Chapter Four: A Frenzied Ascent

The giant Reaper Python was basking in the rare sunlight, thoroughly enjoying the most comfortable time of its day. Ever since the world changed, their bodies had grown unusually strong, but so had their energy consumption. A hearty meal and a sunbath had become essential parts of their routine. But today, the mood among the Reaper Pythons was foul—a human, barely thicker than its own waist, had actually stepped right on its head and walked past. The python instantly flew into a rage.

Abandoning its sunbath, the massive serpent lifted itself and lunged after the intruder, jaws wide. Zhang Xiao sprinted ahead, pursued by more than a dozen Reaper Pythons, each one roused into fury by a kick or a misstep. Zhang Xiao hadn’t wanted to disturb so many of these beasts—he had no experience leveling up in this area and would prefer not to attract such attention—but the pythons were everywhere, each one enormous, and with his pace, it was inevitable that he’d step on one.

He had hoped his speed would be enough to shake off the serpents, but Zhang Xiao had underestimated the swiftness of these level 8 creatures. In just a few breaths, the Reaper Pythons were almost upon him, their foul, fishy breath already reaching his nostrils. Seeing a mountain crevice not far ahead, Zhang Xiao gritted his teeth, pushed himself even harder, and with a leap and a forward roll, squeezed himself sideways into the crack.

With a heavy thud, the Reaper Pythons crashed into the crevice, but it was far too narrow for them; their bodies piled up at the entrance, none able to get through. Zhang Xiao plopped down inside, letting out a sigh of relief. One more step and he would have been caught. If he hadn’t dodged so quickly, he’d have been torn to pieces right now. Watching the serpents jammed together outside, unable to enter, Zhang Xiao finally relaxed. As he looked around, it matched his memory—this was a natural cavern, three meters high and two meters wide.

Gazing at the pythons crammed at the entrance, a sly grin appeared on Zhang Xiao’s face. “So you think it’s fun to chase me, huh? Let’s see how you like this.” He raised his wooden staff and began striking the clustered snakes. Trapped and unable to move, the serpents could only endure blow after blow raining down on their heads. Zhang Xiao’s attacks weren’t enough to seriously harm them, but his relentless assault wore them down. He lost count of how many times he struck, his movements becoming mechanical, until suddenly a cool sensation washed over him, banishing his fatigue—he’d leveled up. The seven-level difference gave him enough experience to gain more than a single level.

He opened his status panel and assigned all three free attribute points to Strength; Strength and Endurance also each increased by one automatically, as previously established. With his Strength boosted, his attacks grew noticeably more powerful. He swapped his weapon for a level-three staff and continued beating the serpents, their frustration mounting as they desperately tried to tear the human apart.

But the crevice was simply too narrow. The snakes’ heads were jammed together, unable to move, let alone advance. In just half a day, Zhang Xiao had worn his staff to splinters and tossed the broken pieces aside. He sat down, watching as another python tried to wedge its head into the gap. Unhurried, Zhang Xiao took out some rations and began to eat, unconcerned. He had already cleared out the pythons that had gotten stuck, and he had risen from level three to level five.

The pythons behind, wiser now, no longer rushed in all at once, but came one by one. Yet a snake’s intelligence was limited; it could get its head in, but its massive body wouldn’t fit, and soon enough it became stuck, unable to retreat or advance. Fortunately, these were pythons, not venomous snakes. If they had been, they would have spat venom at Zhang Xiao long ago. This was precisely why this place was known as a leveling paradise.

After finishing his meal and drink, Zhang Xiao took out his alloy knife—though “knife” was a generous term. He had forged the blade himself, sharpening the edge with a whetstone. It wasn’t keen, but it was heavy and felt reassuring in his grip.

Broken Alloy Knife: True Damage Level 1! Requires Level 5.

Proudly gripping his creation, Zhang Xiao knew this was the best weapon he’d made so far. After the world changed, weapon damage was classified as Basic, Intermediate, and True Damage, with True Damage divided into nine levels. His knife only had True Damage Level 1, but that was already excellent for this stage; before the change, even daggers or kitchen knives were only True Damage Level 2 and required at least level 7 to wield. Being level five and already using a True Damage weapon made him feel rather impressive.

Switching to the alloy knife, Zhang Xiao faced the python at the entrance and brought the blade down on its head, crushing half its skull. Two strikes were enough to turn the serpent into experience points. After reaching level five, the required experience increased exponentially. Though the Reaper Pythons were level 8 monsters, he could no longer level up after just one or two kills, but the experience still accumulated rapidly.

For two days, Zhang Xiao remained in the crevice. At first, he ate rations; after those ran out, he ate snake meat and drank snake blood—a true life of primitive survival. If not for the partial recovery that came with each level-up, he would have gone mad. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to leave, but he simply couldn’t. The serpents outside kept coming, one after another. Kill one, and another would immediately push its way in. If not for the fact that, after the change, corpses vanished after an hour, the crevice would have been blocked completely by now.

Numb from repetition, Zhang Xiao finally rose to level nine before the Reaper Pythons ceased their assault. Cautiously poking his head out, he discovered that the surrounding area was now clear—the pythons had been wiped out. Unless he waited three days for them to respawn, he’d have to venture deeper to lure more out, but he had no interest in that. At level nine, the experience gained from killing pythons had dropped sharply; no matter how many there were, he didn’t want to continue this primitive, bloodstained existence—especially as he now reeked so strongly of snake that even he was disgusted by his own scent.

Taking advantage of the remaining daylight, Zhang Xiao made his way briskly back toward the village. At level nine, he felt almost superhuman, bounding along the mountain paths with ease. He opened his status panel: Level 9, Strength 59, Agility 35, Endurance 65. He had invested most of his points in Strength, but his original constitution was so low that, compared to someone with a military background, whose attributes would likely all be over 60 at this level, he still fell short. Still, he comforted himself—by the time the others reached level nine, who knew how far ahead he’d be?

By the time Zhang Xiao returned, night had fallen over the village. Most of the elders had already mastered basic skills, so the great change hadn’t affected them much. Approaching his courtyard, Zhang Xiao froze: three youths in trendy, casual clothes were arguing with an elderly man—Old Wang, his landlord.

Upon seeing Zhang Xiao, Old Wang quickly pulled him aside, whispering, “Little Zhang, these three want you to move out. I disagreed, so now they want to use force.”

It turned out the three were notorious city playboys—known for drinking, clubbing, and chasing women. Useless as they were, they were clever enough; within a week of the change, they’d figured out the basics of their wrist data panels. But they weren’t the only smart ones in town—word had already spread that killing monsters would help you level up, and chaos reigned. Cats, dogs, even rats were nearly wiped out.

The trio had decided to come to the countryside, since one of them had acquired a motorcycle skill, and after riding out found most village houses already taken—many others had the same idea. Upon learning Zhang Xiao lived alone, they’d set their sights on his place, hoping to force him out, but Old Wang refused. After all, Zhang Xiao had helped the villagers and couldn’t be tossed out just like that. This was the scene Zhang Xiao returned to.

Hearing all this, Zhang Xiao’s expression darkened—not because they wanted to evict him, but because he hadn’t expected people to find this place so quickly. What effect would this have on his leveling plans?

As Zhang Xiao was weighing his options, a hand clapped down on his shoulder from behind. “Hey kid, we want to rent this house. If you know what’s good for you, get lost.”