Chapter 3: Village Chief

One particularly notable selling point VRMMORPGs had, was that they boasted beautiful and lifelike vistas. Shen Jingbin admired the unique scenery here which no longer existed in real life as she aimlessly wandered about.

Drifting along, she unknowingly reached the boundary of the novice village.

As she'd expected, the novice village that she was at was situated along the borders of the Celestial and Human races. Behind the novice village was a mountain that towered over the clouds. The mountain itself had a verdant and lush forest, and a single glance at it was enough for others to determine that it was out of the ordinary.

Shen Jingbin immediately made up her mind and set off for the mountain.

Likely, no one else would be senseless enough to climb a mountain instead of leveling up. The winding trail up the mountain only persisted for a short distance before it was replaced with weeds.

Since the trail stopped there, there was no need for her to continue going forward. In the instant she turned around and started to make her way back, a white streak suddenly flashed past the corner of her eye.

What was that?

Shen Jingbin hurriedly focused her attention in the direction the white streak went in.

There, she saw a white creature that looked like a rabbit, but wasn't quite one. It had run into the thick and solid trunk of an ancient tree before wordlessly collapsing onto the ground, its stocky hind legs continuing to unconsciously twitch.

Was this the real life version of “idly waiting for an opportunity”? ¹

She was left dumbstruck at the sight of this, only reacting after several seconds had passed. Walking over, she had a flabbergasted look on her face. Then, bending down, she picked up this object that had knocked itself out.

The system's voice rang out in her mind the second she touched it, "Congratulations, you have obtained a 'dwarf-eared rabbit'. Hint: the dwarf-eared rabbit is native to the Celestial domain, bring it to the Village Chief for inspection."

Shen Jingbin lowered her head and looked at the object in her hand. She realized it really was a ‘dwarf-eared’ rabbit. Its ears were so short it didn't look a single bit like a rabbit. Sure enough, it really was part of the Celestial domain, even its rabbits had such a unique appearance.

Since she received a prompt from the system, Shen Jingbin chose not to wander around any longer and tossed the rabbit into her backpack. Following that, she moved so fast she almost flew as she sped towards the Village Chief's residence.

Strangely, the two dogs no longer put on a ferocious appearance when they saw her. Instead, they looked a little like they were trying to curry favor with her as they wagged their tails.

Shen Jingbin always did like obedient creatures. Now in a good mood, she stroked their heads and swaggered into the Village Chief's residence.

Several players who happened to witness this scene were left bewildered by the sight. That girl was so ugly, even the Village Chief's two dogs were afraid of her!

Inside, she was greeted by a man leisurely sipping his tea as he reclined on his chair.

This man was exceedingly handsome. He had a slender build and wore a white robe. The man carried himself so well that he put all the other NPCs to shame.

Seeing her enter, the man put down the cup of hot tea he was carrying in his hands. His eyes widened slightly and he inched his line of sight upwards. He emanated an indescribable aura of attraction.

Before Shen Jingbin even got the chance to lament over how handsome the Village Chief was, her excellent vision captured the man's face losing all of its previous bearing after laying eyes on her.

Even his cheeks had unnaturally trembled several times.

The good impression that she'd just formed of him was instantly wiped clean.

Was this NPC concerned with how she looked as well?!

The man took several deep breaths in what looked to be an attempt to recompose himself before he slowly spoke, "Since ancient times, there are many dangerous things out in the world. Youth, are you sure you've made up your mind?"

Shen Jingbin replied normally and said, "Mmmhm."

"In that case, I won't stop you since you've made your decision. Take this wooden recommendation plaque and keep it with you till you've gained some accomplishments. Once you have, you can pay your respects and enter any sect of your choosing. You could even go to the ones that belonged to the Celestial and Demon races.”

Shen Jingbin stepped forward and received the wooden recommendation plaque before she said, "Thank you, Village Chief."

Likely due to her favorable attitude, the man let out a sigh and spoke once again with some concern, "A majority of the people in this world assess you based on superficial traits. With your appearance, you'll inevitably face some difficulties. I hope you don’t act rashly, and instead give thorough consideration in whatever you do. I have some medicinal pellets. They're of no use to me now, so you take them. They'll be able to help you out once or twice when you get injured.”

Shen Jingbin was caught off guard. She never expected him to have such a lifelike personality, and the previous good impression she’d had of him was slightly restored.

As she received the man's medicinal pellets, Shen Jingbin suddenly remembered the dwarf-eared rabbit in her backpack. She hurriedly pulled it out and brought it in front of the man, asking, "Village Chief, I picked this up just now. Could you help me take a look at it?"

The man's beautiful eyes instantly widened and he stared intently at the dwarf-eared rabbit in her hands. It took him quite a while before he managed to recompose himself before his gaze landed on her face, as if he was trying to find something from it.

Shen Jingbin felt rather awkward when the man stared at her. But luckily, he only did so for several seconds before he retracted his gaze and laughed, causing his handsome eyes and brows to look even more lively.

The man gave a hearty laugh as he took the dwarf eared rabbit from her and gently caressed it with one of his own large hands. Shen Jinbin didn't know why, but her precious little heart couldn't help but tremble in accordance with the man's swaying hand. Subconsciously, she felt that this comfortable sensation she was experiencing was extremely dangerous.

While stroking the rabbit, he said, "You're a very blessed person. This dwarf-eared rabbit is a Celestial spirit pet. In all my years that I've resided in Evening Sun Village, let alone catch one, I haven’t even been able to lay eyes on them. Who would’ve thought that someone like you, who doesn’t even have the strength to truss a chicken, would be able to get your hands on one of them.”

The corner of Shen Jingbin's lips tugged upwards into a smile. Without saying a word, she cursed him in her heart, "How do you plan on catching one if you've never even taken a step out of your house?"

1. Refers to the Chinese idiom 守株待兔(shou zhu dai tu). Every Chinese idiom has its own backstory, you can click the link if you're interested in the story↩