Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland

Chapter 2 Free is the most expensive
Time goes back to yesterday.

day.

In front of Fangshi.

Lu Meng was like the most ordinary scavenger, lining up in a long line in the distance.

He looked thoughtfully at the young man in front of the other team who seemed to be running away amidst the sarcasm.

Even though he had been here for almost half a year, the reality of this world still moved him.

Of course, his life is not easy now, and reality does not allow people to have unnecessary sympathy.

Lu Meng is a time traveler.

And he is in the world of "Swordsman".

["Swordsman" is a sandbox stand-alone game.The gameplay is completely free and open, with combat, squad control and city construction...you will do whatever you want in the vast and wasteland-style open world.

The premise is to survive first.

It's not easy to survive in such a ruthless world of cannibals, hungry bandits, slaves and beasts. 】

The above is the official website introduction of the game "Swordsman", and Lu Meng is an old player who is attracted by the features of the game.

Unknowingly, he had spent at least two thousand hours on "Swordsman".

Because of the high degree of freedom in "Swordsman", there is no fixed plot route, so no matter how many times you play through it, you can still feel fresh.

Lu Meng is very familiar with the scenes, characters, and world view in the game.

Coinciding with the development of artificial intelligence and virtual reality technology, the development company of "Swordsman" announced a free update to the game, directly upgrading "Swordsman" from a computer game to an immersive holographic game through the expansion pack "Real World".

It’s just that the workload of the project is too large, and "Swordsman" is not a cheating game. The company officially recruited insufficient manpower. They decided to invite some senior players to help test the "Real World" expansion pack before releasing the official version of the game, excluding Possible bugs in the game.

Lu Meng was naturally qualified.

Early access version.

Really fragrant.

Unexpectedly, something went wrong with this test, and he was all in trouble.

For "modern people", time travel is not a bad thing, at least it is not unusual.

Especially if you are transported into a game that you have been familiar with for 2000+ hours, you are even more lucky.

...if this game wasn't "Swordsman".

In "Swordsman", dying and restarting the character are the only way to go. Even the players cannot have smooth sailing. It is common to be maimed, crippled, and captured as slaves. Even if they are honest and good citizens at the door, When mining, a monster might come out and punch you to death.

And for an ordinary person who is really struggling to live in that wasteland, life will only be more difficult.

This is also Lu Meng's current situation.

"This is definitely a vicious bug."

Fortunately - he also brought an in-game attribute panel.

As Lu Meng thought, a light blue light curtain opened in his field of vision.

[Name: Lu Beiyou (Lu Meng)

Race: Human (Scorched Earth Sons)

基础属性：力量5、速度5、韧性5、体质5、感知7
Actual combat level: 1 (not popular)

Melee skills: none

Remote skills: none

Life skills: Engineering 2 (entry), Lockpicking 8 (entry), Master 15 (basic), Stealth 12 (basic)

Satiety: 112/300 (normal)
Health: Malnutrition (mild)
Permission: E]

"Lu Beiyou" is the name of the game character created by Lu Meng. His appearance was naturally designed by himself. Fortunately, Lu Meng always pursued a sense of immersion and did not make the character look like an inhuman ancient god.

He has retained some of his past handsomeness.

It's just that the white hair of this slut is Lu Meng's usual bad taste in playing games, but he didn't expect retribution to come to him.

Fortunately, it is not uncommon for people in this world to have various hair colors due to genetic mutations.

The attribute system of "Swordsman" is simply "proficiency". The more you practice and use a certain skill, the more proficiency you gain and the higher your level.

Taking "basic attributes" as an example, the average level of an ordinary young and middle-aged human being who grows up normally is 5 points, and it took Lu Meng half a year of hard work to return to this normal state.

Those skill levels that require special learning start directly from 0. For example, in order to build a shack to protect himself, Lu Meng collected a lot of materials and tried and made countless times before he came up with a feasible plan.

In the process, level 2 engineer skills were also improved.

And most importantly, in order to survive first, Lu Meng prioritized life-saving skills like "stealth" to about 10.

As for the actual combat level, Lu Meng needs to directly participate in the battle and cause damage to the enemy before it can be improved.At a time when life-saving means are seriously insufficient, he cannot commit suicide and put himself in danger.

The higher the level, the less proficiency is gained from actions of the same difficulty, and the slower the improvement speed.

Just a little too slow.

Nowadays, Lu Meng’s road to liver-explosion faces dual constraints of resources and time.

The key is: in order to survive, Lu Meng often has to do his best, and there is no time to improve himself.

Moreover, he only eats some dried cactus every day without enough protein. Although Lu Meng is versatile and has a good life among the scavengers, now the panel is beginning to show that he is malnourished.

You can’t even eat enough, but you still want to work out?

If it's just a game, high difficulty is part of the fun.

But now that he has come to this world in person, he is not going to struggle and die in the hub for the rest of his life and become a mummy.

No wonder he cheated...

first step.

Get a meeting gift first.

Lu Meng put on a scarf to cover her hair and face, lowered her head and walked towards the long queue in front of the counter.

bump!
Lu Meng bumped into a scavenger, and both of them staggered.

"You don't have eyes!" The bearded scavenger stood still and said viciously.

When he turned around, the person who bumped into him without his eyes had disappeared.

Humph, he was probably afraid that he would deal with him, considering that he ran fast.

"It's your turn." A scavenger urged behind him.

"Oh." He took out the scraps he was going to exchange one by one, and then remembered that he had picked up the electrical components left behind by the boy named Huo Buyang. He happily took out his pockets and looked at the black market merchant behind the counter flatteringly. "Master Wei, I have another good thing here..."

Unlike Huo Buyang, who is a young man, he has always been the most obedient, and he is familiar with Mr. Wei Yi from Fang City.

The quality of this electrical component is so good that Mr. Wei will lower the price of Huo Buyang, but in his own hands, Mr. Wei may give him a favor, and it is not impossible to charge him more with 100 Kai coins.

But after searching for a long time and finding nothing, his expression changed.

Thinking of the time he was hit before, he understood and blurted out: "There is a thief!"

"Stop acting, this is useless." The black marketeer named Wei Yi just waved his hand, "A total of 40 coins, next one." "No, Mr. Wei..." The scavenger cried sadly, and the same sound sounded behind him. The urging sound.
-
[Stealth Skill: Level 12 (Basic)]

[Master Skill: Level 15 (Basic)]

In order to promote positive energy, the "stealing" skill is written as "master" on the panel - this is also a feature of the game and must be tasted.

After performing some tricks, Lu Meng quickly left the scene. He had no habit of appreciating the results of the crime.

Such a high-level mastery skill is not something Lu Meng could just do something about after traveling through time.

The system obviously believed that his actions when searching various ruins and relics were in line with the judgment of a "master". After all, the Holy Kingdom has never given up its claim to the hub station, and everything in the ruins is still the property of the Holy Lord. , occasionally the system will display [Belongs to: Holy Lord] when the item introduction appears.

Stealing something from the Holy Lord is considered stealing. To the Holy Kingdom, all the scavengers at the hub are thieves.

Everyone has more than one crime, and the Holy Kingdom can't deal with it.

Lu Meng played with the electrical components in his hands for a while and then put them into his backpack.

In reality, a level 15 skill can barely be called a "skill", but Lu Meng usually doesn't attack scavengers, and everyone's life is not easy.

But if he took something from his little brother Huo Buyang, he would always give it back.

Yes, although Huo Buyang didn't know him, Lu Meng had known Huo Buyang as early as in the game.

——You can recruit teammates who were born in the hub. It is free and easy to use. I don’t know how many reincarnations I have accompanied Lu Meng in the world of "Swordsman".

It's just that in the game before, Huo Buyang was a seasoned adventurer who had traveled far and wide.

Unexpectedly, when Lu Meng traveled through time, Huo Buyang was just a little kid, with only his eyebrows vaguely similar to the character in the game.

After observing secretly for a long time, Lu Meng confirmed that this teenage boy was Huo Buyang.

Of course, it doesn't mean that Lu Meng was a teammate in the game before and now that he has become a real person, Lu Meng must have the obligation to take care of Huo Buyang.

You must know that for some heartless players, "friends" in the game also have another name - "consumables."

The reason why Lu Meng is so interested in Huo Buyang is partly because of his system tasks:

[Achievement: Found the first companion (0/1) - not completed.

The current permission is E and the module slot cannot be unlocked.

Permissions can be upgraded after completing game achievements. 】

Speaking is:
"The novice task is not completed."

Game testers are not the same as early access to games. The official recruitment of Lu Meng and others still has to do practical work.

For example, the job Lu Meng was assigned was to test the compatibility of the new expansion pack of "Swordsman" with community modules (mods).

The official also built a large number of Zhao'an's excellent modules into the expansion pack.

Lu Meng needs to test whether these modules can still function in holographic mode at different stages of the game.

Unexpectedly, this work accompanied Lu Meng's time travel and was integrated into his system.

"Quick manufacturing, new weapons, more moves, removable clothes..." Lu Meng browsed quickly.

The higher the authority, the more modules can be enabled at the same time.

You can also choose to load modules with stronger effects and greater changes to the game experience.

All in all, the higher the authority, the more outrageous the module.

After previewing the list of optional modules, Lu Meng already knew what to choose as his first module.

"Experience bonus mod."

Lu Meng thought, "Perhaps in a more descriptive way, it means improving 'potential', 'comprehension' and 'qualification'."

The world of "Swordsman" is filled with ghosts and monsters left over from ancient civilizations, random wild monsters, wasteland psychopaths who deserve to be killed, and small groups composed of all kinds of crazy people.

And people are afraid of being famous. Now that my reputation in the hub city is getting bigger and bigger, it means that more people will keep an eye on me.

Only by speeding up the speed at which he acquires proficiency can he truly improve his strength and hope to survive in this world.

As for how to complete this novice achievement, Lu Meng has his own understanding.

Although Huo Buyang has been found, he is now a living person in the real world, and will not join him as long as he chooses the right option like in the game.

He must win Huo Buyang's trust.

Moreover, he knew Huo Buyang's background story.Losing his mother at a young age was originally the setting for this veteran adventurer.

Lu Meng is a person who pursues a sense of immersion when playing games.

Since the former "Huo Buyang" is willing to regard himself as a brother, we will live together through life and death.

So now that Lu Meng has returned to a time before the tragedy happened, he doesn't mind saving Huo Buyang's mother to make up for this eternal regret for him.

Lu Meng weighed his Kai coins, which were about seven hundred.

It was definitely a huge sum of money by the standards of a scavenger, but it was far from enough to buy medicine.

What's more, Lu Meng didn't plan to pay for it directly. The coins had other uses.

"What Xiao Huo doesn't know is that the key is not money, but connections."

"Even if he has enough coins, if he wants to buy the medicine that can cure his mother, the channels required are simply not accessible to a scavenger."

Introductions about electrical components appeared in Lu Meng's memory.

[Electrical components: Copper is used as raw material and is produced on electronic workbenches. The research required is "Electrical Forging Technology".

Value: 216 coins

Introduction: "You can't understand complicated things."]

Although the value of the items is not equal to the actual market price at the time of sale, the market only purchases electrical components as scrap for copper extraction, and then sells them to merchants who come to the hub at the normal market price. More than a million profits.

Merchants in Fangshi will not leave the hub station unless they have nothing to do. Their own consumer goods and materials used to trade with scavengers are also imported from the outside world.

If the scavengers were allowed to trade directly with the merchants, what business would they have?

The merchants are responsible for monopolizing the channels for transactions between the hub station residents and the outside world in Yongfang City, while the thugs are responsible for eliminating those who dare to disrupt this order.

Foreign merchants are also happy to have fixed trading partners, so that business can last longer. They have also maintained a tacit understanding and will not conduct direct transactions with ordinary hub station residents.

This is a coalition of interests.

The medicine that can cure Huo Buyang's mother is only available from outside merchants.

Nowadays, effective medicines are expensive but not commercially available. Even if the local supervisors get them, they will keep them to save their lives.Who hasn’t had a minor injury or serious illness?How could it be sold to scavengers who were equivalent to consumables?

Lu Meng's target was precisely those outside merchants, because he happened to know the background of the boss behind one of the merchants.

This might be able to be used to his advantage and open up the situation.

Not only can you get the medicine smoothly and complete the novice achievements;

It can also help you get rid of your identity as a scavenger and leave the hopeless hub.

For a player, the attribute panel is just a game mechanism and does not determine whether you will be a master or a novice.

In Lu Meng's view, his real advantage during this time travel is his familiarity and understanding of the entire world of "Swordsman"!
(End of this chapter)