The northern outskirts of the Starting Town.
Ling Feng glanced at the dozen wolves that had just spawned, a slight smirk playing on his lips. He gripped his longsword and charged forward.
Seeing Ling Feng advance instead of retreat, the wolf pack felt insulted. With a roar, they launched a full-scale attack.
As the two sides clashed, Ling Feng immediately executed a sliding tackle followed by an aerial slash.
He dodged the attacks of the other wolves while sending one of them flying with his sword.
Ling Feng’s movements were agile and graceful, yet his swordplay was fierce and dominating.
Once a strike landed, it was followed by several more, leaving the wolves no chance to react.
"Heh, I can hit you, but you can't hit me. And I'm killing your teammates right in front of you. Aren't you angry?"
Sagiri stood not far away, clutching a small sword tightly in her hand. Her eyes sparkled as she watched Ling Feng's heroic figure fighting the dozen wolves alone.
She recalled hearing players in the evening, huddled in dark corners, discussing how dangerous the early wolf packs were due to their numbers and high attack power. They advised teaming up to fight them, otherwise, it would be suicide.
And wasn't it said that monsters became stronger at night?
But why was it so easy for Ling Feng?
He was only level two, while the wolf pack was level four or five.
The wolves were being wiped out, yet Ling Feng hadn't lost a single drop of blood.
After Ling Feng finished off the wolves, a pop-up message suddenly appeared before Sagiri.
CONGRATULATIONS!!
LV.UP! FOG
1→2
Sagiri was startled. Level two already?
Sagiri glanced at the status bar in the upper left corner; Ling Feng's level had reached three.
As he sheathed his sword, Ling Feng clapped his hands. Seeing Sagiri still in a daze, he quickly called out.
"Let's go, we're almost at the Starting Town."
Sagiri, still in a state of surprise, hurried behind Ling Feng but dared not overtake him, her head bowed low.
Ling Feng paid it no mind and started walking towards the brightly lit Starting Town not far away.
Along the way, he offered Sagiri some advice.
A chance encounter is fate.
Teaming up with Sagiri temporarily was also a small gesture of help.
"I suggest you quickly overcome your reluctance to talk to people. Most quests require interaction with NPCs."
"Once you run out of Koer, the consequences, Sagiri, you know."
[Fog: I know]
What else could be the consequence of running out of Koer? Nowhere to sleep, nothing to eat, just like in reality.
Especially with Sagiri's personality, shy, introverted, and reserved. If she couldn't take the simple step of interacting with others, she would surely die.
Sagiri looked at Ling Feng walking ahead of her, her expression complex.
Before long, Ling Feng and Sagiri arrived at the bridge leading to the Starting Town.
Ling Feng didn't intend to go any further. The town gate was guarded by city defense troops, and stepping onto the bridge meant entering a safe zone.
"We're here."
"Oof."
Ling Feng suddenly stopped. Sagiri, who was lost in thought behind him, didn't react in time and bumped straight into Ling Feng's back.
Sagiri felt like she had run into a wall and was forced to stumble back a few steps, falling to the ground, clutching her head.
"Get up."
A hand appeared before Sagiri. She couldn't help but look up at the person extending their hand.
Ling Feng had a faint smile on his face, showing no dejection, fear, or terror despite this being a death game.
His eyes, like the dawn, were as deep and mysterious as the night sky, yet they brought Sagiri a warmth and brightness like springtime.
Her hand instinctively reached out.
Ling Feng grasped Sagiri's hand and pulled her up.
After a moment, Sagiri came to her senses, her face flushed red. She quickly stepped back a couple of paces, her head bowed, afraid to look at Ling Feng again.
Sagiri felt her heart pounding erratically, making it difficult to calm down.
"Oh right, here, take these Koer. I'm a red-named player anyway, so I can't enter the city and don't need them for now."
"These Koer should be enough for you to live in the city for a while. But once they're gone, you're on your own."
"You'd best learn to communicate with people by the time you run out of Koer. Though the Koer gained from completing NPC quests isn't much, it's enough to survive."
"I'll send you the spawn area for the lowest-level monsters nearby. If you want to come out and hunt monsters, you can go there and practice slowly, but I suggest you find someone to team up with."
Ling Feng opened his operation interface and made adjustments as he spoke softly to Sagiri.
Sagiri secretly glanced at Ling Feng from under her lowered gaze. Although Ling Feng's tone was calm, it gave her a sense of comfort.
At this moment, Ling Feng felt like her deceased mother, reminding her what to do and what not to do.
Seeing the trade interface pop up before her, Sagiri didn't click it. Instead, she swiped her index finger vertically downwards in the air, opening her friend list.
"Okay, that's about it."
"Try to survive, and wait for me to conquer this world."
Ling Feng had spent a lot of effort explaining everything he could, helping Sagiri to the best of his ability.
He acted on his impulses, and since Sagiri was one of his favorite anime heroines, he wanted to help her a little.
Suddenly, a message popped up before him, the content of which Ling Feng found unexpected.
[Fog: Can I follow you?]
Ling Feng's mouth hung open slightly, a look of surprise on his face.
He had never imagined Sagiri would proactively ask to travel with him.
However.
Where he was going was a dangerous area on the first floor. He himself wasn't sure how dangerous it was, and if he brought someone along, he might not be able to look after them.
He quickly shook his head.
"No, the place I'm going is very dangerous. It's a dangerous zone on the first floor, much more perilous than these wilds. If danger strikes, I can't guarantee your safety."
Upon hearing this, Sagiri lowered her head again, her hands clasped in front of her chest, her fists clenched.
Ling Feng thought Sagiri would give up upon hearing the word "danger."
However, things rarely go as expected.
[Fog: If danger arises, you don't need to worry about me.]
"Why?"
[Fog: Because my sixth sense tells me that staying by Ling Feng's side is the safest place in this world right now.
Also, I… I want to learn from you, learn how to fight, to become capable of protecting myself and surviving in this world.
I won't be a burden to you. I can start fires, cook, and handle logistics. If danger comes, you don't need to mind me.]
Ling Feng looked at Sagiri's clenched hands, imagining how difficult it must have been for her to make this decision.
When someone had said this much.
[Ding! Wish Quest Triggered!]
[Phase 1: Accept the party request of the person of destiny, Izumi Sagiri, and enable her to face and defeat a monster alone. Phase 2 will be unlocked after Phase 1.]
[Reward: SAO character level +1, Wish Points 120, Merit Points 0.5.]
Ling Feng was a little stunned. A wish quest triggered already?
Wasn't it said that only a strong wish could trigger one?
The trigger condition for wish quests was the same as in the game Genshin Impact.
When someone's wish becomes strong enough, a quest appears, and then some foolish blonde idiot would happily go off to complete it.
Could it be that Sagiri's strong wish right now was this?
0.5 Merit Points?
Completing this quest would grant 0.5 Merit Points, was it really that simple?
Perhaps it was because Izumi Sagiri was a person of destiny?
Although Ling Feng was puzzled, he couldn't let a wish quest pass him by.
He had only encountered two such quests so far. Besides saving the world, this was the only way to obtain Merit Points.
Ling Feng looked at the bowed Sagiri and said calmly.
"Alright, since that's the case, you can follow me."
"Really?"
Sagiri excitedly raised her head and asked, not even using the chat window.
"Yes, but I'll only give you seven days. Within seven days, you must learn to kill monsters on your own, otherwise, I won't be responsible for you anymore."
"And if we encounter danger that I can't handle, I will abandon you without hesitation."
"So, are you sure you still want to follow? You can still back out now."
Ling Feng stared intently into Sagiri's eyes and asked very seriously.
Sagiri nodded without hesitation.
At the same time, she opened her inventory and sent an item to Ling Feng.
Ling Feng opened it and was slightly taken aback.
"One-hour double experience potion. Where did you get this?"
Who would have thought that Sagiri, a novice, would have such an item?
This thing was extremely useful in the early stages.
[Fog: The sister who gave me the beginner equipment said I was cute and gave it to me as an extra. Is this okay as tuition?]
"Fine, very fine."
Ling Feng's lips twitched. He hadn't expected the NPCs in SAO to be so superficial.
"Let's go, we shouldn't linger here. We're going to the Wolf Valley."
Ling Feng unceremoniously accepted the potion, which would help accelerate his leveling speed.
Then, Ling Feng canceled all the item transfers.
Sagiri, who had been happy about Ling Feng's agreement and was about to click to receive, saw a message in her chat window that the other party had stopped the trade.
[Fog: You... you said you'd give me these Koer, why did you cancel?]
Seeing this, Ling Feng smiled and said.
"That's right, I said if you were going to live in town, I could give you these Koer because I wouldn't be entering the city and didn't need them."
"But since you've chosen to follow me, you won't be living in the city, so you won't need them naturally. Why would I give them to you? To marry you?"
"Is there anything wrong with that? There isn't, is there?"
After speaking, Ling Feng shrugged his shoulders with a smile, as if to say, "Isn't that obvious?" and then slowly walked past Sagiri.
Sagiri lowered her head and pondered for a moment. It seemed logical, but she still felt something was odd.
Wait, marry her?
Sagiri's face instantly turned red, her heart pounding.
However, her tsundere personality quickly kicked in. She thought to herself.
"Hmph, he's just average-looking, only good at playing games. Even if he proposed to me, I wouldn't accept."
"No way, I was just kidding, you didn't take it seriously, did you?"
Ling Feng, walking backward, saw Sagiri's flushed face, looking as if she had taken him seriously, and said with a devilish smile.
————Divider————
(Update not finished, this is a double chapter.)
[By the way, happy Dragon Boat Festival to everyone.]