Volume 1, Chapter 38: The True Strength of Novice Village 331

Returning to his room, Lin Yu did not hesitate to open the gaming capsule and lie down inside.

Lying in the capsule once more, Lin Yu felt a sense of long-lost familiarity. He closed the hatch, initiated the red-light scan, and, once his identity was verified, entered the game.

The first thing he did upon logging in was to add the 110 free attribute points he had earned yesterday entirely to his Attack stat. He then habitually opened his attribute panel.

【Nickname: Jiyu.
Level: 9 (35/100).
Class: Warrior.
HP: 10800/10800.
Energy: 210/210.
Attack: 1465.
Magic Power: 10.
Defense: 6132.
Critical Hit: 10%.
Movement Speed: +20%.
Skills: Absolute Defense (Talent Skill, Semi-God Tier) Lv2, Soul Chain (Passive Skill, God Tier) Lv1, Fountain of Light (Passive Skill, SS Tier) Lv1, Taunt (Active Skill, S Tier)...
Warrior Proficiency: Attack and Defense attributes increased by 5%.
Equipment: Sword of Light (Bronze Tier), Berserker Boots (Black Iron Tier).】

Thanks to the blessing from Mordekaiser yesterday, Lin Yu’s core stats had reached a terrifying level. His HP, in particular, had surpassed ten thousand under the bonus of Absolute Defense. These stats were enough to rival some level 30 players who were fully geared in Bronze equipment.

"With my current strength, destroying the新手村 (Novice Village) shouldn't be difficult, but to be safe, it would be best to scout out the situation first," Lin Yu murmured while closing his attribute panel.

He was in no rush to form a Soul Chain contract with Ling Xin. For him, there was a more important matter at hand: surveying Novice Village 331.

Since he intended to destroy the village, he needed to understand it. Although his strength had surged following Mordekaiser’s blessing, he never engaged in battles unprepared. Especially for a major operation like destroying a village, he had to ensure everything was foolproof. This was likely his only chance; once the precedent of an attack on the Resurrection Altar was set, the village would undoubtedly tighten its security. If he failed to succeed in one go, the difficulty of destroying the altar later would increase exponentially.

...

In a secluded corner of Novice Village 331, after nearly three hours of gathering information, Lin Yu had a general grasp of the village's power. As he delved deeper, he became increasingly shocked.

In his past life, he hadn't paid much attention to Novice Villages, but he knew the general power levels. This village, however, far exceeded his expectations. The village had three NPCs above level 30: the village head, Wang Defa; the blacksmith, Li Youtian; and the village guard captain, Li Erniu.

The most terrifying of them all was the village head, Wang Defa. Not only was he level 35, but his attack power had also reached an absurd 3,500. Furthermore, there were over twenty people in the village above level 20. This lineup was truly outlandish.

"I didn't expect Novice Village 331 to be full of hidden talents!" Lin Yu was clearly surprised by this discovery. The village head, Wang Defa, in particular, was an anomaly. According to his memories, while village heads were usually strong, they were typically just over level 30. A level 35 NPC with such outrageous stats was extremely rare.

"Wang Defa's attack power exceeding 3,500 means he must possess Silver, or perhaps even Gold-tier gear," Lin Yu muttered, rubbing his chin.

Thinking of that terrifying attack power made Lin Yu's teeth ache. Generally, a level 35 player's base attack wouldn't exceed 2,000, and even for bosses, surpassing 2,500 was difficult. That the village head could exceed 3,500 proved he had a piece of equipment providing a massive boost. Even a full set of Bronze gear wouldn't reach such levels.

Although he didn't need to worry about the other villagers, the village head was a genuine threat. With his current defense of over 6,000 and HP over 10,000, he could withstand less than 300 hits from the village head—and that was without accounting for any damage-boosting skills.

He had checked the Resurrection Altar’s health earlier; it had 10 million HP. With his current attack power, it would take at least 4,000 hits to destroy it. Clearly, it would be risky to attempt this under the nose of Wang Defa. While he had a plan to sneak in, that relied on the NPCs being evenly matched; if the alarm were raised, he would inevitably have to face them head-on.

...

"It seems I need to complete some quests to improve my strength," Lin Yu concluded.

He had hoped to destroy the village today, but that now seemed impossible. Still, he didn't feel too much pressure, as he had three days to buffer his plans. Furthermore, based on his past experience, NPC damage-buffing skills only increased attack by a maximum of 30%. This meant that if his defense exceeded 9,000, he could effectively ignore Wang Defa's attacks. With skills like Taunt, he still had a chance.

Since his defense was already over 6,000, reaching 9,000 within three days through the passive benefits of Absolute Defense was not difficult. His Absolute Defense was also about to level up, which would only accelerate the process.

He didn't want to drag this out. To avoid complications, he decided to grind quests to gain items that would boost his combat power, resolve the issue as soon as possible, and sever his ties with Mordekaiser. It would be ideal to obtain a full set of equipment, as his only current gear was the Sword of Light.

"In that case, I'll have to try my luck with the blacksmith, Li," Lin Yu muttered. According to game mechanics, quests from the blacksmith were the most likely to yield equipment. Having made up his mind, he headed straight for the village blacksmith shop.