Apocalypse: Everyone Levels Up, I Return to the Time Before the Server Opened - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Widening the Gap Against Billions of Players

At the moment when Ye Qiu accepted the quest, other players who had “entered the game” had now been assigned to various novice villages one after another.

“So after all that suspense, the countdown in my mind was actually for a game?”

“Damn it! I spent all my savings building an underground shelter and stockpiling supplies to last for years. Now it’s all for nothing!”

“Hahaha, I told you nothing was going to happen. Some people just love fear-mongering and making a fuss over nothing!”

“You’re lucky. I really thought the apocalypse was coming, so I gathered my courage and killed my neighbor’s annoying barking poodle. No time to chat, there’s a police car outside…”

“Even though nothing bad happened, don’t you think it’s still pretty weird that a virtual game suddenly appeared in our minds?”

“What’s so weird about it? I was eating Yunnan mushrooms while listening to you guys talk, and I even saw subtitles.”

“Yeah, what’s the big deal?”

“Could people from centuries ago have imagined the internet, which lets us know everything without leaving home? This might just be a secret chip implanted by world leaders, allowing everyone to play games. Or maybe it’s a special virus, like poisonous mushrooms, causing mass hallucinations!”

Although most people had entered the game, a good number of them quickly logged out, returning to reality.

After all, a game was just a game. Reality still demand living.

So, offline discussions began spreading across major forums and websites, where people debated and analyzed the sudden emergence of the game in their minds.

Inside the game, there was also an in-game forum.

Players could control it through their thoughts or use voice commands, gestures, and other movements within the game to interact with it.

On the in-game forums, besides discussing the mysterious appearance of the game in their minds, most players were talking about the game’s actual content.

“What the hell kind of game is this? NPCs can only serve one player at a time! And you have to line up! If you don’t, they’ll literally kick you out, and your reputation with them drops! If your reputation is too low, you won’t be able to take on quests at all!”

“These monsters are ridiculously strong!”

“Tell me about it!”

“I actually got bitten to death by a rabbit. Can you believe it?!”

“Ahhh, this is so frustrating! There’s an old NPC by the village entrance, but you need to be level 5 and have a pass just to get in!”

“I’ve been waiting in line for three hours!”

“How many people are in a single nocive village?”

“Not sure about other countries, but a friend of mine who analyzes data estimated that there are 3,000 novice villages in our country. That means each village has nearly 500,000 players!”

“Ughhh… If I escape the country in-game, people won’t call me a traitor, right?”

“Forget it. Foreign forums are also complaining. They have fewer novice villages, so each one still has about 500,000 players.”

“What about the smaller countries? Their total population isn’t even that high!”

“Haha, smaller countries were automatically merged into nearby nations. All of Europe is counted as a single country in the game.”

“Okay, I won’t escape then. That actually makes me feel better.”

“Here’s a fun fact: This game has nearly 100% realism. Why not just enjoy life as a casual player?”

“Yeah, yeah… Hehe, I was just with my girlfriend in the game… Hehe…”

“Screw these stupid quests, I’m done!”

“Huh? I just saw a player walk out from inside the novice village?!”

“You must be seeing things. You need to be at least level 5 and have a pass to enter and exit the village. The game has only been live for a few hours, no way someone got out already.”

“Maybe I imagined it…”

—

Novice Village No. 0001.

Ye Qiu walked out of the village, completely satisfied.

Fortunately, there were too many people.

Some might have noticed him leaving the village, but because of the crowd, they just assumed they were mistaken.

After all, the game had just launched.

Everyone was still wearing basic white gear and stuck at level 0!

How could someone have already widened the gap between themselves and tens of billions of players in such a short time?

After leaving, Ye Qiu checked his quests.

[Village Chief’s Quest: Obtain 20 tiger whips and deliver them to Village Chief Xu Laobo. (Level 1–5, Normal Quest)]

[Blacksmith Zhang Tie’s Quest: Mine 10 pieces of iron ore and deliver them to Blacksmith Zhang Tie. (Level 1–5, Normal Quest)]

[Herbalist Shopkeeper’s Quest: Collect 10 stalks of Breathroot and deliver them to the Herbalist Shopkeeper. (Level 1–5, Normal Quest)]

By accepting the third quest, Ye Qiu also learned the “Gathering” skill.

Additionally, it was worth mentioning that each of these quests had a level range and a classification as a “Normal Quest.”

The level range was self-explanatory. Higher-level quests gave better rewards but also came with greater difficulty.

For example, a level 1–5 quest would typically involve fighting level 1–5 monsters.

If a player tried to take on a higher-level quest without being strong enough, the failure rate would skyrocket!

Then there was the “Normal Quest” label, which indicated the grade of the quest.

As a reincarnated player and someone who had lived through a full lifetime, Ye Qiu knew this system inside out.

Quests were divided into four tiers.

The lowest, first tier — Normal Quests.

The second tier — Rare Quests.

The third tier — Epic Quests.

The fourth and highest tier — Legendary Quests!

This was what truly determined a quest’s difficulty!

Of course, there were also Special Quests.

But those were rare occurrences, so they weren’t worth mentioning for now.

“These may seem like three Normal Quests, but in reality, two of them are actually Rare Quests!” Ye Qiu recalled information from his past life.

Because he had entered the novice village so early, he had interacted with Blacksmith Zhang Tie and the Herbalist Shopkeeper ahead of others.

These two were no ordinary NPCs!

In his previous life, a player who maxed out their reputation with them became sworn brothers with Zhang Tie and was recognized as a sibling by the Herbalist Shopkeeper.

At last, that player was able to receive Rare Quests!

One required finding the black iron Zhang Tie had lost. The other required recovering the stolen herbal recipe of the Herbalist Shopkeeper.

Normally, with Ye Qiu’s current reputation with them, he wouldn’t have been eligible for these Rare Quests.

But, the game’s realism allowed a unique approach. You could complete a quest before even accepting it!

In his past life, the player who maxed out reputation never actually completed the quests. Instead, two casual players had stumbled upon the black iron and herbal recipe while wandering around.

They proudly shared their experience on the in-game forum.

“This time, I’ll seize every single opportunity to grow stronger!” Ye Qiu murmured to himself.