Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Just as she was getting excited, footsteps came from outside the door. "Brother?" Wei Ran's voice came through the floorboards, "I heard a really loud noise..."

"It's nothing!" Wei Chen hurriedly hid the bow under the bed. "I...I knocked over the stool."

After his sister's footsteps faded into the distance, Wei Chen glanced at the moon outside the window and estimated that it would be two more hours before dawn.

He first considered the experiment he had just conducted. The backpack had 99 slots, but it could be expanded. A ceramic jar that had just contained eggs only showed up as a sugar jar when placed inside. He could customize some large boxes or cabinets, each capable of holding many items, and stack them in the backpack, reaching 999 stacks. Theoretically, this would make his backpack incredibly powerful, essentially a super-sized storage space.

Then Wei Chen entered the game world again to continue his experiments, hoping to understand this cheat world as soon as possible.

Enter the game world again.

Wei Chen stood under the blue stone archway at the village entrance, reaching out to touch the white mist. The sensation from his fingertips was like hitting an invisible rubber wall, which he couldn't penetrate no matter how hard he tried.

"As expected, we can't get out..." Wei Chen withdrew his hand, and a ripple spread across the surface of the mist before quickly returning to calm. He turned to look at the small village surrounded by mountains—a bluestone path meandered through a dozen wooden houses, and in the central square there was a well, where several goats were leisurely grazing on the weeds beside it.

Walking along the main street, faded signs hung above the doors of shops on both sides: general store, blacksmith shop, pharmacy, cloth shop... Wei Chen pushed open the carved wooden door of the general store, the hinges creaking open. The shelves inside were filled with bottles and jars, but the shopkeeper was nowhere to be seen.

"Is anyone here?" Wei Chen called out tentatively, but only his own echo answered him. He noticed an old-fashioned balance scale on the counter, with a price list next to it: [Pheasant - 2 copper coins] [Hare - 5 copper coins] [Goat - 10 copper coins].

Wei Chen took out the pheasant he had just hunted from his backpack and placed it on the scales. A magical thing happened—the pheasant disappeared on its own, and two copper coins clattered into the copper pan on the other side of the scales.

"Vending machine?" Wei Chen picked up the copper coin; the cold coin was engraved with the four small characters "Wilderness Tongbao". He sold four more pheasants and, having collected ten copper coins, headed straight for the pharmacy.

The pharmacy was filled with the fresh scent of herbs, and the medicine cabinet behind the counter was densely covered with the names of medicines. In the most conspicuous position were three rows of porcelain bottles: small red bottles (10 copper coins), medium red bottles (50 copper coins), and large red bottles (200 copper coins). Wei Chen gritted his teeth and bought a small red bottle. The porcelain bottle felt warm to the touch, and the red liquid inside shimmered like melting gemstones in the sunlight.

This is clearly a healing potion from the game, used to replenish health.

"I need to test the effect..." Wei Chen exited the game and returned to his room. He took out a pair of scissors from his sewing basket and made a few cuts on his left arm. The moment the sharp scissors sliced ​​through the flesh, he gasped. Blood dripped down his forearm, blooming like red plum blossoms on the wooden floor.

Re-entering the game, Wei Chen uncorked the bottle and drank it all in one gulp. The liquid was sweet and refreshing, like mint water mixed with honey. The next second, a warm current exploded in his stomach, and an itch like ants crawling on the wound on his left arm. He watched as the three-centimeter-long wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving not even a scar.

"Amazing!" Wei Chen touched his smooth skin, then suddenly remembered something and immediately logged out of the game. Back in reality, he used scissors to make the same cut on his right arm and drank the potion he had brought from the game. This time, the effect was less pronounced—although he could feel the wound healing slowly, the healing speed was only slightly faster than with ordinary wound medicine.

"Instant recovery in the game, but only accelerated healing in reality..." Wei Chen pondered, "but it's enough."

For the next while, Wei Chen embarked on a frantic monster-hunting adventure. The chickens on the lawn east of the village suffered, the sound of arrows piercing the air incessant. When he had killed his twentieth chicken, a plump gray rabbit suddenly darted out from the bushes in the distance.

"Bang!" Wei Chen's arrow missed its mark, embedding itself in a tree trunk behind the rabbit. The gray rabbit's red eyes flashed with ferocity, and it slammed its hind legs against the ground, lunging at Wei Chen's face like a cannonball.

"Holy crap!" Wei Chen dodged to the side, a rabbit's paw grazing his cheek, stinging painfully. He drew his hunting knife from his waist, channeling his true energy into the blow. With a "swoosh," the rabbit's head rolled to the ground. Wei Chen quickly went over and picked up the rabbit; it was all meat and money.

Killing a wild rabbit grants +2 experience points.

Wei Chen wiped the blood from his face, his heart pounding. The monsters in this game actually fought back! He focused intently and began consciously practicing the movement techniques from the "Nine Heavens Sun-Shooting Technique." Soon, he had cleared the rabbit horde from the hillside north of the village, and his level had risen to more than halfway up level 1.

Then Wei Chen set his sights on the goats grazing west of the village. These creatures with curved horns were not easy to deal with; each one was the size of a calf, and when provoked, they would charge forward with their heads down.

"Boom!" The third goat crashed into a pine tree as thick as a bowl, sending splinters flying. Wei Chen crouched on a branch, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He held his breath, channeling his inner energy into the arrow, drawing the bowstring to its fullest extent.

"An arrow that pierces the willow branch!"

The arrow flashed with a faint blue light the instant it left the bowstring, piercing the goat's left eye with pinpoint accuracy. The giant beast howled and collapsed, dropping 5 experience points and a small pile of copper coins.

[Level upgraded to Level 2!] [True Essence +2 years]

The upgraded warm current was stronger than before. Wei Chen felt his bones crackling and his muscle fibers being rewoven by an invisible hand. He tried jumping on the spot and easily touched a three-meter-high tree branch—his jumping ability had surpassed that of a professional athlete in his previous life!

Open the properties panel:

Name: Wei Chen (Hunter)

Level: 2 (90/500)

Cultivation Technique: Nine Heavens Sun-Shooting Technique

True Yuan: 3 years

Skill: Piercing Arrow (Minor Mastery)

What surprised Wei Chen the most was the change in his mental power. When he closed his eyes and concentrated, he could clearly perceive everything within three meters: ants in the cracks of the floor, leaves falling outside the window, and even the sound of his sister turning over in the next room.

This perception is not visual, but a holistic "field," like...like the vocalization system of a bat.

"It's a pity there are no more monsters." Wei Chen sighed, looking at the empty hillside. The animals in the village didn't seem to respawn; once they were all killed, they were gone. He counted his spoils: 125 copper coins, ten goats, fifty chickens, and fifty rabbits.

I don't know how long it will take for the "monster" to respawn.

When I exited the game, only two hours had passed in the real world, so it seems that the flow of time in the game world and the real world is not quite the same.

Wei Chen sat cross-legged on the bed, circulating the "Nine Heavens Sun-Shooting Technique" to consolidate his cultivation. Strands of true essence flowed through his meridians, eventually converging into his dantian to form a vortex of energy. As he cultivated, Wei Chen frowned. He noticed that while the true essence within his body could circulate and be used, it didn't increase at all.

Then he flashed into the game world, sat cross-legged, and began to circulate the "Nine Heavens Shooting Sun Technique." He could clearly feel his true essence slowly increasing, and a trace of "spiritual energy" from the outside world was merging into his body.

It seems the real world truly is the end of the Dharma era! I'll be able to cultivate in the game world from now on, thanks to the fact that my internal true energy can be used in the outside world.

But cultivation is really slow; leveling up by fighting monsters is much faster, as each level up increases one's true essence by one year.

After thinking for a moment, Wei Chen exited the game world.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Wei Chen was awakened by voices in the courtyard. He sprang out of bed with a jolt, his bones cracking slightly. Through the paper window, he saw his uncle, Wei Changsheng, talking to his mother in the yard.

"Xiao Chen, get up quickly!" Wang Xiulan's voice came from downstairs, "Your uncle is waiting!"

Wei Chen quickly dressed and went to the courtyard.

"Xiao Chen, the village is organizing a hunting trip for the militia today. Your third uncle is leading the team, and you'll need to come along to find prey," the eldest uncle said.

Last year, when his uncle heard that Wei Chen was learning hunting from an old hunter in the mountains, he found an excuse to let him join the hunting team. He originally wanted Wei Chen to earn some work points, but unexpectedly, Wei Chen was indeed good at finding prey. From then on, Wei Chen became a member of the hunting team.

After giving his instructions, his uncle left. Wei Chen finished his breakfast and went back inside to practice archery.

He had just grabbed the homemade quiver from the bedside table when his fingers suddenly stopped as they touched the rough leather—the bow was too light for his current strength. With a thought, he put the bow and arrows into his game inventory and then flashed into the game world.

Inside the hunter's cabin, it was warm and bright, with sunlight streaming through the windows and onto the oak floor.

Wei Chen suddenly had an idea. He tried to take out his old bow from his backpack, and sure enough, the bow and arrows outside could be brought into the "Hunter's Hut".

Wei Chen placed the old bow on the table in the hunter's cabin, exited the game world, and re-entered; the bow was still there.

Wei Chen understood. No wonder the description of the hut was "the hunter's private territory." He had tried it yesterday; he could put things from the outside into his game inventory, but he couldn't take them out in the game world. Now he discovered that he could put things from the outside into the hunter's hut.

Wei Chen no longer worries about where to put his things. Yesterday, he felt that 99 slots in his backpack were not enough. Although he thought of stacking boxes, it still felt insufficient. Now he doesn't have to worry anymore. This three-story building and yard are his private property, where he can store things from outside.

This discovery put his mind at ease. Now the entire hunter's cabin and the 600-square-meter yard can be used as a warehouse.

After getting ready, Wei Chen headed straight for the weapon shop. The quivers on the counter were neatly stacked, each containing twenty arrows. He spent a hundred copper coins to buy five quivers, and then went to the pharmacy to buy two more bottles of healing potions. Looking at his remaining five copper coins, Wei Chen clicked his tongue in pain—he needed to hurry up and grind monsters to earn more money.

Before logging out of the game, he noticed that the animals in the village had respawned. The pheasants and rabbits that had been wiped out yesterday were now hopping and leaping back onto the grass, as if nothing had happened.

"Refreshes once a day?" Wei Chen noted down this pattern and would verify it when he returned in the evening.