiny forest? Then witness true assassination, monsters!"
Cringey chuunibyou energy? Absolutely. Bai Xia felt utterly satisfied. Heart swelling with ambition, she marched in.
"Now then… let our date—*ahem*—battle begin!"
And then—
Before she could glance down at what she’d stepped on, a green blur flashed.
Next moment: system prompt. Back at the milky-white resurrection rune in the village square.
"Huh?"
Wait—this isn’t right! How’d I respawn?!
No—*how did I even die?!*
Bai Xia stood frozen, utterly lost. *Who killed me? What happened?!*
The grand first step to conquering the world… dying without knowing how? What kind of joke was this?
