Chapter 3: The Rejuvenation Ring!
Zhou Xiaopang quickly stood up. "Manager Li, Brother Hao was watching the promotional video to better understand the game."
"Besides, I earned two silver coins today — how about I split one with Brother Hao?"
"No."
Li Haitao said coldly, "In a game, fall behind once and you fall behind forever. How are you supposed to keep up with the pace?"
Zhou Xiaopang was about to say something more, but Lin Tianhao raised a hand to stop him.
"Fatty, forget it."
"But your sister still needs money for surgery. Without a job..."
"Don't worry. I can earn the surgery fees myself."
Lin Tianhao stood up and walked away.
He stepped out of the Dream Chaser Club.
A weight lifted from his shoulders. In his previous life, he had wasted far too much time here, pouring too much energy into gold farming.
Zhou Xiaopang chased after him out of the club. "Brother Hao, there's still twenty thousand yuan on this card. Take it for now — once I earn more, I'll give you some too. We'll definitely scrape together enough for Qingqing's surgery."
Lin Tianhao was genuinely moved. Fatty, Skinny Monkey, Glasses — these were his three closest brothers.
Even in his previous life, when Lin Tianhao had been down and out, these three had spared no effort to help him.
"Fatty, leave the Dream Chaser Club. Come work with me — let's start our own studio and be our own bosses."
Zhou Xiaopang blinked. "Brother Hao, you say the word and I won't hesitate for a second. But your sister..."
"I know what you mean. Three days — just give me three days, and I'll earn enough from the game to cover the surgery fees."
Lin Tianhao's gaze was resolute. Even without a God-Transcending Grade talent, his memories from his previous life gave him more than enough to earn his sister's surgery fees through the game.
"Alright."
Zhou Xiaopang didn't question him. "Then I'll bring Skinny Monkey and Glasses along too."
"Good."
Zhou Xiaopang went back into the Dream Chaser Club and quit on the spot.
Just like that — resigned!
He didn't get a single cent.
But he didn't care.
He believed in Lin Tianhao.
That's what brothers were for!
Skinny Monkey and Glasses weren't in Binhai right now, but Zhou Xiaopang had already messaged them, and both said it was absolutely no problem.
They headed to a Ragnarok login pod sales point, where Lin Tianhao and Zhou Xiaopang spent twenty thousand yuan to purchase two Game Pods.
Back at the rental apartment.
His sister was at the hospital, but Lin Tianhao didn't go to see her.
Not because he wasn't worried — he simply knew that right now, the most important thing was earning money.
"Fatty, once you're in the game, focus on leveling up first. When you hit Level 10, don't rush to the main city."
"Got it."
He logged back into the game.
Ragnarok was bound directly to iris and DNA, so switching Game Pods didn't create a new account — it was still the same one as before.
Back in the game, Lin Tianhao resumed hunting Red-Eye Rabbits.
Five hours passed in the blink of an eye!
"9,998."
"9,999."
"10,000!!"
"Finally enough."
Ten thousand Red Eyes — he could finally go turn in the quest.
Returning to the novice village, Lin Tianhao found the village chief.
He first accepted the Red Eye collection quest, then submitted all ten thousand Red Eyes.
"Great adventurer, you truly are a person of extraordinary perseverance. I shall grant you a special reward."
The old village chief smiled at Lin Tianhao with great satisfaction.
"Ding — You have completed the Red Eye quest. Reward: EXP +1,000, Silver Coins +5, Skill: Basic Attack Amplification +1."
"Learn skill."
Lin Tianhao learned it without hesitation.
Basic Attack Amplification (Passive): 1 Star.
Effect: Your basic attack range increases by 5%.
Cooldown: None.
Cost: None.
Proficiency: 0/1,000.
Just as expected!
"Brave adventurer, your perseverance is unlike anything I have witnessed in my lifetime. If you can slay ten BOSSes, I will grant you a reward beyond your imagination."
Lin Tianhao paused. Ten BOSSes? What kind of insane follow-up quest was this?
He had expected this quest might have a continuation, but he hadn't imagined it would be this outrageous.
"Ding — The old village chief has issued you a new quest: Slay ten BOSSes in the novice village. Quest penalty: Forfeit your skill [Basic Attack Amplification]. Quest reward: Unknown. Do you accept?"
"Accept!"
Slaying BOSSes — this aligned perfectly with what he had been planning next.
To earn money, hunting BOSSes was an absolute necessity.
Leaving the novice village, Lin Tianhao headed straight for the territory of the Level 10 Twisted Treants.
He needed to level up first — otherwise, his attack speed wouldn't be nearly enough to take on a BOSS.
Twisted Treant (Normal): Level 10.
HP: 1,900/1,900.
Attack: 32.
Skills: Vine Spin, Rejuvenation.
Whoosh!
Lin Tianhao raised his hand and loosed an arrow.
-424.
After all the Red-Eye Rabbit hunting, Lin Tianhao's HP had climbed to over 21,200 points.
Although his raw attack power couldn't pierce through the Twisted Treant's defenses, the true damage from the Hand of Divine Punishment's passive was nothing to scoff at.
With only 1,900 HP, it was just a matter of five arrows.
"Ding — You have slain a Twisted Treant. EXP +90."
A satisfied smile spread across Lin Tianhao's face. The EXP bonus for killing monsters above your level was truly generous.
Normally, killing a common Twisted Treant only gave 10 EXP — but now, it was giving a full 90.
Combined with the 1,000 EXP from completing the quest earlier, Lin Tianhao only needed to slay twenty more Twisted Treants to level up.
On top of that, killing monsters above his level also improved the drop rate.
"Ding — You have slain a Twisted Treant. EXP +90."
"Ding — You have slain a Twisted Treant. EXP +90."
"Ding — You have reached Level 3. Free Attribute Points +5."
Without a moment's hesitation, Lin Tianhao dumped all five free attribute points into attack speed.
His attack speed rose from 0.73 to 0.83.
After slaying twenty Twisted Treants, equipment finally dropped.
Rejuvenation Ring: Normal.
Equip Requirement: Level 10.
Effect: Restores 2 HP per second.
Durability: 100.
A ring — of all things!!
Lin Tianhao was stunned. This was one of the rarest ring drops in all of Ragnarok.
But its effect was practically useless to him.
Restoring 2 HP per second? Weakling stats.
It was no use to him — but he was sure someone else would be willing to buy it.
With that thought, Lin Tianhao immediately listed the item on the Auction House.
He set it to auction mode, with a starting bid of 500 and a five-minute timer.
If this had been one of the earlier novice villages, he would have listed it for ten thousand straight — after all, guilds competing for early-game advantages would gladly pay top price.
Five minutes later...
"Ding — Player Futu Dunshan has purchased your item."
"Ding — Player Futu Dunshan has sent you a friend request."
"Someone from the Futu Guild?"
Seeing that prefix, Lin Tianhao couldn't help but feel a little surprised.
The Futu Guild was one of the top-ten guilds in the Dragon Nation ranking. By all rights, they shouldn't have entered the game this late.
"Snow Emperor, add me as a friend — mind if I ask, did you get this Rejuvenation Ring from a quest? I'll pay for the information."