Chapter 15: Milestone

Page 1/3

Always playing characters with full health and stamina had grown tiresome for Yan Qing, and since his new alternate account was meant for gathering intelligence, being overly robust would only draw too much attention—unlike in Ping City, where the city gates were hostile territory requiring full health and combat power. This time, he wanted to try starting with maximum agility.

Just as being tall granted an extra two points of health, being overly slight would reward two extra points of agility. Thus, he created a character who looked malnourished, like an undeveloped young boy.

He chose not to invest in talent inheritance; dying a few times while exploring a new map seemed unavoidable for a new account. As for the name, since this was a Chang’an small account, it was simply “An Wu.”

“Chang’an Affiliated Newbie Village,” the game began!

As the screen lit up, “An Wu” appeared in a small grove, with a village just beyond. To Yan Qing’s surprise, the village was flat and open, houses orderly, fertile fields and beautiful ponds, with winding paths connecting them all—undeniably a prosperous little village.

Could it be real? Was there truly a newbie village?

However, just as Yan Qing approached the main road and before entering the village, two strong men wielding clubs blocked his way.

“This is the estate of Bu Liugu. Outsiders are not welcome.”

So, no such thing as a newbie village here.

Yan Qing guessed that the location of newbie villages should be quite good, and being developed into an estate was understandable. It was rather peculiar that the Qi Kingdom’s newbie village had fallen into ruin.

“I want to go to Chang’an. Could you tell me the way?”

The men exchanged glances, then pointed westward. “Follow this road to the main road, then head northwest. After about two hours, you’ll reach Chang’an County.”

Two hours—even if Yan Qing sped up his walking cycles, it would still take at least an hour. And the sun was already slanting west in the afternoon.

Nightfall wasn’t the main issue; the problem was that just one trip took an hour. If his small account died and he had to create another, he’d have to run for an hour again. Having to run an hour before every quest—what player could endure that?

Under the watchful eyes of the two strong men, Yan Qing gradually moved away to the main road.

Was there any way to reduce travel time?

If the duration couldn’t be shortened, at least the number of trips should be minimized...

Suddenly, an idea struck him. He opened the in-game map. Though called a map, it had no landmarks and required players to physically survey the land to chart the corresponding map. The only benefit was that the map was shared across all characters, so Yan Qing could see, thousands of miles from the “Chang’an Newbie Village,” two other landmarks: “Sleepless City Newbie Village” and “Zhen Sanshan Zheng Family.”

Ping City was not recorded in the system.

This was understandable; the game’s program likely only recognized permanent, game-related landmarks—like newbie villages or dungeons. Settlements like Ping City, which might be destroyed or disappear, didn’t qualify for permanent mapping.

Following the directions, Yan Qing marked a point northwest and activated “Auto Evolution,” allowing “An Wu” to automatically traverse the map.

Success—“An Wu” could normally run the map.

In other words, players could assign tasks to their characters under Auto Evolution.

Page 2/3

Next, Yan Qing had “An Wu” crouch by the roadside, then exited the game and quickly created a new account, “An Liu.”

When “An Liu” reached the main road, he indeed saw “An Wu” crouching nearby, watching ants.

Yan Qing activated “Auto Evolution,” setting “An Liu” to follow “An Wu.”

Task complete—“An Liu” crouched beside “An Wu,” watching ants together!

Yan Qing breathed a sigh of relief. He then repeated the process, creating “An Qi,” “An Ba,” and “An Jiu,” all set to follow “An Wu.”

When he controlled “An Wu” to run the map, the other four followed in tandem—five accounts running the map simultaneously!

Though the four trailing accounts couldn’t be finely controlled, at least the time spent traveling was greatly reduced. Yan Qing didn’t dare leave them on auto-run recklessly—who knew if a group of knights might suddenly appear and slaughter them? He simply sped up the walking routine.

An hour later, the sun set, the sky divided into one-third darkness and two-thirds pale blue. Yan Qing could already see the magnificent city of Chang’an.

More precisely, he saw the myriad lights outside the city walls, throngs of pedestrians, ceaseless traffic, countless estates and manors along the way, and bustling nighttime markets and taverns. Just passing through the outer city of Chang’an took nearly half an hour, and the total travel time was close to two hours.

Only then did he realize—the “Chang’an County” the strong men referred to was the outer ring. Chang’an County was distinct from Chang’an City. The game naturally didn’t include Chang’an County, but living around the safe zone was only natural.

Guards stood at the city gate, but they merely glanced over “An Wu” and his group a few times, neither demanding identification nor charging an entrance fee, and let them pass.

“You have entered the main city of Chang’an.”

“Based on your level, you may now access the following milestone information:”

“Gold Medal Guide: You have mapped Jiangnan, Chang’an, and Sleepless City completely.”

“Local Resident: You have discovered nineteen hidden Haha grasses within Chang’an City (0/19).”

“Long-distance Runner: Circumnavigate Chang’an within half an hour.”

“Leap Across Vermilion Bird Avenue: Cross Vermilion Bird Avenue from one side to the other without touching the ground.”

“Suspect: Successfully harm others in Chang’an City without being caught (0/10).”

“Demolition Crew: Successfully destroy a medium or larger building within Chang’an City (0/1).”

“Level up or unlock milestones to gain more milestone information.”

So this game actually had a milestone system... Was it only accessible inside the main city?

Normally, players would train in the newbie village until level ten and then enter the main city. At that point, introducing a milestone system to guide exploration made perfect sense.

Yan Qing scanned the list and saw that the “Gold Medal Guide,” “Local Resident,” and “Long-distance Runner” milestones were related. Completing the latter two would basically lead to mapping most of Chang’an, naturally fulfilling “Gold Medal Guide.”

If his guess was right, the ultimate goal of the Gold Medal Guide series was to complete the full map—perfect for casual and achievement-oriented players.

Page 3/3

The “Suspect” and “Demolition Crew” milestones were more peculiar. Rather than milestones, they seemed designed by the game company to enlist players in bug hunting. After all, Chang’an was a safe zone—players shouldn’t be allowed to harm others or destroy buildings casually. Compared to demanding players report bugs, offering milestones to encourage voluntary bug submission was a clever strategy.

Completing milestones surely brought rewards, but Yan Qing glanced over them and set them aside. Aside from the difficulty of “Suspect” and “Demolition Crew,” he absolutely couldn’t complete “Local Resident”—normal players would find guides on forums, but he had no forum. How could he possibly find those developer-hidden Haha grasses scattered in every corner?

Entering Chang’an, Yan Qing found the inner city surprisingly less bustling than outside. If the outskirts resembled a commercial district, the inner city was more like a residential area. There were many differences—the inner city was far cleaner, so pristine it resembled a set from a historical drama. Yan Qing guessed the main city might have a self-cleaning function.

After all, he’d never seen a main city in any online game with trash cans and restrooms...

Even though night had fallen, many well-dressed pedestrians strolled the brightly lit avenues, some accompanied by children. Seeing “An Wu” and his ragged group, some showed contempt, but hardly anyone avoided them. It was clear they had great confidence in Chang’an’s safety.

Entering a small alley, Yan Qing tried attacking “An Liu” behind him.

“An Wu” threw a punch; “An Liu” moved slightly, and a large damage number “0” appeared on the screen.

The safe zone of the main city did not prevent attacks, only that no damage could be dealt.

Whether tokens or items could be used remained to be tested when the small accounts reached level ten and could change classes.

Yan Qing placed “An Liu” through “An Jiu” in the alley like mushrooms—safe under the main city’s protection, no worries about them idling—and went outside to inquire about the address of Anguo Temple. He then controlled “An Wu” alone to scout ahead.

This was naturally to prevent total party wipes; if “An Wu” encountered danger, “An Liu” could be sent out next. Five accounts should be able to gather some intelligence.

A good MMORPG played strategically by Yan Qing.

Swish.

Yan Qing lifted his view and vaguely saw a figure darting between houses.

Running across rooftops at night—could they be thieves or accomplices?

After spending half an hour reaching Anguo Temple and wandering around Vermilion Bird Avenue, Yan Qing saw many eateries on Vermilion Bird Avenue, including a wonton noodle shop that made his mouth water—he’d grown up eating wonton noodles.

Unfortunately, all the eateries were closed; he would have to wait until daytime to buy food.

Anguo Temple was undoubtedly closed. Compared to sandbox games, the real Anguo Temple was far more magnificent—just the steps to climb numbered in the dozens, and it was surrounded by towering walls dozens of feet high, resembling a city within a city. Yan Qing circled twice but couldn’t find even a dog-sized hole to slip through.

He would have to wait until daytime to explore further.

Yan Qing controlled “An Wu” to crouch in a corner, planning to let him idle until morning. Just then, a figure approached.

“If you have nowhere to stay tonight, you may temporarily reside at the nearby Ciji Courtyard.”