Chapter 2: Fired for Watching a Promotional Video?
Red-Eye Rabbits were easy enough to hunt, but the experience they yielded was pitiful, and they almost exclusively dropped the quest item Red Eye — even copper coins were a rare sight.
Yet Lin Tianhao hunted them tirelessly, because his primary goal was still to stack up his HP.
Once his HP climbed high enough, his attack damage would naturally rise along with it.
Moreover, Lin Tianhao knew of a hidden reward in the novice village: when turning in the Red-Eye Rabbit quest, if you submitted ten thousand Red Eyes instead of the standard one hundred, you would receive a special skill that increased basic attack range. Maxed out, it was rumored to boost basic attack range by fifty percent.
For classes like Mage or Priest, that might feel a bit underwhelming — but for Lin Tianhao, an Archer, it was absolutely broken.
Stack up the stats, grab that range-boosting skill, and his next phase of the plan could finally be set in motion.
"Ding — You have slain a Red-Eye Rabbit. EXP +1."
"Ding — You have slain a Red-Eye Rabbit. EXP +1."
Every three seconds he could stack two points of HP. That was forty points per minute — and after accounting for repositioning and the gaps between monster deaths, Lin Tianhao averaged about thirty HP stacked per minute.
At first it took him twelve arrows to kill a single Red-Eye Rabbit. Then ten. Then eight. Then five.
When it dropped to five arrows, the system chimed.
"Ding — Your talent, Hand of Divine Punishment, has advanced to 2 Stars."
Hand of Divine Punishment (God-Transcending Grade): 2 Stars.
Effect 1: Each basic attack deals true damage equal to 2% of your maximum HP.
Effect 2: Each basic attack permanently increases your maximum HP by 2 points.
Proficiency: 0 / 100,000.
With the talent upgrade, Lin Tianhao now only needed 3 arrows to kill a Red-Eye Rabbit.
It was fortunate that over eight hours of game time had already passed — the Red-Eye Rabbit area was now deserted of other players. Otherwise, he probably would have drawn quite a crowd.
During this time, Lin Tianhao had smoothly leveled up twice, earning five free attribute points.
He dumped all five into Attack Speed, raising it from 0.63 to 0.73.
A modest improvement, but still a drop in the bucket.
"Equipment, and more free attribute points — those are what I'm lacking right now," Lin Tianhao thought to himself, as an arrow flew from his bow and struck a Red-Eye Rabbit nearby.
-30.
With his HP and talent both rising, Lin Tianhao's basic attack damage had become quite respectable.
Three arrows per rabbit meant better efficiency, but it also meant he had to constantly switch to a new target, which slowed his overall attack rhythm. He used to land thirty basic attacks per minute; now it was down to twenty. The silver lining was that his talent upgrade now granted two HP per basic attack, adding forty HP per minute — actually more than before.
But now Lin Tianhao faced a new problem: at Level 2, killing Level 1 monsters yielded zero experience.
In Ragnarok, outside of dungeons, bosses, and a handful of special monsters, hunting creatures below your own level granted no experience reward whatsoever.
Without a moment's hesitation, Lin Tianhao chose to keep grinding Red-Eye Rabbits here — all for the sake of that special skill that boosted attack range.
Two hours passed in the blink of an eye.
Lin Tianhao was still Level 2, but the difference was stark: his HP had climbed from its original 100 points all the way to 4,800.
That was a genuinely terrifying increase.
At this stage of the game, even Warriors who had poured every free attribute point into HP since Level 5 probably only had around 500 HP.
In Ragnarok, different classes received different bonuses from their free attribute points.
For example, an Archer investing one free attribute point into Attack Speed gained 0.02, while other classes only gained 0.01.
A Warrior investing one free attribute point into HP gained 20 points; other classes only gained 10.
Specifically, Warriors received double bonuses on HP, Armor, and Magic Resistance.
Archers doubled up on Attack, Attack Speed, and Crit Rate.
Assassins doubled up on Attack, Move Speed, and Crit Rate.
Mages doubled up on Spell Power, Mana, and Move Speed.
Priests doubled up on Spell Power, Mana, and Move Speed — same as Mages.
So the optimal attribute point allocation naturally differed from class to class.
That said, relying solely on free attribute points from leveling up was a drop in the bucket. Equipment bonuses were essential for truly rounding out one's stats.
He glanced at his inventory. He had only collected just over 1,600 Red Eyes so far — still quite a ways from ten thousand.
But Lin Tianhao wasn't worried in the slightest. He could now one-shot a Red-Eye Rabbit with a single arrow, so collecting the rest would be a breeze.
Just then, Lin Tianhao received a notification — an external device was calling for him.
He checked the in-game clock. Over ten hours had passed. It was probably a call to log off and eat.
Climbing out of the Game Pod, Zhou Xiaopang was practically buzzing with excitement. "Brother Hao, this game is insane — it really does feel like a second world!"
The two of them chatted as they made their way to the dining hall.
Dream Chaser Club.
One of the three major gaming clubs in Binhai, Dream Chaser Club was where both Lin Tianhao and Zhou Xiaopang worked as gold farmers — the lowest rung of the club's hierarchy.
But for Zhou Xiaopang, free room and board plus a paycheck while playing games all day? There was nowhere better in the world.
A dozen or so others were already eating in the dining hall — all fellow gold farmers from Dream Chaser Club.
Once everyone had gathered, a portly middle-aged man strode in, followed closely by a long-legged secretary in black stockings.
The General Manager of Dream Chaser Club — Li Haitao!
Also known as Li the Blowhard: no real gaming talent to speak of, just an endless stream of hot air from morning to night.
"Ragnarok launched today, and you've all been in-game for ten hours. Starting from the left, report your levels and gold-farming progress one by one."
"Level 4, forty-five copper."
"Level 4, fifty-three copper."
"Level 4, thirty-two copper."
One by one they reported in — almost uniformly Level 4 across the board.
Finally, it was Zhou Xiaopang's turn. He puffed up with smug satisfaction and declared, "Level 5, two silver coins."
Li Haitao, who had been barely paying attention, snapped his gaze over in surprise. He studied Zhou Xiaopang for a moment, then gave a slow nod. "Acceptable."
Lin Tianhao kept his head down and ate. Zhou Xiaopang nudged him. "Brother Hao, you're up."
"Level 2, fifteen copper."
The drop rate on Level 1 Red-Eye Rabbits was truly heartbreaking. Lin Tianhao had slaughtered over a thousand of them and only scraped together that many copper coins.
The moment those words left his mouth, Li Haitao slammed a palm down on the table.
"Lin Tianhao, what the hell were you doing?! Everyone else is Level 4, and you're only Level 2?!"
"I spent some time watching a promotional video," Lin Tianhao answered honestly.
"Watching a promotional video?"
"Do you have any idea how precious the early-game hours are?! And you were watching a promotional video?!"
Li Haitao unleashed a torrent of abuse.
"Lin Tianhao, this club does not carry dead weight. We have no use for someone like you. Pack your things and get out — now!"