I took a deep breath and said, “Henry, I have something to tell you.”

“Mm, what is it?”

“My neural reflex delay has shortened—to about 0.7 seconds. I just tested it this morning.”

“……”

Henry Cooper was completely stunned, then suddenly burst out laughing like a volcanic eruption, shaking the whole place. He was incredibly excited, his face glowing with joy. Suddenly, he hugged me tightly and laughed, “My brother is back, haha, my brother Ethan is coming back!”

I laughed heartily, “Alright, don’t get too excited.”

“How can I not be excited?” Henry Cooper cackled, “My brother is about to return, hahaha, the performance of a peerless genius is about to begin, the dancer on the edge of death is back in the world! Hmph, damn it, that GRD Zhu Yingluan is so arrogant, but with the two of us joining forces, we’ll definitely overturn his Martial God legend. What bullshit Martial God!”

I pressed down on his shoulder, calming his enthusiasm, and smiled, “Don’t rush. Zhu Yingluan isn’t in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai area, so he won’t show up in Floating Ice City either. After all, I still have a 0.7 second delay right now. With such a big delay, I can’t beat Zhu Yingluan for now. Let’s lay low for a while. Anyway, I’m not using my old ID, so Zhu Yingluan can’t find me. When the time is right, I’ll get back everything he owes me, with interest!”

“Alright, I’ll always support you!” Henry Cooper patted my shoulder and laughed, “Ethan Carter, now that your delay is under one second, to celebrate, let’s go have a drink at noon?”

“No, we need to level up this afternoon. People with higher levels early on have a big advantage. We can talk about celebrating after we’ve gained enough of a lead. Anyway, you’re living here with me now, so if you want to drink, I’m always up for it!”

“Hahaha, good, let’s buy some rations at noon and fight hard for a week without leaving the house!”

“OK!”

“By the way, I’ll rush to level 10 this afternoon. You train on your own. Once I leave the newbie village, I’ll come find you in Floating Ice City. What’s your ID?”

“Broken Halberd Sinks in Sand!”

“……”

“And you?”

“Outstanding Expert!”

“……”

“Damn, Ethan Carter, you bastard! Don’t look at me like that…”

Actually, Henry is a total newbie, and he dares to use a name like that. If I’d known, I would’ve picked an ID like ‘Graceful Pretty Boy.’

……

A little after two in the afternoon, the two of us went to the supermarket and bought a ton of instant noodles and frozen dumplings. Then we had a big meal at the Hunan restaurant downstairs. Back home, we each logged in—me in my own room, Henry living on the sofa in the living room. This guy actually comes from a well-off family, but insists on roughing it with me in this doghouse of an apartment.

At three thirty in the afternoon, I logged in!

“Whoosh!”

Everything went black before my eyes. I knew this was my “home”—the crypt.

That’s right, before logging off, players have to find a safe place to stay, otherwise their safety can’t be guaranteed. Usually, everyone buys a simple tent from the system NPCs—ten copper coins each, and they last a long time. But the Night Spirit race doesn’t have tents; everyone just crawls into a crypt to sleep.

My crypt was near the Ice Ridge, with a tombstone slanting to one side.

“Rustle rustle…”

I crawled out of the crypt, looking with interest at the inscription on the stone. “Tomb of Viscount Lute.” No wonder it was so comfortable to sleep here—it was a noble’s grave!

But the writing was just too disgusting to look at!

So, I drew my Green Blade and wiped off the inscription, then wrote a line: “One-bedroom, looking for a roommate, negotiable.”

……

Laughing, I left this cozy little home, picked up my longsword, and headed for the Ice Ridge. It was still that Skeleton Captain, Fark. Yesterday, he looked like he had something to say, so I knew he definitely had another quest for me.

Chapter 11: Guiguzi

“Aha, young little bones, you’ve finally come back again!”

Sentinel Captain Fark waved his white, bony arm and said in a booming voice, “Ever since you killed so many skeleton minions yesterday, the Death Lord hiding in the darkness has finally appeared. Now, he’s gathered a group of skeletons and is provoking us in the graveyard. To defend the honor of the Ice Ridge, go and kill 200 Greenbone Skeletons, and collect 20 Greenbone Skeleton Fingers for me. You’ll get a very generous reward!”

I quickly clicked confirm, feeling lucky that I was the only player at the Ice Ridge. Otherwise, how could such a good quest fall to me?

“Ding~!”

System prompt: You have accepted the quest [Greenbone Skeletons]! (Quest level: F-rank, superior)

Quest content: Go to the large graveyard next to the Ice Ridge, kill 200 Greenbone Skeletons, and collect 20 Greenbone Skeleton Fingers. But you must be careful—the powerful Death Lord has appeared in the graveyard. You are no match for him, so be sure to escape quickly.

……

I was full of ambition. Hmph, 200 Greenbone Skeletons—it looked like it would take half a day to kill them all. Perfect. In half a day, Henry Cooper should be out of the newbie village too. Then I’ll go check on how my newbie brother is doing.