However, Li You decided not to enter the game instance just yet.

He was still holding a Silkworm Beetle in his hand.

Based on his experience from the last Twenty-Eight-Spotted Ladybug instance, completing the mission would cause all pests within a certain radius in the real world to be killed and disappear.

’From Ye Shengge’s perspective, wouldn’t the Silkworm Beetle in my hand just vanish into thin air?’

’That would be impossible to explain.’

"Host, there is no need to worry. When a game instance is generated, any pests in the real world that are within another human’s line of sight will not be killed upon mission completion."

Li You’s eyes lit up.

’So that means even if I enter the game instance right now and complete the mission, the Silkworm Beetle I’m holding won’t die and disappear?’

’And if Ye Shengge, or anyone else nearby, spotted another Silkworm Beetle, that one wouldn’t die or disappear either?’

’That’s very reasonable.’

’The game instance design is incredibly thorough.’

’In that case, I’ll enter the game instance right away.’

’After all, no matter how much time I spend in the game instance, only a second passes in the real world.’

’There’s no way Ye Shengge would notice anything strange in just one second.’

"Enter game instance," Li You chose.

His vision blurred for a moment, and then Li You found himself in an unfamiliar environment.

This time, however, Li You had experience. He knew he was still in the same spot; his body had just been shrunk countless times over.

He carefully observed his surroundings.

’Just as I thought.’

Not far ahead was the loquat tree infested by the Silkworm Beetles.

But now, to Li You’s eyes, it was a colossal tree, so tall it seemed to pierce the clouds.

’I have to admit, seeing the world from this perspective is a uniquely magical experience.’

Ye Shengge was nowhere in sight.

’It seems that while I’m in the same location, the scene isn’t completely identical to the real world.’

’That makes sense.’

A giant monster with a pair of long antennae and wings on its back appeared in Li You’s field of view.

A closer look revealed it to be a Silkworm Beetle.

The stats displayed above the monster’s head confirmed it.

"Monster: Silkworm Beetle.

Qi and Blood: 30

Attack: 3

Defense: 3

Agility: 5."

’This thing is way stronger than the Twenty-Eight-Spotted Ladybug!’

’Its Qi and Blood, Attack, and Agility are all higher.’

’What were my stats again with all my gear on?’

’I’ve kind of forgotten.’

Just then, the Silkworm Beetle spotted Li You. With a twitch of its long antennae, it charged straight at him.

’Holy shit!’

Startled, Li You hurriedly opened his Storage Pavilion and equipped all his gear.

Once the gear was on, his body instantly felt light and brimming with power.

He finally felt at ease.

By now, the Silkworm Beetle had reached him. Its antennae, like a pair of sharp swords, thrust straight for Li You’s chest.

Li You sidestepped, barely dodging the attack.

’Too dangerous!’

’Next time I enter a game instance, I have to equip my gear right away.’

He checked his own stats.

"Qi and Blood: 100

Attack: 5

Defense: 4

Agility: 10."

’Good, I’m still a lot stronger than this thing.’

’Then I have nothing to fear.’

Li You raised his sword, leaped high into the air, and launched a counterattack.

The Silkworm Beetle met his charge with its antennae.

Relying on his agility, which was double the creature’s, Li You twisted in mid-air. He avoided a direct clash with its antennae and instead brought his sword down on its head.

CLANG!

The monster’s Qi and Blood dropped by three points, while Li You’s remained untouched.

He continued to weave around the monster. With double its agility, he could find an opening every so often and land another sword strike.

The monster’s Qi and Blood plummeted by 20 points, while Li You had only lost one point of his.

Li You could already tell that the creature had no magical attacks, only physical ones.

Its greatest threat was its pair of antennae.

He just had to be careful to avoid their attacks.

A few more exchanges later, he successfully slew the beast.

’First one down.’

’Too bad it didn’t drop anything.’

’No matter. Next!’

Another Silkworm Beetle charged at him.

Li You raised his sword to meet it.

He again used his superior agility—double the creature’s—to dance around it.

Soon, he managed to kill it as well.

This time, as the Silkworm Beetle’s corpse vanished, an item dropped to the ground.

’Loot!’

Li You was overjoyed.

’But why did it drop on the ground this time?’

’Didn’t drops always go straight into my Storage Pavilion before?’

’Weird.’

Besides, the item looked like a piece of clothing.

’It can drop clothes?’

’How unusual.’

Li You walked over and picked the item up.

It really was a piece of clothing, and it felt cool to the touch.

It had green stripes.

The garment had a distinct green theme.

’It’s actually quite nice-looking.’

"Equipment: Celestial Beetle Cocoon Clothing (Green)

Slot: Top."

Text like this appeared.

It dawned on Li You. ’So it’s a piece of equipment.’

’So equipment can drop too. How exciting!’

’But on second thought, that makes sense.’

’In future game instances, there will definitely be monsters far stronger than the Twenty-Eight-Spotted Ladybug or the Silkworm Beetle.’

’I definitely won’t be able to get by just relying on this set of starter gear from the system.’

’I’ll have to keep upgrading my gear.’

’All my current gear is white-rarity. This Celestial Beetle Cocoon Clothing that just dropped is green-rarity.’

’Does green gear have better stats?’

"Yes, Host. Equipment quality is divided into five tiers, from lowest to highest, represented by the colors: White, Green, Blue, Red, and Yellow."

’I see.’

’Got it. That’s consistent with how most games color-code their gear.’

’There are five types of equipment slots: Weapon, Helmet, Top, Pants, and Shoes.’

’And now I have my first piece of green-rarity armor, a top.’

Li You quickly equipped it.

Then he checked his stats again.

"Qi and Blood: 300

Attack: 6

Defense: 15

Agility: 12."

All his stats had increased. The boost to his Qi and Blood and Defense was especially significant.

’Looks like this piece is mainly for boosting defense.’

’With so much health and high defense, I’m not afraid of the Silkworm Beetles at all.’

Right on cue, several Silkworm Beetles attacked at once.

A thrill of excitement shot through Li You as he raised his sword and charged back at them.

There were too many monsters. Even with his much higher agility, Li You was inevitably hit a few times.

’But it didn’t matter. Even when I was hit, my Qi and Blood dropped very slowly.’

’And the pain was much duller than before.’

’Having high defense is awesome. I can pretty much ignore their attacks now.’

Li You went on a rampage, cutting down one Silkworm Beetle after another.

"Item Drop: 500 lbs of Beef (Quality: Superior)."

"Item Drop: 1000 lbs of Beef Leg Bones (Quality: Superior)."

"Item Drop: 200 lbs of Beef Marrow (Quality: Superior)."

"Item Drop: 10 lbs of Chili Oil (Quality: Superior)."

"Item Drop: 50 lbs of Peanut Oil (Quality: Superior)."

"Item Drop: Qiankun Rice Cooker."

"..."

Each notification was a pleasant surprise for Li You.

Beef, beef leg bones, beef marrow... these were all ingredients for making beef broth.

Making beef broth was much more complicated than making the broth for Yangchun Noodles and required far more ingredients.

’Now that so many ingredients for beef broth have dropped, does this mean I’ll barely have to buy anything to make it?’

’What an amazing surprise!’

Li You was fired up, his fighting growing more ferocious with each passing moment.

But unfortunately, it wasn’t long before a notification appeared: "Successfully killed thirty Silkworm Beetles."

"Congratulations, Host, on completing this trial mission.

Mission Completion Reward: Knife Skills, 500 lbs of Flour (Quality: Superior, can be used to make noodles for beef noodle soup)."

"Exiting game instance in one minute."

’I’ve already killed thirty Silkworm Beetles?’

Hearing the system notification for mission completion, Li You felt a pang of regret.

’I was just getting into the swing of things.’

’Oh well.’

’I’ll just have to wait for the next monster-killing instance to have another satisfying slaughter.’

’Oh, right. The system notifications earlier... besides all the ingredients, didn’t something about a rice cooker drop too?’

He opened his Storage Pavilion. Sure enough, a rice cooker was inside.

It was named the "Qiankun Rice Cooker".

’What a badass name. With a name like that, this can’t be any ordinary rice cooker.’

’It’s definitely in a different league from my normal rice cooker in the kitchen.’

’I’ll have to check it out properly later.’

There was no time to examine it now; the minute was almost up.

His vision blurred once more.

Li You was back in the real world.

...