Chapter 15: CHICKENS!!!!!!

Next to New Leaf Village, there was a small plain that led to a nearby forest. Currently, there was only one way to describe this piece of land…

CHICKENS!!!!

All over the place, white chickens were getting ganged upon by Players. The naked Players were kicking and punching the best they could, continuing their assault with incredible motivation! Had these chickens killed their families or something?!

The chickens were pecking back in self-defense and scratching people with their talons. Many Players were actually dying from these attacks. How could chickens be that strong?! There were even some chickens with deeper colors that were 100% avoided by everyone.

“What’s with the chickens? Also, why is this so intense?!” Bubblegum asked, perplexed.

To anyone new to Infinite, the scene looked weird for sure. How in the hell were groups of 10 Players struggling to kill a simple chicken?!

“What do you expect? The chickens are level 2, while the Players are level 0 and naked. If they had any gear at all, this would become an easy fight. But as things stand, the Players need about 30 hits to defeat it, but die after taking four attacks.” Jack explained.

“This is crazy! The developers added such powerful creatures to the beginner villages?!” Bubblegum cried out in shock.

“Indeed. See it as a kind of trial by fire. Either one conquers the chickens, or one remains stuck in the beginner village forever. Again, it’s easy with gear. They are taking the harder path instead.” Jack shrugged.

“Couldn’t the village chief loan us weapons or something? What if we try to persuade him?” Bubblegum suggested.

“That’s a definite possibility, also an easier one than dealing with the blacksmith,” Jack admitted.

“I guess there is a reason we aren’t doing so, right?”

“Random weapons or custom-made weapons, which do you think is better?”

“Makes sense. So, what’s the plan?” She inquired.

“First, we get the Hardwood Timber. While not optimal, it will definitely do the trick for fuel.” Jack explained.

“Wouldn’t we need an axe?”

“We could get an axe and spend an entire day cutting a single tree, but I’d rather not spend so much time on it. I don’t want to become a lumberjack, so we’re going to loot it instead.” Jack admitted.

This game truly wasn’t simple. It seemed like there were many methods available to accomplish every single task. It was all a matter of figuring out the most optimal one for one’s playstyle.

“Alright, follow my directives closely and remain 5 meters from me at all times. This is extremely vital, or you could aggro monsters.” Jack instructed with his sidekick nodding.

He wasn’t too worried. He had a gut feeling that this wasn’t her first VR game at all. She shouldn’t have too much issue with staying at a proper distance.

Now, it was time to have fun! He strode toward a nearby chicken and kicked its ass. Many Players could be seen sneering at him, for they expected him to have a horrible end.

<Wild Chicken Level 2: Angry!>

Instantly, the chicken used the skill that made it a force to be reckoned with: a lunge! This peck attack would surprise most newbies because it was so sudden. Except Jack had already moved out of the way, the attack missing him by 1 centimeter.

He could hear exclamations of shock from the surrounding Players:

“Did he just dodge?!”

“Tch— Probably just beginner’s luck.”

“It’s possible to dodge these things?!”

“Dumbass, avoiding isn’t the hard part. Counterattacking is!”

“He’s started the fight with only one ally. It’s going to take them forever to kill it even if they can.”

They weren’t entirely wrong either. Jack was sure that a few players had tried a similar tactic but had given up from a lack of familiarity with the Infinite controls. It was one thing to know what to do and another to execute it.

Oh, there were bound to be geniuses already soloing chickens, but they would be as rare as a legendary flaming immortal chicken’s feather.

“Let’s fuck him up!” Bubblegum happily came to help. She was probably getting bored with all that NPC talk.

“Nope, stand back.” Jack curtly replied, to her dismay.

Instead of fighting back, he went toward another level 2 chicken, punching its head. Instantly the bystanders couldn’t help but draw cold breathes.

“He’s completely fucked.”

“He just screwed their party. They’ll both die now!”

“Nope, the girl hasn’t attacked yet. If she’s smart, she’ll run far away from this suicidal madman.”

But, this was only the beginning. Jack went toward a third chicken, attacking it. The chickens following him were relatively slow, but they would use that dash attack from time to time.

Every time, it would pass right next to his body without hurting him in the least. What was up with this evasion mastery?! But this incredible display became a bit goofy when he visibly stumbled, laying flat on the ground, and survived thanks to this.

Was the guy just plain lucky?! Was such luck even human?! Seraphine was one of the few that clearly understood what he was doing. Jack even had the energy to make his actions seem like a fluke?! How powerful was he?! This wasn’t just about knowledge anymore!

He wasn’t even looking at his pursuers. It was as if he knew 100% their next actions! How unbelievable was this?!

As he kept dodging, Jack was reminded of some of the Trials he had to accomplish to limit break. Compared to them, this was pretty relaxed, especially that there were no ranged attacks.

He went to aggro one last chicken. As soon as he did, Players all around resolved to remember this crazy guy.

<Elder Wild Chicken Level 4: Angry>

“That’s one of the high-level chickens!”

“These things can kill Players with only three attacks! He’s doomed!”

“I mean…it’s not like it matters if he’s dodging it all.”

“True, but now look at this onslaught. It’s impossible to counterattack now!”

“He’ll lose this fight for sure, but his goal is probably to train. Dying in the beginner Village isn’t as punishing, so it makes sense.”

This was actually a valid strategy. Chicken attack patterns were relatively easy to grasp. This made it a perfect training mob for newbies. But, increasing their numbers instantly raised the difficulty exponentially.

There were the enemies to consider, the timing of their skills, the terrain itself, the other mobs and Players around, etc.…

Jack nodded with satisfaction at the monsters following him. He was ready for the next part of his plan. In fact, the crowd was right: it was close to impossible to win even if he were to fight right now.

Well, he could take advantage of the terrain to separate them, but it would still take hours and hours for the actual kills. But, fighting the chickens had never been his plan. Instead, Jack headed toward the nearby forest with Bubblegum following wide-eyed.

The crowd couldn’t help but chime in once more, pleased by the distraction. To be honest, repeatedly bashing chickens was pretty boring. Infinite was different, but they were so used to regular MMORPGs that they had instantly begun farming mobs mindlessly.

“Holy shit! Am I going crazy, or is he going into the forest?!”

“Nope, this crazy guy is heading into it for sure!”

“There are level 4-6 foxes in there, right?!”

“Yep, there are many of them.”

“He’s going to die!”

“Indeed he will.”

“F, Brave Hero!”

“F”

“F”

“F”

Creator’s Thought

One could wonder: why would the Village Chief give them a quest to kill Chickens if they didn’t have the level nor equipment for it? Well, NPCs in Infinite had their own thoughts. He simply wanted to test the potential of these “Braves of Legends”.