"Add her or not?" Shen Chi asked.
Chu Fu's eyes lit up.
Finally, she came across a familiar username from the original story.
If female characters in game-based novels were typically the male lead's fangirls, certain special ones stood out.
ProudNotPretty wasn't beautiful. She was strong and robust, some might even say plump. When the game synced with reality, her height stood out even more, reaching 1.8 meters.
But what people remembered most was her personality.
Loyalty!
ProudNotPretty was known for her fierce loyalty. She looked after the girls who followed her, forming a guild called Rose. Later, it became a powerful organization protecting Linjiang City, even clashing with Wan Universe and Sun Jingya.
Unexpectedly, the other was in the same server as her.
Without Chu Fu's presence, perhaps ProudNotPretty's character would have died and had to queue for another server to log back in.
"Add her. A sugar mommy is a must-add!"
Once Wan Universe's enraged server-wide message went out, many people tried to add Chu Fu, wanting to discuss splitting the bounty by killing her once—50,000 for a character loss was a deal too good to miss.
Chu Fu directly disabled the add-friend feature.
Now that ProudNotPretty had sent a message, Chu Fu proactively added her as a friend.
Of course, countless others were also adding ProudNotPretty, and she generously accepted them all.
In an instant, her friends list exceeded a thousand.
She searched and found three people: WhoWantsToBeAVegetable, Rocket on a Wheelchair, and WhoTheHellIsBlind, pinning them to the top of her list.
Knowing WhoWantsToBeAVegetable was a girl, she spoke to Chu Fu first.
"Beauty boss, this bounty is long-term valid. Send me a screenshot when you kill Wan Universe, and I'll transfer the money immediately. Oh, and you got me a big batch. Also, about the boss drop, any good gear? I can pay for it. Black-tier equipment: 2-300 copper. Bronze-tier equipment: 2-3000 each. Better stats, negotiable! Also, are you running the dungeon? Can I snag a spot for the first kill? I'll pay 100,000 per slot!"
ProudNotPretty planned to bring her chief secretary, Suture Saint, for two slots.
The newbie village dungeon required five players.
Three big shots, plus ProudNotPretty and Suture Saint, made five.
On Chu Fu's side, after reading ProudNotPretty's message, she replied, "I'll discuss it with my team!"
Chu Fu talked it over with Shen Chi and WhoTheHellIsBlind.
"ProudNotPretty seems to be a wealthy woman. She can help us counter Wan Universe. But our average team level isn't high enough yet. We need Bladesaint Brother to reach level 3, and ProudNotPretty and her teammate to hit level 2. That might mean waiting about two hours before hitting the dungeon. What do you think?"
Chu Fu figured calling WhoTheHellIsBlind "Blind Brother" sounded more respectful than using the full username, which was a bit offensive compared to calling Shen Chi "Wheelchair Brother," so she opted for his class name instead.
This class was unique enough, so no confusion would arise.
Hearing Chu Fu's address, WhoTheHellIsBlind's originally cold expression softened into a small smile. "I'm just being carried by you guys. It's all up to you!"
Shen Chi nodded. "Makes sense. Not bringing them wastes two slots. Also, we're all red-named now. Bringing ProudNotPretty lets her buy us potions since red-named players can't buy from shops."
"Right. As a vegetable, I have no use for money. I'd rather exchange it for silver coins and potions."
The two turned to look at WhoTheHellIsBlind.
He froze. "What are you looking at me for? Split the money among yourselves. I don't need it!"
"That won't work. If you reach level 3, we're teaming up; it's not like we're just carrying you. Your damage output is solid. Think of it as three carries two—you've got a share too!"
WhoTheHellIsBlind hesitated. "Fine, I'll take the cash then. Give me 30,000."
"Then it's settled: 30,000 yuan, 60 silver coins. The remaining 10 silver goes to buying potions evenly split."
Chu Fu contacted ProudNotPretty, and the deal was done.
A basic healing potion cost 5 copper, a medium one 20 copper, restoring 100 HP and 100 MP.
There was also a stamina potion for restoring stamina, specifically for WhoTheHellIsBlind. Melee fighters didn't use MP but drained stamina.
"After the deed is done, transfer 30,000 to this bank account. 60 silver coins should go to me and Rocket on a Wheelchair respectively. As a deposit, you need to pay upfront and help us buy the potions."
"Got it. I'll bring you 300—200 medium red, 200 medium blue, 100 medium yellow."
"No problem!"
ProudNotPretty agreed immediately.
While waiting for ProudNotPretty to arrive, Shen Chi crafted a weapon for WhoTheHellIsBlind.
Shen Chi didn't upgrade his own weapon, planning to gather better materials to transform it into gold-tier, which would be hard to achieve in the newbie village.
Chu Fu also contributed her resources.
"Dandelion seeds are black-tier. At the very least, they can push your weapon to bronze."
"So I owe you both one bronze-tier piece of gear for this," WhoTheHellIsBlind said.
The two agreed, and Shen Chi enhanced the other's beginner wooden sword.
Chu Fu collected 150 dandelion seeds, 25 damaged items, 7 plain items, plus what Shen Chi gave and WhoTheHellIsBlind kept, totalling a large batch.
As Shen Chi activated his talent,
All items rapidly merged into the beginner wooden sword.
The sword expanded, thickened, and lengthened.
It transformed from a thin blade into a heavy sword.
[Mysterious Iron Heavy Sword (Bronze-tier):
Physical Attack: 14-18
Strength +2
Heavy Strike: 10% chance to trigger 10% extra damage with knockback effect.]
Jackpot!
Clearly, thanks to the added materials including other equipment, this weapon's attack and stats far surpassed Chu Fu's Dandelion Staff. The special effect was also useful.
Truly, you get what you pay for.
Still, Chu Fu wasn't worried.
Her current game pace was fast—soon she could clear dungeons and boss fights, inevitably netting a better staff. She could still rely on Shen Chi, the enhancement master, meaning gear wouldn't be an issue.
WhoTheHellIsBlind held the heavy sword, reluctant to let it go.
If he'd had this weapon earlier, he could have killed Wan Universe in one hit.
Soon, ProudNotPretty arrived.
"We'll level up here. Once Bladesaint hits level 3, and you two reach level 2, we'll go for the first kill. By the way, we've got some gear. Want to buy it?"
Chu Fu pulled out the boss drops: [Pigskin Shield (Black-tier)] and [Pigskin Heavy Armor (Black-tier)].
ProudNotPretty was interested.
Both items suited a warrior. The shield was a weapon with super-high defense, priced at 800 copper, and the heavy armor at 600 copper—both solid deals.
Chu Fu pocketed another 1 silver 400 copper.
On Shen Chi's side, after selling a batch of gear, ProudNotPretty became practically fully geared.
See, this is why you stick with the pros.
Otherwise, I’d still be stuck in my novice cloth armor after a whole day.
Now I finally feel like a decent player.
The five of them started grinding monsters to level up.
Even though ProudAndNotArrogant and Suture Saint hadn’t come out to fight in the village, doing quests still gave them experience points.
They were just a bit shy of level 2 now.
As for CallingWhoBlind, his solo farming speed was high; if Chu Fu and Shen Chi hadn’t stolen the boss from him, he’d probably be way ahead in levels.
Shen Chi flew into the air, looking down as he picked off the mutant rats with his gun.
Chu Fu observed and found that the mutant rats in the wheat field also had fixed spawn points, so she simply placed electric saw dandelions at those locations.
After setting seven electric saw dandelions, they somehow formed a linked instant-respawn spot.
Instant-respawn spot: A game mechanic where, after monsters at certain fixed positions die, the system considers the area cleared and immediately spawns new monsters instead of waiting for a timer-based respawn.
This allowed the monsters to keep coming endlessly.
The good leveling spot with the red-eyed rabbits worked the same way.
With this setup, the team had enough damage output and a constant supply of monsters, so leveling was fast.
An hour later, everyone had leveled up.
【Leader】【WhoWantsToBeAVegetable】: Poison Master, Level 4
【Member】【Rocket on a Wheelchair】: Mechanic, Level 4
【Member】【CallingWhoBlind】: Sword Saint, Level 3
【Member】【ProudAndNotArrogant】: Shield Warrior, Level 2
【Member】【Suture Saint】: Ancient Chinese Medicine, Level 2
“Alright, let’s go do a dungeon!”
At the edge of the messy wheat field, an old farmer NPC sat on the ground, wailing, “My crops! Damn mutant rats! Who can help me get rid of these mutant rats!”
