Noob Player

Zhong Ming was Shen's friend since they were in middle school. They had known each other for ten years already. Both were going to the same middle school and also the same high school.

While Shen did not graduate high school, Ming did but he did not go to the university. Ming was typically an average student with an average score. He could not go to the university as he could not score the scholarship.

His parents opened vegetable stalls in a traditional market, and could not afford to support him to the university. So after he graduated from high school, Ming decided to work instead of continuing his education.

Ming was also known for his prideful mannerism in his circle of friends. Prideful and stubborn, not willing to receive any help even from his sister who had worked. Yes, the stubborn Ming refused her sister's help for his university pay.

Even so, he was loyal and also willing to help his friends. The guy had helped Shen on many occasions.

Tanned skin, having a crew cut, thick eyebrows, and also a big nose. Ming was unique in his way. Additional broad shoulders and toned muscle from working too much. He had been working on anything he could.

"So how is it? Have you leveled up yet?" Ming grinned at Shen, mocking his friend for his zero progress. Ming was the only one who knew about Shen's situation in the game so he asked.

"I am good," Shen returned the grin with his, "I am level 10 now, and look at this!" He was about to show the screenshot on his phone, but Ming dropped the spoon in his hand.

"What!? There's no way you can reach level 10 in a few days," his voice was loud and attracted the other customer's attention to them.

"Ssshhh! You are too loud, too loud Ming," Shen had to apologize to the other customers for his friend. Instead of arguing against his friend, Shen showed a screenshot to stop his frantic friend.

"Wha–" Shen immediately covered his friend's mouth as soon as he realized Ming was about to yell again, "Lower your voice! Lower your voice! You are disturbing others."

Uncle Hou's malatang started to gain more customers, he did not want his friend's antics to drive the other customers away. After Ming calmed down, only then Shen pulled his hand off his friend's mouth.

"But Shen, this is crazy. How can you have that many stats already while being level 10?" Ming asked while lowering his voice. He was pointing at the phone with his finger, "Is it the Legendary Class thingy? Do you get that many stats because of your class?"

"Calm down! Calm down! I am afraid you will get a heart attack if you keep acting like this," Shen shook his head, "I will explain everything to you, so calm down first, okay?" He pushed the soda closer to his friend.

Ming took the glass and drank the soda. The cold and tingling sensation in his mouth was enough to calm him down. But he was still surprised and at the same time, he was excited to hear the secret.

First of all, while playing the game was fun for him, but his purpose for playing the game was not to have fun. He played to earn money, so having fun was not an option for him. Knowing this secret would be crucial for him.

Second, the status was abnormal, too abnormal that the gap between him and Shen was just too big. He got the gaming pod three days ago, he was now level 5. He had 100 stats in total for the five attributes. Level 10 was supposed to have 150 stats in total for attributes, but Shen had more than that. Ming counted the total attributes, Shen had 383 stats in total. More than double than he was supposed to have. It was natural for him to go wild. All players would be dying to know the secret.

Ming took a deep breath and released a long sigh, then he nodded his head, "I calm down now, so, how did you do it?"

"The secret is…" Shen did not hide it from his friend. He told Ming the pain-staking effort in the training under Yosu's guidance. The hellish training straight for two weeks in-game time.

"Is that working?" Ming was marveled at the secret of increasing the stats without leveling up. Working up in the game? No one would torture themselves to do that and Shen compelled to do that.

"But isn't it faster to increase the stats by hunting the monsters? I am not in your abnormal village, after all," Ming felt that going hunting the monster would be faster, increasing his attribute instead of wasting his time working out as Shen did. Moreover, it was boring as hell, training that hard in the game.

"Indeed, but think carefully Ming. This is for your benefit. Even though you will be left behind in level, your stats keep increasing. Moreover, this training only works when you are still low in level. When you reach a high rank, the training will be less effective. This is your chance! Don't think about the short-term benefit, but look at the long-term!" Shen advised his friend.

"I am the prime example, you can see that my stats are crazy higher than a normal player in level 10. You should have a training center in your city, there must be a facility like that in the city. It is Tribe Online's hidden mechanic, after all," he added to convince Ming.

He was telling the truth, the higher your stats were, the less effective the training was. That was what he knew after doing the same thing for two weeks in the game.

"Big Bro, do you play the famous Tribe Online game?" A childish voice interrupted the discussion. Shen turned to the side and smiled at Lin Lin, "Yes, we play the game."

"You two must be rich. I heard the gaming pod is freaking expensive," with her cute voice, it sounded funny in Shen's eyes.

However, her mother disagreed with Shen as Lin Lin was getting yelled at by her mother, "Lin Lin! Watch your words!"