Chapter 10 The Rankings
The first ranking was the Level Ranking.
[1. Qiyezhenzhen: Level: 4 (EXP: 136/300)]
[2. Qing Heyin: Level: 4 (EXP: 109/300)]
[3. Xia Youqiaomu: Level: 4 (EXP: 60/300)]
[6. JustGoMarryAGuy: Level: 4 (EXP: 12/300)]
[13. YouMustBeStarving: Level: 3 (EXP: 103/150)]
Skimming through casually, Qin Zhen spotted two familiar names — ranked sixth and thirteenth.
She had a pretty good impression of those two. Their values aligned well with hers, and she genuinely admired their wit.
The second ranking was the Equipment Ranking — and she was in first place here too. Qin Zhen figured she had her Starlight Staff to thank for that.
[1. Qiyezhenzhen: Blue-grade Equipment ×1, Green-grade Equipment ×2]
[2. Qing Heyin: Green-grade Equipment ×3, White-grade Equipment ×2]
[7. JustGoMarryAGuy: Green-grade Equipment ×1, White-grade Equipment ×1]
The third ranking was the Kill Ranking, where Qin Zhen placed second.
Even though she had secured the First Kill on a Tier 1 Monster, someone in the Chat Channel had earlier encouraged Players to actively engage monsters, and quite a few had taken up the challenge — some even successfully killing Tier 1 Monsters.
[1. Qing Heyin: Kills: Tier 1 Monster ×1, Common Monster ×3]
[2. Qiyezhenzhen: Kills: Tier 1 Monster ×1]
[7. JustGoMarryAGuy: Kills: Common Monster ×2]
Across three rankings, Qin Zhen had two first-place finishes and one second place!
But... this ranking system was way too transparent. Qin Zhen didn't want to draw too much attention to herself — she wondered if she could hide her name.
"System, can I hide myself from the rankings?"
[Sure! Host, look at the eye icon next to your own ID — just tap it!]
Qin Zhen looked carefully and sure enough, there was a small eye-shaped symbol next to Qiyezhenzhen. She tapped it, and a slash appeared over the eye. Her ID then changed to ****.
Qin Zhen let out a sigh of relief. This thing really couldn't be left public.
It was only five-thirty — surely not many people had seen her ID yet, right?
Qin Zhen reassured herself, then took out the Ice Affinity Skill Book and learned it on the spot.
She felt a surge of icy cold energy flood through her limbs, and then... that was it.
"Glacial Ring."
Qin Zhen parted her lips softly, and a staff shimmering with thousands of stars materialized in her hand out of thin air.
As if guided by instinct, she pointed the Starlight Staff at the half-extinguished campfire on the ground. A ring of ice-blue light abruptly appeared beneath it.
The campfire froze solid into a large block of ice. Three seconds later, the ice melted — and the campfire crumbled into a pile of ash.
Qin Zhen's eyes lit up. Wow, this skill was incredibly cool! She just had no idea how effective it would be against monsters.
Qin Zhen quickly rinsed her mouth, ate a bag of Bread and five Strawberries, packed three Bananas, and hung out the clothes she'd washed the night before to air-dry outside.
Then she headed eagerly into the forest to test out her newly learned skill.
Walking all the way to where she'd found the pine trees the day before, Qin Zhen didn't encounter a single monster — which left her feeling a little deflated.
Oh well. She'd just keep chopping trees.
Qin Zhen pulled out her Iron Axe and felled a pine tree, obtaining Wood ×5, Pine Resin ×1, Pine Nuts 500g ×1, and EXP +5.
Before she even had a chance to put the items into her backpack, a squirrel with a blazing red tail came leaping straight at her.
Qin Zhen startled and quickly chanted "Glacial Ring" under her breath.
She swung the Starlight Staff, locking onto the Flame Squirrel. A ring of ice appeared beneath its feet, and it was instantly frozen in midair — three separate damage numbers of -5 floated above it.
[Flame Squirrel: Common Monster — Attack Power: 20, may inflict Burning status on hit, dealing -5 HP per second; Defense: 15; HP: 100.]
After being struck first, the Flame Squirrel had 85 HP remaining.
Huh? Only 15 damage? Her Starlight Staff had 30 Attack Power — not to mention her own base Attack Power of 13.
[The Glacial Ring is a Crowd Control Skill. It deals no damage on its own, and therefore does not trigger the staff's or the Player's own damage. The -5 per second is the fixed damage from the Frozen status — it cannot be changed.]
The System's voice chimed in unexpectedly.
Qin Zhen: "......"
That was a bit ridiculous. At this rate, she'd be better off just swinging her axe at monsters instead of relying on this skill.
Wait — Qin Zhen suddenly had a flash of inspiration. She could use the skill to immobilize the monster first, then attack it with something else!
Three seconds later, the Flame Squirrel broke free of its Frozen status and lunged at Qin Zhen again.
Qin Zhen dodged its attacks and waited out ten seconds.
Then she swung the Starlight Staff and launched another Glacial Ring.
She quickly pulled out the Lianyue Crossbow and fired an arrow at the Flame Squirrel. Since it was already frozen in place, the shot landed with ease.
Whoosh.
The first arrow hit, and Qin Zhen pressed her advantage without mercy — she fired a second arrow immediately.
The System wouldn't let her equip two weapons at once, but she could just hold the Lianyue Crossbow in her hand!
System: [6.]
Qin Zhen: "Is that not allowed?"
System: [It's not that it's not allowed.]
Qin Zhen: "Then we're good."
-50.
-50.
Two arrows in rapid succession finished off the Flame Squirrel, which had only 70 HP left.
Qin Zhen: "!!!"
The Lianyue Crossbow truly was the GOAT. But why hadn't her own Attack Power been added to the damage?
[You didn't equip the Lianyue Crossbow — how would your base damage get added?]
The System's voice carried a hint of exasperation.
"Ah... I see." Qin Zhen laughed sheepishly and rubbed her nose.
For killing the Flame Squirrel, Qin Zhen received [Squirrel Meat 1kg ×2, Squirrel Hide ×1, Squirrel Tail ×1, Fire Spirit Bead ×1, Wooden Chest ×1, EXP +30].
[Fire Spirit Bead: Grants Fire Affinity +3 upon consumption.]
"System, what's the point of Fire Affinity +3?" Qin Zhen asked. Her Ice Affinity was 8 and her Light Affinity was 9, but she had no idea what those numbers actually did.
[The higher your Magic Attribute value, the stronger the effects of your skills.]
"So it's basically like leveling up a skill?" Qin Zhen was a little excited.
[You could think of it that way — but Host, the Glacial Ring's damage doesn't fall under that category.]
Qin Zhen: "......"
She'd almost forgotten about that. But it didn't matter — she refused to believe she'd never get her hands on a skill with real offensive power.
[However, Host, the Glacial Ring's control duration will increase — though the growth will be very gradual.]
That was still something. As long as there was room to grow, that was enough. If the control duration increased too easily, the skill would be completely broken.