Chapter 22: The Goal—Beast Taming (Bonus chapter for Silver Patron, Chivalrous Lazy Sheep)

In this village, there are many jobs available, which can basically be divided into two main categories.

The first category consists of jobs with no requirements; as long as you are willing to work, you can take them on. These include lumberjack, woodcutter, farmer, miner, shepherd, swineherd, and reaper. Relatively speaking, these professions do not require high technical skills. Once you accept the task, the NPC providing it will teach the player how to do it and grant them entry-level professional skills for free.

The other category consists of jobs that require meeting specific prerequisites, and each job has different conditions.

First is the militiaman. This requires finding the militia captain to accept the task. The work involves protecting the village from monster threats, standing guard, or even accompanying the militia squad into the forest to clear out monsters. Xiao Jie is quite interested in this job; if he could join a group of militiamen to kill monsters and level up, his safety would undoubtedly be well-guaranteed. However, when Xiao Jie expressed his desire to join, the militia captain, Tie Qianli, told him that he lacked the necessary strength to serve as a militiaman. Xiao Jie speculated that there was likely a level requirement; since he was only level one, he definitely didn't qualify. He figured that if he reached level five or ten, he would probably be able to join.

Next is the hunter, a job Xiao Jie is also very keen on. After all, if he could learn archery, a ranged profession would always be safer. Furthermore, the hunter in the village keeps several hounds, which suggests that this profession might allow for pets. He might even be able to learn taming skills. If he had a "meat shield" to tank monsters in front during combat, it would certainly be much safer. However, the hunter flatly rejected Xiao Jie’s request to apprentice, not even offering a reason, simply stating he had no interest in taking on students. This left Xiao Jie quite frustrated; the trigger conditions for this profession are likely rather harsh.

The third is the blacksmith. This one is relatively simple because, thanks to the veteran player Wang Kai, he learned the prerequisites directly: first, pay a five-tael silver apprenticeship fee—a sum Wang Kai had spent two whole years saving up—and second, raise his favorability with Zhou Tong to 80. Xiao Jie isn't very interested in this; five taels of silver is equivalent to fifty thousand yuan, which is far too expensive.

The fourth is the cook, which is relatively cheaper, requiring only 500 copper coins as an apprenticeship gift. Cooking skills are quite practical; food is a long-term consumable, so learning to cook would undoubtedly save a lot of money on food purchases.

The fifth is the fisherman, which requires finding an old man by the small river in the south of the village. Through conversation, he learned that this guy is a drunkard with a particular craving for alcohol. Xiao Jie speculated that gifting him a flask of fine wine might trigger the task, though what exactly counts as "fine wine" is uncertain.

The sixth is the herbalist. One must go to the pharmacy owner to accept the task to learn gathering skills. However, when applying, the owner claimed that Xiao Jie's perception was too poor for this trade. It seems a certain level of the "perception" attribute is required, and there is no way around that without leveling up and allocating points.

The final profession is the night watchman. This job is quite unique: there is no work during the day, only night patrols within the village. It sounds extremely dangerous, but the pay is high—five hundred copper coins for a single night.

This task is triggered by the village chief, but the chief refused him, saying Xiao Jie’s "yang fire" was not strong enough and that he might encounter trouble if he worked as a night watchman. Xiao Jie was a bit baffled by this prerequisite. Does it mean he needs to pray to his ancestors when burning incense to be spared from the interference of ghosts and gods? But the buff provided by the ancestors only lasts seven days; could this task also have a time limit?

Unfortunately, there is no profession for learning swordsmanship, which disappointed Xiao Jie. It’s not that he has a particular interest in sword techniques, but in a world filled with immortals and demons, the sword undoubtedly carries more prestige and perhaps has a higher potential ceiling.

Overall, among these dozen or so jobs, the one Xiao Jie wants most is undoubtedly the hunter. Archery plus (presumably) taming skills—in a death game, such a combination is perfect. The advantage of a ranged profession goes without saying, and having a pet that can coordinate in combat is a massive edge. Three wild dogs alone were enough to make "I Want to Become an Immortal" lose his bearings, and he and Han Luo, two blank-slate newbies, were able to take down a fierce soul-lost bandit simply by outnumbering him. A righteous two-on-one is sometimes better than any equipment or skill.

But how exactly does one trigger the hunter’s task? With no clues, Xiao Jie ultimately decided to ask Wang Kai. Having stayed in the village for three years and seen so many players, he must have a wealth of information. He just worried that Wang Kai would demand a price for the intel, which would be troublesome.

Walking into the smithy, Wang Kai was still there hammering his iron sword, focused entirely on grinding for money with no intention of leveling up or improving his strength.

"Oh, Brother Suifeng, here to see me? Looking to buy equipment or gold?"

"Do you know how to accept the hunter’s task?" Xiao Jie asked straightforwardly.

"Heh heh heh, looking to bring a pet along?" Wang Kai was quite sharp.

"How did you know?"

"Of the nearly two hundred players coming and going through Ginkgo Village, at least one hundred and fifty want to bring pets. How do you think I know?"

Xiao Jie thought to himself, *Fair enough, I'm clearly not the first one to think of this.*

"Can a hunter learn taming skills?"

"Of course, though it’s not exactly 'taming skills,' but 'dog training.' It’s only good for training dogs. It’s decent in the early stages, but useless once your level gets high."

Xiao Jie couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. "What about archery?"

"That’s very useful. At the very least, before you learn magic, archery is the best ranged skill available. You definitely won’t regret learning it. Of course, that’s just what I’ve heard; I’ve never played it myself."

"Do you know how to trigger the hunter’s task?"

Wang Kai laughed. "Of course. It’s not really a secret; there was a time when it was almost public knowledge. But few people can actually pull it off. The hunter has a wife who suffers from a strange illness; she hides in their house year-round, unable to stand the sunlight. She needs century-old wild ginseng to keep her alive. If you bring him a century-old wild ginseng, you can become the apprentice of Yang Baichuan. You’ll learn archery and dog training, and when you finish your apprenticeship, he’ll even give you a hound."

That’s a pretty good deal—getting a pet upon graduation.

"Where can I get century-old wild ginseng?"

"Go deep into the valley and gather it. If you’re lucky, you can find some. The pharmacy in Ginkgo Village sometimes stocks it, too. It’s not cheap—ten taels of silver per root."

Ten taels of silver! That’s one hundred thousand yuan!

Xiao Jie was speechless; that is way too expensive.

"Do you want to buy some gold? It’s only one hundred thousand yuan. Learning dog training and a ranged weapon skill early on is definitely worth it." Wang Kai was truly professional, pushing his business whenever he had the chance.

*Forget it.*

Xiao Jie shook his head. He couldn't afford one hundred thousand yuan, and besides, he had the [Enlightenment] buff. Spending money to learn a generic version of dog training simply wasn't worth it.

Xiao Jie looked over the list of jobs he had recorded in his notebook once more, quickly letting his imagination run wild. If he wanted to learn taming skills, he just needed to find tasks related to taming animals. The shepherd and swineherd jobs satisfied this requirement, and neither had any prerequisites. He could absolutely focus his efforts on these two professions. With his 21 points in intelligence, he had managed to spontaneously comprehend sword techniques on his own; he didn't believe he couldn't figure out a taming skill as well.