Chapter 24: Chopping Trees Feels Amazing!

Lin Xian’s expression didn’t show much surprise.

“No wonder we did two hours of physical labor here and didn’t feel tired at all, even our breathing became much smoother!”

If it was his couch potato body from real life—

Forget two hours, he probably wouldn’t even be able to chop down a single tree before collapsing on the ground like a dead dog!

Ye Hui Fei touched his own body.

“It’s true! I can even feel the muscles on my arms!”

Black lines appeared on Lin Xian’s forehead.

“Who grows muscles in just two hours?”

Ye Hui Fei grinned.

“Not now, but after a few more days of chopping, I will!”

“Speaking of which, why is there such a huge gap in hidden experience gained between the three of us?”

Ye Hui Fei pointed at the three piles of wood stacked on the ground.

“Garble Bro has two more logs than us, fine.”

“But we each chopped down six trees, so why did one get 8 points and the other only 3? Is my tree-chopping stance wrong or something?”

He waved the Kuanjing Leaf Blade he’d used for two hours, but didn’t feel anything awkward about it.

So why couldn’t he gain more experience?

The hardness of the leaf was truly impressive.

His hands were red from chopping, but the blade was still intact, looking exactly as it did when he got it from Edegar.

Ye Hui Fei looked at Lin Xian with a thirst for knowledge.

“Show Bro, teach me!”

Even Luan Ma turned his gaze over.

Among the three, the one who gained the most extra experience wasn’t the one who chopped down the most trees, Garble Bro, but Lin Xian!

Lin Xian touched his chin in thought.

“Mm… Maybe it depends on how focused you are. You all know I’m a game blogger.”

“So while chopping, I paid extra attention to the patterns on the tree surface, trying to understand the game’s code mechanics.”

“Like how they modeled the physical process of trees being chopped, or how the game calculated the collapse of the trunk…”

“Although the game’s so well made that I couldn’t really figure out anything, my analysis results were basically zero.”

“But occasionally, I felt my mind go clear for a moment. Thinking back, that happened about eight times.”

Luan Ma nodded in agreement.

“Right, I also tried to find game loopholes. It was because of those occasional special feelings that I noticed the abnormal growth in experience points.”

Ye Hui Fei was dumbfounded.

“So I’m the only one who just went full brainless chopping?”

He really was just chopping trees for the sake of chopping trees!

It’s just that this new type of axe was so sharp that the impact of chopping felt extremely real.

Watching the notch on the stump widen bit by bit filled him with a sense of accomplishment.

The more he chopped, the easier it got, and the harder it was to stop!

He really liked that feeling.

He even started treating this game as a stress-relief tool, not paying attention to anything else.

All he remembered was that chopping trees felt awesome!

“It’s fine, knowing now isn’t too late either,” Lin Xian comforted him.

“Let’s hurry and continue. Let’s grind to Level 2 by today!”

“No problem!”

The three threw themselves back into work with renewed enthusiasm.

On the Game Panel, another hour passed, and the sun climbed to its peak.

The experience made up for the fatigue, letting the players work with vigor!

But gradually, exhaustion set in, and they had to stop to rest.

Just in time to avoid the midday sun.

Luan Ma found a type of Violet Vine in the nearby grass. It was extremely tough, perfect for transporting wood.

They spent another hour half-rolling, half-dragging the firewood to the open area next to the Church.

Edegar checked each person’s contribution and, using his NPC privileges, awarded experience points to the three of them in turn.

Luan Ma: 12 trees, Lin Xian: 9 trees, Ye Hui Fei: 8 trees.

In order to gain more extra experience from chopping, Ye Hui Fei’s efficiency actually dropped a bit.

The three then received some Wildfruit from Edegar, a new player Day 1 benefit, as lunch.

After that, they went to rest under a Great Banyan Tree at the end of the Town, its trunk ten meters wide.

“Crunch!”

Lin Xian took a big bite. The sweet and sour juice of the Wildfruit exploded in his mouth.

It tasted a bit like a cross between cherries and pineapples.

Pretty tasty.

And very filling.

Lin Xian thought to himself.

In just a few bites, he finished the whole fruit.

He put his hands behind his head and leaned back against the tree trunk, closing his eyes.

A sigh escaped from his chest.

“Ah—so comfortable!”

A cool breeze, filtered through layers of leaves, rustled in his ears.

The feeling of resting after working hard and eating your fill was the most relaxing and satisfying.

So much so that, even knowing his fatigue would disappear after logging off for a few hours, Lin Xian couldn’t bear to leave.

He didn’t know why, but  had a kind of magic.

Even hard labor felt fun in this world.

Maybe this was the charm of Virtual Reality Games…

Like a one-day trip to another world, he couldn’t let go.

Lin Xian tilted his head slightly.

“Guys, how are you feeling? Want to keep playing?”

“Of course!”

Ye Hui Fei said excitedly.

“A game this good just started beta testing—of course I’m playing until I get kicked offline!”

Luan Ma agreed.

“I’m planning to log off only when my game character needs to sleep.”

“So we’re all playing all day? What a coincidence, same here!”

Lin Xian said, pleasantly surprised.

That way, he’d have company at night too!

Birdsong drifted from the deep forest in the distance.

Ye Hui Fei scratched his ear.

“This game is fun, but it feels like it lacks magic elements.”

“It seems like ever since we left the Church, we haven’t seen any magical creatures.”

“Where are the running plants and talking animals?”

The only Magic Beasts they had encountered were their faction leader, Leaf Zhi, and the game mascot, Goddess Xiaoming.

That Knight NPC probably knew magic too.

But besides that, nothing.

Lin Xian craned his neck.

“What, you want a tree that runs away? Then the three of us would chase it down with axes?”

“Not exactly,” Ye Hui Fei looked up at the shade, “It’s just… it feels like something’s missing.”

“It’s fine. The Game Company probably hasn’t fully developed the magic ecosystem yet. Give it a few more updates and it’ll be fixed.”

Lin Xian was all too familiar with the state of beta games.

Beta versions were notorious for being incomplete.

Most NPCs didn’t even have voice acting.

 had few NPCs, but each one had a voice that felt perfectly natural.

You could tell how much effort the Game Company put into it.

Adding a few magic resource packs would be easy.

“See how even the game’s civilization points are sparse?”

“Take away that Church, and people would believe the game’s set in a primitive tribe!”

The Town had too little sign of civilization, completely lacking that extravagant medieval vibe.

Ye Hui Fei mused.

“That makes sense.”

Luan Ma was a bit surprised.

“Why’d you suddenly start thinking about game assets?”

Ye Hui Fei sighed.

“Sigh, I just want to find a Magic Plant better suited for making axes than Kuangjing Leaf.”