A few more unlucky Tidemire Murlocs turned into ash.
Li Miao shifted his gaze toward the newbie named Shi and Yuǎnfāng.
"Should be about time. Try a real fight now—I'll watch your back."
Yuǎnfāng nodded, picked up a stone, aimed for two seconds, and threw it at a nearby murloc.
…Looked a bit off. Probably going to miss.
Li Miao shook his head inwardly.
Stone-pulling wasn't easy—he'd practiced a ton before getting the aim right.
But then something unexpected happened.
The murloc, who should've been out of the stone's path, suddenly paused mid-patrol, turned its head, and took one step—
—perfectly into the stone.
…That hit?
Luck's not bad, huh… Li Miao thought.
But he quickly focused on the enraged murloc that was now charging at Yuǎnfāng.
"Dodge! If it tackles you, you won't survive many hits!"
Yuǎnfāng still didn't move, so Li Miao instinctively raised his sword, ready to intervene—
Then froze.
Yuǎnfāng didn't dodge-roll.
He simply stood there, calm as still water, as if he'd mentally rehearsed this scene a dozen times.
Then—
He lifted his heel lightly, body tilting just enough to the side.
The murloc's pounce missed him by a hair.
And before Li Miao could even process it—
Yuǎnfāng's dagger flashed upward, stabbing cleanly into the murloc's neck.
Stab—
The creature writhed.
Yuǎnfāng frowned, twisted his wrist, widening the wound with a practiced motion.
He had not expected the murloc to survive the initial stab.
[You have slain: Tidemire Murloc]
[Obtained: Wax Oil ×1]
"So… the dagger's speed comes at the cost of killing power," Yuǎnfāng murmured, picking up the wax oil.
Li Miao: "..."
Li Miao: =()
Li Miao stared blankly.
"W—ha… the hell!!"
Bro, WHAT??
This was his first real fight??
You call that a newbie?
His own first fight, he'd nearly been torn into candle wax.
Yuǎnfāng's first fight looked like he was bullying a sandbox mob.
It hurt.
It hurt his soul.
"Yuǎnfāng… you… really a beginner?"
Li Miao asked cautiously.
"Yeah? What's wrong?" Yuǎnfāng looked at him, genuinely confused.
Li Miao's mouth twitched.
"That sidestep dodge aside… the way you stabbed the neck? You look more practiced than the butcher who's been killing pigs next door for ten years…"
If you are a newbie—
Then what am I?
A talking, walking decorative NPC??
Yuǎnfāng seemed to realize his own performance might have been… unusual.
He explained earnestly, "I was carefully observing your battles earlier—absorbing your experience."
"And I've always had a strong heart. Plus… I got lucky."
After hearing this explanation—
Li Miao's shock eased a little.
…Who am I kidding? Hell no, it didn't ease!!
Who learns to fight like that by watching someone else??
It was like those tutorial videos online—
Looks simple when you watch it.
Looks cool.
You think you understood everything.
Eyes: We've mastered it.
Brain: We've mastered it.
Body: Do it yourself, then!!
Li Miao wasn't an idiot. He knew how things worked.
"You sure you're not some internal tester?"
Or… maybe he did this kind of thing often in real life…
Li Miao felt a chill and probed cautiously.
Seeing Li Miao couldn't digest his explanation, Yuǎnfāng shook his head and rephrased:
"Maybe… you could say I have some talent in this area."
Talent…
Right.
His [Diligence] talent boosted learning.
Plus Yuǎnfāng's own natural ability was clearly monstrous.
"Your talent is… terrifying."
Li Miao felt defeated, but also secretly relieved.
Good thing he didn't act arrogant earlier—or he would've been slapped into another timeline.
"Li Miao, let's keep grinding levels," Yuǎnfāng said.
That "Li Miao" made Li Miao feel oddly flattered.
"…Feels like I should be calling you Yuǎnfāng-dàlǎo instead…"
And speaking of levels…
He suddenly remembered—
Yuǎnfāng came out without adding any stat points.
Everything except Spirit was still at 5…
That thought alone made Li Miao's morale drop another notch.
But what he didn't expect was this:
Yuǎnfāng's combat talent…
was only the tip of the iceberg.
Time passed as the two farmed mobs.
Li Miao went from shocked → impressed → numb.
He finally accepted reality:
This guy was either a hidden GM or a monster Genius.
Every fight looked like he'd rehearsed it a hundred times.
His improvement was visible with the naked eye.
He wasn't satisfied with simple combat, either.
Take dodging—
Yuǎnfāng tried every angle, posture, and motion:
Rolls, leaps, crouches, even sliding low,
sometimes not attacking at all—just testing how to react to murloc patterns.
The poor Tidemire Murlocs were basically toys,
getting toyed with like physics test dummies.
And Yuǎnfāng didn't even look like he was fighting—
he looked like he was… running experiments.
"...You're not even hurt. Why do you keep running back to the cave?"
Li Miao finally asked.
"I'm testing what each stat does."
Yuǎnfāng answered simply.
"What?"
It took Li Miao a full moment to process.
He really was performing controlled experiments.
"Did… did your testing get results?"
Li Miao asked cautiously.
Yuǎnfāng nodded.
"I'll explain everything to you later."
Hearing that, Li Miao hurriedly responded and even moved away to kill murlocs on the other side, afraid of interrupting him.
"I'm still thinking about how to farm faster…
Meanwhile this guy's already researching the game's underlying systems…"
Li Miao sighed inwardly.
But instead of discouragement,
he felt excitement.
This was clearly a big thigh.
And he was hugging it tight.