It's getting boring always playing as a full Qi Blood character like Yan Qing, and moreover, the new alt character is supposed to gather intelligence, being too conspicuous just draws too much attention — Ping City is different, you typically have to fight your way in at the city gates, so full Qi Blood combat power is needed.
This time he wanted to experiment with a full Dexterity start.
Just like having an extra 2 points in Qi Blood for being tall, being too skinny grants an extra 2 points in Dexterity, so he crafted a character that looked malnourished, like a small boy not yet grown up.
He decided not to invest in any inherited talents, since opening new maps might inevitably result in some alt characters dying. As for the name, well, this is an alt in Chang'an, so it's "An Wu."
"Chang'an Affiliated Newbie Village," start the game!
As the screen brightened, "An Wu" appeared in a small forest, just outside of which was a village. To Yan Qing's surprise, this village had flat, expansive lands, neat rows of houses, fertile fields, clear ponds, and intersecting pathways—a thriving little village by all means.
Is this for real? Does a newbie village actually exist?
However, just as Yan Qing reached the main road, before even entering the village, two strong young men wielding staffs came up to block his way.
"This is Bu Liuguluo's manor, outsiders are not welcome."
So much for the hope of a newbie village being a good thing after all.
Yan Qing felt that a newbie village should ideally be in good locations, so it's normal for them to be developed into manors. It's actually strange that a newbie village in the Qi Kingdom could become desolate.
"I want to go to Chang'an, how do I get there?"
The two strong men exchanged glances, then pointed west: "Follow this road to the main road and head northwest, and you should reach Chang'an County in about two hours."
Two hours, even if Yan Qing could speed up his walking cycle, it would still take at least one hour, and now with the sun setting in the west, it was already afternoon.
Darkness wasn't the main issue; the main concern was that it would take an hour to get there. If his alt dies and another one is created, wouldn't that mean another hour of running? Having to run for an hour before each quest—what gamer can tolerate that?
In the sight of the two strong men, Yan Qing gradually moved away onto the main road.
Is there any way to reduce the travel time?
If not shortening the duration, at least reduce the number of trips...
A thought suddenly popped into his mind, and he opened the in-game map. Although it's a map, it has no landmarks; players must personally measure the land to create maps. The only benefit is that the map is shared across all characters, so Yan Qing can see a thousand miles away from "Chang'an Newbie Village," there are the landmarks "Nocturnal City Newbie Village" and "Zhen San Mountain Zheng Family."
But Ping City hadn't been recorded by the system.
This is understandable; after all, in the game system's logic, it probably only recognizes game-related and permanently existent landmarks, like newbie villages or dungeons, so a potentially destructible and disappearing "settlement" like Ping City isn't qualified for this eternal map.
Following the directions, Yan Qing marked a point to the northwest, then activated the "Auto Evolve" feature for "An Wu" to automatically explore the map.
Success, "An Wu" can explore the map normally.
This means players can assign tasks to game characters in Auto Evolve mode.
Next, Yan Qing had "An Wu" squat by the roadside, then exited the game, and created the alt "An Liu" as quickly as possible.
When "An Liu" arrived at the roadside, he indeed found "An Wu" squatting and watching ants by the roadside.
Yan Qing opened "Auto Evolve" and instructed "An Liu" to follow "An Wu."
Setup complete, "An Liu" squatted next to "An Wu" and started watching ants together!
Yan Qing breathed a sigh of relief, and then repeated the process, creating alts "An Qi," "An Ba," and "An Jiu," all set to follow "An Wu."
When he controlled "An Wu" to explore the map, the four alts followed "An Wu," with five alts mapping simultaneously!
Though the four following alts may not be precisely controlled, this at least saves the time spent on mapping. Yan Qing didn't dare just leave them automatically exploring; who knows if a group of knights might suddenly appear and slaughter them. He accelerated the walking cycle to speed up the process diligently.
An hour later, with the sun set and the sky split into one-third black and two-thirds light blue, Yan Qing finally saw the magnificent city—Chang'an.
More accurately, he saw the thousands of lights outside Chang'an City, crowded with people and bustling with activity, with manors and estates endless along the way and marketplaces and taverns busy at night. Just passing through the outer city of Chang'an took another small half-hour, with travel time adding up to almost two hours altogether.
Just then did he finally realize—when the strong men mentioned "Chang'an County," it probably referred to the outer area. Chang'an County is Chang'an County, and Chang'an City is Chang'an City. Naturally, there is no Chang'an County in the game, but gathering around safety zones is the norm.
There were guards at the city gate, but they merely glanced back and forth at "An Wu" and his companions without asking for any fee or further inquiries, allowing them to enter just like that.
"You have entered the main city of Chang'an."
"Based on your level, you can currently access the following milestone information."
"Gold Tour Guide: You have mapped the complete areas of Jiangnan, Chang'an, and Nocturnal Heaven."
"Local Resident: You have discovered the nineteen hidden Haha Grass within Chang'an City (0/19)."
"Running Enthusiast: Run a lap around Chang'an within half an hour."
"Leap Across Vermilion Bird Avenue: Cross from one side of Vermilion Bird Avenue to the other without touching the ground."
"Suspect: You successfully harmed others within Chang'an City without getting caught (0/10)."
"Demolition Team: You successfully destroyed a medium or larger building within Chang'an City (0/1)."
"Level up or unlock milestones to obtain more milestone information."
So this game also has a milestone system... Can you only get milestone information after entering the main city?
But normally, players reach level ten at the newbie village and then enter the main city. Giving them a milestone system at this point to guide them in exploring the world makes perfect sense.
With just a glance, Yan Qing knew that 'Gold Tour Guide', 'Local Resident', and 'Running Enthusiast' were similar milestones. By completing Local Resident and Running Enthusiast, players would have basically explored most of Chang'an City's map, and would likely complete the Gold Tour Guide milestone as well.
If Yan Qing's guess is right, the end of this series of milestones under Gold Tour Guide should be to map out the entire world, which is highly suitable for casual and achievement players.
However, 'Suspect' and 'Demolition Team' are a bit strange. Rather than milestones, it seems like the game company is having players help find bugs. After all, Chang'an is a safe zone. How could players be allowed to randomly harm others or destroy buildings? Compared to asking players to report bugs, providing a milestone for players to voluntarily submit bugs is undoubtedly more motivating.
Completing milestones certainly comes with rewards, but Yan Qing glanced around and set it aside. Not to mention that 'Suspect' and 'Demolition Team' are quite difficult, he definitely won't be able to complete 'Local Resident'—normal players would look for a guide on the forums to find the haha grass hidden in various corners by the dev team, but he doesn't have any forums. How could he find them?
Upon entering Chang'an, it was somewhat surprising that the inside of Chang'an City was far less bustling than the outside. If the outside was the commercial market area, then inside was more of a residential area. There were many differences besides this; for instance, the inside was much cleaner than the outside, and it was so clean it resembled the sets of a historical idol drama. Yan Qing speculated that the main city area might have a self-cleaning function.
After all, he had never seen a main city in any online game with trash cans and public restrooms...
Even though it was late, there were many well-dressed pedestrians on the street, some even with children, strolling along the brightly lit streets. Although there were some people who seemed disgusted and disdainful when they saw 'An Wu' and his group of mud-legged commoners in plain clothes, almost no one actively avoided them, showing that they had great confidence in the safety of Chang'an City.
Casually entering an alley, Yan Qing attempted to attack the 'An Liu' behind him.
With a punch from 'An Wu', 'An Liu' moved slightly, and a large damage number '0' appeared on the screen.
The main city safe zone doesn't prevent you from attacking; it just ensures that all attacks do no damage.
As for whether tokens can be used, we'll have to wait until the alt reaches level ten and changes class to test.
Yan Qing placed 'An Liu' to 'An Jiu' in the alley, letting them act as mushrooms since the main city offers protection, so there's no worry about their safety while AFK. Then, he went outside to ask for the address of An Guo Temple, and controlled 'An Wu' to scout alone.
This is all to prevent a team wipe. If 'An Wu' encounters danger, he can deploy 'An Liu' next, and surely five alts would be able to gather some information.
A perfectly fine MMORPG being played by Yan Qing like a strategy game.
Whoosh.
Yan Qing raised his view and vaguely saw someone darting between rooftops.
Running on the rooftops at night, could it be a fellow thief?
Spending almost half an hour reaching An Guo Temple, while also taking a stroll along Vermilion Bird Avenue, Yan Qing saw many eateries on Vermilion Bird Avenue. For instance, there was a wonton noodle shop that made his mouth water—he had grown up eating wonton noodles.
Unfortunately, the eateries were all closed, so he could only wait until daytime to buy something.
There was no doubt that An Guo Temple was closed as well, and compared to its sandbox version, the real-life An Guo Temple was undoubtedly more majestic and grand, with just the steps alone being dozens in number. The courtyard was surrounded by walls several meters high, truly like a city within a city. Yan Qing circled around a couple of times but couldn't find even a dog hole to squeeze through.
He could only wait until daytime to check it out again.
Yan Qing controlled 'An Wu' to crouch in a corner, intending to let him AFK until morning. Just then, a figure approached him.
"If this benefactor has no place to stay for the night, you can temporarily lodge at the nearby Ciji Institute."