Chapter 121: Game Strategy 4.0
Byeol wasn’t a player, so he didn’t consume experience points at all.
The moment this thought crossed his mind, Joo Joowon suddenly realized something else.
When he had received the kill notifications from Byeol earlier, the system had never announced any experience distribution.
In order to confirm that he wasn’t remembering incorrectly, Joo Joowon even went back and checked the system channel logs.
Sure enough, there had been no experience points transferred to him whatsoever.
Could it be because of the distance between them?
After all, back in the morning, when Byeol killed the mutated rats, Joo Joowon had definitely received experience points.
The thought left him feeling rather disappointed.
Otherwise, he and Byeol could have split up completely, one hunting toward the east while the other hunted toward the west.
Their efficiency would have increased dramatically and he would have been able to level up much faster.
The fact that experience points could not be absorbed from kills made too far away was genuinely disappointing.
Fortunately, the system hadn’t secretly swallowed the equipment drops, so the arrangement still couldn’t be considered a loss.
The transportation fee didn’t seem expensive either.
Although Joo Joowon still wasn’t sure whether the transportation fee applied to every individual drop or whether it covered all drops collectively.
If it was the former, then honestly he would rather abandon the cards entirely.
The game’s economic system was simply too absurd.
Perhaps this was related to the type of monsters being hunted?
If that was the case, then perhaps robbing NPCs offered better opportunities for obtaining money?
As far as robbing people went, Joo Joowon honestly didn’t feel any psychological burden whatsoever.
Who hadn’t massacred a few NPCs while playing games before?
As long as the game developers allowed it, some players would happily slaughter every NPC in their own faction without a second thought.
Of course, while it was fine to act like a chaotic troublemaker inside a game, offending friendly NPCs in reality was probably not a wise decision.
At most, he would only consider targeting neutral NPCs.
When Joo Joowon noticed that the system channel listed no transferable items other than the card, he finally confirmed that the zombie birds truly hadn’t provided him with any experience points.
The system only transferred dropped cards.
Experience itself wasn’t included.
He picked Byeol up from the sofa and changed him into the common grade Cat Brand Shirt.
Unlike the beginner shirt, the common grade version featured the silhouette logo of a cat’s head printed on the chest.
The material itself was fluffy to the touch and felt almost identical to petting an actual cat.
Since Joo Joowon had never worn this equipment himself, the moment he equipped it onto Byeol, it immediately resized itself into the perfect dimensions for a pet.
There was no need for any additional tailoring or adjustments.
Unfortunately, Byeol didn’t appear particularly pleased about it.
In particular, he kept obsessively licking the brand logo on the front of the shirt, as though it carried the scent of another cat.
There had been two Cat Brand Shirts dropped in total.
Joo Joowon believed in treating everyone fairly, so he gave the remaining one to Hwi as well.
Hwi, however, was remarkably carefree.
Aside from feeling somewhat uncomfortable about suddenly having to wear clothes, it didn’t seem to care in the slightest whether the outfit carried the scent of another cat.
Equipment that properly fit the wearer wasn’t easy to remove once equipped.
This was very different from the beginner shirt Joo Joowon had previously put on Byeol.
Back then, Byeol could easily wriggle its way out of it whenever it wanted, making it practically impossible for Byeol to wear it properly whenever he went outside.
Now, however, that was no longer a concern.
If it were physically possible for cats to wear a full set of equipment, Joo Joowon would absolutely have equipped Byeol from head to toe without hesitation.
During the remaining time, Joo Joowon reluctantly sacrificed a piece of common grade equipment in order to test the durability mechanic.
At the cost of destroying a pair of common grade pants, he finally gained a clear understanding of how equipment durability functioned in reality.
There were still some differences compared to ordinary games.
Inside games, characters died regardless of what equipment they wore.
In reality, however, a single point of durability could completely block one fatal attack aimed at the corresponding body part.
After blocking the attack, the equipment would lose durability.
Once the durability reached zero, the equipment shattered instantly.
There was no opportunity to repair it.
The item simply broke apart and transformed into countless white particles of light before disappearing into the air.
This was undoubtedly good news.
It meant that players now had some room for error when fighting zombies in the future.
However, Joo Joowon suspected there was probably a limit to the strength of fatal attacks each equipment quality tier could block.
After all, expecting common grade equipment to completely negate rare grade skills was clearly unrealistic.
At most, it would probably weaken part of the damage inflicted by the attack.
The player would still suffer injuries regardless.
Even so, this durability system was already incredibly valuable.
In some ways, it was no different from possessing an extra life.
While he busied himself with all of this, the marketplace finally opened for the day.
...
[ Game Strategy 4.0 ]
[ 1. Equipment with durability can block one attack for the player. Once durability reaches zero, the equipment will immediately shatter and disappear. ]
[ 2. After the rain stopped, zombies generally increased by one or two levels. ]
[ 3. Elite monsters all appear capable of using skills now. ]
[ 4. Mutated beasts have also begun appearing, and some plants have developed intelligence and are capable of attacking humans. Be extra careful when going out to farm experience in order to avoid accidents. ]
[ 5. Fire attacks and similar methods remain effective against low level zombies. Against groups above Level 5, however, they can only serve as distractions. If you plan on relying solely on fire damage or similar tactics to slowly wear down elite monsters, chances are the elite monster will extinguish the flames on its body before dying. ]
[ 6. Psychic type zombies have now appeared. At present, nobody knows how to avoid psychic skills. Players with insufficient Mental Power may fall directly unconscious or temporarily lose the ability to move after being attacked. ]
[ 7. Monsters may drop an item called the [Lord Qualification Token]. Completing the corresponding series of examination quests allows players to obtain their own territory. It is currently unknown whether all Lord Bosses have a chance to drop this item, or whether it can only be dropped by Lord Candidates monster that currently advancing toward becoming true Lord Bosses. ]
...
After hesitating for a moment, Joo Joowon still decided to include the last point as well.
Although hiding this information would clearly be more beneficial to him personally, because aside from a small number of people, most players were still taking the safe route for now.
As long as they could level up by killing ordinary monsters, very few people were willing to challenge elite monsters or even Boss monsters.
After all, reality was not a game.
People only had one life.
However, if killing higher level zombies not only dropped equipment but also gave players the opportunity to obtain territories, then the situation would become completely different.
Many players who had already formed factions or gathered influence would undoubtedly become interested in it.