After the character's death, the game automatically returns to the character selection screen, and the character list only has "Yan Qing" left.
'Yan Yi' survived for less than twenty minutes from birth to death.
Yan Qing was completely baffled.
What, why?
From the situation, Yan Qing naturally understood that 'Yan Yi' was killed by those two guards, but... why?
What's the reason?
'Yan Yi' didn't even have a pair of shoes, not a penny on him, so why kill him?
It's just a game, but if this happened in reality, Yan Qing would truly die with regrets.
Yan Qing immediately created a new character 'Yan the Second', with the same appearance and the same skill set, still only able to choose "Real Mode." Although there were other newbie villages to choose from, Yan Qing wanted to know why those guards wanted to kill him, so he still chose to be born in the "Nocturnal Heaven Affiliated Newbie Village."
Arriving in a desolate and dilapidated village, Yan Qing wasted no time and directly controlled the character to head towards Ping City.
Just as he reached the main road, Yan Qing felt the linear motor of the game console vibrating, and upon adjusting the view, he saw a group of knights coming from behind. The knights were clad in heavy armor, wearing Evil Ghost Masks; even separated by a screen, Yan Qing felt their imposing aura.
Yan Qing didn't pay much attention, controlling 'Yan the Second' to continue forward, and then—
Slash!
'Yan the Second' was pierced through from behind by a lance, and the leading knight, using his horse's power, lifted him whole and then hoisted the lance high, making 'Yan the Second' fly like a kite in the air. The other knights laughed heartily, reminiscent of a group of young men cheering as a friend kicks a can into a trash bin.
When 'Yan the Second's' health bar emptied, the Evil Ghost Knight flicked his lance, throwing 'Yan the Second' towards a woodcutter who was hiding by the roadside to avoid the knights. 'Yan the Second' crashed heavily into the woodcutter, and both rolled into a heap on the ground.
'Yan the Second' certainly couldn't survive, and that unfortunate woodcutter likely faced a grim fate too.
As the knights' arrogant hoofbeats faded into the distance, the game popped up a message:
"You died."
After this round ended, Yan Qing put down the game console and took a trip to the restroom, briefly organizing his thoughts.
First, it's certain that the NPCs encountered in the game should all be True Men, only True Men would have such reactions, and they might even be real people from the outside main world. When Yan Qing controlled 'Yan Yi' and 'Yan the Second', these two should have appeared in the outside world as well.
Secondly, unknown about other areas, but the "Nocturnal Heaven Affiliated Area" environment is extremely harsh, with guards like wolves and knights like tigers, these people give no chance for interaction, ready to kill at will.
Logically, since it's tough around Nocturnal Heaven, one might head to Chang'an or Jiangnan. Yet, Yan Qing has been harboring a grievance since the inexplicable transmigration, inexplicably landing in the Thief's House, inexplicably being dragged to such a place... even being inexplicably killed while playing a game!
In reality, I'm timid, but in the game, am I afraid to hit hard?
More importantly, Yan Qing discovered there were no consequences for character death—or rather, the death itself was the consequence—which gave him plenty of room for maneuver!
Creating a new character again, but this time Yan Qing didn't choose the default face 01, opting instead for the robust body shape 06.
On the attribute allocation screen, the default "Qi Blood" was surprisingly at 3, and Yan Qing still had 10 available attribute points!
Yes, in the game "Messenger," body shape affects the default Qi Blood, but normal players wouldn't do this—to sacrifice precious style points for a mere 2 Qi Blood seems penny wise, pound foolish. Of course, there are some players with a unique aesthetic who purposefully choose this physique, carefully selecting various outfits to create the 'Ancient Gods Appearance' to attack all other normally aesthetic players.
Then Yan Qing allocated all attribute points to Qi Blood, creating a character with an initial Qi Blood of 13, Soul 1, Dexterity 1, and no Insight. It's known that Qi Blood is only useful early on; in later stages, it's mostly cultivating Soul and Dexterity, and having Insight at 0 means hitting a level-up bottleneck at the fourth transition—even with the 5% experience boost from Real Mode.
However, Yan Qing didn't create this character for long-term play, but to vent frustration, obviously not caring about Insight.
Named 'Yan San', descended into the "Nocturnal Heaven Affiliated Newbie Village"!
The same ruined village, but it was a different character this time. Yan Qing noticed the sun setting in the sky, it was already afternoon, further confirming the game as the real world outside.
'Yan San' ran towards Ping City this time without encountering knights, and was much faster. The high stamina and stamina recovery brought by high Qi Blood, along with the large stride brought by his size, allowed 'Yan San' to reach the Ping City gate in just a few minutes.
It seemed like no changes, the people were still queuing, and the guards still watching, except there was an additional head at the gate—'Yan Yi's' head was hanging by a grass rope at the gate, with a "Mountain Bandit" sign stuck in his hair.
One has to say, people adapt quickly; after two game character deaths, Yan Qing was unfazed by this scene, though his actions remained unchanged—he controlled 'Yan San' to walk up to the gate, and when the guard came to question him, he charged a punch, knocking the guard's teeth out!
The guard, hit with such force, fell directly to the ground, his spear naturally fell too. 'Yan San' immediately picked up the spear and stabbed it into the ground three times, the guard's scream was choked by blood in his throat, he twitched twice on the ground before lying still.