Chapter 55: The Novice Forest and the Abyssal World

"You don't even know this?" The boy's brows furrowed even deeper. "Did you come down here before finishing your novice period?"

"Any player who’s made it through their first month knows that, as time passes, the entire novice zone gradually sinks into the Second Layer, the Pit World. You can't avoid coming down—eventually, the Novice Forest will merge into the Pit World itself."

"And every month, when the Novice Forest merges with the Pit Forest, it’s a festival for the Pit World. The novice woods spill over with low-level prey, not to mention scores of bewildered new players!"

"Each village seizes the moment to recruit newcomers."

"For someone at your level, if you don't join a village, you’ll hardly survive."

"You have to join a village to stay alive?" Ye Da asked, puzzled. "But if I upgraded my treehouse into a stone house, couldn't I just hide on a cliff like you? Why gather in groups?"

"I saw those giant monsters attacking villages when I was above."

"Wouldn't being alone actually be safer?"

"Naive," the boy scoffed. "It’s daytime now, and the monsters around are ordinary creatures. Naturally, they can’t pick up on us. But try surviving a night without a village’s protection—no novice makes it through the darkness alone."

"Hiding on a cliff wall won't save you."

"You’ll be found soon enough, those monsters will shatter the rocks, drag you out, and drain your life away!"

"Then you’ll understand how vital the villages are!"

As he spoke, the boy got to his feet and peered out through a crack in the stone door. "The Ashstone Spider has left. We’d better hurry back to the village while the sun's still up. It gets dangerous after dusk."

"I didn’t plan to—"

Ye Da started to say he wasn’t planning to join their village, but the boy cut him off.

"My name is Lin Zhi. Remember it. If the village chief asks who recommended you, just give my name, understand?"

"Besides, it’s almost dark. Without a sun lamp, you can’t go anywhere!"

"So stop overthinking and follow me back to the village first."

With that, the boy pushed open the stone door.

A wash of clear sunlight spilled across the Ashstone Mountains. The gray rocks looked even blacker, and the distant forest seemed far gloomier, like a gaping maw waiting to devour.

Were it not for the last rays of sunlight, it would already be pitch-black outside.

"Uh..."

Ye Da had wanted to insist on returning, but faced with the bleak scene, he gave up on the idea.

Fine—he’d go with Lin Zhi for now. Once dawn broke, he’d hurry back to the Novice Forest.

This really wasn’t a place for someone like him.

Still...

He hadn’t come out empty-handed.

He’d learned a lot from Lin Zhi.

First, novices had a one-month growth period—this included their dwellings. In the Novice Forest, while the monsters weren’t weak, most were matched to a novice’s strength. This stage was clearly the most important period for development.

After a month, when the Novice Forest sank into the Pit World, growing stronger would be much harder unless you were already powerful.

"By the way," Ye Da asked, recalling the novice growth period, "Lin Zhi, let me ask you something—if I fail to grow strong enough during my novice period, can I enter another Novice Forest to try again?"

He suspected the Pit World was made of layers upon layers of Novice Forests.

So...

The outermost edge of the Pit World must be Novice Forest.

If that was true, could a player who failed to develop during their novice period return to the Pit Forest after the period ended?

"I'm not your brother, I'm your sister," Lin Zhi retorted, but still answered him. "No. There’s a barrier between the Pit World and the Novice Forest. Once your novice period ends, you can never return to the Novice Forest—unless you’re a native, like a cannibal or a goblin. They don’t seem to be restricted by the barrier and can move freely between the two worlds."

"I heard from the chief that even high-level natives must follow certain rules when entering the Novice Forest. For example, they can’t attack at will, or they’ll suffer the consequences."

Sister?

Ye Da was stunned for several seconds. So...Lin Zhi was a girl?

Trying to confirm it, he replied tentatively, "Thank you, Sister Lin Zhi."

But even more shocking than her gender was the revelation about the barrier between the Pit World and the Novice Forest.

Was he...unable to return?

"Yes," Lin Zhi replied, not correcting him, and simply instructed, "Stay close!"

As she spoke, a lantern made of bronze and glass appeared in her hand.

She clearly had a storage backpack—the lamp had come from it, making it seem as if she’d conjured it from thin air.

A low buzzing, like a flying insect’s wings, came from the lantern.

Looking closely, Ye Da realized there was no wick inside—just a single insect emitting a bright light.

"Is that a firefly inside?" Ye Da asked curiously.

Lin Zhi shook her head. "No, that’s a sun beetle. It can mimic sunlight, an essential item for traveling at night."

"So with this, you could travel freely at midnight?" Ye Da was amazed—this world truly had a counter for everything. Even a creature that simulated sunlight existed.

However...

Lin Zhi just sneered. "Novices really are naive! This beetle only lights up an area of a meter or two. It might help against small monsters like foglings, but against something like a Sirenhead? What are you going to do, shine it at their toes?"

Ye Da fell silent.

As night fell, the surrounding mist grew thicker, until everything was shrouded in white. Even Lin Zhi's lantern seemed muffled, its light dim and hazy.

The lamp wasn’t bright, but inside its glow there was a faint warmth. Beyond it, the chill was biting, as if a massive block of ice was radiating cold straight into his bones.

Ye Da hurried to keep up with Lin Zhi, staying as close as possible.

He had to stay within the sun beetle’s light, or risk being attacked by monsters lurking in the mist.