Basic Combat Techniques

Karen’s advancement was completed with remarkable speed, yet after leveling up, she didn’t notice much improvement in her abilities. She opened her attribute panel to check, only to find her rank still at Level 0—merely upgraded from “Trash” to “Ordinary.”

Though Karen couldn’t yet observe other people’s attributes, it wasn’t hard to guess that her Level 0 (“Ordinary”) was probably equivalent to a regular villager. Of course, for someone with a frail, plastic-like body abused for three years, managing to catch up with ordinary folk in just a couple of days was already miraculous. Karen noted that leveling up again would only require fifteen energy points—the equivalent of hunting thirty small animals.

It wasn’t much effort, and she was quite satisfied with such progress.

What Karen didn’t realize was that, just as she had left, someone followed the traces she left behind. This person retraced all of Karen’s steps throughout the day, except for the cemetery where she had been especially careful and left almost no trace. The rest was thoroughly inspected, with particular attention paid to the traps Karen had set.

After triple-checking that everything was in order, the elderly man missing an arm finally staggered home.

Karen, after some quick preparations, happily carried her rabbit home. There, she found Neph still waiting for her. She processed the rabbit, then, with a cleaned and dressed specimen in hand, shamelessly headed over to Old Jack’s to earn his favor.

Despite only meeting Old Jack once, Karen sensed that this one-armed old man was far from ordinary. She felt he had a story to tell.

Karen had just arrived in this world and knew nothing about what lay beyond the village. With an undead territory nearby, she desperately needed to learn more about this world.

Old Jack was her best gateway. Karen wasn’t exactly thin-skinned; even if she’d once had skin “as delicate as silk,” she knew she had to toughen up and work to win Old Jack’s goodwill.

Yet, ready for a long struggle, Karen was caught off guard when Old Jack, upon seeing her today, asked a question that left her momentarily speechless.

“Alright, kid, tell me—what do you want from me?” The abrupt interrogation almost stunned Karen, but fortunately, her reaction was swift.

“I don’t want to be a villager for my whole life. I refuse to be trapped in this little mountain village forever. I want to leave, to embrace a more exciting life!” Karen’s face flushed with emotion as she delivered her answer, embodying the spirit of a youth unwilling to be defeated by fate, striving to seize his own future.

If she had to rate her performance, Karen thought she could give herself eighty points. She wondered whether her answer would satisfy Old Jack. Her gaze towards him carried a hint of nervous anticipation, though it turned out to be needless.

The old man didn’t seem to care much about Karen’s answer. His cloudy eyes swept over her, “One rabbit every day, and I’ll tell you about the outside world, teach you a few things.”

“Thank you!” Karen was delighted by how easily things went.

Though Karen had been a shut-in before crossing over, she wasn’t the sort who lacked understanding of the world. People often underestimate shut-ins, assuming they suffer from social anxiety or lack competitive ability, but many are simply lazy or lack motivation.

Karen herself was of this type. She’d been the heir of a family with property and wealth, never needing to work for a living. Her temperament was lazy, and her hobbies didn’t require going out. Over time, she became a little recluse.

Yet in this strange new world, survival pressures made laziness impossible. All her thoughts were focused on how to stay alive.

Seeing Old Jack offer her an opportunity, Karen seized it eagerly and enthusiastically helped him cook the rabbit.

It must be said, food was a major factor in Karen’s recluse lifestyle. She loved gourmet cuisine and enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen, so she developed fairly decent culinary skills.

Though this world lacked the seasonings Karen was familiar with, she still managed, using what was available, to prepare a meal that pleased Old Jack.

The allure of good food is universal. After Karen served up a tasty roast rabbit, Old Jack’s mood visibly improved.

With his spirits lifted, Old Jack was more forthcoming, answering Karen’s questions in greater detail and providing her with valuable insights.

Over two hours, Karen learned many things she hadn’t known before through Old Jack’s stories.

Aside from the fact that their continent was called Kaido and their human nation was Bourbon—information not immediately useful to Karen—the most important thing was gaining a general understanding of the local environment.

The village where Karen now lived lay on the southern border of the Bourbon Dynasty. South lay the Goblin Forest, which Karen had already explored; fifty or sixty miles north was the southernmost town of the Bourbon Dynasty—Moon Worship City.

Karen showed keen interest in both places.

But Old Jack advised her that, until she gained some strength, it was best to stay put. A villager like her, venturing out, wouldn’t make it ten miles before being caught and sold as a slave.

Though Old Jack didn’t elaborate, Karen sensed that their environment was even more chaotic than she’d imagined.

It was true: Karen’s village was founded by people who couldn’t pay taxes, built on land where the Bourbon Dynasty’s authority couldn’t—or wouldn’t—reach. Such places lacked proper governance, making them far more disorderly than the interior of the Bourbon Dynasty.

Learning this, Karen frowned, feeling the urgency to grow stronger intensify.

Old Jack noticed Karen’s furrowed brow and seemed to understand her thoughts.

After a brief hesitation, the old man finally decided to teach Karen a basic combat skill…