Chapter 27: A Hundred Skeletons, Shocking the World

After Xu Xinjie finished harvesting the tree in front of him, he asked, "Dong, Gang, is this Chen Fan you were talking about young, good-tempered, about 185 centimeters tall, and lean?"

Li Chengdong stopped swinging his stone axe and said slowly, "Yes, that's him. Though his temper isn't very stable; he started killing people after only a few words." He wiped the sweat from his forehead, though it was unclear if it was from fear or the exertion of chopping wood. He continued, "Still, that guy had it coming. Who told him to be disrespectful first?"

"I think he's fine, just a bit eccentric," Zhao Gang countered.

Hearing this, Xu Xinjie lowered his head in thought. Could it really be Brother Fan? In his memory, Chen Fan was an extremely mild-mannered person who would never resort to violence over a disagreement, let alone murder.

"Gang, you must know where his wooden cabin is, right?" Xu Xinjie decided to see for himself after a moment of contemplation.

"I know where it is, but I'm not entirely sure of the exact location anymore." Zhao Gang suddenly looked curious. "Do you know Chen Fan?"

"I have a good brother named Chen Fan, but I'm not sure if it's the same person." Xu Xinjie began to recount their past experiences back on Earth.

As Li Chengdong and Zhao Gang listened, they became increasingly convinced that the person Xu Xinjie described was none other than the legendary Chen Fan. The two exchanged glances, both calculating the benefits. If it really was Chen Fan, escorting Xu Xinjie to him would be a favor and could potentially save the life of Chen Fan’s brother.

"Brother, there are zombies!" Zhao Xiaoqian suddenly shrieked.

The group looked toward the source of the sound and saw several zombies slowly emerging from the darkness. One of them was actually holding a wooden sword. It must have belonged to some unfortunate soul who had low health and foolishly decided to wander out at night, only to meet an untimely end and have their weapon scavenged.

Zhao Gang quickly switched to his stone sword and charged at the zombies without hesitation. Seeing him engage, the other three followed suit, drawing their own stone swords and joining the fray.

The zombies vanished into white mist, but soon, more nearby zombies were drawn by the commotion. Because they were in a forest biome, spawns were frequent at night, and unlike in some versions, the monsters did not burn in the sunlight during the day.

"Come on, let's kill them together; that way, we'll have food," Zhao Gang said, gripping his sword tight as he struck at the approaching horde.

As the oldest of the group with some experience in brawls, Zhao Gang found the clumsy zombies easy to handle with his stone sword. His only concern was a surprise attack from a Creeper. The other three followed his lead, charging in fiercely. For the first few days after arriving in this world, they had only known how to run; it wasn't until they met Chen Fan and learned about crafting weapons that they could finally fight these monsters in the open. Xu Xinjie was the unluckiest of them all, having spawned on a desert island; if not for his prior experience with Minecraft, he would have died countless times.

Soon, through their combined efforts, the nearby zombies were dispatched, leaving behind piles of rotten flesh and experience orbs.

"That’s food for another day," Zhao Gang said, picking up the rotten flesh and stuffing it into his mouth to replenish his hunger bar. The taste was terrible, but to him, it was acceptable—he treated it like spicy strips. It kept his hunger bar from hitting zero, which was all that mattered.

Just as they were enjoying their "spicy strips," a mechanical voice rang out, leaving all four of them stunned:

[Congratulations to Chen Fan for being the first to achieve 100 Skeleton kills. Rewards have been automatically added to your inventory!]

[In view of Chen Fan winning the first-time reward three times in a row, the special title "Undead Slayer LV1" has been awarded!]

A series of question marks appeared in their minds.

"Brother, look..."
"Ugh, Sis, I know!"

Zhao Gang, who had been proud of his own zombie-slaying tally, now felt bitter. He couldn't believe Chen Fan had killed so many skeletons. While zombies were slow, skeletons were different—their ranged attacks were impossible to guard against. Even he needed seven or eight hits to kill a single zombie, so how was Chen Fan doing this? And with only two people, one of whom was a young girl?

"I suspect Chen Fan has some kind of ultimate weapon that can one-shot monsters!"

"Brother, are you playing an online game? 'One-shot'? Why don't you say he has TNT too!" Zhao Xiaoqian looked at him with disdain, as if looking at an idiot.

"Let's go. We're setting out tomorrow!" Li Chengdong said with a serious expression.

"Go where?" Zhao Xiaoqian asked curiously.

Li Chengdong looked up at the sky with a hint of excitement. "To find the great Chen Fan."

"Yay!" Zhao Xiaoqian was thrilled, but when she looked at Zhao Gang, her anger flared again. "Brother, this is all your fault! I suggested we look for Brother Fan back then, and we wouldn't have had to eat rotten flesh every day. Look, I'm turning green!"

Though they had only known each other for a day, they shared similar personalities and understood how to weigh the pros and cons. One had to learn to bow their head; following a powerhouse was the only way to ensure they would be fed.

...

Meanwhile, the world chat channel was blowing up.

"My god, what is a happy planet? This is it! Grinding monsters makes him happy, and he just keeps on grinding."

"I finally understand how to survive in this world: kill the monsters."

"Give it a rest. You do two or three points of damage, they do five to you, and you'll be smoke in no time."

"Skeleton: You’re so high and mighty, killing me for rewards."

"Keep chatting if you want, I’ve already started looking for Chen Fan’s location. I’m going to set up camp near his place."

"???"

The chat was filled with debate; some were singing his praises while others were being snide. The cynics were ignored as fools who didn't understand the law of the jungle. Although everyone started from zero at the same time, they were at level 1 while Chen Fan was at 99. They weren't even in the same league. While others were digging holes to hide from monsters, Chen Fan was racking up hundreds of kills and claiming world-firsts.

Many survivors now shared the same thought: build a house or dig a hole near Chen Fan's place. Hugging the thigh of a powerhouse was nothing to be ashamed of. If it hadn't been for Chen Fan sharing basic crafting recipes with Li Chengdong—who then shared them on the chat—some of them might have already starved or been killed by monsters.

Deep inside his cave, Chen Fan excitedly opened his inventory to see his rewards. When he saw them, he couldn't help but complain, "How are the rewards this stingy? You couldn't even give me a Lucky Block? Just two items?"